47. Electric Light Orchestra

 

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/pic200/drp000/p093/p09378nu645.jpg

 

Jeff Lynne's 1970s outfit had an uncanny knack for churning out great Beatlesque pop tunes before declining record sales and demand for Jeff as a producer led towards the band's demise in the late 1980s.

 

ALL MUSIC GUIDE BIOGRAPHY

 

Key Studio Album: A New World Record (1976)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/dre300/e398/e3980166i1l.jpg

 

Key Compiliations: The Essential (2003)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov75/drf800/f813/f81369co2nz.jpg

 

Career Defining Song:

Mr Blue Sky (1978 UK#6; USA#35)

Some Other Key Songs:

 

10538 Overture (1972 UK#9)

 

Evil Woman (1976 UK#10 USA#10)

 

Livin' Thing (1976 UK#4 1977 USA#13)

 

Don't Bring Me Down (1979 UK#3 USA#4)

 

Were any of you fans of Brummie Jeff Lynne's very melodic songwriting throughout the 1970s and early 1980s or do you prefer Oasis as a Beatles tribute act?

tbh, oasis! :lol:

 

nice play on words, copying the bbc's (?) light orchestra but electrifying it. imho they started very good, but after woody went soon lost their way becoming rather bland. love 'showdown' and '10538 overture' but thats about it apart from 'mr blue sky' their later work was p*** poor... 'diary of horace wimp' was truely apalling

tbh, oasis! :lol:

 

nice play on words, copying the bbc's (?) light orchestra but electrifying it. imho they started very good, but after woody went soon lost their way becoming rather bland. love 'showdown' and '10538 overture' but thats about it apart from 'mr blue sky' their later work was p*** poor... 'diary of horace wimp' was truely apalling

 

God no! I loved dear old eccentric Roy Wood ... but ELO improved drastically when he left.

 

My favourite songs of theirs are Can't Get It Out Of My Head, Fire On High, Strange Magic, Mr Blue Sky (all of A New World Record - but I'll get to that later) and I love the live version they did of Day Tripper.

 

I agree they did start to go a bit 'off' with the album Discovery (I actually liked Horace Wimp though) and I Need Her Love is one of the best love songs ever - the music and the words a just perfect.

 

A New World Record though, is without doubt their finest hour - far superior to the Out Of The Blue album. I can listen to ANWR and not skip anything whereas the much acclaimed OOTB does have a couple of stinkers on there!

 

My favourite (although I love them all) from ANWR -

 

 

Norma

Edited April 4, 200916 yr by Norma_Snockers

The Whale (by far) is my fav. Elo song.. its trippy as f***, but I love it so much.

God no! I loved dear old eccentric Roy Wood ... but ELO improved drastically when he left.

 

My favourite songs of theirs are Can't Get It Out Of My Head, Fire On High, Strange Magic, Mr Blue Sky (all of A New World Record - but I'll get to that later) and I love the live version they did of Day Tripper.

 

I agree they did start to go a bit 'off' with the album Discovery (I actually liked Horace Wimp though) and I Need Her Love is one of the best love songs ever - the music and the words a just perfect.

 

A New World Record though, is without doubt their finest hour - far superior to the Out Of The Blue album. I can listen to ANWR and not skip anything whereas the much acclaimed OOTB does have a couple of stinkers on there!

 

My favourite (although I love them all) from ANWR -

 

 

Norma

 

Like you Norma, I was a huge fan of them throughout the 70's period. I have all their albums from that period, and "A New World Record" is a stonker of an album. :cheer:

 

 

My all time favourites are "Can't get you out of my head", "El Dorado", Evil Woman, Strange Magic, Living Thing, 10538 Overture and Showdown. But I could name another 20 tracks that are almost as good.

 

I like "10538 Overture" but not much else. Got sick of hearing the likes of "Mr Blue Sky" when they were out!

B)-->

QUOTE(Neil B @ Apr 6 2009, 02:52 PM) 2508567[/snapback]

I like "10538 Overture" but not much else. Got sick of hearing the likes of "Mr Blue Sky" when they were out!

 

does anybody know exactly what 10538 stood for?

 

B)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Neil B @ Apr 6 2009, 02:52 PM) 2508567[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I like "10538 Overture" but not much else. Got sick of hearing the likes of "Mr Blue Sky" when they were out!

 

does anybody know exactly what 10538 stood for?

 

got this from 'songfacts'

 

This was the first song ELO recorded and released. When Jeff Lynne wrote it, he was in a band called The Move. This prompted some members of The Move to go ahead with plans to create a new band with string instruments called The Electric Light Orchestra.

 

Lynne wanted the lyrics to be about a man who had a number rather than a name.

 

1053 was the serial number of the desk Lynne used to write this. They added the 8 and included the word "Overture" to make it clear they were an orchestra.

 

Like you Norma, I was a huge fan of them throughout the 70's period. I have all their albums from that period, and "A New World Record" is a stonker of an album. :cheer:

My all time favourites are "Can't get you out of my head", "El Dorado", Evil Woman, Strange Magic, Living Thing, 10538 Overture and Showdown. But I could name another 20 tracks that are almost as good.

I can't remeber Can't Get You Out Of My Head although I probably would if I heard it. The others are all really good songs. Plus Wild West Hero of course.

I can't remeber Can't Get You Out Of My Head although I probably would if I heard it. The others are all really good songs. Plus Wild West Hero of course.

 

Can't Get It Out Of My Head

 

 

Norma

Ah yes, I remember it now

I prefer Me Blue Sky and Don't Bring Me Down, great band.

Couldn't think of anywhere else to put this ... so as it is (strongly) ELO related -

 

http://uk.reuters.com/article/entertainmen...E53M62R20090423

 

Norma

Only truly liked Roll Over Beethoven and Don't Bring Me Down

 

Most of their music was harmless and I didn't mind it but those 2 the stand out tracks for me