“It’s impossible”: Elton John on the only pop song that recreated the perfection of Motown
Having begun his career at the tail end of the 1960s and never really ceased activity for an extended period of time since then, it’s quite remarkable that Elton John has managed to remain at the top of his game for so long and build such an illustrious legacy for himself. While his output in the 1970s is often argued to be his best, with records such as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Honky Château being among his most celebrated from the period, John remained a potent and reliable figure in pop music in the years after, having recorded or featured on 11 UK number one hits throughout his career.
While his brand of pop music was rooted in glam aesthetics, a definite semblance of the soul music of the previous decade seeps through into his own compositions, and the importance of the infamous Detroit record label Motown was also an undeniable inspiration for his work. It might not have been a direct recreation of the sound that the likes of The Supremes, The Miracles and The Four Tops established themselves with, but for a British artist, he was clearly attempting to provide his own interpretation of this style at times.
John isn’t alone in having attempted to do this either, as plenty of other British acts have made their own clear attempts to keep the Motown sound alive across the pond, with the likes of Phil Collins and Paul Weller being other white artists that had a stab at creating music that emulated the brilliance of the black performers who pioneered the sound during their solo careers.
In a 1986 appearance on the famed BBC Radio show Desert Island Discs, John appeared opposite host Michael Parkinson to share his eight selections of songs that meant a great deal to him in his life and cited another contemporary of his as having done an incredible job of keeping the Motown sound alive in the UK, despite the fact that it caused Parky a bit of a shock in the hosting chair.
Naming a handful of jazz stars in his selection, such as Nina Simone and Thelonious Monk, John went on to nominate Wham! with their 1984 hit, ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’. The singer caveated his selection of the song by saying that he “tried to choose records for the people involved or because they had some special effect on my memory or my life” before further elaborating on why that song. in particular, stood out for him.
“I just happen to love this record,” he continued, “Because it sounds like an old Motown record. I’ve been in the studio time and time again trying to recreate that Motown sound, and it’s impossible.” John may have claimed to have never successfully emulated the sound to the same degree as George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, but his faint touches of Motown-inspired flavours that are dashed through songs such as his duet with Motown signee Kiki Dee, ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’.
While he may have made props to his future friend and collaborator Michael during this broadcast, it can be said that both of them managed to make careers by producing vibrant and soulful music. While they couldn’t necessarily be directly aligned with the Motown label, there was more than enough influence that could be traced through their own output, which makes it undeniable that they made a valiant effort to keep the sound alive.
