I remember seeing this in the theater when it first came out. It totally blew my mind. After the movie, I sat stunned waiting for my parents to pick me up, take me home. In those moments, I knew my life would never be the same again. I became a lifelong musician, and at 61, I still play keyboards in a rock band.
@@frankthespank I play a sort of Aggressive pinball, but not quite mean. LOL I do get pretty physically/vocally expressive. Feet firmly planted, hips and shoulders moving wildly, and hands on the machine, both pressing the buttons like a mad man, and bumping the table, trying to make the ball do my bidding. What I lack, is any kind of coherent strategy, just trying to get the ball to hit as many things as I can, and keep it from going down the chute. What an amazing invention!
I know just how you feel. but did you ever feel the need to trash your keyboard, and or drum kit, guitar be it base or lead or do other members just lead you to a pinball machine, he has crazy little fingers after all, How do think he does it ?
I was just an 8 year old kid in the audience the day they were filming this with Elton John and The Who. I was already a Who fan thanks to my elder brothers and the Who happened to be filming Tommy in my home town that summer. I was on my way home from school and walking past the Kings Theatre when I joined a crowd of trendy teenagers and got ushered in as extras all who were invited to form the crowds in the scene. I ended up on the shoulders of a young man who stood on the chairs in upper circle. It was pretty hairy but the excitement is something that never left me all my life. It was my first concert and my first shoot. Took me 40 years to see them in concert again.
Well lucky you !, my god this film is legendary to be part of 'Tommy' would be a dream for me Oliver reed, Jack nickolson, Anne (beautiful) margaret, Elton and the who !
"that almost sounds sped up,but wasn't." WHAT??? I hope you're trying to be funny because this is obviously sped up. You've just never heard this song played correctly.
While the Who's version of this song is great, I have always thought that Elton's version is just stellar! He really took it to the next level with the production, piano, etc.....
I was 12 years old when me and my friends went to the local movie theater in illinois to see this movie. To say my mind was blown away .....is an understatement. Thank god😂❤
Trivia: The wardrobe department had gone so over budget by this point in the movie, they were forced to ask Elton John to just bring in some of his own ordinary, everyday street clothes to shoot this scene. Thankfully, he obliged.
I remember that my friend Gail, our friend Charles and I called in to our jobs that night to go see that POS movie. It's the only part we remember, also. LOL The 70's WERE fun, weren't they? ;)
I got my grandmother to take me to see this ( my sister wanted to see "Jaws").... Grandma kind of liked the music but thought the movie was weird...lol
Yep, same here! I was forbidden to see the movie by my parents. Jumped on the forever reliable & always ready Schwinn Varsity & watched my first rock opera & as a bonus, never got caught! If Heaven isn't 1975 at 15 years old, I don't want to go. Cheers moon man!
Elton John at the peak of his amazing abilities as a singer/performer. The Who as Elton's back up band at their peak of their oh-so-cool onstage antics ( Pete's conspicuous consumption of destroying guitars ). Roger Daltrey at the peak of his insanely sexy muscular hairless blonde-hair blue-eyed good looks - and it's filmed in an era before M-TV or music videos are invented. This was a moment that altered the rock & roll universe forever. Watch this, my children, and understand "genius"!
Tommy was the "other" mid-night movie where I'm from. One theater would show Rocky Horror, the other Tommy. I can't tell you how many times I saw this In my teens.
lol, I wagged school when I was 13 to see this when it first came out, now I will be 61 this year. A big Thank You to "The Who" and to "Sir Elton John" for the perfect music/songs
@Slayy_queen4lifeIt's not knowing who Elton John is It's experiencing when he first became who he is. And hearing him in concert for the first times and all of the energy that was at that time. And he wasn't necessarily talking just about Elton John. The who was fantastic. And most of these guys are dead now.
@@LKMNOPRoger Daltrey, Pete Townsend and Elton John are still very much alive. Roger turned 80 this year and Pete & getting close to that age. So not quite true 'they're all dead now.'
The chorus from this song just popped in my head this afternoon. Just out of nowhere. I remembered the 1975 hit by Elton John. Love this version over "The Who's" original. Elton made it better IMO. Elton's costume is hilarious. Love his facial expressions, and I want that hat!
Elton John was absolutely perfect for this scene. On top of being one the greatest musicians ever, he really looks like he also could have had a career in acting.
"we were spoiled, and didn't even know it. " That's why 21st century popular music came along; to make you realise how spoilt you were in the prior century.
I was a pre-teen in the mid-70s. Some rainy or snowy Saturday or Sunday afternoons, I'd be stuck inside. Sometimes I'd play with whatever toys or puzzles I had or I would read and sometimes I'd watch TV. Once, a rerun of Viva Las Vegas, with Elvis and Ann Margret was playing. I was about 9 or 10, but watching Ann Margret on screen, I knew I was heterosexual. #ComingOfAge
TOMMY WAS AND STILL IS A MASTERPIECE OF A FILM LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT THANK TO EVERYBODY WHO MADE IT AMAZING 🥰 RIP KEITH MOON THEY'LL NEVER BE ANOTHER YOU SLEEP WELL 😃 BUT THEN YOU'RE PROBABLY STILL PLAYING THE DRUMS
I was 17 when "Tommy" made it to the movie screen. It was a double treat for me because I was a fan of Elton John _and_ The Who. I was so hyped I went to The Northpoint Theater in San Francisco three nights in a row. The Northpoint (which closed in 1997) was known for having the smallest movie theater screen in San Francisco.
Same here, Elton’s version was the first one I heard and when I heard The Who’s I was disappointed. It was good, but their’s didn’t have the same dynamic feel as Elton’s
Happy 54th Birthday, Pinball Wizard!!! LOVE The WHO (Crushing on Roger), they're in my TOP 3 BANDS,...but I gotta say, Elton OWNS this song!!! I knew every word to this movie, back in the day - saw it 4 times in the theatre. *Yes, dating myself here. Rock ON Roger, Pete, and Elton! RIP Keith and John.
I have seen a ton of musicals but that has to be my all time favorite musical scene in any film. This scene is pure energy, excitement and best of you have Elton John and The Who!
My favorite!!! I was the actual pinball wizard!!! I played the pinball wizard machine and would always rack up 25 games!!! That's the most you could get on it!!! I could beat any pinball machine and then I went to Fooze ball and was the champ at it!!!! I lived in arcade's!!!!!
Pinball was illegal in my state when this movie came out. I was fascinated with the machines. When they became legal in Alabama I played them all. My favorite to this day is Power Play, the hockey themed table.
I always wanted to know about the backstory of the Pinball Wizard. Such a wild character, wish we knew more about him before Tommy defeats him, and what happened to him after. There is a story there for someone to write.
I suspect he probably settled down to an obscenely luxurious retirement (and wearing giant bunny slippers) afterward. After all, if a newcomer like Tommy was able to buy fancy yachts and stately manors with his winnings, then Elton the longtime Champ must've surely amassed a GNP-sized fortune during HIS career. (And we all know Professional Pinball was a HUGE sport back in the '70's. :)
@@sidnew2739 Some kid who handed his pinball crown to Tommy. So I think he is more than some random kid. So I think it would be a great story of what happened after he handed his pinball crown to Tommy. Every fictional story is bullshit.
Thank you for uploading this! What a crazy combo! I always like both of them but never imagined a team up like that, damn costumes are enough already, lmao, I really enjoyed this!
Nov 73…..I’m an 18 year old barman at The Marquee Club….across the street is Rocket Records…..Elton would often pop in to chat with Rod and Long John Baldry (with his pet goat on a lead)…..none of us sadly bothered to get an autograph …..in those days you just sort of didn’t….
Wow. Talk about bringing back memories! I was a sophomore in high school when this movie came out. Went to see it. Liked it. Bought the soundtrack too. Oh the 70’s! I preferred the 80’s myself. Great time for music too!
Boy this brings back memories! I was stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver,saw the movie when it first came out,stayed at the same theatre on East Colfax for 6 months!
It was an existing musical work turned into a film. One of the most important works in Rock and Roll. Listen to the live at Leeds extended LP when the Who played in live, years before the film was made.
The 70ths music was not political anymore and there was no MTV yet. Everything was just fun and suddenly there were a bunch of all thoset kinds of music changes that developed different kinds of show styles and costumes expressing there own music within something new. It was a time there you still had to watch your icons on stage, to be physically at each concert --- Bob Marley, Kiss. Elton John, Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, ABBA, Sly & Family Stone, The Queen, U2 etc ---- All those icons got a new image which seemed to be just as important than the music they played --- even the Stones started to change their costumes more colorful and got wilder on stage --- love from Sweden ❤❤❤
Good ol' pinball wizard. A friend of mine had an arcade in his town close recently that was called "Pinball Wizard" and him, myself and 2 others harmonized this as tribute.
Yep, he sure was in Los Angeles, from about '72 to '76, about half of what KHJ and KKDJ played. I remember the girls at my school were just plain crazy for him, David Bowie and Rod Stewart at that time.
This IS one of the greatest movie songs ever done this movie has never got the recognition it deserves music has lost the innocence this movie projects
@@Malkmusianful that pinball machine man. All you have to do is play a song to play the game I know tons of piano songs. I might tilt by doing Moonlight Sonata.
I wonder how they decided that Elton John's master pinball machine should be an Art Decco fixture. I really love the organ overlay over the intro. It adds yet another dimension to the tune; sort of imperialistic, and then kind of melacholy once the piano arpeggio starts.
I was 18 or 19 in the Army stationed in Germany when this came out. We had been hearing the soundtrack on Armed Forces radio. We were on maneuvers while it played in the base theater. A group of friends and I went to see it. We were blown away. They don't play this enough on the radio.
I can still remember with decent clarity being taken to this by my older siblings when I was six years old. Threre were some other teenaged kids from my neighborhood (that were around my sibs' ages) there also. I though it was a weird film, but I recall the vibe in the theater, etc.
Those two destroyed so many instruments back before they were rich and famous that the band was heavily in debt having to constantly buy new guitars and drum kits! They made only $12K at Woodstock-that didn't even cover it.
i actually figured out how tommy could play pinball so well because he can only see his reflection he just focuses on his reflection in the pinball so he never lost track of where it was
Great now can you postulate who was Tommy singing to at the end...after the disciples left him. When he sings. " Listening to you, I get the rhythm. From you , I get the story . Right behind you, I climb the mountain I get excitement at your feet " That has been puzzling me last few days. And your insight into the pinball reflection was superb.
@@insanezenmistress that's something that I'm less sure about. I feel like that part is better left up to interpretation because it could have multiple meanings. If I had to guess I'd say he found god in some form but I'm not sure.
@@hurricanefury439 I would concur that as after his false enlightenment he still needed to be seen and heard and healed. There was another water plunge and ..one of the multiple meaning I find is .... He learned that everyone's got a different pinball machine...the whole story of freedom and reality is in all of us. So he was singing to you and me
I am a true Who fanatic I also like Elton John Have you listened to the entire album goodbye yellow brick road it almost sounds like the Who backing him up he's got such a great original band
I remember seeing this in the theater when it first came out.
It totally blew my mind. After the movie, I sat stunned waiting for my parents to pick me up, take me home.
In those moments, I knew my life would never be the same again.
I became a lifelong musician, and at 61, I still play keyboards in a rock band.
But do you play a mean pinball?
@@frankthespank I play a sort of Aggressive pinball, but not quite mean. LOL
I do get pretty physically/vocally expressive.
Feet firmly planted, hips and shoulders moving wildly, and hands on the machine, both pressing the buttons like a mad man, and bumping the table, trying to make the ball do my bidding.
What I lack, is any kind of coherent strategy, just trying to get the ball to hit as many things as I can, and keep it from going down the chute.
What an amazing invention!
I know just how you feel. but did you ever feel the need to trash your keyboard, and or drum kit, guitar be it base or lead or do other members just lead you to a pinball machine, he has crazy little fingers after all, How do think he does it ?
@@michaelgwyndavies2827 Idk
@@anthonyforte7907 explain idk please or just call me daft no freaks going to beat my hand,damn he is just breaking every damn rule. Goodnight.
I was just an 8 year old kid in the audience the day they were filming this with Elton John and The Who. I was already a Who fan thanks to my elder brothers and the Who happened to be filming Tommy in my home town that summer. I was on my way home from school and walking past the Kings Theatre when I joined a crowd of trendy teenagers and got ushered in as extras all who were invited to form the crowds in the scene. I ended up on the shoulders of a young man who stood on the chairs in upper circle. It was pretty hairy but the excitement is something that never left me all my life. It was my first concert and my first shoot. Took me 40 years to see them in concert again.
Well lucky you !, my god this film is legendary to be part of 'Tommy' would be a dream for me Oliver reed, Jack nickolson, Anne (beautiful) margaret, Elton and the who !
PURE AWESOMENESS ❤️
Hey thanks that's a great story!
Did Pedo Pete offer you candy?
which town?
This is when Elton was able to sing with that particular higher pitch that almost sounds sped up,but wasn't. Unique tone.
It is pitched up in this bad recording..
@@compfox LOLOLOL... exactly. There are plenty of WAY better recordings of this out there.
"that almost sounds sped up,but wasn't." WHAT??? I hope you're trying to be funny because this is obviously sped up. You've just never heard this song played correctly.
Yes, " trying to be funny". By the way, I think you mean upload not recording.
By the way, Elton could sing like this without things having to be manipulated. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is one example.
While the Who's version of this song is great, I have always thought that Elton's version is just stellar! He really took it to the next level with the production, piano, etc.....
I agree
Yes great ending and solo ..a really Kool sound that went with the Era!! 🎹🎹
agreed
It was all Townsend. This was from the movie the wall. Elton was a great choice for the movie
@@roberthansen7549 eh? The Wall was Pink Floyd mate! lol
I was 12 years old when me and my friends went to the local movie theater in illinois to see this movie.
To say my mind was blown away .....is an understatement.
Thank god😂❤
Trivia: The wardrobe department had gone so over budget by this point in the movie, they were forced to ask Elton John to just bring in some of his own ordinary, everyday street clothes to shoot this scene. Thankfully, he obliged.
LOL 😆 LOL 😆!
So they spent the entire wardrobe budget on those big doc marten boots.
Those boots were so brilliant 😂
Nobody but Tina could do The Acid Queen... Had to see this today. Much respect...
Elton John and The Who together In Tommy. A Classic masterpiece...
absolutely !
And it’s the original band, with Keith Moon.
it was more than a masterpiece it was awesome as hell takes me back good time i loved the 70s love to go back
In 2023, Tommy still being AMAZING
No matter how many times I watch this video, those giant Dr. Martens on Elton always make me smile!
They`re in the DMs Museum in Northampton now.
Funny that Elton sold them. Only way he would play the role, was if they let him keep those boots.
And it's where the "The bigger the feet..." conjecture started.
4 of us guys went to see this in 75 we were so stoned that this is the only part I can remember.
I remember that my friend Gail, our friend Charles and I called in to our jobs that night to go see that POS movie. It's the only part we remember, also. LOL The 70's WERE fun, weren't they? ;)
I got my grandmother to take me to see this ( my sister wanted to see "Jaws").... Grandma kind of liked the music but thought the movie was weird...lol
Yep, same here! I was forbidden to see the movie by my parents. Jumped on the forever reliable & always ready Schwinn Varsity & watched my first rock opera & as a bonus,
never got caught!
If Heaven isn't 1975 at 15 years old, I don't want to go.
Cheers moon man!
I sort of remember it the same way, saw it with some college buddies, "stoned agin"!
Elton John at the peak of his amazing abilities as a singer/performer. The Who as Elton's back up band at their peak of their oh-so-cool onstage antics ( Pete's conspicuous consumption of destroying guitars ). Roger Daltrey at the peak of his insanely sexy muscular hairless blonde-hair blue-eyed good looks - and it's filmed in an era before M-TV or music videos are invented. This was a moment that altered the rock & roll universe forever. Watch this, my children, and understand "genius"!
liked dee murrays guitar solo better.
Yes I agree must say the 70s was the best years
Today I still look back thinking how good we had days of brilliant music and rock
The Elton John Band does not suck. The Who are absolutely hero's.
Tommy was the "other" mid-night movie where I'm from. One theater would show Rocky Horror, the other Tommy. I can't tell you how many times I saw this In my teens.
I was in Chicago and saw the world premiere in 1975
This isn't a scene from "Tommy". It's just Elton John hanging around his house on a normal Tuesday afternoon.
Daniel Bradford Totally!
When George Micheal was arrested his cell mate was a skinhead.When released George recorded Hairless Fister.
Craven Morehead Get out!
Daniel Bradford Lmao. Pretty sure I saw Freddy Mercury in the audience nodding in approval.
comettamer Wait, what? Where?
lol, I wagged school when I was 13 to see this when it first came out, now I will be 61 this year. A big Thank You to "The Who" and to "Sir Elton John" for the perfect music/songs
Young people today will never experience the icons that started it all back in the day
Everyone thought young folks out of control at that point . 🤣
Les 70's ont marqué my génération.....quel bonheur j'ai pu les voir en 1972 et plus tard. Quel groupe énergique et des musiciens hors pair.
@Slayy_queen4lifeIt's not knowing who Elton John is It's experiencing when he first became who he is. And hearing him in concert for the first times and all of the energy that was at that time. And he wasn't necessarily talking just about Elton John. The who was fantastic. And most of these guys are dead now.
Very true!
@@LKMNOPRoger Daltrey, Pete Townsend and Elton John are still very much alive. Roger turned 80 this year and Pete & getting close to that age. So not quite true 'they're all dead now.'
might be one of the best covers version ever superb
More creativity and inventiveness in this short 5 minute clip than in most full length movies nowadays.
No kidding!
Through the magic wand of Elton John, the Who has made Pinball Wizard it's most epic tune.
The chorus from this song just popped in my head this afternoon. Just out of nowhere. I remembered the 1975 hit by Elton John. Love this version over "The Who's" original. Elton made it better IMO. Elton's costume is hilarious. Love his facial expressions, and I want that hat!
Take your meds. Your critical thinking is shot.
I like Elton’s version better, too. I especially like the way he sings the chorus.👍
Elton seems a little bit taller than I remember him.
I don’t know why 😂
😅😅😅
Forced perspective
All the members of The who are very short
@@VinluvAntonHandesbukia actually no. He really did have very tall boots, and only did the film on the condition that he could keep the boots.
This might seem weird but I'm 11 right now and I love 70's music. I'm not old enough to watch Tommy yet but I can't wait to see it.
Quadrophenia the movie should be on your list. To be honest it is a better movie.
@@seaturtledog When do you think it's a good age to watch it?
I was 8 or 9 when this movie came out. My big brother took me to see it and I turned out fine.
There’s plenty out there waiting for you.
Oh, and you’ll definitely get a thrill out of Ann-Margret in Tommy
seaturtledog…..Tommy was horrible, so overrated, the movie that is. Quad is much better.
50 years as a Rock N Roller and I have never seen this, A super treat. Thank You!!!
2023 still love the who pinball Wizard this blown me out then still playing my 1973 pinball today playing these great tracks today 😊
Elton John was absolutely perfect for this scene. On top of being one the greatest musicians ever, he really looks like he also could have had a career in acting.
He only agreed to do this scene if he could keep the shoes.
He does look like a British TV actor. There’s like a face they have.
Pk
@@treebahn yes , Brits always pretend
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
I watch this and laugh with joy! God, we were spoiled, and didn't even know it. Those shoes!!!
Ikr. Can't get a pair of doc martens like that for love nor money these days. Even inserts don't make you quite as tall
"we were spoiled, and didn't even know it. "
That's why 21st century popular music came along; to make you realise how spoilt you were in the prior century.
Back in 1979 my sister and l saw this movie 50 times!! 😅
Spice Girls: "we had the tallest platform shoes in music"
Elton: "hold my beer"
Can the spice girls play the pinball under their own brand name?
😂😂😂
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how good Ann Margret rolling around in baked beans is?
Agreed…she still looks great (I don’t care how old she is).
She let down the troops in south east Asia, not her fault though Saigon fell,
I’ll second that.
I was a pre-teen in the mid-70s. Some rainy or snowy Saturday or Sunday afternoons, I'd be stuck inside. Sometimes I'd play with whatever toys or puzzles I had or I would read and sometimes I'd watch TV. Once, a rerun of Viva Las Vegas, with Elvis and Ann Margret was playing. I was about 9 or 10, but watching Ann Margret on screen, I knew I was heterosexual.
#ComingOfAge
That was a lil naughty, wasn't it ? :)
Tommy was the very first rock opera!❤️👍
TOMMY WAS AND STILL IS A MASTERPIECE OF A FILM LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT IT THANK TO EVERYBODY WHO MADE IT AMAZING 🥰 RIP KEITH MOON THEY'LL NEVER BE ANOTHER YOU SLEEP WELL 😃 BUT THEN YOU'RE PROBABLY STILL PLAYING THE DRUMS
Size 31 shoe-wearing Elton John in stilts singing “no freak’s gonna beat my hand” lol
He was bad-ass back then. Too bad he softened later on.
Grew up with Elton Johns music but I never watched this-That was tremendous!!!!!
Such an amazing movie, album and concept, bringing all these musical talents and famous names together. There may never be another like tgis
Hard to notice with all the enormous talent, but that is one cooking bass line! Entwistle best ever hands down!
Elton used his own band to record his version of the song. The Who are not really playing here.
Dee Murray is the bassist you're hearing here
John Alec Entwhistle, AKA The Ox, AKA Thunderfingers. I could watch him play bass all day even if the sound was off.
That vintage Flying V bass from his collection though!
@@johnleurck7139 My favorite bass player. Elton's band was so underrated.
I'm a huge fan of The Who and a moderate Elton fan but Elton owned this song from the moment he recorded it
AGREED. (Though I'm more than a moderate Elton fan, but DEF a huge Who fan). This version ROCKS!!!
Yep. “Lucy in the Sky” as well. Only Elton could cover the Beatles and go to #1 with it.
@@drhoo2053 Well, he was huge then, but I was never big on his non psychedelic Lucy
Perhaps the Champ would have won if he focused on playing pinball instead of wandering around the stage singing a song about his opponent 😂
I was 17 when "Tommy" made it to the movie screen. It was a double treat for me because I was a fan of Elton John _and_ The Who. I was so hyped I went to The Northpoint Theater in San Francisco three nights in a row. The Northpoint (which closed in 1997) was known for having the smallest movie theater screen in San Francisco.
One of tge geeatest rock movies ever!!!!
This is:
the best scene of the movie,
the best theme of the film,
the best song of The Who, and
the best performance of Elton John.
Anything else?
tantrismx the best shoes ever worn? Lmao
and also the best eye glasses frame, lol
(and cap) :P
tantrismx Pinball Arcade has a remix of it.
tantrismx the most exciting scene
@UsirRaMaroon I have to admit I was a little disappointed the video cut off right before the Ann Margret scene.
I was 10 when this came out, I knew this as an Elton song - it was all over the radio that summer - before I'd ever even HEARD of The Who.
Same here, Elton’s version was the first one I heard and when I heard The Who’s I was disappointed. It was good, but their’s didn’t have the same dynamic feel as Elton’s
What an excellent version of this song!
Happy 54th Birthday, Pinball Wizard!!! LOVE The WHO (Crushing on Roger), they're in my TOP 3 BANDS,...but I gotta say, Elton OWNS this song!!! I knew every word to this movie, back in the day - saw it 4 times in the theatre. *Yes, dating myself here. Rock ON Roger, Pete, and Elton! RIP Keith and John.
you are clearly a babe
I have seen a ton of musicals but that has to be my all time favorite musical scene in any film. This scene is pure energy, excitement and best of you have Elton John and The Who!
My favorite!!! I was the actual pinball wizard!!! I played the pinball wizard machine and would always rack up 25 games!!!
That's the most you could get on it!!!
I could beat any pinball machine and then I went to Fooze ball and was the champ at it!!!!
I lived in arcade's!!!!!
Not Deaf Dumb andBlind yet?
Stepping into Elton's Boots
On TV tonight overhere, The Netherlands, saw film when I was 15 or 16 years young
Que saudades!!! nos anos 70 eu era "viciado" em Pinbal! hj tenho 57 anos, e sinto muita saudades! Acredito ser um privilegiado em ter nascido em 1960.
Watching Rocky Horror picture show was bizarre but Tommy just blew my mind as a teenager
Elton covered Pinball Wizard and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds in 1975. 2 classic '60s tracks from 2 incredible bands The Beatles and The Who.
yes! i really like his versions of both songs
I still have some CD-ROM discs. And while the view could stand the time, this sounds AMAZING
I saw this when I got back from Saigon. It changed my life.
Yes we will take 5 minutes and 8 seconds so that we will recognize how gifted and great Sir Elton John is YOU ROCK Elton ❤❤❤🎉🎉🎉
Pinball was illegal in my state when this movie came out. I was fascinated with the machines. When they became legal in Alabama I played them all. My favorite to this day is Power Play, the hockey themed table.
Keith moon just being Keith moon
The pinball at the top of Elton's hat. Yes.
Wow, somehow I never noticed that. Thanks!
Which became Tommy’s at the end of the scene; guess that beanie is the “pinball crown,” lol. Personally I’d rather have the Docs 🤣
I like how they snuck I Can't Explain in there
INCREDIBLE watching Tommy play. I was pretty good in my day, but NOTHING like Tommy.
This song charted no.1 for weeks, and it was never released as a single. It basically sold the album, "Tommy."
I always wanted to know about the backstory of the Pinball Wizard. Such a wild character, wish we knew more about him before Tommy defeats him, and what happened to him after. There is a story there for someone to write.
It's bullshit anyway. On the Album, the Pinball Wizard is Tommy himself, the song' s "narrator" is some kid from the arcades.
I suspect he probably settled down to an obscenely luxurious retirement (and wearing giant bunny slippers) afterward.
After all, if a newcomer like Tommy was able to buy fancy yachts and stately manors with his winnings, then Elton the longtime Champ must've surely amassed a GNP-sized fortune during HIS career.
(And we all know Professional Pinball was a HUGE sport back in the '70's. :)
Refugee from Willy Wonka, maybe?
@@sidnew2739 Some kid who handed his pinball crown to Tommy. So I think he is more than some random kid. So I think it would be a great story of what happened after he handed his pinball crown to Tommy. Every fictional story is bullshit.
@@Dresdentrumpet Nope, this one is especially stupid.
The ORIGINAL Album is dope, though.
This was a great time to be a teenager
The movie, the music or the pinball before video games?
“Tommy” a essential watch for any kid getting into classic rock
Thank you for uploading this! What a crazy combo! I always like both of them but never imagined a team up like that, damn costumes are enough already, lmao, I really enjoyed this!
Nov 73…..I’m an 18 year old barman at The Marquee Club….across the street is Rocket Records…..Elton would often pop in to chat with Rod and Long John Baldry (with his pet goat on a lead)…..none of us sadly bothered to get an autograph …..in those days you just sort of didn’t….
Wow. Talk about bringing back memories! I was a sophomore in high school when this movie came out. Went to see it. Liked it. Bought the soundtrack too.
Oh the 70’s! I preferred the 80’s myself. Great time for music too!
I bet wardrobe was relieved when Elton already had the outfit
@It’s not Me: 🤣🤣🤣
One of the most Epic scenes in any Musical.
There hasn't been a great Rock Opera in the last 40 years...Sad.
Operation Mindcrime by Queensryche and The Crimson Idol by WASP aren't 40 years old yet.
He heard Thunderfingers over his shoulder there for sure.
This is my favorite part of the whole movie. I like this version better than the original version.
Boy this brings back memories! I was stationed at Lowry AFB in Denver,saw the movie when it first came out,stayed at the same theatre on East Colfax for 6 months!
I was at Chanute when this came out . First time I smelled pot in a military theater ( smoking was legal then ) .
Tommy = Best Rock soundtrack of the 1970s, thanks for posting.
It was an existing musical work turned into a film. One of the most important works in Rock and Roll. Listen to the live at Leeds extended LP when the Who played in live, years before the film was made.
The 70ths music was not political anymore and there was no MTV yet. Everything was just fun and suddenly there were a bunch of all thoset kinds of music changes that developed different kinds of show styles and costumes expressing there own music within something new. It was a time there you still had to watch your icons on stage, to be physically at each concert --- Bob Marley, Kiss. Elton John, Frank Zappa, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, Michael Jackson, ABBA, Sly & Family Stone, The Queen, U2 etc ---- All those icons got a new image which seemed to be just as important than the music they played --- even the Stones started to change their costumes more colorful and got wilder on stage --- love from Sweden ❤❤❤
Good ol' pinball wizard. A friend of mine had an arcade in his town close recently that was called "Pinball Wizard" and him, myself and 2 others harmonized this as tribute.
For a couple of years in the mid 70's Elton was the biggest thing on the radio.
Yep, he sure was in Los Angeles, from about '72 to '76, about half of what KHJ and KKDJ played. I remember the girls at my school were just plain crazy for him, David Bowie and Rod Stewart at that time.
This IS one of the greatest movie songs ever done this movie has never got the recognition it deserves music has lost the innocence this movie projects
His shoes are so famous
He did this so he could keep the boots. I get that Elton likes to wear extravagant stuff, but if I was him I'd want the piano pinball machine.
But those Doc Martens, man.
@@Malkmusianful that pinball machine man. All you have to do is play a song to play the game I know tons of piano songs. I might tilt by doing Moonlight Sonata.
The moonlight sonata? Well, the last movement perhaps. I’d hate to see what the Rach 3 would do.
According to my mom, he auctioned off the boots for his AIDS charity
I was 12, I was traumatized and yet still love the Who.
I wonder how they decided that Elton John's master pinball machine should be an Art Decco fixture. I really love the organ overlay over the intro. It adds yet another dimension to the tune; sort of imperialistic, and then kind of melacholy once the piano arpeggio starts.
I was 18 or 19 in the Army stationed in Germany when this came out. We had been hearing the soundtrack on Armed Forces radio. We were on maneuvers while it played in the base theater. A group of friends and I went to see it. We were blown away. They don't play this enough on the radio.
I can still remember with decent clarity being taken to this by my older siblings when I was six years old. Threre were some other teenaged kids from my neighborhood (that were around my sibs' ages) there also. I though it was a weird film, but I recall the vibe in the theater, etc.
Elton John and The Who together on [movie] stage. Two of the greatest Live acts of this era. Can't beat that.
It took alomst 3 minutes, before Keith Moon and Pete Townshend went into destruction mode.
Those two destroyed so many instruments back before they were rich and famous that the band was heavily in debt having to constantly buy new guitars and drum kits! They made only $12K at Woodstock-that didn't even cover it.
Those are the biggest doc martins I've ever seen.
Glorious.
My favourite scene in the movie, followed by Eyesight to the blind.
+Radio Rob Same. Also, EC was so hot in that scene! I'm a straight chick, so it's JMO. Not implying that's why you like it.
I like Sally Simpson too
As a teenager then, I always visualize that if I played to the highest score in the pinball machine, it will trigger this song!
'Tommy' is a master piece!
best part of the movie,...
Ken Russell was a cinematic mad man genius
Elton, magnificent performance. I know you didn't want to lose
Woke up trying to find Tina Turner as the Acid Queen but I love this song too lol
Wow! I haven’t thought about this movie in forever!! Life changing stuff right here!🎵🎵🎹❣️
saw this at the theatre when i was 9. loved it then - love it now.
Gravatt Entertainment Huh, me too!
That's BECAUSE you were 9. I was 16, and thought it was CRAP. LOL
Me too - I was 10. Never forgot it
Daltrey Townsend and elton are still great friends
i actually figured out how tommy could play pinball so well
because he can only see his reflection he just focuses on his reflection in the pinball so he never lost track of where it was
Damn 🤯
Great now can you postulate who was Tommy singing to at the end...after the disciples left him. When he sings. " Listening to you, I get the rhythm. From you , I get the story . Right behind you, I climb the mountain I get excitement at your feet "
That has been puzzling me last few days. And your insight into the pinball reflection was superb.
@@insanezenmistress that's something that I'm less sure about. I feel like that part is better left up to interpretation because it could have multiple meanings. If I had to guess I'd say he found god in some form but I'm not sure.
@@hurricanefury439 I would concur that as after his false enlightenment he still needed to be seen and heard and healed.
There was another water plunge and ..one of the multiple meaning I find is .... He learned that everyone's got a different pinball machine...the whole story of freedom and reality is in all of us.
So he was singing to you and me
But, he is blind.
I really miss the 70s. 0h well now I can't deal with kids that were my age
I am a true Who fanatic I also like Elton John Have you listened to the entire album goodbye yellow brick road it almost sounds like the Who backing him up he's got such a great original band
I sang this once for middle school choir of all things and its been a fever dream since