Behind the Scenes of the New ‘Tiny Dancer’ Video

Discs 1 & 2: Deep Cuts

Tiny Dancer, the opening track from Elton’s 1971 album Madman Across The Water was inspired by Elton and Bernie’s first visit to America in the fall of 1970 and was recorded almost exactly a year after Elton’s debut in Los Angeles. The song was issued as a single in the US in February 1972, peaking at #41 on the Billboard Hot 100 and at #35 on the Adult Contemporary chart. Tiny Dancer was taken to another level when film director Cameron Crowe placed it in a pivotal scene in his 2000 film Almost Famous, declaring it “the soul of the movie” in a 2012 interview. “Fans of the song seem to feel like we paid proper tribute [to it] and we’re real happy about that.”

The song got yet another life when it was sampled in Ironik’s 2009 hit Tiny Dancer (Hold Me Closer). That single reached number three on the UK singles chart and number two on the UK R&B chart.

When asked what his favourite moment from the shoot was, Max told Campaign, “100% – hanging out with Marilyn Manson,” referencing the industrial rock icon who makes a cameo as the man with a pet snake in the camper van. He went on to say that, “For me Tiny Dancer is a classic driving song and LA is a driving town. The city’s identity is in its highways, boulevards, cars and people. This video is a bittersweet love letter to the phenomenon of the city, and an attempt to capture its dynamic, elusive energy. We see LA through the eyes of its people, their disparate lives unified momentarily as they listen to Tiny Dancer on their radios. It is their shared soliloquy. It connects their stories as we feel their struggle and their joy.”

Since the beginning, the song has been the epitome of a “fan favourite” amongst Elton followers. Soon after the release of Almost Famous, Elton told Cameron Crowe, “I’m going to have to start playing that in all my concerts now ‘cos I’ve already started to get requests for it.” Tiny Dancer has been a mainstay in Elton’s set list ever since.

Watch the full video for Tiny Dancer below: