I do like ELO. I’ve been recently listening to the Traveling Wilburys and really like all the songs on Vol. 1 especially Jeff Lynne’s great rockabilly throwback “Rattled.”
Any reputation he lost with Xanadu he gained back with his producing career.
For those reading along at home, The Traveling Wilburys are a late 80s supergroup consisting of Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison. It’s really wonderful stuff, and if you like ELO you should give the Wilburys a listen.
I kinda liked ELO back in the day but they sounded just a little too poppy and highly produced for me. More recently, I’ve gotten into them more. I think back then we just had an embarrassment of riches musically, coming off the 60s and all… I was still using the Beatles as a benchmark for pop, for chrissakes. (And yeah, you kids get offa my lawn.)
“Livin Thing” was one of the key songs of my adolescence. It was a huge hit at exactly the same time that I had my first huge crush on a girl in ninth grade. Of course, she barely noticed me.
Even today, I can never hear that song without having a wave of nostalgia wash over me.
I have several ELO songs burned to CD out in my car and I still listen to them. I never told you about them because I’m like, old and stuff, and you wouldn’t listen to me if I did start nattering about the past .