E.L.O. Wtf?

[Shellhead]

I have heard more Electric Light Orchestra music in the last month than I have heard in the last 20 years. What is going on? I'm vaguely aware that one of their songs turned up in a semi-popular movie a year or two ago, but it feels very sudden that they are getting so much play right now.

Eerie. Electric Light Orchestra was a guilty pleasure of mine back in the 70's, around the time I was moving from Top 40 to prog rock. Long before classic rock became such a major programming format, I had already pawned my E.L.O. albums.

Is it Jack? That new non-DJ radio format that's sweeping the major radio markets? They apparently play a very safe and agreeable mix of 80's music plus some popular music from other decades.

[DDM]

ELO has a new comprehensive greatest hits CD out.

[berk]

Nothing to be ashamed of in liking ELO. Although the quality of their output tailed off pretty drastically after "Out of the Blue", I think the three albums they did before that one - Eldorado, Face the Music, and A New World Record - have all stood the test of time. Crammed with beautiful melodies and intelligent arrangements, I still listen to them pretty regularly. Out of the Blue was pretty good, but I found it a little repetetive. Maybe Lynn had begun to run out of ideas, I don't know, but it didn't grab me the way its predecessors did. And then, of course, things got really ugly. But for a while there, ELO were great.

[Ilash]

Yup, probably the new greatest hits CD. I dig ELO myself simply because that Jeff Lynne guy sure new how to write a fantastic melody. Plus I love his voice, which is sort of a cross between George Harrison and John Lennon. Plus, his sometimes problematic production really fit ELO's sound so that's a plus. My favourite ELO album is probably New World Record, while my favourite song of theirs is probably Shangri La. Simply a real solid, very underrated band (really, why all the hate?).

[DDM]

My ELO favorites are "Don't Bring Me Down" & the Olivia Newton-John voiced "Xanadu" (written & produced by Jeff Lynn).

[Shellhead]

My favorite E.L.O. tunes:

Mr. Blue Sky
Telephone Line

(under torture, I might also confess that I really liked The Diary of Horace Wimp.)

[Punchy]

Isn't "Do Ya?" an ELO song?

I've heard it quite a bit on a commercial lately.

[berk]

Yes, "Do Ya" appears on New World Record and as far as I know Jeff Lynne wrote it, but IIRC, it was a re-make of an earlier version from some other band Lynne was in before ELO. Any pop music trivia buffs have the details on this?

I'd also be interested in hearing any opinions on their pre-Eldorado albums. Eldorado itself is so good that I think there's at least a chance that their earlier stuff might have been good as well. Has anyone here listened to them?

re: favourite songs, I could list about 3/4 of the songs on those three albums, but off the top of my head, I'd mention

One Summer Dream (from Face the Music; beautifull ballad that lives up to its title; wistful and melancholy without evr slipping into overly-saccharine sentimentality)

Shangri-La (New World Record; like much of the album, one of the best Beatles tributes ever)

Telephone Line (IMO it ripped off the the chorus from "All the Young Dudes", but when you borrow so creatively it's to be commended rather than censured)

Nightrider (Face the Music; upbeat song that captures the feeling of being driven along like ... I don't know ... as if you were on ... A TRAIN; really nice contrast and transitions between verse and chorus)

Can't Get It Out of My Head (Eldorado; just one of the most evocative melodies I've ever heard, and Lynne's vocals render it so perfectly)

Mister Kingdom (Eldorado; like many of their best songs, this one makes me feel like I'm reaching for something that can never be attained, yet you still have to try. The Moody Blues do this to me as well, in a totally different way)

I've left out great tracks like Strange Magic, Tightrope, Mission (not an outstanding song on the whole, but contains one of their best melodic lines ("who are you and who am I? ...")), Poorboy the Greenwood, ...

[Brian Cronin]

It was from his earlier band. I think the band was called "The Move" or something like that.

Lynne was a member of Traveling Wilburys, so I have to love him.

It is required by law. :)

By the by, Jeff Lynne co-wrote and produced the following four songs, all in the span of a year or so...

"Running Down a Dream" (for Petty)
"Free Fallin'" (")
"Learning to Fly" (")
"You Got It" (for Roy Orbison)

That always impressed the hell out of me.

Plus he worked with the Wilburys AND had a decent solo album (with one of the tracks being the closing credits of Deuce Bigalow).

Pretty damn impressive.

My only problem with him is that his production values always make songs sound similar.

For instance, he produced the two "new" Beatles songs, and they sounded a lot like ELO, Wilburys, Lynne's solo album, and the Petty and Orbison songs.

-Brian

[berk]

Brian Cronin said: My only problem with him is that his production values always make songs sound similar. I agree, but I think this didn't happen until after ELO's peak creative period (~1973 - 1978). Lynne seemed to fall into a formula that he keeps returning to over and over again and it does lend an undesirable sameness to a lot of his post-70's work.

Another favourite I forgot - "Waterfall" from Face the Music. Yet another swoon-inducing melody, with a marvellous vocal arrangement on the chorus.

[Brian Cronin]

Oh yeah, sorry.

I totally agree.

It was only after his ELO peak.

-Brian

[elheffe]

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B000026H7Z.02._SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg
This was always my favorite ELO album cover. On the actual wax LP, it's a gatefold, and shows the interior of the ship on the other side. It's a pretty good listen, too.

[DDM]

The latest Greatest Hits CD features the Jeff Lynn "Xanadu" vocals. I'll probably get this CD since it has so many songs on the disc...

[howyadoin]

It was from his earlier band. I think the band was called "The Move" or something like that.You are correct, sah.

The best version of "Do Ya" is still Ace Frehley's, though.

[Neil]

The best version of "Do Ya" is still Ace Frehley's, though.
Absolutely!

[Rob Imes]

Todd Rundgren did a live version of "Do Ya" on his 1975 (?) Todd Rundgren's Another Live album. That was actually my first exposure to the song.

If I had to pick one ELO song as my favorite, it would probably be "Don't Bring Me Down." It's a great Beatlesque song in the tradition of, say, "I Want to Hold Your Hand," but manages to also reflect its own era (late 1970s disco and New Wave) as well.

If you have the Real Audio player on your computer and you like E.L.O., here's a good page to have bookmarked:
http://www.wfmu.org/playlists/shows/6690
WFMU's website lets you listen to old programs on Real Audio and on this particular broadcast, the DJ played 2 hours straight of ELO. I've frequently gone to that page to listen to "Xanadu," "Don't Bring Me Down," "Yours Truly, 2095," etc.

I'd also be interested in hearing any opinions on their pre-Eldorado albums. Eldorado itself is so good that I think there's at least a chance that their earlier stuff might have been good as well. Has anyone here listened to them?

I have ELO II and like it. There are only 5 songs on it, but they are a bit long. The most famous is the cover of "Roll Over Beethoven." My favorite cuts on the album are the two that are subtitled "Jeff's Boogie."

[berk]

One thing I wanted to mention was how much I liked the string section on their best albums. It usually added a lot to the song and didn't feel like a gratuitous add-on or gimmick; loved the classical-sounding string intros to many of the tracks on Face the Music, e.g. Waterfall, Strange Magic, & One Summer Dream.

And as a few people have mentioned, Lynne has an underrated voice (although once he got into that repetitive stage Brian Cronin mentioned it started to acquire a certain blandness as all their material had the same sound). Nice falsetto, too.