"Town of Plenty" is an Elton John song from the album Reg Strikes Back

Reg Strikes Back

Reg Strikes Back is the twenty-first studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1988. It was his self-proclaimed comeback album, and his own way of fighting back against bad press. The "Reg" in Reg Strikes Back refers to Elton John's birth name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight. This...

, and was released in 1988. The song was the first album track to be heard after Elton's throat surgery. Pete Townshend

Pete Townshend

Peter Dennis Blandford "Pete" Townshend is an English rock guitarist, vocalist, songwriter and author, known principally as the guitarist and songwriter for the rock group The Who, as well as for his own solo career...

 plays acoustic guitar on the track, while Davey Johnstone

Davey Johnstone

Davey Johnstone , is a Scottish rock guitarist and vocalist, best known for his work with Elton John.-Career:...

 plays electric. Among the backing vocalists contributing to the track are Elton's former bandmates Nigel Olsson

Nigel Olsson

Nigel Olsson is an English rock drummer, who is best known for his work with Elton John. Olsson helped establish the Elton John sound as one of the first members of John's band, on drums, percussion and backing vocals. When not working with Elton, Olsson has taken up the role of a session musician...

 and Dee Murray

Dee Murray

Dee Murray was an English bassist, best known as a member of Elton John's original rock band.-Biography:Murray was born David Murray Oates in Southgate, London in 1946...

. This would be the final album of Elton's that Murray would contribute to, for he would succumb to a stroke in 1992.

The single release of 'Town of Plenty' was the second to be issued from 'Reg Strikes Back' in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, where it barely charted; it reached number 74 (one place above the lowest chart position available in 1988), and was gone by the next week. The single was not released in the USA. The B-side to the single was 'Whipping Boy', from the album Too Low for Zero

Too Low for Zero

Too Low for Zero is the 17th studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1983. For the first time since Blue Moves in 1976, all lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin, who has continued in this role to the present day. At the insistence of Taupin, John decided to go back to...

, which was released five years earlier. A CD single of the release was also issued; this contained the two aforementioned tracks, as well as 'Saint' and 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues

I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues

"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" is a song by British singer Elton John featuring Stevie Wonder on harmonica...

', also from 'Too Low for Zero'.

A limited edition 7-inch single was also issued, which included four postcards, each depicting Elton in a particular stage costume. This coincided with Elton's Sotheby's

Sotheby's

Sotheby's is the world's fourth oldest auction house in continuous operation.-History:The oldest auction house in operation is the Stockholms Auktionsverk founded in 1674, the second oldest is Göteborgs Auktionsverk founded in 1681 and third oldest being founded in 1731, all Swedish...

auction, in which the costumes pictured were sold.