When Old Songs Become New Again: ‘Tiny Dancer’
I recently played “Tiny Dancer” by Elton John on my afternoon show, and while I was singing along (poorly) with Elton, I thought: “Man, I never played this song on the radio until AFTER that great scene in the movie Almost Famous.” If you’ve never seen the movie, here’s a peak at that fantastic scene.
Cameron Crowe wrote the screenplay, directed the film, and co-produced it. According to Wikipedia, “the film is semi-autobiographical, as Crowe himself was a teenage writer for Rolling Stone.” Almost Famous would go on to receive four Academy Award nominations, winning for Best Original Screenplay. It would also win a Grammy Award for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture, Television, or Other Visual Media.
Per Wikipedia, the song “Tiny Dancer” was originally released on Elton John’s 1971 album Madman Across The Water. It did not get a lot of radio airplay here in the U.S.A. at the time and it never reached the top 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 as a single release in 1972. However, once the tune was prominently featured in the 2000 film Almost Famous, it received a huge boost in popularity, going gold in 2005, platinum in 2011, and 3x platinum in 2018.
In 2021, “Tiny Dancer” was ranked at #47 on Rolling Stone’s list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”
It just goes to show you the power of movies and music, when song and visual art meld perfectly. I’m glad that great song finally received its due and I get to play it on 96.3 KKLZ!
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Larry Martino is the long-time Afternoon Drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ – Las Vegas. After programming top-rated radio stations in cities like Bakersfield, CA, Nashville, TN, and Riverside / San Bernardino, CA, he and his family decided to plant roots here in Las Vegas in 1994. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.
