OK, Boomer and GenX DUers. Help me out here. I distinctly recall seeing Elton John on Wonderama

[Dennis Donovan]

...on WNEW (Metromedia Channel 5, NYC - now WNYW) around 1971-72. He performed Crocodile Rock. The great Bob McAllister was the host. I can't find an internet reference to it. Was I tripping balls at 7 years old, or did he really do this gig?


Reason I ask is because I'm about to watch Rocketman and I was thinking about my earliest EJ memory. Thanks in advance!

On edit: I found this

https://pix11.com/2016/12/25/watch-a-wonderama-christmas-special/

The original “Wonderama”(and its successor, “Kids Are People Too”) remains one of the longest-running family television programs in history. The show gave America its first broadcast glimpse of The Jackson 5, hosted Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier’s famous Marble Battle and introduced families across the nation to wonders big and small, from music sensations like Elton John, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Abba and Roger Daltrey to world-class celebrities including Evel Knievel, Billy Crystal, Jodie Foster, Jerry Lewis, and David Cassidy.

Maybe I wasn't tripping?

[CountAllVotes]

1. I don't get this "ok boomer" thing

I guess I'm missing something.

[Dennis Donovan]

2. If you don't get Ok Boomer...

...then you're clearly a boomer.

Jesus, I'm kidding!! And my OP has nothing to do with that meme!

[ret5hd]

3. OK Boomer.

[Dennis Donovan]

6. Lame...

I clearly said, and my Op will back up, this isn't an ok boomer meme thing.

Reading Is Fundamental.

[fleur-de-lisa]

7. Okay Tide Pod.

[Dennis Donovan]

8. I'm keeping that one...

[fleur-de-lisa]

9. . . .

[abqtommy]

4. Pay attention! There will be a pop quiz! This is something that a quick search would satisfy.

[Dennis Donovan]

5. Huh?

[abqtommy]

11. I was responding to countallvotes...

[Dennis Donovan]

12. Were you now...

What is this pop quiz you speak of, sparky?

[CountAllVotes]

22. Ok Boommerr!

Goctcha!

[sweetloukillbot]

10. That seems like a little too early for Crocodile Rock.

But I can certainly see him doing the show, maybe 73 or 74? I don't think he was too huge at that point, it's still pre "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"

[Dennis Donovan]

13. I could be off by a year or two.

But, the event has stuck in my mind for decades. I thought it would be on YT, but that's blank.

[lastlib]

14. He was pretty big in 73!

"Madman Across The Water" came out in '71, IIRC, and had some monster hits. "Levon", "Tiny Dancer", the title song, "Indian Sunset", and one of my faves, "Razorface" ("How does it feel to know you can't go home?&quot .....

[sweetloukillbot]

16. I was thinking Madman was 72...

Just checked Setlist.FM, he started 71 playing smaller theaters and ended playing arenas. I know the live album that came before Madman is pretty intimate sounding (but I think that was recorded in 70).

Helluva a showman - I only saw him a couple times in the 21st Century and he was amazing both times.

[lastlib]

18. I saw him in '74--he filled a 40,000+ seat stadium!

Awesome show! I remember the primitive electronic scoreboard was putting up "pictures" of Schroeder (from the comic strip "Peanuts&quot sitting at his little piano, with musical notes rising out of it! Quite a display feat for that era!

Ah, the good ol' days!!

[Philostopher]

15. I can find a video for "Don't Go Breakin' My Heart" on Wonderama

I can't find one online for "Crocodile Rock."

Wonderama was on from the fifties until the 1977, and I remember watching it in SW Ohio when I was a kid, but that's the only one I can find of EJ on Wonderama.

However ... here's a blog post from 2008 that seems to insinuate there used to be a vid online of Crocodile Rock on Wonderama that has since been removed, for whatever reason:

https://treesflowersbirds.com/2008/08/06/i-remember-when-rock-was-young/

But it looks like, for whatever reason, the video was removed. You might be able to contact the person who posted the blog, to see if you're right. Because you just might be.

[Dennis Donovan]

17. I remember the video for "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" was "viral" for its day

I saw it everywhere in 1976 (Mike Douglas Show comes to mind). Thanks for looking into!

[sweetloukillbot]

19. That was one of the first 45s I bought with my own money!

Remember getting it at Sears, along with "Hot Line" by the Sylvers!

[uriel1972]

20. I rememeber him doing Crocodile Rock on the muppets...

maybe that's it?

[Raftergirl]

21. Elton John

Was the first concert I ever saw. I was in 9th grade (1970/1971) I saw him at the Syracuse War Memorial. He was so unknown then they curtained off half the arena.

He did handstands while playing the piano.

It sounds quite reasonable he would be on Wonderama around that time to get visibility in US market.