Fact #159541
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In July 1983, Elton John had met tape operator Renate Blauel during final recording sessions at Air Studios, London, for the album Too Low For Zero.
John Hall (MD, Rocket Records) : She was very nice. Quiet. Unassuming. Usually wearing jeans and a sweater or T-shirt. To my mind she always looked a bit masculine. But none of us took any real trouble to talk to her or get to know her. She was just a nice girl, who was a very unimportant part of what was going on.
Bill Price (engineer, AIR studios) : She was more than good. She was very good. She was totally capable and reliable, and she had that peculiar Teutonic thoroughness.
John Hall : We noticed that, whenever Elton came in, he'd say something to her. She'd laugh. They've suddenly got this little relationship going. And when the album comes out, there's a dedication, 'Special thanks to Renate Blauel.'.
Elton John : I never had a balanced life offstage. I would fall for somebody across a room and I would be married to them with a picket fence, and my choices in some of my relationships were blurred by drugs, blurred by chasing someone who's not the right person for me. I always used to chase relationships.
I'd fall in love with a lot of straight people and think I could change them, like a girl trying to change a gay guy. One of the reasons I got married to Renate was I really loved Renate, but I was fooling myself.
John Hall : It was a time when Elton was coming back with Top 30 singles, and being asked to do Top of the Pops again. The rule there was still that you had to pre-record a special version of your backing instrumental and vocal tracks. Elton would say, "No, fuck it! I'm not going to do it." I'd say, "You've got to do it, or you can't be on Top Of The Pops.” He'd say, "All right, I'll do the backing tracks at AIR - and can you get that Renate girl there as well? I'm not going to do it unless she's there."
December 1983 : During recording sessions for the album Breaking Hearts, Elton John proposes to Renate Blauel in the Chicken Shack restaurant, Montserrat.
John Hall : It comes time for the next album, Breaking Hearts, which he's going to do in Montserrat again. We've booked the studio, the band, everything's lined up. Then Elton suddenly says, "I'm not going." Total consternation!
"I'm not going," he says, "unless Renate goes out there, too." So the whole million-dollar production comes to a standstill unless we can get this tape op to Montserrat for him.
Gary Clarke (boyfriend of Elton John) : In Montserrat, Renate was suddenly promoted from tape operator to engineer. Then I noticed him glancing at her over dinner …
Nina Myskow (journalist) : One night, I remember, Renate wore a dress - the first time I'd ever seen her in one. The change was extraordinary. She looked really sweet and terribly pretty.
Renate Blauel : He asked me to go out for a meal. We went to a little restaurant in a mountain village where they do the most delicious chicken, and hit it off immediately.
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John Hall (MD, Rocket Records) : She was very nice. Quiet. Unassuming. Usually wearing jeans and a sweater or T-shirt. To my mind she always looked a bit masculine. But none of us took any real trouble to talk to her or get to know her. She was just a nice girl, who was a very unimportant part of what was going on.
Bill Price (engineer, AIR studios) : She was more than good. She was very good. She was totally capable and reliable, and she had that peculiar Teutonic thoroughness.
John Hall : We noticed that, whenever Elton came in, he'd say something to her. She'd laugh. They've suddenly got this little relationship going. And when the album comes out, there's a dedication, 'Special thanks to Renate Blauel.'.
Elton John : I never had a balanced life offstage. I would fall for somebody across a room and I would be married to them with a picket fence, and my choices in some of my relationships were blurred by drugs, blurred by chasing someone who's not the right person for me. I always used to chase relationships.
I'd fall in love with a lot of straight people and think I could change them, like a girl trying to change a gay guy. One of the reasons I got married to Renate was I really loved Renate, but I was fooling myself.
John Hall : It was a time when Elton was coming back with Top 30 singles, and being asked to do Top of the Pops again. The rule there was still that you had to pre-record a special version of your backing instrumental and vocal tracks. Elton would say, "No, fuck it! I'm not going to do it." I'd say, "You've got to do it, or you can't be on Top Of The Pops.” He'd say, "All right, I'll do the backing tracks at AIR - and can you get that Renate girl there as well? I'm not going to do it unless she's there."
December 1983 : During recording sessions for the album Breaking Hearts, Elton John proposes to Renate Blauel in the Chicken Shack restaurant, Montserrat.
John Hall : It comes time for the next album, Breaking Hearts, which he's going to do in Montserrat again. We've booked the studio, the band, everything's lined up. Then Elton suddenly says, "I'm not going." Total consternation!
"I'm not going," he says, "unless Renate goes out there, too." So the whole million-dollar production comes to a standstill unless we can get this tape op to Montserrat for him.
Gary Clarke (boyfriend of Elton John) : In Montserrat, Renate was suddenly promoted from tape operator to engineer. Then I noticed him glancing at her over dinner …
Nina Myskow (journalist) : One night, I remember, Renate wore a dress - the first time I'd ever seen her in one. The change was extraordinary. She looked really sweet and terribly pretty.
Renate Blauel : He asked me to go out for a meal. We went to a little restaurant in a mountain village where they do the most delicious chicken, and hit it off immediately.