1973 was a stellar year for Elton John as he managed to put a string of hits into the top 10. His biggest hit of the year was "Crocodile Rock," a jumpin' little tune that paid homage to the sound of the Rock n Roll Fifties that came complete with a great farfisa organ riff, pounding piano playing, guitars and great lyrics to a fictitious dance craze that spurred the nation by storm. He followed that hit up with the poignant and lovely ballad, "Daniel." Both records came off his album Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player, which also spurned the regional tracks "Teacher I Need You," and "Eldeberry Wine."

Piano Player was not Elton's only success. That fall Elton John released what many consider to be the masterpiece of his career, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, a sprawling two record set that produced several tracks that are regarded as pop culture standards today. Among these were "Candle in the Wind," which Elton never released as a single until a live version came out in 1988 and then again as a tribute to the fallen Princess Diana of Great Britain in 1997. The title track "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" was also a masterpiece and got heavy airplay that year. In 1974 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road would produce Elton John's second #1 hit, "Bennie and the Jets."

Of course Elton was not the only big news for 1973. Carly Simon was very popular after she released her landmark album No Secrets in late 1972. That disc produced the hit tracks "You're So Vain," and "The Right Thing To Do."

Paul McCartney scored his first #1 hit with his group Wings, as the ballad "My Love" achieved its climb to the top. McCartney also produced one of the most popular James Bond movie theme songs ever that year: "Live And Let Die." Fact is all 4 of the former Beatles managed to hit the charts again in 1973, with George Harrison scoring a #1 hit in "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)", John Lennon with "Mind Games," and Ringo Starr releasing "Photograph" late that year only to see it become huge in 1974.

The biggest local hits in Hawaii that year were Diamond Head's "If That's The Way That You Want It," Lighthouse's "Pretty Lady," Liz Damon's "Me Japanese Boy I Love You," and Loggins & Messina's "Lahaina." These songs managed to catch the fancy of local Hawaii radio programmers and listeners.

The chart below is based on track action culminated from plays on my Apple iTunes software.