Reg Strikes Back

Reg Strikes Back
Studio album by Elton John
Released	24 June 1988
Recorded	1987–88
Genre	Pop, rock
Length	42:06 (Original) 62:06 (1998 Reissue)
Label	MCA (Original Release) Rocket / Mercury (Reissue)
Producer	Chris Thomas
Elton John chronology
Elton John's Greatest Hits Vol. 3 (1987) Reg Strikes Back (1988) The Complete Thom Bell Sessions (1989)
Singles from Reg Strikes Back
"I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That" Released: June 1988 "Town of Plenty" Released: September 1988 "A Word in Spanish" Released: 1988 "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two" Released: 1988

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Chicago Tribune	(mixed)[2]
Los Angeles Times	[3]
The New York Times	(not favourable)[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]

Reg Strikes Back, released in 1988, is the twenty-first official album release for Elton John. It was his self-proclaimed comeback album, and his own way of fighting back against bad press.^[1] The "Reg" in Reg Strikes Back refers to John's birth name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight.

In the US the album was certified gold in August 1988 by the RIAA.

Background

This was the last album that bassist Dee Murray (albeit without bass) appeared on prior to his death in 1992. The tracks "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That" and "A Word in Spanish" peaked at No. 2 and No. 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively. John brought back record producer Chris Thomas for the album. This is the first studio album to be recorded and released after John's throat surgery the previous year. The album cover featured costumes from John's collection that he decided to put up for auction.

Production

• Producer: Chris Thomas
• Recorded and Engineered by Bill Price, Michael Mason and Paul Wertheimer
• Assistant Engineer: Karl Lever
• Recorded at AIR Studios (Montserrat), Westside Studios (London, England), Circle Seven Recording and The Record Plant (Los Angeles, CA)
• Mixed at AIR Studios (Montserrat)
• Mastered by Tim Young
• Art Direction: David Costa
• Photography: Gered Mankowitz
• Wardrobe: Bob Stacey

1998 Reissue

• Producer & Remastering Supervision: Mike Gill
• Remixing & Additional Production on Tracks 12, 13 & 14: Shep Pettibone
• Additional Remixing on Tracks 12 & 13 by Steve Peck
• Remixing on Track 14 by Daniel Abraham
• Editing on Tracks 12 & 13: Junior Vasquez
• Programming on Tracks 12 & 13: Fred McFarlane
• Remastered by Gus Dudgeon, Mike Gill & Peter Mew

Track listing

All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted.

Side one

1. "Town of Plenty" – 3:40
2. "A Word in Spanish" – 4:39
3. "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two" – 4:12
4. "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That" – 4:35
5. "Japanese Hands" – 4:40

Side two

6. "Goodbye Marlon Brando" – 3:30
7. "The Camera Never Lies" – 4:36
8. "Heavy Traffic" (John/Taupin/Davey Johnstone) – 3:30
9. "Poor Cow" – 3:50
10. "Since God Invented Girls" – 4:54

Bonus tracks (1998 PolyGram International reissue)

11. "Rope Around a Fool" – 3:48
12. "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That" (Shep Pettibone Mix) – 7:16
13. "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That" (Just Elton and His Piano Mix) – 4:37
14. "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two" (The Renaissance Mix) – 6:19

B-sides

Song	Format
"Rope Around a Fool"	I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That 12"/CD (UK) / 7" (US/UK)
"I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That (Shep Pettibone Mix)"	I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That 12"/CD (US/UK)
"I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That (The Pub Dub)"	I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That 12"/CD (US)
"I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That (Just Elton and His Piano Mix)"	I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That 12"/CD (US)
"I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That (Just for Radio Mix)"	I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That 12" (US)
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two (The Renaissance Mix)"	Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two 12" (US)
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two (The Da Vinci Version)"	Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two 12" (US)
"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two (Self Portrait Instrumental)"	Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two 12" (US)

'Rope Around a Fool' was recorded during these sessions, as was an unused track, 'Love Worth Waiting For', which Elton would perform at an AIDS benefit show in Los Angeles during the summer of 1988 , but has yet to see official release on any format.

Personnel

• Elton John: keyboards, lead and harmony vocals
• Fred Mandel: synthesizers
• Davey Johnstone: guitars
• Pete Townshend: acoustic guitar on "Town of Plenty"
• David Paton: bass guitar
• Charlie Morgan: drums
• Ray Cooper: tambourine, maracas and timbales on tracks 6-9
• Freddie Hubbard: trumpet and flugelhorn on "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Part Two"
• Backing vocals (tracks 1-9): Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson, Davey Johnstone and Elton John
• Backing vocals on "Since God Invented Girls": Adrian Baker, Bruce Johnston, Carl Wilson and Elton John

Charts

Chart positions Chart (1988–89) Peak position Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart[6] 12 Austrian Albums Chart[7] 13 Canadian RPM Albums Chart[8] 6 Danish Album Charts[9] 13 French SNEP Albums Chart[10] 30 Italian Albums Chart[11] 3 New Zealand Albums Chart[12] 26 Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[13] 8 Swedish Albums Chart[14] 18 Swiss Albums Chart[15] 5 UK Albums Chart[16] 18 US Billboard 200[17] 16 West German Media Control Albums Chart[18] 18

Year-end charts Chart (1988) Position Australian Albums Chart[6] 60 US Billboard 200[19] 65 Chart (1989) Position Italian Albums Chart[11] 18 French Albums Chart[20] 93

Certifications

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Region	Certification	Sales/shipments
Australia (ARIA)[21]	Gold	35,000
Canada (Music Canada)[22]	2× Platinum	200,000
France (SNEP)[23]	Gold	100,000
Italy (FIMI)[24]	3× Platinum	300,000
United Kingdom (BPI)[25]	Silver	60,000
United States (RIAA)[26]	Gold	500,000
^*sales figures based on certification alone ^^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

1. Stephen Thomas Erlewine. "Reg Strikes Back". Allmusic. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
2. Heim, Chris (12 August 1988). "Elton John Is Back With Fan-pleasing 'Reg Strikes Back'". chicagotribune.com. Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
3. Grein, Paul (3 July 1988). "Elton: Second Wind". articles.latimes.com. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
4. Holden, Stephen (17 July 1988). "RECORDINGS; Three Veteran Rock-and-Rollers Spin New Disks". nytimes.com. The New York Times. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
5. Harold Goldberg (6 October 1988). "Reg Strikes Back | Album Reviews". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 11 January 2012.
6. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, NSW: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
7. "austriancharts.at Elton John – Reg Strikes Back" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Retrieved 29 January 2012.
8. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 29 January 2012
9. http://danskehitlister.dk/?song_id=6567
10. "InfoDisc : Tous les Albums classés par Artiste > Choisir Un Artiste Dans la Liste" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
11. "Hit Parade Italia – Gli album più venduti del 1989" (in Italian). hitparadeitalia.it. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
12. "charts.org.nz Elton John – Reg Strikes Back" (ASP). Hung Medien. Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
13. "norwegiancharts.com Elton John – Reg Strikes Back" (ASP). Hung Medien. VG-lista. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
14. "swedishcharts.com Elton John – Reg Strikes Back" (ASP) (in Swedish). Retrieved 29 January 2012.
15. "Elton John – Reg Strikes Back – hitparade.ch" (ASP). Hung Medien (in German). Swiss Music Charts. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
16. "Chart Stats – Elton John – Reg Strikes Back" (PHP). UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
17. "allmusic ((( Reg Strikes Back > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
18. "Album Search: Elton John – Reg Strikes Back" (in German). Media Control. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
19. articles with dead external links%5d%5d%5b%5bCategory:Articles with dead external links from February 2016%5d%5d "Billboard.BIZ: Top Pop Albums of 1988" Check |archiveurl= value (help). billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 1 January 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
20. "Les Albums (CD) de 1989 par InfoDisc" (PHP) (in French). infodisc.fr. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
21. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1990 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
22. "Canadian album certifications – Elton John – Reg Strikes Back". Music Canada.
23. "French album certifications – John E. – Reg Strikes Back" (in French). InfoDisc. Select JOHN E. and click OK
24. "Italian album certifications – Elton John – Reg Strikes Back" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Elton John in the field Filtra. The certification will load automatically
25. "British album certifications – Elton John – Reg Strikes Back". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Reg Strikes Back in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Silver in the field By Award. Click Search
26. "American album certifications – Elton John – Reg Strikes Back". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH