I think Jeff Lynne and his band are under-recognized as one of the best rock groups to come out of the 1970s, albeit without a conventional four member line-up. Excluding carry-overs from the 60s, they might actually be the best, certainly in terms of production value and distinctness and their music has been the soundtrack to many moments in my life over the years.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
Here's 7 of my favorites from Electric Light Orchestra.
Week 9: ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA
#057/420 - Electric Light Orchestra, “Showdown”
This is a great song that harkens back to the old Western movie soundtracks of the 50s and 60s, adding electric guitar and a funk beat. Nice ambiguous lyrics. Also the zoom out to reveal Jeff Lynne’s out-of-control afro in the music video is wonderful:
John Lennon was a fan of this song and called ELO, the “son of The Beatles.” Jeff Lynne would later remaster two of Lennon’s unreleased songs after his death, “Free as a Bird” and “Real Love”, with the 3 surviving Beatles for their Anthology in the 90s.
#058/420 - Electric Light Orchestra, “Livin’ Thing”
Whether you interpret this song to be about bemoaning a wasted love, not killing yourself, or not aborting a child, there’s no denying that at 2:15 it’s a jam. Classic ELO change-up.
Jeff Lynne really made some creative compositions. This song was also released with “Fire on High” as a B-side, which is another one well worth checking out.
#059/420 - Electric Light Orchestra, “Jungle”
ELO’s mighty double LP, Out of the Blue, contains much of their best work and what I would consider their peak output as a group. Many great songs make it hard to choose just a few, “It’s Over” was what I originally envisioned ending The Amateur Monster Movie on for instance, but this song is one that’s grown into a particular favorite of mine over the years, popping up on my shuffle during many travels (partially because I accidentally added it to my library multiple times) where, well, “Jungle” was very fitting to where I was.
It comes in very gradually and softly at first, so as I’m maybe half asleep on a night bus in Colombia somewhere, it lulls me in with the "bird" (monkey?) noises and all that but then, woosh, 30 seconds in and we’re grooving. Even better if that happens while crossing some epically tall bridge or winding some mountain bend with valleys below. This is a good headphone song, and generally ELO is a very good headphone band.
And also, now that I think about it, I think I’m actually pretty fond of what I consider jungle-themed songs in general too. So this will not be the last in this countdown.
#060/420 - Electric Light Orchestra, “Calling America”
From their last and least successful album since the start of the group, with a non-classic line-up, no orchestra, and only synth, this song overcomes the odds and ends up being one of my very favorites from ELO. And as for many things in life, I have Tom Hanks to thank.
Being that Tom Hanks and I share a birthday, I try to see as many movies of his as I can, whether they are “good” or “bad”, they are always Hanks. We could put 2011’s Larry Crowne in that “umm, give thanks for Hanks” category, but we should also put it in the “Lynne for the win” zone because somehow (“somehow”) Tom Hanks riding on a moped while this song plays and the end credits roll made me leave the theater thinking, “Hey, you know, that Larry Crowne wasn’t all that bad.” Thanks to Hanks with Lynne for the win.
So this song ended up as the leading track on my desert mix while carting around the desert for The Wayward Sun and it worked just as well in real life as it did in Larry Crowne.
Their final album was one I had skipped over previously, but even without what made them iconic in their glory days, they could still turn out a good tune.
Also, I am a big fan of this completely awesome and very, very 80s music video:
I enjoy that Richard Tandy just looks like he was grabbed straight off a bleacher during a little league game with that casual grey spring jacket on. Is anyone missing a mild-mannered uncle? I think he’s playing keyboard for ELO. You can imagine the directors, “Richard, zip that casual grey spring jacket down a bit, this is rock and roll!”#061/420 - Electric Light Orchestra, “Sweet Talkin' Woman”
I’ve noticed Jeff Lynne wrote a lot of songs about being on the phone. (My first introduction to ELO that I can recall was actually Steve Buscemi putting lipstick on to “Telephone Line” in Billy Madison after crossing Adam Sandler off his “people to kill” list.) Well, here he’s waiting for an operator yet again. I wonder how many of these songs he composed while being put on hold? We need to start scanning 70s MOH tracks for similarities.
This is quite a joyous sounding track from ELO with the bright guitars and string section. Nice touches on this production throughout, such as 3:13 where everything but the vocals and the thump-thump-thump-thump cuts out and then crashes right back in. Another one of many stand-outs from this era that I recall playing loudly during AZ Pizza Hut deliveries back in 2008.
#062/420 - Electric Light Orchestra, “Four Little Diamonds”
I’m not even quite sure how this one ended up in my collection as I didn’t have this album and I don’t think it would have been on any “greatest hits” I would have had either. Nonetheless, this track I didn’t even know I had wound up on my laptop during my second trip to Colombia and worked itself into my life at a very fitting time to lift me up a bit.
I was taking a bus through the mountains from Bogotá to Líbano and I had just figured out (details spared) and man did she make me feel like shit. So I’m bumming on the bus, looking out the window, and all of a sudden, the voice of Lynne, “Okay, after four… four!” And I’m like, what is this? “She said she'd rather die than ever leave me. Well, I never saw her face since then.” (That seems appropriate to my situation.) “And if the law don't get her then I will.” (LOL, sounds about right.) “Four little diamonds.” (Okay, I’m not that rich, but the rest of it!)
Tandy (I presume?) has some great synth accenting here too, especially after “I looked around I climbed up high into the dawn but she was gone with the night.” TWEEDLE-LEEDLE-DEEDLE-LEE-DEEDLE-LEE. (it is hard to try to anglicize that sound but hopefully you know what I mean…..)
A fine song in the exaggerated thematic vein of "Run for Your Life" by the Beatles that almost topped my list, don’t sleep on ELO in the 80s! There’s literally “Diamonds” in the rough to find.
#063/420 - Electric Light Orchestra, “Turn to Stone”
Maybe a top 10 album opener from any group, my favorite from Electric Light Orchestra is this glorious song containing the best and quintessential sound I associate most with ELO. It’s an effective use of everyone in the group and packs about as much energy in as anything they ever recorded. Songs like this, there just wasn't another band doing it.
Going with Electric Light Orchestra, I expected this to be a less popular week, but turns out there are more Jeff Lynne fans among my friends than I had thought. I also recommend his work as a part of the Traveling Wilburys and his work with Roy Orbison, George Harrison, and The Beatles during their Anthology releases in the 90s. Jeff Lynne has one of the most distinct and atypical sounds in rock and rightly has a place now in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as this list.
Next week, I’ll be dialing back to the 50s and 60s for, oppositely, someone they wasted no time in inducting to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, that guy they went so far as to call the king of rock ’n’ roll, Elvis Presley.
420 to 30: A Music Retrospective
Week 2: The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
Week 3: A Tribe Called Quest
Week 4: Weezer
Week 5: Bob Dylan
Week 6: Led Zeppelin
Week 7: 2Pac/Makaveli
Week 8: Billy Joel
View the full list of "420 Songs" here: https://tinyurl.com/y8fboudu (Google spreadsheet link)
Nice write up. Jeff Lynne is probably the most gifted musical artist I've heard. Every album and every track is truly enjoyable to listen to - and it's rare to be able to say that about any artist.
Thanks for reading. I agree, he put out well-polished works. I can pick out a track I've never heard as something Jeff Lynne did, better than I can with anyone else.