Bennie & The Jets (1974) 2/24/21 Elton John

Way back on January 22, 2020, I highlighted the hit-picking genius of Rosalie Trombley, the music director at CKLW, the 50,000 watt Windsor/Detroit station that played (and made) the hits from both Canada and the US. (You can read that post here: https://www.facebook.com/MichaelCuuuk/posts/140688287404627)

Rosalie was directly responsible for making today's "Great Song of 1974" a HUGE hit. Here's the story:

When Elton John released his "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" album, the last cut on side one was a song that Elton felt would never be a hit and nixed any plans the record company had for releasing it. Well, the record company, MCA/DJM, was kind of sneaky and for release in the UK, they put "Bennie and the Jets" on the "B" side of "Candle in the Wind"--the original version about Marilyn Monroe--and didn't release EITHER song as a single in the US or Canada--until Rosalie got her hands on it.

(Trivia #1: For some reason, in the US and Canada, they spelled it "Bennie," but elsewhere, they spelled it "Benny.")

Rosalie loved the song and had a hunch...so she had her deejays play "Bennie" straight off the album several times a day. Within a week or two, the song was #1 in Detroit and Windsor! MCA then released the song in North America, with "Candle in the Wind on the "B" side, and the rest is chart history: #1 in both the US and Canada! It even went to #15 on Billboard's Rhythm & Blues chart!

Rosalie had picked another winner!

(Trivia #2: Despite what it sounds like, the recording was NOT live. It was made to "sound" that way in the studio when producer Gus Dugeon felt the stand-alone piano chord at the very beginning sounded like something Elton would do if he WERE live and was cueing the rest of the band to start. Some well-placed sound effects completed the effect.)

"Bennie (or Benny) and the Jets:" A "Great Song of the '70s" from Elton John, with special thanks to Rosalie Trombley at CKLW!

And just because, here's the original "Candle in the Wind:"