1983 Elton John – Too Low For Zero

Too Low for Zero is the seventeenth studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1983.

For the first time since Blue Moves in 1976, all lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, who has continued in this role to the present day. At the insistence of Taupin, John decided to go back to basics and returned to working with Taupin full-time. John also reunited with the core of his backing band of the early ’70s: Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone as well as Ray Cooper, Kiki Dee and Skaila Kanga (who played harp on John’s self-titled album and Tumbleweed Connection) – two other musicians were intended to join the line-up, but dropped out. The album was produced by Chris Thomas and recorded at AIR Studios in Montserrat (the same studio for Jump Up!) and Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood. For the first time since A Single Man, John played synthesisers in addition to piano, since James Newton-Howard left the band. John felt that synths allowed him to write better fast rock songs, having not been entirely happy with such compositions performed on piano. The album was written and recorded in approximately two weeks, with overdubs completed in a week.