Elton John - I'm Still Standing - Live Aid 1985

[hfield07]

weren't allowed sound checks at live aid.

[SuperVicente91]

IM STILL STANDING BETTER THEN I EVER DID LOOKING LIKE A TRUE SURVIVOR FEELING LIKE A LITTLE KID IM STILL STANDING YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[SuperVicente91]

IM STILL STANDING BETTER THEN I EVER DID LOOKING LIKE A TRUE SURVIVORFEELING LIKE A LITTLE KID IM STILL STANDING YOU MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hoopenhanger]

Somebody should have told the guy who introduced Elton that his ballbag was hanging out.

[RICH12DAY34]

They were having trouble all day with the live audio and the mix

[GroffinTiffin]

Coked out of his gourd and flying twice the speed of sound! Raw sound adds to this. No pretension or blame...just keeps on playing. He sure doesn't rock like this anymore, though.

Let's see where these hip hop assholes (I mean "artists") are in 5 yrs.

The industry just doesn't put out talent anymore. What a shame.

[marcodarcy96]

too bad this was cut off the dvd of Live Aid

[GregsynthWizard]

I got the audio from the BBC broadcast. It's in much better quality!

[FanOfPopCulture]

@marcodarcy96 Yeah, I have the same DVD, and I was surprised to see how much they didnt put on it.

[alcockell]

@FanOfPopCulture Simply because they *didn't have the footage*. ABC and MTV junked their broadcast masters.. the Beeb didn't.

[leewelshy]

Piano is out of tune, prob because he couldn't even hear it but a good performance apart from that. Sounds good played slightly more up tempo

[TomandaustinRV]

feedback is horrible in this song. unless that's actually an instrument i'm hearing.

[JonHawaii2003]

@TomandaustinRV As a former monitor engineer, feedback is part of the game. We have many mixes going on for the performers. Sometimes up to 18. To do a show like this is utterly amazing. I have the utmost respect for the sound men for this show.

[Matim2005]

He made a mistake with lyrics look at 1:07 :D

[cyblur]

hahaaahaaaaa.. coccain is a hellofahhh drug..... god i miss the 80s.

[funshipM174]

I LOVE the horn section that he added for this song!

[weirdguy75]

Elton was in tune the whole time despite being coked up it was a bad tech day and the backing singers sucked horribly

[WolfieTed]

sounded like a few bad notes in there. He must have been psyched up something rotton!

[MrByku89]

I thin that the rank should be as below:

1. I'm Still Standing at Wembley 1984 (Ice on Fire?)

2. I'm Still Standing at Wembley 1985, Live Aid (it more "rocks" I think, but the sound :/)

3. I'm Still Standing (I don't know when it was, but Elton was playing it with Eric Clapton and Phill Collins)

It's just my opinion ;) Elton ROCKS!!

[Gregsynth]

Agree!

[formulaonemad]

@MrByku89 Number 3 was Prince's Trust 1986 :)

[Arthur5041975]

Wow that was a trainwreck of a performance. Let's also blame the fact that Elton racing at high speed through this. This is your brain on drugs.

[Gregsynth]

It's a great performance! It's just the sound is TERRIBLE (there was no soundcheck), and the bass guitar's quite flat!

[Arthur5041975]

@Gregsynth It's not a great performance. It's way too fast.

[Gregsynth]

It is faster than the studio version, but check out the version from the Prince's trust (1986). That version is WAY too fast, faster than this version!

[Arthur5041975]

@Gregsynth I checked out the Prince's trust version. Yipes. Cocaine really makes things move so much more quickly.

[Gregsynth]

Yep! In the 1980s, good ol' Elton would just go up on stage stoned and play away! I got two recordings from the 1984 US leg of the Breaking Hearts Tour (Crocodile Rock and Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting), and he's playing both songs like DOUBLE the album speed!

[Gregsynth]

The best version (in my opinion), is the 1984 version from that Wembley concert.

[Gregsynthbootlegs]

Hey Arthur, what's your favorite version of this song?

[daplayer]

Something wrong with there tech, Can't blame them really. blame the Audio technician

[LiveAid1]

"It sounds like they never had a soundcheck before this song" - Technically.... they didn't

[CAT31in09]

The sound effects which aren't supposed to be there are awesome, at least in my opinion.

[LiveAid1]

@CAT31in09 I agree after watching it several times, I have a much clearer version of this I will upload soon

[weirdguy75]

fuck church

[DanQueen2008]

rokermad: They didn't have a soundcheck before. They were forbiden. That was the musical point of the concert, stripped back stagingand lights and no soundchecks.

[videodude23]

U know technology's primitive with there's CONSTANT SCHREECHING from that DAMN MIC!!!

[mocus1]

when you're a professional performer, you ignore feedback and other distractions and concentrate on the performance

[keef186]

I guess each band didn't have much time to set up all their equipment although I do remember before Queen's set there was maybe a few minutes of sound check and then they were on. Judas Priest had very bad sound problems too so it just wasn't in London.

[SG1lover14]

those sound techs are crappy. we do a better job at my church!

[rushrulez1]

@SG1lover14 they had 15 mins and @pink floyd effect, there was most likely a mic pointed at a monitor or something causing the feeding

[pinkfloydeffect]

Sounds like hes trying to yell something about turning something down to a sound guy next to the piano. I'm guessing his monitor? Also sounds like one of the mics in the piano are bad? Can anyone verify what happened with the feedback? Sorry John

[H8ash1ndustries]

no wonder this wasnt on the dvd release, shame really

[Arthur5041975]

Why were there no soundchecks allowed at Live Aid?

[alcockell]

Arthur - may I suggets you read the comments in chronological order? Crews had to move bands in and out within 15 minutes. Only time for a line check..

[Arthur5041975]

May I suggest that you don't speak to your mental superiors with such an attitude?

[alcockell]

Sir, I refer you to the conversation earlier in the comment stream about a year ago.

I believe other articles around the Web about Live Aid covers this.

May I also enquire why the ad hominem attack?

[retrodisko1]

a very young Martha Queen

[Arthur5041975]

I'm surprised Elton didn't go apeshit at the feedback.

[Vaportrail69]

Martha Quinn

[8cele9]

No soundchecks were allowed in Live Aid.

[KINGMJ1990]

1.MJ

2.Elton

3.Beatles and Elvis

[Pergiacomo]

Quote everything, but please insert also Prince  in the chart!

[KINGMJ1990]

1.MJ(he is just the king)

2.Elton(Piano Maestro and great voice)

3.The Beatles(Including individual performances)

4.Elvis(Because he only sang his songs and not create it)

5.Freddie Mercury

6.Prince

[jaredgetsacookie]

shame that the performance was plagued with technical difficulties since this was just one year before he lost most of his voice.

[Gregsynth]

It's common knowledge, my friend.

[TheBestBazza]

they didnt have a sound check before it

[happyhippo3000]

Elton John is the real king of pop!!!

[eltonjohntheone]

You´re right!

he is .

Especially because he was an inspiration for michael jackson ( how he said)he has to be the king of kings!!!!!!

[digimastr]

@happyhippo3000 king of poof

[kingis3000]

King #1: Elvis

King #2: Elton

[jambolynn]

I don't know...Queen were bloody brilliant!

[airdriver]

Basically what happened at Wembley & JFK was that they had three rotating stages. Each band was given 20 minutes to play their set. While one band was playing, the previous band was tearing down their equipment and hauling it away while the next band was bringing theirs in and setting up. That meant there was very little, if any, time for a proper sound check.

[Jorisa22]

WTF has he on his head:p

[Gregsynth]

It's called a hat! lol

[lisfan]

Yeah, the technicals on Live Aid were really rushed. Sound checks weren't long, if they were done at all, which is what's prevented much of it from being released, except on DVD only recently. Note there was never a soundtrack album put out. As alcockell pointed out, there just wasn't time. They crash mixed just about everything. It's amazing they got out what they did! Elton still rocked, though! He was among the first of the bands to arrive, which made Bob Geldof feel good at the time.

[bcd87uk]

Wow, what a profound observation you've made there. You fucking twat.

[Jazzper79]

Today he would have flipped out of the sound quality -- LOL -- guess he is a little drunk here.

Jesper

[keef186]

Probably really coked up!

[jaggass]

have you seen that clip when elton john- the bitch is back when he loses his cool because of the sound quality?

[paulbatk]

Quality is SHIT

[Goedhartbros]

Elton rocks!!!

[flipement]

greatest pianist of all time?

[T1carus]

@flipement banging chords over and over : /

[kclarke94]

@flipement Without a doubt

[jelissajaconiworld]

Charlie Overdose!! lol

[johnmaveric5]

great song writer - but such a twat lol

[jctorontojctoronto]

forget the video quality here...

i remember the show well..

Live Aid 85

elton rocking his home town...and a packed  house at Wembley Stadium (not arena)...

Bowie, Queen, Dire Straits, George Michael, Annie Lennox and many more then,,,the British who's who then...what a show,...

jctorontojctoronto

[kigger622]

u cant have a sound check when 20 artists have to come on the stage

[danilsquigger]

u can

[emufan23]

No you can´t, it would take most of, if not the whole day.

[emufan23]

Besides, it wasn´t allowed.

[jpg0572]

you can't hear all the feedback from the mics? That can't be right.

[alcockell]

@emufan23 .. especially on old analogue kit. Nowadays, you can store levels for each act... but resetting something like 60-100 channels on analogue desks?

[jpg0572]

and you should. All the feedback is awful.

[Surfer3641]

They didn't get sound checks at live aid because they needed to move bands in and out as quickly as possible.

[jaggass]

he always changed his hair style every year

[randomhorseshit]

Mark goodman and Martha Quinn from Mtv, ahhhhh the good ol' days.

[Ilovegoldens1]

forgot the sound quality...he is flying here and the horns mnake this great song unforgettable..i still remember this from 23 years ago...who cares about the audio?

[mim28]

so true. he is flying, the back up singers are loving it, the band is into it in spite of obvius problems. this is what music is about. and every time elton sings this song he lifts. love it.

[Woohoo5241]

Elton DIDN'T have any sound check for Live Aid; none of the artists did.

[platez81]

Hmm with such Big arrangements on the festival one would hope they got better soundtechnicians than they obviously got. Elton is a great artist no doubt about it, but this performance is really totally unfair to him AND the band. All the best from Sweden

[alcockell]

Sound crew were BBC Whistle Test and Radio 1 engineers - some of the best around.

However - they had to set up and tear down bands every 15 mins.. and then revolve and patch in..

There just wasn't the time - sometimes it's down to crash-mix..

[ejdbk]

can anybody tell me any other elton john songs like this one and the bitch is back,and saturday night is alright,thnx

[weirdguy75]

yes the sound was rather poor but also it sounds like the back up vocals are a little off key.

[Gidzei]

Soeur Elton John est un Dieu Vivant :D

[owenpetard]

Horrible mix! Pity they didn't allow soundchecks at Live Aid.

[keef186]

The MTV dude was showing his cock/balls to the whole world the whole day.

[WhisperLady023]

I love this song with a longer intro.. <3 Go Elton!

[baloonr1]

they never had a check song because they weren't allowed to do one, that were the rules at live aid

[JJ2555]

wot do you mean?

[AbsolutelyPleased]

i think it was time constraints. No band that played Live Aid was allowed a soundcheck or to use playback. Thats why Queen omitted the opera portion of Bohemian Rhapsody. So if it sounds like they didnt have a sound check, they didnt.

[nmXSUICiDE]

Also, I think MTV broadcast part of this. And they only know how to do good sound engineering for performers who lip synch. Elton, being an actual musician, caused problems. LOL

[ComeDownInTime]

Absolutely

[BillyIsATwat23]

addressing nmXSUICIDE:

MTV Unplugged? I seem to remember such lip-synching non-musicians as Neil Young, Nirvana, Bjork, Bod Dylan, Maxwell, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen, Oasis (among many others) all recording sessions for that program.

The bad sound was down to tired engineers/roadcrew at Wembley, and Elton having no soundcheck before playing. Anyway the music would have gone through 3 seperate mixing/covertion stages (all done live and "on the fly") before MTV could even broadcast it.

[BillyIsATwat23]

Before anyone else spots it I'd just like to say "Bod Dylan" LOL

[Woohoo5241]

Where do you see that?

[BillyIsATwat23]

"Bod Dylan" was a typo in my reply to nmXSUICIDE's comment about blaming MTV for Elton's poor sound.

[alcockell]

Yup - BBC Whistle Test lot mixing it, 2-track broadcast mix being microwave-sent to Telecom Tower, uplinked to INTELSAT kit, downlink to Philly, resynced, distributed on MTV feed to your broadcast net... AND bounced BACK via satellite to Telecom Tower, relayed to the Beeb for onward broadcast...

[BillyIsATwat23]

"Jaw hits the floor"

Respect to the BBC.

Wow alcockell I knew the BBC soundcrew had a complicated job but crikey. When I watch the vids/DVD I still find it remarkable that they and the american crew pulled off Live Aid with such proffesionalism.

[alcockell]

Was being mixed and a 2-track mix fed down the INTELSAT channels by the Beeb...

Elton's monitor was right in the pocket...

[keef186]

I've always loved the line "picking up the peices of my life without you on my mind."

[Phatheon]

Wow would have liked to hear a better quality of that, real good version though.

[alcockell]

Yep - definitely obvious.. but it rocked HARD!

[WhisperLady023]

Did you know he is wearing a wig?

[WhisperLady023]

But ofcourse it doesn't matter! Elton is great and I love this song!!

[JasonC1782]

Funny story about that; Elton John was taken to Live Aid at Wembley by helicopter, and the pilot was ordered to shut the rotors off as soon as it landed so they didn't blow Elton's wig off his head once he stepped out.

[WhisperLady023]

Yeah I know!! :D And than the helicopter blow his flowers away!

[shelaighD]

gotta love Elton lol a true professional despite the sound problems. I like this song and he IS still standing! Rock on Elton:)

[squirrelfight12]

was there somthing wrong with the piano?, cause it sounds sorta off tune

[acdc126]

i think it was the bass

[jimmycmulligan23]

Elton was brilliant at Live Aid, shame he was overshadowed by Queen and David Bowie...

[DudeLove1996]

Queen Was Voted Best Gig So He Really Wasn't Over Shadowed By Them He Was Upstaged By Them He Was Overshadowed By David Bowie

[BillyIsATwat23]

Overshadowed/Upstaged, same differance I'd say. Elton was still should be better remembered for his Live Aid set.

Remember a few things:

Elton was the last act to get there own set, before the Cat Stevens (last minute addition and then last minute no show), Mercury & May, Paul MacCartney, cast of thousands finale. So technicaly he headlined Live Aid London.

He got 30 minutes to play when everyone else, 'cept Adam Ant and Elvis Costello who got 5 each, only got 20 mins.

[BillyIsATwat23]

Continued...

Queen were bloody good I'd addmit that, however like many people I find there performence a little over familiar as, along with Status Quo, it is what programs always reach for whenever anybody does a feature on Live Aid.

Bowie was probably my favourite all day though I wish that:

a) He'd gone with his instincts and opened with "Facination" rather than an addmitedly great "TVC 15"

b) He'd found time to play "Five Years" the song he dropped to make way for the appeal film.

[davyo]

I can't get over how good this performance despite the sound problems, fabulous!

[davyo]

It appears his monitor isn't working, he keeps checking it to see if he can hear anything.

[alcockell]

Nearest one to him could have also been the one that was feeding back. At 2:31, you can see how close it is - and if that ws blasting too loud - it would have been feeding even worse... output from that speaker would be going straight down Elton's mic.

Actually - right into it - the monitor tech must have been thinking "Oh bugger" when it started feeding..

Roadies were bumping that monitor around during most of the song.

[ZeldaZonk69]

whatever anyone thinks of elton john, he is an AMAZING perfomer, despite the obvious problems with this particular version

[jtsnowman66]

no one had sound check, each performer got 20 minutes, that's it.

[darrenhindmarsh]

I don't think anyone had any time for soundchecks on live aid...acts were on and off all day, this performance has i remember it came very near the end of the wembley gig. ommited from the dvd release for obvious reasons.

[Arkady63]

According to Bob Geldorf's biography, "Is That It?", each act had three minutes. You are right, there were no sound checks. What I love most about this concert, besides it being the touchstone of a generation and a great act to influence others was that it was not the baby boom. That self-flattering, self-indulgent demographic group actually had to watch and be outdone. Woodstock was all about them. Live Aid was all (and only) about helping others.