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Elton John stamps
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 3 September 2019
“Oh I wish I could tell you this face to face, but there’s never the time, never the place, so this letter will have to do, I love you”, sang Elton John in ‘Amneris’ Letter’. Unless you’re thinking of Shania Twain’s version. In which case she sang it. Unless you’re thinking of a performance of the musical from which it originates. In which case some random actor sang it. Or a non-random actor. But an actor.
Anyway, none of this is really relevant to this news story, except that if John, Twain, any random actor or even Amneris herself wanted to send anyone a letter, they could now do so using one of twelve Elton-themed stamps. Look, I thought finding some lyrics to kick this off would be fun, but it’s ended up just making the introduction really long-winded and confusing.
Elton John’s got some stamps. There, that’s the story. Are you happy now?
The Royal Mail has announced that it’s issuing a set of twelve postage stamps featuring pictures of Elton John. Eight feature classic album covers, while a mini set of four show the musician plonking about with his piano on stage somewhere, marking the fact that he’s planning to quit touring forever after one final 70,000 year tour.
“To say I was surprised when Royal Mail got in touch, is an understatement”, says John. “Never did I think I’d appear on a stamp! It’s wonderful, a great honour”.
Can that be true? Surely everyone expects to appear on a stamp at some point. I know I do. But twelve! That’s really the thing that marks him out. Not only that, he’s only the second solo musician to get a whole set of stamps to himself.
The first was David Bowie, and he had to die before the Royal Mail eventually caved in. The Beatles and Pink Floyd have had their own sets too, but they’re bands remember, and let’s not dilute this any further. This is Elton’s day.
“Elton is one of the most successful British solo artists of all time”, says the Royal Mail’s Head Of Stamp Strategy(!) Philip Parker, a little too eager to justify this decision. “He has recorded some of the best-known songs in pop history such as ‘Candle In The Wind’ and ‘Rocket Man’. Our stamps issued today showcase some of his most iconic albums, and celebrate his fantastic musical contribution”.
You can buy each stamp at just the postage price it represents, or you can purchase a variety of presentation sets that range from ‘almost reasonable’ to ‘a bit fucking pricey’.
