MEMOIR
In his explosive new memoir Scattershot, lyricist Bernie Taupin, half of one of the greatest creative partnerships in pop music, recalls some of the poignant – and more hedonistic – moments from 50-plus years of collaborating with Elton John
‘Things got interesting the minute we arrived [in Australia, 1984, to promote Too Low for Zero, which included hits such as I’m Still Standing]. During the recording of the album on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, Elton had struck up a close friendship with a German sound engineer called Renate Blauel. It was an odd set of circumstances, and while everyone found Elton’s fixation with this perfectly delightful young lady curious, the mere fact that he was spending so much of his free time with her made for circulated speculation.
During that period, Elton had been more in the habit of flying his infatuations in and out of whatever location we found ourselves in. He seemed to be in love with someone different every week. Usually young men who were either smitten with his attention or the occasional hustler on the make. Either way, they would come and go in a revolving doorlike manner: here today, gone tomorrow, and on occasion back again the day after they’d gone the first time.
So it was a shock, nonetheless, when Elton returned to The Sebel [their hotel in Sydney] one night after an Indian meal with Renate and announced that he was getting married. Whether the strength of the curry was to blame for playing havoc with his mental state rather than his digestive system could not be determined, although the collective reaction of the band and crew was certainly one of emotional indigestion. ‘Oh good grief, here we go again.’ Memories came flooding back of Elton’s first sabotaged stab at wedlock [with ex-fiancée Linda Woodrow]. In actuality it made even less sense now than it had in 1968. Back then at least he was still in a quandary over his sexual orientation, an excuse that can’t be discounted. Now, however, he had 14 years of nothing but gay relationships, both committed and recreational.
The absurdist nature of it was solidified by the two individuals he chose as his best men. One, his manager and first live-in lover, John Reid, the other, his spiritual boyfriend, yours truly. Impulsive and dead set against anyone getting the last laugh, my friend was not joking. His irascible nature currently was not something anyone wanted to argue with or question. It just wasn’t worth it, and while most of us doubted this was a union that would be any more successful than attempting to raise the Titanic with tweezers, we just shrugged our shoulders and took advantage of the festivities.
It was a completely b
