Posted March 13, 200718 yr Scissor Sisters bond with Elton By JANE STEVENSON - Sun Media http://jam.canoe.ca/Music/Artists/S/Scissor_Sisters/2007/03/09/sis.jpg Scissor Sisters lead singer Jake Shears shoots some stick with bandmates Del Marquis and Paddy Boom at Toronto's Westin Harbour Castle. (Dave Thomas, Sun Media) Most people can't help but notice that Jake Shears' voice can sound uncannily similar to British pop star Elton John's. But the Scissor Sisters frontman says he only gave one of John's records a cursory listen before penning the New York City dance outfit's 2004 break-out hit, Take Your Mama. "It's really funny, because I had Goodbye Yellowbrick Road on double vinyl. I'd got it at a flea market, or whatever. I had probably listened to it once, like a couple of years before we had written Take Your Mama," Shears said while seated in the lounge of a lakefront Toronto hotel this week. "And I remember I played (Take Your Mama) for my mom, and she was the first person that looked at me and said, 'You sound like Elton John.' So then it was happy coincidence, and that's how I really discovered his music." Who knew that one day Shears would end up collaborating with John on two songs for the Scissor Sisters' second album, last year's Ta-Dah, including the huge hit I Don't Feel Like Dancin'. "He was an early fan, and then we just made great friends," Shears said. It was John who approached the band three years ago about playing some shows together. "Especially with (multi-instrumentalist) Babydaddy and me, (Elton) is family. He treats us like his kids. We always have tons to talk to him about together, so we spend a lot of time with him and (Canadian husband) David (Furnish)." It wasn't until John visited Scissor Sisters' New York studio that I Don't Feel Like Dancin' was born. "He just stopped by our studio and brought Babydaddy and I sweaters. I needed a winter coat. And he brought us some warm stuff last winter. And we were happily trying stuff on. He sat down at the piano and started playing, and we wrote I Don't Feel Like Dancin'." Turns out the song couldn't have come at a better time. "He's like a happy drug," Shears said. "I was going through a lot of depression at the time, so a visit from him is like the sweet fairy that comes into the room. I think it was a mixture of an adrenaline thing, being on the road for too long, coming back to New York and trying to assimilate back into some sort of a life. I think it's a culmination of that and the intense pressure to make a followup record." Shears needn't have worried. Ta-Dah was the third best-selling album in England last year. Scissor Sisters' first album had been the top-seller there in 2004. The British lovefest goes both ways. One song on Ta-Dah is called Paul McCartney, which Shears was able to tell Macca about when they were both part of Live 8 in London. "He knew about it before it came out, so I'm sure that he's heard it. I would hope that he likes it. I mean, it's a sweet song. It's a song about fandom and about that psychic power of music where you can, like, send a message. You can be dead and people will still hear it." Scissor Sisters have already started recording new songs, including a tune "going in a huge movie that we specifically wrote for the movie, coming out in May." For the record, there are three huge sequels scheduled to hit theatres in May: Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. Shears couldn't share specifics about the film or the song, but said the band's third album will feature a slight departure in sound. "It'll be different. I don't know if it's going to be more challenging. It's got to go someplace, or else we might as well quit."
March 22, 200718 yr Author Happy Birthday Elton! THURSDAY 29 MARCH 9:00pm - 10:30pm ITV1 Elton John celebrates his birthday in style with a spectacular live concert at Madison Square Garden. Also featuring Jim Carrey, Simon Cowell, Sharon Osbourne, Scissor Sisters, Tom Ford, Bono, Ricky Gervais, David and Victoria Beckham, Matt Lucas and David Walliams, Billy Connolly, Celine Dion, Kylie Minogue and Paul McCartney. Kate Thornton presents red carpet coverage and gets the backstage gossip. Repeated: Sunday 01 April 9:30pm - 11:00pm ITV3
