December 3rd
Electric Light Orchestra-Mr Blue Sky-The
Best of ELO
ELO existed
within a weird sort of other type music. Post-Glam. Pre-punk. Post punk. Prog.
But not prog. Pop. But not really pop. Overblown album sleeves and mad art
concepts from a bunch of old rockers from Birmingham. Birmingham, U.K., not
Birmingham, Alabama. If any band was never hip or cool, then ELO was that band.
Some prog bands, (such as ELP and Yes) and old hippies, (such as Fleetwood Mac)
were rightly ridiculed and dismissed as old irrelevant dinosaurs by the advent
of punk, but ELO remained unscathed.
I don’t think that it was because there
was an affinity between ELO and the new guard (not as new as it turns out- but
that’s another question altogether). It was because that ELO were irrelevant in
that good way. They were as relevant to the issue as say, a record by James
Last. It’s not as if they were beneath contempt, but they didn’t seem to
register as a worthwhile target.
But ELO were
massively popular. Incredibly popular. They’ve sold over 50 million records
worldwide, but I’ll bet you’ll never find anyone admitting to being a big fan
of ELO. ELO were not just solely listened to by sales reps that drove Ford
Granadas and only possessed albums on 8 track tapes.
You may get a few people
letting on that they’ve had a few ELO records, but no-one will ever say that
they’re their favourite band. What’s more you’d never get any “serious” music
aficionado giving ELO the time of day. There never seems to have been a
retrospective of their work in any of the monthly music magazines: Mojo, Q, or
even that odd one that deals with “Rock” with a capital R.
ELO are still
somewhere “out there” to this day, existing in a strange sort of parallel
universe and not fitting neatly into any sort of category.
I’d guess,
however that more than a few of those 50 million records were bought by
lank-haired, great coat, flare-wearing fans of Yes and Led Zeppelin. And the
same goes for fans of The Clash, The Pistols and rest of the scorched-earth
safety pin brigade. Likewise with everyone else.
All those deep and intense
music critics such as Paul Morley, Julian Cope, everyone who writes for The
Wire magazine and The Quietus will have an ELO record or two.
I’ll wager that nestled close to Crass’
“Penis Envy” and The Fall’s “Perverted by Language” on someone’s shelves that
there’s an ELO compilation. Mine.
I’ve got to be
honest here. ELO aren’t one of my favourite bands either. Not even close. But I
do love their singles. This one, “Evil Woman”, “Telephone Line”, “Wild West
Hero”, and “Don’t Bring Me Down”-how can anyone not fail to love these songs?
If any band was ever destined to deserve a “Best of” album, then ELO are that
band.
A final thought.
The Beatles were praised for being one of the first British bands to sing with
a non-American accent. (I can’t really hear it myself).
Listen to this track
though. ELO sung with a Birmingham accent! How brilliant is that!
And on the
break in “Hold on Tight” they sang in French with a Brummie accent. Now that
can’t be bettered.
Extracted from "Totally Shuffled-A Year of Listening to Music on a Broken iPod" Kindle book here: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Totally-Shuffled-Listening-Music-Broken-ebook/dp/B00CJYZ3CA
or as paperback here
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