Elton John & Cat Stevens's Duet Honey Man

Elton John and Cat Stevens are two English singers who were among the most popular global artists of the 1970s. In 1970, they recorded a duet called “Honey Man”. The song remained unreleased until the 21st Century. The song is written by Cat Stevens and Ken Cumberbatch. I’m embedding the song below. Below that, I’ll give my thoughts on this song.

It opens with Elton’s powerful piano notes. Cat soon sings with bass and congas. The congas add a nice touch to the song. Elton then sings with Cat soon joining him. Elton brings more rock than usual into a Cat Stevens song with his piano playing. A little after the one minute mark, horns come in which add to the song. There is a piano solo with horn interjections. Elton and Cat sing the chorus intensely. Elton and Cat sound quite different, yet Elton sings some notes like Cat towards the end of the song. They sing well together.

This is a very good pop rock song. It’s melodic with great instrumentation. I wish this song had been released in 1970. Although it was recorded before they became worldwide superstars, due to their mutual popularity in the 1970s, it could have been a big hit. Feel free to give your thoughts on this song.

A Look Back at 1970s Colombo

Last year, a nearly three minute video shot on 16 millimetre film featuring aerial videography of

1970s Colombo, Sri Lanka was released on the Kinolibrary YouTube channel. The video is called

“1970s Colombo Aerials, HD from 16mm”. I’m embedding the video below which you can watch if

you wish. Following that, I will give my thoughts on this footage.

The video actually begins in Kandy lifting off from the Police Grounds. It then flies over the Kandy

Market and the Kandy Railway Station. Many of the buildings seen at the start are thin and long

which seems to be an older style, dating back much further than the 1970s. Quite a few of them are

later seen in Colombo. These types of buildings still exist in Sri Lanka, but they are not present to

the same extent as before. It’s interesting to see steam trains as those type of trains are no longer

in use.The train featured is likely going from Kandy to Matale. It’s good to see that there is a lot of

green areas, as I see a large amount of trees and paddy fields. I see many palm trees both here and

later on in Colombo which is a good and common sight in Sri Lanka. Following that it goes to

Kadugannawa, a town near Kandy. In this town there is a tall monument known as Dawson’s

Column.

We finally reach Colombo, going right into the centre of the city. Colombo in the 1970s looks very

different to Colombo in the 2010s, with a small part of the footage shown not looking familiar. The

most prominent difference between the two periods is the buildings that no longer exist and the lack

of ones that do now. I notice that there are some then modern buildings in the Colombo City

alongside the old ones.

Following the main area of Colombo, we then go to the Colombo Port. After our brief look at the

Colombo Port, we go to a suburban area of Colombo that I’m not familiar with. This suburban area is

very crowded, unlike the main part of Colombo that was seen earlier. We then see two familiar

landmarks that being Town Hall and Beira Lake. I’m pleased to see that the Beira Lake is in a very

clean condition.

When it comes to traffic featured in this video, the second instance of traffic is more crowded making

it somewhat reminiscent of current traffic in Colombo. However, the first instance of traffic is calm

and peaceful totally unlike today. I wish Colombo could have traffic like this again. On the reverse, I

think there is an achievement Colombo has made since then. Though the city has more

improvements needed when it comes to cleanliness, it is my perception that the city is cleaner now

than it was than.

It’s good that the Internet allows us to find out this information about the past which would have been

very difficult to see two to three decades back. Despite the differences, Colombo of the 1970s still

has the uniquely Colombo look and feel we see now in the 2010s, which will no doubt remain in 40

years time in the 2050s. If you have lived in Colombo in the 1970s, I’d be interested in hearing your

thoughts on this video and/or your memories of this time.