ELTON JOHN’S HEAVY 100

Being one of the most avowed record gluttons on public record — with more records than he's ever been able to count — we figured that having Elton John list his personal favorite albums might yield an interesting compilation. "Sure thing," said Elton when we approached him with the idea, and he immediately began spewing record titles like a man possessed. When we finally had to forceably wrench the pen from his hands, he'd already gotten up to 286 and was just beginning to hit his stride. What we've done is amputate one hundred entries from the list (thrown together in no particular order), but should you want to know the full roster, just slide a quarter our way and we'll mail the full, uncensored edition back to you in a plain brown wrapper.

1. AFTERMATH (The Rolling Stones)

2. RUBBER SOUL (The Beatles)

3. PET SOUNDS (The Beach Boys)

4. THE KINKS" GREATEST HITS

5. DIRECT HITS (The Who)

6. GASOLINE ALLEY (Rod Stewart)

7. LITTLE RICHARD'S GREATEST HITS

8. EDDIE COCHRAN MEMORIAL ALBUM

9. JERRY LEE LEWIS" GREATEST HITS VOL. 1

10. THE IMMORTAL OTIS REDDING

11. ANTHOLOGY (The Temptations)

12. TALKING BOOK (Stevie Wonder)

13. FROM THE BEGINNING (Smokey & Miracles)

14. CALL ME (A1 Green)

15. ANY Monty Python album

16. THE BAND

17. IN MEMPHIS (Dusty Springfield)

18. BOOKENDS (Simon & Garfunkel)

19. HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED (Bob Dylan)

20. BEST OF THE LOVIN" SPOONFUL

21. RETROSPECTIVE (Buffalo Springfield)

22. FOR YOUR PLEASURE (Roxy Music)

23. MOTT (Mott the Hoople)

24. LESLIE GORE'S GREATEST HITS

25. WORDS AND MUSIC (Jimmy Webb)

26. 12 SONGS (Randy Newman)

27. MISS BUTTERS (The Family Tree)

28. 0†?+%& (Led Zeppelin)

29. JESSE WINCHESTER

30. SATURATE BEFORE USING (Jackson Browne)

31. XMAS ALBUM (Phil Spector)

32. BEHIND CLOSED DOORS (Charlie Rich)

33. SPLIT ENDS (The Move)

34. NILSSON SCHMILLSON

35. LEON RUSSELL

36. ROY ORBISON'S GREATEST HITS

37. SONGS FOR SWINGING LOVERS (Frank Sinatra)

38. BLONDE ON BLONDE (Bob Dylan).

39. THERE'S A RIOT COIN" ON (Sly)

40. FOREVER CHANGES (Love)

41. CHINA STORY (The Goons)

42. COSMO'S FACTORY (Creedence Clearwater)

43. THE BYRDS" GREATEST HITS VOL. 1

44. ASTRAL WEEKS (Van Morrison)

45. SGT. PEPPER (The Beatles)

46. GOLD RECORDS (Elvis Presley)

47. SAM COOKE'S GREATEST HITS

48. NEIL DIAMOND'S GREATEST HITS

49. WHAT'D I SAY (Ray Charles)

50. RICKY NELSON'S GREATEST HITS

51. DEAR MR. FANTASY (Traffic)

52. ARETHA FRANKLIN'S GREATEST HITS

53. BAND OF GOLD (Freda Payne)

54. GRIS GRIS (Dr. John)

55. SONGS OF LEONARD COHEN

56. GREATEST HITS (Gladys Knight & Pips)

57. LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III

58. EVERYONE KNOWS THIS IS NOWHERE -(Neil Young)

59. ZIGGY STARDUST (David Bowie)

60. HIGHWAY (Free)

61. CONNIE FRANCIS" GREATEST HITS

62. 1st SOLO LP (Scott Walker)

63. SONGS FOR A SEAGULL (Joni Mitchell)

64. CHILDREN OF THE FUTURE (Steve Miller Band)

65. LOVE UNLIMITED

66. SALTY DOG (Procol Harum)

67. ELECTRIC LADYLAND (Jimi Hendrix)

68. LADY IN SATIN (Billie Holliday)

69. GARY GLITTER

70. ELECTRIC WARRIOR (T. REX)

71. THE BONZO DOG DO DAH BAND

72. FOUR SEASONS" GREATEST HITS

73. SOUL CLASSICS VOL. 1 (James Brown)

74. SLADEST (Slade)

75. THE SPINNERS

76. SATIN DOLL (Oscar Peterson)

77. JAN & DEAN'S GREATEST HITS

78. SCHOOL'S OUT (Alice Cooper)

79. TALES OF MEN'S SHIRTS (The Goons)

80. THE ALLMAN BROS. BAND

81. MARIANNE FAITHFULL'S GREATEST HITS

82. WITH A LITTLE HELP (Joe Cocker)

83.1 CAN SEE CLEARtY NOW (Johnny Nash)

84. PEARL (Janis Joplin)

85. MOONDANCE (Van Morrison)

86. DRIFTERS" GREATEST HITS

87. LET IT BLEED (The Rolling Stones)

88. BUDDY HOLLY'S GREATEST HITS

89. FOUR TOPS" GREATEST HITS

90. TAPESTRY (Carole King)

91. THE STYLISTICS

92. ELEPHANT MOUNTAIN (The Youngbloods)

93. ELI & THE 13th CONCESSION (Laura Nyro)

94. DEE DEE SHARP'S GREATEST HITS

95. LIVE (Donny Hathaway)

96. TO LOVE SOMEBODY (Nina Simone)

97. THE EVERLY BROTHERS" GREATEST HITS

98. DROWNING IN THE SEA OF LOVE (Joe Simon)

99. SPIRIT

100. BRAND NEW KEY (Melanie)