to showcase his musical talents, project his personality, and connect with his fans. Elton John, the personality, became the center of the Elton John concert experience to the point that it overshadowed the music. "In the end," admits John, "it (the costumes) got too much." Many critics would agree that the feathers and sequins ultimately became more of a distraction than an enhancer to the core of the Elton John brand. It would be something that he would adjust in the latter part of his career.     Rocket Man   Following the release of Elton John, John and his band embarked on their first world tour in the spring of 1971. This would mark the beginning of a five-year period, which John today refers to as the years in which he could do no wrong. By the end of the tour, the band would have four albums in the top 40. The 1972 album Honky Chateau was a sales breakthrough, with hits such as "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man." It was followed with more chart toppers including "Crocodile Rock," "Daniel," "Bennie and the Jets," "The Bitch Is Back," and "Yellow Brick Road." Tumbleweed Connection contained rich acoustic sound on tracks such as "Love Song" (a duet with its writer, Leslie Duncan) along with some of Johns most expressive songs. He enjoyed the high of having a string of seven number-one hits. There seemed to be no stopping Elton Johns success in the 1970s. In 1975, Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy, his twelfth album in five years, became the first album ever to enter the Billboard charts at number one. It included the smash hit "Philadelphia Freedom." Bernie Taupin recalls, "As soon as that happened we went, oh were in trouble now because where do you go from number one? Then the next album we had out was Rock of the Westies, and that went in at number one too, and we thought now were really in trouble." As the hits kept coming, Johns confidence skyrocketed and his public persona became more outrageous. "It got to the point where everything was coming in at number one, and the only dangerous thing about that is that you assume that everything else should come     in at number one," he recalls. But what was happening to him pro- fessionally, for all the world to see, was worlds apart from what was happening to him personally. He had been in a solid, romantic rela- tionship with his manager, John Reed, for several years, which brought him great comfort. But hiding it from the world became more difficult, as his life mirrored the words in "Rocket Man"-"Im not the man you think I am at home." As with many relationships, this one ended, which was difficult for John, but he tried to mask his grief and maintain his wild persona in public. The next stage in his brand evolution would focus on the effect his personal life had on the image of his brand among his fans. It was similar to the impact that changes in the personal lives of company owners, CEOs, and spokespersons have on the image and public per- ception of the companies and brands they represent.