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We grieve to report that there was no actual band named "Bennie and the Jets." But you can read a wonderful history of the song at SuperSeventies.com, a truly jaw-dropping music resource. According to the Super Seventies piece, the song "Bennie and the Jets" was originally written by Elton John's lyricist, Bernie Taupin, as a satire of the music industry. The '70s were in full swing, and the music scene was host to all manner of greed and hype. When you think about it, the lyrics are downright acid: Hey kids, shake it loose together
The spotlight's hitting something
That's been known to change the
weather
We're gonna kill the fatted calf tonight. To add to the mix, the song's producer added fake audience noise and mistimed hand claps. Side note -- according to Kiss This Guy, a highly entertaining compendium of misheard song lyrics, a woman named Rose Franco thought the chorus lyrics were "Ba-ba-ba-Bennie's locked in the chest!" until she was 18.
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