dilluns, 29 d’agost del 2011

Secret Messages - ELO


Després de Time, ELO va deixar d’anar de gira. Alguns diuen és que al Jeff Lynne li va agafar una mena de stage-fright i no podia, però no està clar del tot que aixo fos el cas. Potser estaven ja cansats de tanta fama. Membres del grup, Jeff inclòs, també estaven molt embolicats en altres projectes i el futur del ELO no pintava bé. Però van poder arribar a gravar un últim LP decent, al 1983, Secret Messages. Cançons a destacar, Four Little Diamonds, Rock ‘n’ Roll is King, Secret Messages.

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Soon after Time, ELO stopped touring. Some said it was because Jeff Lynne suffered from stage-fright, but I've never seen it clearly explained. Maybe they were just too fed up with fame, too many other things in their minds, and moving on to fresh pastures. Most of the band were collaborating in other musical projects, other bands, soundtracks, production work etc and the future of ELO did not look too bright. They still managed to pull one last decent LP out of the hat, though. 1983's Secret Messages with songs like Four Little Diamonds, Rock ‘n’ Roll is King, Secret Messages.



divendres, 26 d’agost del 2011

Yours Truly 2095 - ELO


A l’any 1981 arriba el primer LP d’ells que vaig comprar. De fet un dels primers LPs de qualsevol grup que vaig comprar. Time. Sonaven menys les cordes i entraven timidament en l’electronica. La gran pregunta és com el Jeff Lynne va poder, o ha pogut, dominar l'arte de la musica pop, passant per les cordes de l'orquestra, el rock, l'electronica, peces elaborades de 10 minuts, joies de 3 minuts, tocant qualsevol instrument i produient els discos ...? Quin geni!

Aquest LP potser no va tenir l’èxit dels anteriors, ja que els temps havien canviat, i la joventut estavem per altres coses, però m’encanta. Ticket to the Moon, 21st Century Man, Twilight ....ja han estat al bloc, ja que aquest LP evidentment em porta bons records. Pos, una altra peça: Yours Truly 2095

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By 1981 I was earning enough from the paper round to actually buy records, and this was one of the first. Maybe there are less strings on it, and maybe they were moving into electronic instruments to try and keep up with other groups, but it's still a classic - for me! Jeff Lynne showed once more he could do anything he put himself to - a 10 minute orchestral arrangement, no problem. A 3-minute pop hit. Rock, disco, electronics ... producer ... multi-instrumentalist ... a genius! Having already posted 3 tracks from this album (Ticket to the moon, 21st century man, twilight - check them out!), here's a 4th.



dilluns, 22 d’agost del 2011

Xanadu - ELO


A l’any 1980 ELO gravaria la banda sonora de la pel·lícula Xanadu. Una pel·li pèssima, però que val la pena per Olivia Newton-John, i la música.

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In 1980 ELO wrote and recorded the soundtrack for the film Xanadu, a film of doubtful quality but saved by the ever-stunning Olivia Newton-John, and the music!


divendres, 19 d’agost del 2011

The Diary of Horace Wimp - ELO


A l’any 1979 ELO gravaria Discovery, ara amb un cert aire “disco”. A mi personalment potser el que menys m’agrada (els meus preferits són de la primera època, els 3-4-5 que després vendrien junts en un boxed set, Three Light Years). Però hi ha cançons molt bones, Confusion, Last Train To London, o The Diary of Horace Wimp (oi que sona com els Beatles?!)

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ELO's 1979 album, Discovery, took onboard disco music. Personally it's not my favourite - I prefer the first 5 - but it does include some classic pop songs like Confusion, Last Train to London, or The Diary of Horace Wimp (anybody mention the Beatles ...?)


dimecres, 17 d’agost del 2011

Mr Blue Sky - Sweet Talkin' Woman - ELO

Com tots els grups, arriba un moment del “no va més”, i als ELO els arribaria amb Out Of The Blue, any 1977, un LP doble, amb concerts massius plens d’efectes especials i excessius ... justament en plena època punk on el ELO ja es distanciarien dels “entesos” en música. Com els ABBA, fer música pop massa perfecte no estava ben vist pels experts – però si pels consumidors!
Qui no té Out Of The Blue a casa? Bé, si hi ha algú que no ho té, pos, avui dos cançons: Mr Blue Sky (of course!) i Sweet Talkin’ Woman.

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As with all groups, the bigger you get, the bigger you want to be. In 1977, ELO ignored punk and young people, to stick with perfect pop classics, on a double album and huge expensive concerts with loads of special effects. The result - even more success! Just like ABBA, maybe music critics didn't like it, but the paying public just lapped it up!

Who does not have this LP at home?! Difficult to choose two tracks, but I'll post the most popular ones today, Mr Blue Sky and Sweet Talkin' Woman.



dilluns, 15 d’agost del 2011

Living Thing - Tightrope - ELO

I ja tenim el nave espacial del logo!
Al 1976, amb A New World Record, diria que ELO va començar a deixar els experiments atras i es dedicaven purament al pop-rock (light), però continuaven usant molt de corda. D’aquest LP podríem ressaltar Tightrope, Telephone Line, Rockaria, Livin’ Thing ...

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At last, the famous logo! With A New World Record, ELO left behind some of their more interesting and original experiments to stick to pure 4-minute pop songs, with some string instruments still in there. Tightrope, Telephone Line, Rockaria, Living Thing are among some of the great songs on this album.





divendres, 12 d’agost del 2011

Nightrider - Strange Magic - ELO


1975, 5e LP, Face The Music. Wow!! És un “must” per qualsevol col·lecció de música, Evil Woman, Down Home Town, Strange Magic, Nightrider ...

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With their fifth LP, Face the Music, in 1975 ELO kept their music at the very highest level ....






dilluns, 8 d’agost del 2011

3 de Eldorado - ELO

Pel 4t LP i després de diversos canvis en el line-up, amb aquest LP i el pròxim, ELO començava a tenir el Dream Team que continuaria durant tota la dècada dels 70. Jeff Lynne, que fa de tot. Bev Bevan a la bateria. Richard Tandy al teclat. Mik Kaminski, violi. Kelly Groucutt, baix. Melvyn Gale, violocello. I que consta que no he necessitat al Wikipedia per recordar els noms – la música que aprens d’adolescent no et deixa mai!Bé, del LP Eldorado, podem ressaltar TOT! Però ficats a triar, Can’t Get It Out Of My Head i Boy Blue i Illusions in G Major....

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So how come a teenager's first love in music never leaves him? 30 years later and I can still remember the line-up of ELO's best version which was being defined with Eldorado, and the following album. Eldorado, the name itself clearly indicates what you can expect to find in this LP! Basically this album is a MUST, but if we had to choose just a few tracks, try and check out: Can't get it out of my head, Boy blue, or Illusions in G Major ...






divendres, 5 d’agost del 2011

Daybreaker - Showdown - ELO

L’any 1973 sortiria el tercer LP On The Third Day, on realment van començar a formar hits darrera hits .. potser el més famós d’aquest LP va ser Showdown, però el que més m’agradava de joven era Daybreaker. No sóc tan vell d’haver conegut els ELO en el seu millor moment. Durant els 70, els anava sentint a la radio com tothom, però no va ser fins el 79 que algú em va deixar un LP sencer per escoltar. Directament cap a la biblioteca per treure tots els discs que podia i gravar-los!

L’any següent un oncle em comenta que un amic del poble del costat tenia els primers LPs que encara no havia pogut trobar per gravar (evidentment, comprar no entrava l’equació d’un joven sense recursos). Vaig caminar un hora per arribar a casa d’ells (tot s’ha de dir, som molt caminadors a Yorkshire!), agafar els LPs i gravar-los a casa nostra. La setmana desprès repetia la ruta!

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With their third album, On The Third Day, ELO really hit the bigtime, with songs such as Showdown or Daybreaker.

My personal relationship with them was the typical obsesssion of a teenager. It was not until the end of the 70s as a 12, 13-year-old when I realised how great this band were. I immediately started rummaging through their previous albums, recording what I could. Even walking an hour to the next town, to an acquaintance's house who'd lend me their first albums to copy. Even back then, you see, we copied music!





dimecres, 3 d’agost del 2011

Mitjons Blancs - Terratombats

Interrumpim aquest fascinant serie d'apunts sobre ELO per proposar una altra candidata per cançó de l'estiu :)
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Leaving the ELO series aside for a day, couldn't resist this piece of summer "fun" - fun with a message. The lyrics (in a mixture of Catalan and English) denounce the fact that people coming to Catalonia on holiday, bombarded by "typical" Spanish souvenirs, do not get a chance to find out anything about Catalonia or its culture. Who's to blame?
A visitor to London wouldn't expect to see folk in kilts saying Och Aye, or Lancastrians walking whippets and smoking black puddings, so why are visitors to Catalonia offered bull-fighting souvenirs, Sevillian folk dresses, even Mexican hats!!?

dimarts, 2 d’agost del 2011

Roll over Beethoven - ELO


Al any següent Roy Wood va deixar el grup per formar Wizzard, i Jeff Lynne va agafar el mando – i quin geni! Des de llavors escrivia i producia tota la música del grup. Van gravar ELO2 amb un notable èxit fent una versió del Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry).

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The following year, Roy Wood would (pun unintended) leave to start up Wizzard, and Jeff Lynne took on full responsibility for writing the band's music and lyrics, and producing their albums - except for this cover of Roll Over Beethoven (Chuck Berry) which appeared on the second album, ELO2.