# What do we think of ELO, do we like them? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [June 25, 2013, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918 "2013-06-25T22:11:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Slade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@Slade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slade)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2013, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/41 "2013-06-28T11:40:48Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > I’m the only one who’d rather shove ball bearings into my ears?.. Nope - I loathe ELO and consider Jeff Lynne’s involvement in anything a very good reason to avoid it. ---
**Author:** ![Lust4Life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ecc23a/32.png) [@Lust4Life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lust4Life)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/42 "2013-06-29T14:30:34Z")
loved Mr Blue Sky . ---
**Author:** ![BMax](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bmax/32/4267_2.png) [@BMax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMax)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/43 "2013-06-29T18:29:11Z")
> [@drewtwo99](#): > > This thread’s got a strange magic. > > It’s a strange magic. > > Got a strange magic. > > Oh it’s a strange magic. > > Strange magic > > Yes it’s a strange magic > > Got a strange magic > > In my opinion, any group who can take repeating “strange magic” 750,000 times and turn it into a pop hit is ok by me! My father was working nights as a security guard in the mid 70’s and took a 12-year old me to work with him once to help him stay awake. Around 3am that song came on the radio. He asked me what they were saying and I deadpanned: “I gotta change my dick”. My father just shook his head. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2013, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/44 "2013-06-29T18:54:36Z")
> [@Lust4Life](#): > > loved Mr Blue Sky . [Please tell us why he had to hide away for so long.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7321520&postcount=2) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/45 "2013-06-30T02:45:31Z")
I love ELO! Discovered 'em in my teens and still count many of their songs among my favorites. Checking my iPod… I see I have 33 of their songs. I tend to like their later stuff. Some particular favorites: “Rockaria”: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EATkIdjtD30) “Calling America”: [elo - calling america - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXnmkNL20xs) “Turn to Stone”: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-08GzcXuuE) “Fire on High”: [- YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt6o03K_y54) “Hold on Tight”: [ELO - Hold on tight to your dream (- CONGRATS, Jeff Lynne, to the O.B.E October10, 2010) - YouTube](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt_Se7BtSQg) _Xanadu_, as a movie, sucked, but it had some great ELO tunes. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2013, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/46 "2013-06-30T17:43:58Z")
ELO is my favorite band, as well; I have every one of their albums. If you like songs from “A New World Record” and “Out of the Blue”, you’ll probably like “Face the Music” and “Eldorado” (the two previous albums) as well. While I like all of their music, those four albums, from 1974 through 1977, are the core of that sound. The first two albums are kind of experimental, but still have some interesting songs. “On the Third Day” (the third album) is one of my favorites, but it has a bit of a different sound, and some harder-rocking tracks. The next album-and-a-half after “Out of the Blue” (“Discovery” and ELO’s half of the “Xanadu” soundtrack) add a more overt disco feel to the ELO sound, but, again, there are still some very enjoyable songs in there. As others have mentioned, “Time” is a cool (and often underrated) sci-fi concept album, but the string sound that helped define earlier albums begins to get minimized by this point. The last two albums before the band’s breakup (“Secret Messages” and “Balance of Power”) were made, at least in part, to satisfy a contractual obligation with their record label. Still some good music to be had on these, but I suspect that Jeff Lynne had tired of the band’s concept at that point, and the sound continued to change. Lynne has released a few new albums in the past decade-plus under the ELO name, though only one (2001’s “Zoom”) is all original music. On the new albums, Lynne plays most, if not all, of the instruments. He’s become a rather slow worker now – in the past 25 years, he’s released only 3 ELO albums, and 2 “solo” albums (arguably, ELO albums are Jeff Lynne solo albums now, too), and he now spends a lot of his time producing other musicians’ work, rather than recording his own stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/47 "2013-07-01T01:59:26Z")
I think _Zoom_ is actually a pretty good album. I had tickets for a concert on the _Zoom_ tour, but alas, it was cancelled due to poor sales. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/48 "2013-07-01T02:05:01Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I think _Zoom_ is actually a pretty good album. I had tickets for a concert on the _Zoom_ tour, but alas, it was cancelled due to poor sales. I agree; “Zoom” is a very enjoyable listen. It’d been out of print for some time, but Jeff remastered it and re-released it a couple of months ago (with a couple of added tracks). I, too, had tickets for that tour (I was too young to have been able to see the original band in concert), though, in retrospect, even if the entire tour hadn’t been cancelled, the Chicago date likely would have – it would have been on September 12th, 2001. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/49 "2015-02-09T19:23:32Z")
Looks like they’ve reunited, and a new album is in the works: [Ed Sheeran Performs With ELO at the Grammys – Rolling Stone](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/electric-light-orchestra-delight-paul-mccartney-taylor-swift-at-grammys-20150208) ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/50 "2015-02-09T19:38:20Z")
Oh, wow! That would be grrrreat! ---
**Author:** ![gytalf2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ac91a4/32.png) [@gytalf2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gytalf2000)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/51 "2015-02-09T19:41:33Z")
I never bought any of ELO’s albums, but I enjoyed their singles. I need to purchase the Greatest Hits. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/52 "2015-02-09T19:52:40Z")
> [@gytalf2000](#): > > I never bought any of ELO’s albums, but I enjoyed their singles. I need to purchase the Greatest Hits. “A New World Record” is for ELO, what “Who’s Next” was for The Who. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![TheInimitableMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TheInimitableMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInimitableMaven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/53 "2015-02-09T19:53:24Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > I had tickets for a concert on the _Zoom_ tour, but alas, it was cancelled due to poor sales. Aw man…until today, I had absolutely no idea that the Zoom tour had been cancelled. That was/is such a lowdown dirty shame because the Zoom concert DVD is nothing short of sheer bliss and easily, EASILY one of the best concert DVDs of the 2000s. Among the other setlist entries, including the _Zoom_ album tracks (very rare instance of the promoted album tunes actually being decent to quite good for once), I’d argue that the performance of “One Summer Dream” was even more awesome than the already sublime album version. Can’t wait to see what will come out of this ELO reunion. Makes me really wish all that much more that “Livin’ Thing” had not been cut out of _Guardians Of The Galaxy_ and its _Awesome Mix Vol. 1_…if it had remained, I feel it would have introduced Jeff Lynne and Co. to an increased audience. ---
**Author:** ![TheInimitableMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TheInimitableMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInimitableMaven)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/54 "2015-02-09T19:55:11Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > “A New World Record” is for ELO, what “Who’s Next” was for The Who. > > Just sayin’. _applauds_ As I said over in the 1977 non-#1 hit single thread, _A New World Record_ is my ELO favorite album pick. Not a bad song at all on that sucker. (Oops, thought I was doing an addendum to my original post…sorry for the double response.) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/55 "2015-02-09T20:59:20Z")
Wiki on the reunion: [Electric Light Orchestra - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_Light_Orchestra#2014:_Reformed) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/56 "2015-02-09T21:41:00Z")
I like ELO, but they totally picked “Hold On Tight” right out of Melanie Safka’s pocket. It’s such an obvious plagiarism of “Look What They Done To My Song, Ma”. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/57 "2015-02-10T03:31:30Z")
Kinda sorta similar, I guess, but more different than alike. Hardly plagiarism IMHO. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt\_Se7BtSQg ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/58 "2015-02-10T03:43:54Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > Kinda sorta similar, I guess, but more different than alike. Hardly plagiarism IMHO. > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gt\_Se7BtSQg Even with the fact that they both have their 3rd verse in French? How coincidental can that be? ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/59 "2015-02-10T14:46:51Z")
Coincidentally enough, Lynne has recently been a beneficiary of another minor songwriting controversy: [Stay with Me (Sam Smith song) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stay_with_Me_(Sam_Smith_song)#Background) ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918/60 "2015-02-10T19:36:22Z")
> [@salinqmind](#): > > Do Ya, Don’t Bring Me Down, and Hold On Tight - three songs that even today will make me turn. it. up. I love them. and Fire on High. I always crank it up when FoH comes on the radio [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-we-think-of-elo-do-we-like-them/661918.md?page=4)