Elton John discusses the “romanticism” of vinyl records

Ahead of his headline set at Glastonbury Festival this weekend, Elton John has discussed his love of collecting vinyl and the “romanticism” of the form, which he says it has “never lost”.

Sitting down with Clara Amfo on BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds, the interview was held in Elton John’s record room. At one point in the discussion, the host asked the ‘Rocket Man’ singer how he makes sure he “keeps the things that truly matter” to him in the room full of vinyl albums. 

Responding, Elton John revealed his long love of collecting vinyl: “Well, you know what, I sold all my vinyl many years ago to a collector in St. Louis because I didn’t have anywhere to put it. And then, since its resurgence, thankfully, I’ve had to collect it – most of it – all again, and with some extra editions. The thing now is because of the resurgence, it’s easier to get a record on vinyl than it is on CD, because most people don’t have CDs anymore. It’s such a romantic way of collecting music; it’s never lost its romanticism for me.”

He continued: “People can express themselves on their music, on their cover, what they want visually, and you can read the notes; I don’t know, it’s just a magical form of representation of music.”

Drawing a parallel between his days of collecting vinyl in London in the 1970s and now – with mention of the British acts Sault and Cleo Sol – the musician said: “Well, I get so excited when I get something on vinyl. We were just talking, before we started the interview, about the last three Sault albums that came out on vinyl about two weeks ago on vinyl, and I’m so thrilled, I was jumping up and down because I’m a huge Sault and Cleo Sol fan.”

Adding: “It makes it exciting, it’s like when I used to collect records in the 1970s at Musicland on Berwick Street and seeing the record in the store, and you’d get so excited; I feel the same way now, it’s just as exciting.”

Amfo then mentioned that Elton John has a wide variety in his collection, ranging from rapper Lil Uzi Vert to the Australian psychedelic pop band Tame Impala. John replied: “Tame Impala, how good are they? And then Pond the shoot-off from Tame Impala, there’s so much great music that comes out of Australia. Nigeria at the moment is just ridiculous, and we’re going to celebrate that in a minute.”

Adding an account of his love for new music, John concluded: “When we ever meet, all we talk about is new music, which I love. I’m not really interested in the old stuff, I know that, but the new, there’s so much good stuff around, you know there is, you play it.”

For the full interview, Listen to Radio 1’s Future Sounds with Clara Amfo tonight at 7pm.