Saturday 13 March 2021

On the turntable today...ELO


It’s a 70’s lockdown...Please turn me over as it’s back to October 1977 for a double vinyl album that’s jam packed full of great tunes. Boys and girls I present the magnificent Out Of The Blue by ELO.

Jeff Lynne’s songwriting was, and still is, heavily influenced by The Beatles. Lynne has an ear for a commercial tune that has a blend of orchestrated rock combined with a radio friendly sound, catchy memorable lyrics and terrific vocals. This was to be a perfect recipe for chart success and Out Of The Blue sold by the bucketload. This was the first double album in the history of the UK music charts to generate four top twenty hit singles. This LP was a natural progression from ELO’s previous outing A New World Record.
 
Side three, subtitled Concerto for a Rainy Day, was a four track musical suite based on the weather and how it affects mood, ending with the eventual sunshine and happiness of the wonderfully barnstorming Mr Blue Sky. I defy you not to sing along.
 
Created to be played loud and listened to in one sitting Out Of The Blue was beautifully crafted pop music laden with heavy strings and lots of overdubbed vocals coming out of every corner from your loudspeakers. 

It was, and still is, 70 minutes of pure joy.

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