# How come nobody ever told me how amazing ELO were before? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 7, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685 "2011-06-07T23:17:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/1 "2011-06-07T23:17:58Z")
I’ve always kinda known Mr. Blue Sky and it’s not a bad song but some of their others are just amazing. They join so many dots, between the Beatles, Queen, disco, prog rock etc. Lovely lush arrangements, and great vocals. Surely they’re due a revival? ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/2 "2011-06-07T23:18:59Z")
Love them, love them, have always loved them! Growing up, I thought they WERE an orchestra. 😛 Still on every playlist I make. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sigmundex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e19adc/32.png) [@Sigmundex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmundex)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2011, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/3 "2011-06-07T23:27:08Z")
‘Turn to Stone’ is possibly one of the damn-coolest songs to ever grace my ears… sometimes I just can’t get it out of my head. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/4 "2011-06-08T00:21:23Z")
_Xanadu_ ruined their reputation 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Cugel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cugel/32/1199_2.png) [@Cugel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cugel)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/5 "2011-06-08T03:29:35Z")
Time was one was the first albums I bought, still listen to it 30 years later. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/6 "2011-06-08T03:41:52Z")
I was sworn to silence on penalty of catapult! ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/7 "2011-06-08T04:47:11Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > _Xanadu_ ruined their reputation 😃 True that. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/8 "2011-06-08T06:10:55Z")
[Turn To Stone](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OP5TmnJy_DE) is my favorite ELO song. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/9 "2011-06-08T06:29:52Z")
> [@Sigmundex](#): > > ‘Turn to Stone’ is possibly one of the damn-coolest songs to ever grace my ears… sometimes I just can’t get it out of my head. I saw that. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/10 "2011-06-08T06:31:03Z")
The first concert I ever went to was an ELO show, I think it was the tour for the “Time” album. I was a wee BaneSidhe, so my dad took me and it was excellent. I still have all their stuff on my iTunes [yes, even the Xanadu soundtrack]; they still rock majorly. There’s several clips on youTube of Jeff Lynne’s version of ELO doing something like Storytellers…here’s the link for my fave : [- YouTube](http://youtu.be/H2Ncxw1xfck) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Q](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/898d66/32.png) [@Johnny\_Q](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Q)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/11 "2011-06-08T06:46:27Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > _Xanadu_ ruined their reputation 😃 Whose reputation _didn’t_ it ruin? ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 8:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/12 "2011-06-08T08:43:17Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > How come nobody ever told me how amazing ELO were before? Well I know why I haven’t told you this, at least 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Suil\_Dubh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85f322/32.png) [@Suil\_Dubh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suil_Dubh)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/13 "2011-06-08T10:33:05Z")
My parents kept their 8-track player hooked up to their stereo long after they had sold (or thrown away) the last of their 8-tracks. One day when I was in high school I found a bunch of 8-tracks in a thrift store and I bought them on a whim. ELO’s **A New World Record** was in the bunch, and this was the 8-track I listened to most. So much so, that I eventually killed the tape. Many years later a friend dubbed me a copy of his **Time** CD onto a 90 minute cassette. I still have this tape, and listen to it every now and then. ELO are fantastic. (I’m glad that you discovered them **An Gadaí**.) Such an amazing band with such a deep sound. And I always end up listening to them on the crappiest formats imaginable! ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/14 "2011-06-08T11:40:44Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > Well I know why I haven’t told you this, at least 😉 Is this stealth-threatshitting? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/15 "2011-06-08T12:29:45Z")
Pretty much, yep. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/16 "2011-06-08T14:04:50Z")
We thought you knew. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/17 "2011-06-08T14:34:02Z")
Is it irony that one of ELO’s founding members was turned, not to stone, but to mush, by a[giant bale of hay](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/8383420/Electric-Light-Orchestra-cellist-killed-by-rolling-bale.html) just last year? ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/18 "2011-06-08T14:41:29Z")
Dig a little deeper and check out the proto-ELO, [The Move](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Move). It was a shame that Roy Wood left ELO early on, his style had a little more edge than Lynne. I always thought of him as kind of a Lennon to Lynne’s McCartney, but Lennon wasn’t half the instrumentalist that Wood is. (His solo album, [Boulders](http://www.amazon.com/Boulders-Roy-Wood/dp/B000OCXF6U/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1), is a solo tour-de-force comparable to some of Todd Rundgren’s work.) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/19 "2011-06-08T15:06:32Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > _Xanadu_ ruined their reputation 😃 But if you ever get a chance to see the stage musical version of _Xanadu_, don’t miss it! I had tears of laughter streaming down my face. A loving tribute (and nose tweak) to both ELO and the Eighties in general. Re: The Move, I love listening the Move version of “Do Ya” side by side with the ELO version. It’s like watching Evil Dead I and Evil Dead II: both are different, but both are awesome. ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685/20 "2011-06-08T15:07:10Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > Dig a little deeper and check out the proto-ELO, [The Move](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Move). It was a shame that Roy Wood left ELO early on, his style had a little more edge than Lynne. I always thought of him as kind of a Lennon to Lynne’s McCartney, but Lennon wasn’t half the instrumentalist that Wood is. (His solo album, [Boulders](http://www.amazon.com/Boulders-Roy-Wood/dp/B000OCXF6U/ref=ntt_mus_ep_dpi_1), is a solo tour-de-force comparable to some of Todd Rundgren’s work.) proto-ELO? Knowing that I bet you [feel too good](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lo10AvAO5jg) about yourself 😉 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-come-nobody-ever-told-me-how-amazing-elo-were-before/584685.md?page=2)