17/06/1977? – Elton John (Shoreditch College)
A cheeky one…
It’s May 1978. You’ve booked a band for your college’s valedictory dance night and they cancel at the last minute. What do you do? Pop round to Elton’s, obviously!
It might sound far-fetched but that’s exactly what the enterprising social committee at Shoreditch College (which would go on to become the Runnymede Campus of Brunel University) did when the act they’d originally booked – Jimmy Helms – pulled out [see below for alternative accounts]. Throw in a couple of bottles of wine, and you’ve got yourself a band. Well, an Elton at any rate. Hilton….?* Or maybe not. The wine, at least, appears to be urban legend. It was actually thus, according to Allen Ibbotson, who was on the very social committee in question:
Contrary to rumour he did not perform for two bottles of wine. He was in fact offered a bottle of whiskey which was bought for him from the college bar. However, he refused this because he had several hundred bottles at home. He did the gig in return for a engraved memorial Shoreditch College Valedictory one pint glass tankard.
How do I know this?
I was on the committee. I paid for the whiskey. I was sat in the vestry at the chapel when he wrote out his set list on the back of his chequebook. He was a real gem as not only did he do the gig but he also spent a couple of hours with us after chatting away in the halls of residence.
Hopefully Elton’s chequebook would confirm that he played the following songs:
Crocodile Rock
Daniel
Rocket Man
Your Song
I Heard It Through The Grapevine
Bennie And the Jets
(I’m presuming there were more – the boy’s a born entertainer and not one for half measures. I’m sure he’d have given the Shoreditch crowd their money’s worth….or rather, their engraved memorial Shoreditch College Valedictory one pint glass tankard-worth.)
And if you *still* don’t believe any of this, there’s a picture here to prove it….
*Old Eric Morecambe gag.
Update: Gerwyn adds:
There are a few things wrong with this account, I’m afraid.
1) the year was 1977, not 1978. I was in ’79 year, and didn’t live on campus in my first year, which is why I missed the gig. Moreover, my partner was in ’80 year, and she confirms that it happened before she started at ‘Ditch.
2) it would be unusual to have a valedictory gig in May; it should happen just before the third years leave – in late June, or early July. I suspect that the NME story was published many months after the gig happened.
3) I think the act that had been scheduled to play was Jimmy James and the \Vagabonds, not Jimmy Helms. This would make more sense as the latter was American, whereas the former were British-based Jamaicans.
As to the whisky vs wine controversy: I can confirm that he was “paid” with wine. I know this because some of the rugby club collared me a couple of days later, and persuaded me to go with them to John’s house in Old Windsor and drop the bottle off – probably because they were shrinking rugby violets, and I was a scary punk. I seem to recall that it was a cheap bottle of Laski Riesling from the college bar.
Katie adds:
This was the 17/06/1977 why do I know this, because my mum was one of the 4 people who went to his house and asked.
I’ve amended the date in line with this as other comments seem to corroborate 1977, rather than 1978 as I’d originally posted. Thanks to everyone who has commented to give us a fuller picture of events.
brunelbands 