ELObsessive blog on Absolute Radio

Classic but not so well-known ELO tracks: 5. "Sweet Is The Night"

ELObsessive — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 14:49:56 +0000

When what is now generally recognised to be ELO’s finest album, the 17-track masterwork “Out Of The Blue”, was released in 1977, the band’s management boasted that every track could be released as a single. Well, maybe that was a rather over-the-top claim; but certainly, there were several tracks apart from the four that were eventually chosen (Turn To Stone, Sweet Talkin’ Woman, Mr. Blue Sky, and Wild West Hero) that would have been great singles.

One of these tracks, which Kenny Everett played a lot on his Capital Radio show at the time (mind you, he played a lot of ELO, period!), is undoubtedly Sweet Is The Night. It’s the opening track on what was Side 4 of OOTB in vinyl days – and even though it directly follows the final track of Side 3, the classic Mr. Blue Sky, it doesn’t seem like a let-down in comparison. Some achievement eh!

The shortest track of the original double album (apart from a very short instrumental number), it's a delicious slab of string-drenched power-pop, with (at times) Dylanesque vocals, great hooks, and an irresistibly catchy chorus that almost defies you not to sing along with it! The vocal harmonies on this song are just exquisite, with the call-and-response vocals between Jeff Lynne and the band’s bassist, Kelly Groucutt, among the finest that they have ever done.

One vocal slip, unless I’m mishearing it – at 2 mins 4 secs – is that Jeff sounds as if he’s singing “rays of morning bite”, which is underlined by Kelly Groucutt’s response vocal with the correct word, namely “light”! But I have never seen anyone else comment on this, so maybe it’s just me! But it’s sounded that way to me for over 30 years now!

All in all, a most satisfying and beautifully-crafted, ELO song which has truly passed the biggest test of all music – time.

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=_uN0dgexJ8s&feature=related

Ciao for now!

ELObsessive — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:01:59 +0100

Hello my dear friends - well I'm having another galivant-ette to the real world; will be back on AR on Saturday.

Hope you all have a great week - and please remember there are spies about ;-) So not a word about my alleged activities to any of young Reet's spies please ;-) Or indeed, anything about alleged me ;-)

By the way - I'm so sorry about bringing the world's financial system to its knees ;-) That was a result of my attempting to counter-bribe Reet's spies ;-) The cost has been very great I know, but I must tell you that I am not responsible ;-) I am, as many of you know, totally irresponsible ;-)

Anyway, here are a few of my current favourite classic tunes, which I hope you'll enjoy ....

Seal: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=ateQQc-AgEM

Detroit Emeralds: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=xwZFs1o2nPY&feature=related

Limmie And The Family Cooking (whatever happened to them, I wonder?!) http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=t8iXvMbJDkA&feature=related

Mr. Andy Williams: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=kWtLK7XP-Bk&feature=related

And last but by no means least, Mr. Labi Siffre: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=XftXrk32TUE

Have a great week, dear friends - don't be too good, take care of yourselves, look forward to seeing you all again soon, bye for now, mega hugs as ever xxxxxxxxxx

Another farewell!

ELObsessive — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 13:22:16 +0100

Hello my dear friends - well once again, I'm having another brief excursion to the real world ... will be away from VAR till Thursday.

As many of you know by now, young Reet and her vast and rapidly-expanding army of super-sized-bribed informants are constantly trying to discover all kinds of distressingly personal and intimate details about what I shall be up to - so I will be ever so grateful if you can confine any nuggets of information about LOM to the total privacy and confidentiality of VAR's admirably secure shout-box system ;-) Let me assure you that I will always be prepared to out-bribe young Reet, even if I have to remortgage ELO Towers for the umpteenth time in order to do so ;-)

And, as this seems to be becoming a little tradition of mine, here are three timeless classic tunes which I dedicate to you all and hope you'll enjoy:

Mr. Al Green - Let's Stay Together: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAOOFk549fw

Ms. Aretha Franklin - I Say A Little Prayer (silly video, but great fun!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKBuCaSYz40&feature=related

And Mr. Jeff Beck - Hi Ho Silver Lining: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsGDNG2Cpbg

So - bye for now, my lovely friends, will look forward to being amongst you all again on Thursday, take good care of yourselves and try not to be too good (am sure that won't be difficult!), mega hugs as ever XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Bye for now

ELObsessive — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 14:17:49 +0100

Hello my dear friends - just to say I'm going to be away from VAR for a few days, will be back on Tuesday ... as ever, I am confining any details of what I'm doing to the total privacy and confidentiality of VAR's admirably secure shout-box system, just in case young Reet and her legions of super-sized-bribed informants are spying on me, which of course they probably are ;-)

Here are a few favourite tunes of mine that have been buzzing round my head recently, for various reasons ... which I shall leave you with, in the hope that you enjoy them:

From Mr. Ray Davies: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MzpShIhvrjU

From Ms. Diana Ross: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UaYHRx9-v2M

And last and by no means least, Mr. Jeffrey Lynne: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCFl59jqNuI

BFN, my lovely friends, am looking forward very much to seeing you all again next Tuesday ... and once again my heartfelt thanks for everything .... mega hugs to you all XXXXXXXXXXXX

Thank you all so much :-)

ELObsessive — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:12:47 +0100

Hello my dear friends,

Words can't do justice to how I feel about all your lovely messages of support, sympathy and kindness over the last couple of weeks. What wonderful people you are :-) Not that I didn't already realise that, but really, I have been quite overwhelmed by your responses - in shouts, blog comments, PMs, emails, text messages, messages via other VIP friends, and phone calls, you have really helped me immensely through a very difficult and sad time. I thank each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.

And I'd like to thank TennantBabe once again for producing that lovely blog, in which she kindly put up those beautiful pictures of Gwen for you to enjoy. The comments on that blog (like the ones on my last blog) were also extremely moving, and I greatly appreciate them.

***************************************************

Gwen's funeral, which took place on Tuesday, was a very special occasion indeed. Although, naturally, there was a lot of sadness, it was a very uplifting and beautiful occasion. As part of the church service, we had set aside some time so that friends and family members had the opportunity to get up and speak about Gwen. Six of them (including me) did so, and it was wonderful to hear the spontaneous (these were not speeches that had been written out in advance) and heartfelt comments made, in which some lovely memories and amusing anecdotes were recalled, which put smiles on the faces of all those present, and caused quite a few chuckles, too. (In addition to all her other sterling qualities, Gwen was a very witty lady.)

Seeing how much Gwen meant to all those present - how much she was admired and loved by everyone who had known her - moved me greatly. I guess I'd always realised how much she was revered by my friends and family, but this really brought it home to me in a big way. I truly believe that Gwen was smiling down on us that afternoon ...

****************************************************

I'm planning to come back on VR, even if (initially at any rate) not quite as frequently as in the past, starting on Saturday, when I will begin the lengthy process of thanking each and every one of you who has been kind enough to leave shouts and blog comments (including those on TennantBabe's blog) for me over the last couple of weeks and more. This will take me more than one "session" on VR, but rest assured, you will all receive a reply. You can't escape from me that easily, you know ;-)

There is a lot more I could say here, but I have (as ever) gone on for far too long already. Once again, thank you all so much. You have been wonderful friends to me, and that means more to me than I can ever say. I look forward to talking with you all again in the near future.

Love and mega-hugs to you all - James XXXXXXXXXXXX

This is a very difficult blog for me to write ...

ELObsessive — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 15:01:57 +0100

Hello my dear friends,

I feel I must let you all know about the very bad news I have had recently which is having a huge impact on my life, and which alas means that I will not be able to be on VR much for the next few weeks.

On Sunday (3rd August), my beloved wife Gwen, to whom I had been married for 22 years, died, aged only 52 years.

As some of you already knew, Gwen had suffered from that dreadful disease MS (multiple sclerosis), which over a period of nearly 30 years progressively robbed of her mobility, ability to eat, much of her power of speech, and many other things which the rest of us take for granted. But despite all this, she remained, right until the end, unfailingly bright, cheerful and uncomplaining.

I do so wish that you could have all met Gwen. Everyone who knew her, loved her - it was impossible not to love her. She was such an amazing and wonderful lady. She was full of smiles and laughter, and possessed great intelligence and insight. She also had a wickedly funny sense of humour. She and I spent a lot of our time laughing and giggling together, often about the cruelties and absurdities of life. Oh yes, and she knew quite a lot about many of you guys! I regularly regaled her with tales of the latest goings-on at VR, which, although she was not strong enough to be able to participate in for herself, she was always very interested in.

Although she had been so seriously ill, her death came as a tremendous shock, not just to me but to all who knew her. It was just so sudden, a real bolt from the blue. The only consolation was that it was such a peaceful ending for her. She had been staying in a local care home for a week while I was having a break, and was well looked-after and perfectly happy there, knowing in any case that she was due to come home very soon (yesterday, in fact). She died in her sleep (the immediate cause being pneumonia, a common condition arising from advanced MS), and after she passed away she really just looked as if she was still asleep - she had a lovely expression on her face, with just a hint of a smile. That was a big comfort for me - knowing that she hadn't suffered.

As you can imagine, I am now up to my eyes with making funeral arrangements (the funeral will be held on Tuesday, 19th August - it's being delayed to enable as many friends and family members as possible to attend) and all the many other things that need to be done. Fortunately, I am getting a great deal of help and support from many kind people, which is making things a lot easier than they would otherwise be.

I wish I could have written this blog a little earlier, but am sure you will understand why it was not possible. There was, and is, just so many things to be done.

Please, everyone, don't feel worried about needing to "walk on eggshells" with me. If you ever want to ask me questions about Gwen via PMs/emails etc. (obviously not in shouts), please feel free to do so. I will be pleased to hear from anyone who wants to write to me, although I obviously can't guarantee to be able to answer as quickly as I would be able to in more normal circumstances.

And I apologise to everyone who has kindly left me PMs, shouts and blog comments over the last week or so. I am so sorry that I am not able to reply to them at present, but am sure you understand why; but I am planning to reply to all my PMs shortly, and will definitely keep in touch with you all one way or another over the next few weeks. Hopefully I will be able to get back on to VR on a more regular basis in a few weeks' time. In the meantime, please bear with me.

Thanks to you all for being such great people. I am honoured to be friends with so many of you. Take care of yourselves, and I'll look forward to being back amongst you again in hopefully not too many weeks from now.

Love and big hugs to you all - James XXXXXXXXXXX

Au revoir, cher amis :-)

ELObsessive — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 13:57:54 +0100

Hello, my dear friends - Just to let you know I am having another excursion to that scary old place, the "real world". Yes, I know, one needs to be careful - there are apparently people out there who spend so much time there that they begin to think it's more important than the internet ;-) But not LOM, I assure you ;-) I shall be away from VR until Wednesday week (6th August).

And once again, I implore you all to resist the entreaties and blandishments of young Reet, who will doubtless be attempting to extract all kinds of distressingly personal and intimate details about LOM, and my whereabouts ;-) She will doubtless have a web (geddit) of spy cameras primed, and will be offering super-sized bribes to anyone prepared to divulge information about LOM, no matter how trivial ;-) Just remember this, though - mine are bigger than hers ;-) Bribes, that is ;-) Yep, I am offering the not inconsiderable sum of a million Swiss francs to anyone prepared to keep schtum ;-) Plus, a 10% bonus for anyone who provides her with blatantly misleading information about me, as young Irene so helpfully did on my last break ;-) The funds will appear in your unnumbered Swiss bank accounts after I return ;-)

Please remember, too - to prevent Reet from gleaning any information about my activities, kindly confine any comments you have to the total privacy and confidentiality of VR's shoutboxes ;-) Or if you prefer, use VR's very discreet Personal Massage service, which I personally find very handy ;-)

Have a lovely time while I'm away ... I shall miss you all, but will look forward to catching up with you on my return.

Here are 3 musical ditties which I hope you'll enjoy:

The Raspberries (very underrated band, btw - John Lennon was a big fan of theirs) - dedicated to all my friends at VR cos I "don't want to say goodbye": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJsf1Yp5blw

Ms. Dionne Warwick (with a little help from the Gibb brothers) - how I feel about all my VR friends .... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3IOi7jnBoIQ

and finally, Ms. Carole King and Mr. James Taylor - You've Got A Friend - cos you have: LOM, amongst many others :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM3r1aJvKJE&feature=related

BFN, dear friends, take care all of you, don't be too good, mega hugs XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

ELObsessus Interruptus ;-)

ELObsessive — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 14:15:49 +0100

Hello my dear friends - just to say I shall be having a week away from VR to spend some time in that rather sinister-sounding place known colloquially, I believe, as the "real world" ;-) After signing off today, I shall be away till next Thursday (26th June).

No doubt, young Reet's spies will be visiting many of you, hoping to extract HPDID of what I shall be doing during my time away ;-) I just hope that my policy of massive bribes to all her potential informants will do the trick, and that I can rely on the total privacy and confidentiality of VR's shout boxes to prevent her gleaning any potentially embarrassing factoids about LOM ;-) All I am prepared to reveal here about what I shall be doing during my week off, is that quite a bit of breathing will be involved ;-)

I'm going to really miss you guys! But hopefully you'll all be here when I return - please, don't let any more nice people leave ...we've lost quite enough recently :-(

Have a lovely week, everyone, take care, and I look forward to chatting with you all again ere too long. Here are 3 little musical treats for you, in the hope that at least one of them will tickle your eardrums nicely ...

Mr. Steve Winwood - dedicated to those many VIPs whose lives are undergoing big changes at the moment - While You See A Chance: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVKJ_uQbcNM

Mr. Stevie Wonder - dedicated to my many friends here who Knock Me Off My Feet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwSuPXMHhaE

And finally Mr. Neil Diamond, for those many VIPs who haven't the faintest idea what I'm going on about ;-) If You Know What I Mean: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3WKpNLvJuA

BFN, take care, mega hugs to all XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

ELObsessive's Dictionary Of Idioms And Acronyms (EDOIAA) ;-)

ELObsessive — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:04:58 +0100

The idea for this blog originated from young Reet, who suggested that I published a book of all the various terms I use on VR and elsewhere. Well, here is a very condensed book!

Although it came as quite a shock to hear that so many VIPs are apparently able to read what I had always assumed were totally confidential shouts between my friends and myself, I have now reconciled myself to this lamentable situation, and dedicate this blog to those very cunning VIPs who are able to read my shouts ;-) Hopefully these terms will make them even easier to decipher ;-)

The list below is by no means comprehensive, because quite often I use initials as OOJMUOTSOTMAIW (one-offs, just made up on the spur of the moment, as it were); nonetheless, hopefully it covers most of my FUT (frequently used terms) ;-)

BOBs – Bevy Of Beauties - a term coined by young Lisa (britpopfan) to describe the lovely ladies who are kind enough to grace my page with their presence.

DYP/DMP – Dominate Your Page/Dominate My Page – a term coined by young Lizzie (LittleMiss1) to describe those occasions when a VIP fills up someone’s page with shouts. (See also MMBs.)

HPDID/Q – Highly Personal, Deeply Intimate Details/Questions – e.g. my eye colour, first name, favourite popular singing combo and other HPDID which are too distressing to even mention. Young Reet in particular is forever trying to extract these kinds of details from me on a daily basis ;-)

IJAM – In Just A Minute/Moment.

LITP – Lunch In The Park – what young Angelica (angelofnorth) does on every sunny day, apparently!

LOL – Lots Of Love ;-)

LYALY – Love You And Leave You.

LMAO – Lick Me All Over – a request made with quite alarming frequency on VR ;-)

LMFAO – Lick My Face All Over – a slightly more polite refinement of LMAO ;-) Young Taz (or was it her Lab?) came up with this one.

LOM – Little Old Me - moi ;-)

MB - Multi-Boxer - a shout that fills more than one box.

MMB – Mega-Multi Boxer - a shout that fills several boxes – official definition is more than 4.

- CBOR – Carlsberg Book Of Records – the almost-famous publication that records the World Championship For Multi-Boxing (currently held by LOM, with a 19-boxer on young TennantBabe’s page; she in turn is holder of the Female MMB Champion award, with an 18-boxer on my page).

- SI – Shoutus Interruptus – when an MB or MMB is broken up by another VIP’s shout. Any case of SI disqualifies a MMB for being entered into CBOR.

MTFYPM – Many Thanks for Your PM (EM for emails).

- HR – Have Replied.

- WRS – Will Reply Soon.

- NNTR – No Need To Reply.

OBS – One-Box Shouts.

RSI – Really Sexy Individual – something, or rather, someone, that you can apparently get if you reply to a lot of shouts ;-)

TB – The Boss, aka my lady wife whose name temporarily escapes me ;-) Also refers to that lovely VIP, TennantBabe.

WARN – Wild And Rugged North – where young Angelica and others reside, in contrast to those of us who live in the SS (Soft South).

WAW(W) – Wild And Wacky (Weekend) – the sort of thing that young Reet regularly indulges in, for instance. Not LOM though – I’m a good boy ;-)

Y(M)NOTW – Your (My) Neck Of The Woods.

Classic but not so well-known ELO tracks: 4. "Jungle"

ELObsessive — Tue, 27 May 2008 13:25:21 +0100

In early 1978, Kenny Everett asked the listeners of his Capital Radio show what they thought the next single from ELO’s Out Of The Blue album should be. (At this point, Turn To Stone and Mr. Blue Sky had already been issued as singles.) The listeners (including me) voted for Jungle to be the next single, but ELO’s record company took a different view, picking the “safer” Wild West Hero instead. (Jungle did end up on a single the following year, but only as the B-side to Shine A Little Love.)

What, I wonder, would have happened to Jungle had the record company been more daring? Would it have been a smash “novelty” hit – ELO’s equivalent of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, say – or would it have been a flop that could have dented the band at the very peak of their success?

My guess is that it would have been a hit, for two reasons: first, ELO was riding so high at that stage, that pretty well any song of theirs would have been a hit. And secondly, Jungle is a very catchy, infectious number (am I alone in detecting a bit of McCartney’s C-Moon in there?) and I suspect that it would have been a favourite amongst the kids – once you’ve got that “Chooka chooka hoo la ley,
Looka looka koo la ley” chorus in to your brain, it can be quite difficult to dislodge it!

What do you reckon, dear readers? Although Jungle is not one of my all-time favourite ELO tracks, I do nonetheless feel it is quite “different” for ELO, and a really fun track.

The sound effects were all produced by the band – the Tarzan imitation (a few seconds in) was done by Jeff Lynne! The dance sequence was, according to Out Of The Blue’s sleevenotes, “by Spratley’s Dancing Academy featuring Bladys & Goreen Turvis”, but according to my inside information, it too was done by band members!

Jungle also contains these great lines: "Wondrous is our great blue ship, That sails around the mighty sun, And joy to everyone that rides along!" – an uplifting sentiment, n’est pas? ;-) And no prizes for guessing what Jeff Lynne’s favourite colour is …

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2x653vEjqI

Open letter to Andy Gumbridge, VR

ELObsessive — Thu, 15 May 2008 13:01:55 +0100

Dear Mr. Gumbridge,

I gather that you are the person in charge of VR's website, and therefore are the man who is ultimately responsible for the appalling mess that this site has descended in to over the last several months. As such, I am writing to you, to ask you if you can please explain a few things to us ...

1. Why is this site so appallingly slow so much of the time? No other website I use is so slow and sticky, and I have never come across a site that fails as regularly as VR does.

2. Why does no-one at VR seem to care about the state of this site? Surely you want it to run properly? If it carries on like this, even more VIPs will leave; and ultimately the site depends on us, the poor bloody infantry, for its survival. Without VIPs, you'll have none of those lovely advertisers gracing your pages, after all.

3. Why do the techies on VR never, or practically never, answer our queries? Countless suggestions have been made by me and my fellow VIPs (mostly on blogs), as to how the site can be improved, and copies of these are sent regularly to staff at VR, yet we have never had the courtesy of a reply. (Even a brief explanation as to why maybe some of the suggestions are impracticable, would be better than nothing.) Many of us think that is very discourteous, to say the least. And as good business practice, it stinks, quite frankly.

I do hope that you will take notice of our complaints, and get this site working properly again. I look forward to hearing your prompt response.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.

Yours sincerely,

James (ELObsessive)

Many Thanks :-)

ELObsessive — Sat, 10 May 2008 10:13:24 +0100

Just a brief blog - for once!! - to thank everyone who was kind enough to vote for me in the Vippy Awards Thinggy. I feel very flattered and honoured, especially as I never expected to receive such an award. After all, I don't exactly blog a great deal, and most of my blogs are, to say the least, rather esoteric - or should that be ELOsoteric ;-)

Anyway, it was a lovely surprise, as well as a big honour, which I shall endeavour to live up to ...

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone, and once again, many thanks. Here's a lovely song from my old friend Bill Withers, which I dedicate to you all:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DnUxLISFcA

Hugs 'n' kisses 'n' lots of naughty things to you all :-) XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Diary of a VR techie ....

ELObsessive — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 13:07:01 +0100

9.30 am. Alarm goes off. Switch it off, go back to sleep.

11.40 am. Finally wake up. Shall I make a cup of coffee? Nah - too much effort. Wait till I get to VR.

11.55 am. Turn up to VR. I'm early! First one in the office ...

12.00 Get a cup of coffee from the machine.

12.30 Lunch time!!!

2.45 That was a quick lunch! Now, what shall I do?

3.00 These decisions are so difficult, aren't they? I know - let's have another cup of coffee!

3.30 Some troublesome VIP has emailed me complaining about the site not working. Really, some people are never satisfied, are they?! Delete their email as a matter of urgency, send them standard response telling them to get stuffed - oops, I mean fob them off, telling them we'll respond some time in the future ...

3.45 INSPIRATION!!! I've had the BEST IDEA EVER! Am going to do it right away! That section on VR called "Interact" - well, as it's impossible for anyone on VR to shout to each other, let's change it ... now, let's think, what can we call it? I know - how about "Community"? Well, if that doesn't qualify as a great idea, I don't know what does! Will get the whole team of VR techies to work on this straightaway, as a matter of urgency.

3.55 Right, well after that outburst of creativity and exertion, I surely deserve another coffee?!

4.00 Well, another day in the office is over! Yes, it's hard work, I know, but there is great satisfaction to be derived from really serving our customers.

PS: Note to myself for tomorrow - must see if we can get more of those lovely pop-up ads, they really are such a bonus for the site...

*TO BE CONTINUED ...

*VR site permitting

Classic but not so well-known ELO tracks: 3. "Can't Get It Out Of My Head"

ELObsessive — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 15:36:13 +0100

“I wrote it in the front room of me mum and dad’s house, in Birmingham, and I did have a good feeling about it” – Jeff Lynne

Can’t Get It Out Of My Head (CGIOOMH) was written as a result of an argument between Jeff Lynne (ELO’s songwriter) and his father, Phil. Up until ELO’s fourth studio album, Eldorado, released in 1974, Jeff had been writing relatively “heavy” songs for ELO. And although the band was making some progress, especially in the US, it was not yet the worldwide headline act that it was to become less than three years later.

One day, Phil Lynne, an avid fan of classical music, remarked to his son, “No wonder your tunes are no bloody good.” Jeff asked: “Why?” His father replied: “Because they’ve got no tune!” To which Jeff replied, “I’ll show you a tune!” And proceeded to write CGIOOMH, together with the 7 other songs (plus Eldorado Overture and Finale) that comprised the highly melodic album, Eldorado, which though it failed to chart in the UK, promptly went gold in the US. Jeff later commented that he wrote the album “to try and make [my dad] love it. And he did love it.”

Eldorado was the first album on which ELO employed a 40-piece orchestra, rather than overdubbing the band’s own two cellos and one violin umpteen times, and the result was a much more accessible and commercial album than the first three had been. Billboard magazine in America raved: “Few albums have created as much initial excitement as Eldorado. Its release marks the dawn of a supergroup, bringing a renaissance to rock music.”

It has always been a mystery to me why CGIOOMH was not a smash hit in the UK. It was, after all, a Top 10 hit in the US; and it contained all the ingredients for a hit single – a very catchy, haunting melody, lush arrangements, and wistful lyrics. Musically, it makes more than a passing nod to John Lennon’s Imagine. No wonder that Lennon later described ELO as “son of Beatles”!

But that’s all history now! Here’s a link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPlD8mrVHeg

Note that this, the single version, is over a minute shorter than the album version. Although this edited version (you can hear edits quite clearly at 0’ 52” and 1’ 20”, for instance) is still very enjoyable, there’s nothing to beat the full version, which, once it’s been heard a few times, does make this shorter version seem a little incomplete. But hopefully, once you’ve heard it a few times, you will have at least some difficulty in getting it out of your head ;-)

Classic but not so well-known ELO tracks: 2. "Tightrope"

ELObsessive — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 13:43:24 +0100

“Tightrope” is, in my opinion, the most perfect piece of music that Jeff Lynne has ever created – the best-ever merger of classical-type arrangements with pure-pop sensibilities, plus a driving rock rhythm.

It’s the opening track to ELO’s classic 1976 album, A New World Record (which spawned the hits Livin’ Thing, Telephone Line and Rockaria), and I still remember the delicious feeling I had when listening to it the first time, with the synthesiser at the start gradually filling up my speakers … then the roar of the gong, and then, most magnificent of all, those sweeping, Wagnerian strings, accompanied by a heavenly choir. As Mr. Spock might have said, it’s rock music, Jim, but not as we know it ;-)

And then, just as you start to wonder whether this is going to be a pop/rock song at all, the strings suddenly start descending crazily, in the process merging with the synthesisers so that it’s impossible to tell which is which … and then in come the drums and what sounds like lead guitar, but which in fact is yet another synthesiser!

From this point, it’s unmistakeably a pop/rock track, with a driving riff, the classic ELO “wall of sound” and Jeff Lynne's amazing vocals, all the way through to the uplifting end, which is beautifully closed with piano, strings and synthesiser.

Lyrically, too, Tightrope is a masterpiece. It starts off in a very downbeat way - “I tell you, I’ve got news for you, you’re losing all the time, you never win, no-oh.”

But things end happily! After telling a nameless person (maybe it’s a Sweet Talkin’ Woman) that “I want to look you straight in the eye/I want to tell you how I really feel/I can feel the wheels turnin’ round/Won’t somebody throw me down a line?” – and those are feelings that we have all surely had many times in our life – Jeff suddenly springs a pleasant surprise: “When I closed my eyes/I was so surprised/Somebody had thrown me down the line/Stopped me drownin’”. It really feels as this came from the heart - and again, many of us will identify with the feeling of having been saved by someone, maybe someone we don't even know particularly well ...

Here’s a link to the song - it’s well worth repeated listenings, as there is so much going on, and it’s a real grower: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BC5kuFIAztA

There is also an instrumental version, which is also superb - the music stands up very well without vocals (apart from some choral backing vocals). Unfortunately, the YouTube version doesn’t play at all well (at least not on my PC!) which rather spoils the impact. Worth a go though if you like the song as much as I do! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uIUXjAgj5Q