6. Electric Light Orchestra--A New World Record

 #6: Electric Light Orchestra--A New World Record (1976)

Top-Notch Tracks: "Do Ya, [HJ200 #23], "Rockaria!" [HJ200 #173], "Telephone Line," "Mission (A World Record,)" "Livin' Thing," "Tightrope," "Above the Clouds," "Shangri-La," "So Fine"

Album Depth: No need for depth when it's all Top-Notch!

Weak Links: 

Stand-Out Lyrics: "In this life I've seen everything I can see, woman. I've seen lovers flying through the air, hand in hand. I've seen babies dancing in the midnight sun. And I've seen dreams that came from the heavenly skies above. I've seen old men crying at their own gravesides. And I've seen pigs all sitting watching picture slides. But I never seen nothin' like you!"--"Do Ya"

"Sweet little lady sings like a songbird, and she'll sing the opera like you ain't never heard. But she ain't ready. No, no, no, she ain't ready. No, no, no! She ain't ready, and she ain't gonna rock and roll."--"Rockaria!"

"'Hello. How are you? Have you been alright, through all those lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely nights?' That's what I'd say. I'd tell you everything, if you'd pick up that telephone."--"Telephone Line"

"For many days we traveled from a distant place and time to reach a place they call the Planet Earth. There was to be a celebration."--"Mission (A World Record)"

"Sailing away on the crest of a wave, it's like magic. Oh, rollin' and ridin' and slippin' and slidin', it's magic."--"Livin' Thing"

"They say some days you're gonna win. They say some days you're gonna lose. I tell ya, I got news for you--you're losing all the time, you never win."--"Tightrope"

"I guess it's like a mountainside. You've got to climb it to the top. Floating in a sea of dreams, the only thing that you can see is the view above the clouds."--"Above the Clouds"

"Sitting here waiting for someone calling at my door. Too bad, I'm getting out of love."--"Shangri La"

"I heard the preachers bangin' on the drums. And I heard the police playin' with their guns. But I never heard nothin' like you!"--"Do Ya"

"She's sweet on Wagner. I think she'd die for Beethoven. She loves the way Puccini lays down a tune. And Verdi's always creeping from her room."--"Rockaria!"

"Okay, so no one's answering. Well, can't you just let it ring a little longer, longer, longer. I will sit tight, through shadows of the night, and let it ring forevermore."--"Telephone Line"

"The Planet Earth from way up there is beautiful and blue and floating softly through a rainbow. But when you touch down, things look different here."--"Mission (A World Record)"

"Takin' a dive, 'cause you can't halt the slide, floating downstream. Oh, so let her go, don't start spoiling the show, it's a bad dream."--"Livin' Thing"

"People walking hand in hand. Everybody's singing to the band. I want to be where the stars shine bright, and hear sweet music on a summer night."--"So Fine"

"I want to look you straight in the eye. I want to tell you how I really feel. I can feel the wheels turning around. Won't somebody throw me down a line?"--"Tightrope"

"Clouds go by and hide the sun. Raindrops fall on everyone. So sad, I'm getting out of love."--"Shangri La"

"'Now, listen here baby,' she said to me. 'Just meet me at the opera house a quarter to three. 'Cause I'm ready. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I'm ready. Woo hoo hoo, I'm ready. I'm gonna show you how to sing the blues.'"--"Rockaria!"

"On a dirty, worn-out sidewalk sits a mother and her baby. Through her vale of tears she sees no rainbow. And someone's singing from a window."--"Mission (A World Record)"

"When I closed my eyes, I was so surprised. Somebody had thrown me down the line. Stopped me drowning. Somebody had thrown me down the line."--"Tightrope"

"Well, we were reelin' and a rockin' all through the night. Yeah, we were rockin' at the opera house until the break of light. And the orchestra was playin' all Chuck Berry's greatest tunes. And the singers in the chorus all got off on them singin' blues."--"Rockaria!"

"There's a building on a corner in a city in a land on a place they call the Planet Earth. My orders are to sit here and watch the world go by."--"Mission (A World Record)"

"Fading like the Beatles on 'Hey Jude.' ('Judy baby!')"--"Shangri La"

Electric Light Orchestra--A New World Record

Album cover: 9 out of 10. While this cover is awesome because it introduces the iconic ELO spaceship, it loses a point because, on the cover, it looks a little more like a floating poster in the sky than a three dimensional flying craft. (I know, I know, a bit nitpicky.)

Comments: It's all my brother's fault. He's the reason I'm a Minnesota Vikings fan. His favorite team was the Green Bay Packers, and so, because I thought he was awesome, I wanted them to be my favorite team, too. But, he told me I had to get my own team. Okay, fine. At the time I had a shirt that I really liked. It was white with the number 88 on it in red. When my brother told me to get a team of my own, the conversation went like this:

Me: "Who is a good player who wears the number 88?"

Him: "Alan Page."

Me: "What team does he play for?"

Him: "The Minnesota Vikings."

Me: "Okay, then that is now my favorite team."

And that's how it started. So, for the past 50 years or so, I've been watching, waiting, and hoping for a Minnesota Vikings Super Bowl victory. It hasn't happened. Yet. Oh, they've had some good teams, and they've gotten close on occasion, but like Lucy with Charlie Brown they always manage to pull the football away at the last minute. (It could have been worse. In answer to the 88 question, he could have named Rich Caster or Charlie Sanders, and I would have been cursed with the New York Jets or the Detroit Lions. No thanks, I'll stick with the Vikings, thank you!)

My brother was also a fan of the Electric Light Orchestra. This album may or may not have been the first 8-track tape he owned. It definitely was one of the first three that I remember him having. And so, it had a tremendous influence on me and my musical tastes. But, unlike with his football team, he didn't make me choose my own musical group. (The thought of some fantasy of  fifty years of Foghat fandom fills me with fear.) Of course, much like my beloved Vikings, ELO never was able to reach the number one spot on the charts. Oh, they landed in the top ten multiple times, but Lucy was always there to pull away the proverbial football.

In 2014, when I heard the remnants of ELO-who called themselves The Orchestra-were performing in Park City, I knew I needed to go, and I knew I needed to take my brother with me. My brother's musical tastes had always been rooted in classic rock (Styx, Boston, Foreigner, etc.) but for a while he drifted over to country music. But, I knew he would always have a love for the Electric Light Orchestra, and I knew this was the closest we were probably ever going to get to seeing ELO in concert. It was a fantastic performance, and I'm glad I got to experience it with my brother by my side. 

"A New World Record" packs a lot of variety in its nine songs. It's got rockers ("Do Ya," "Rockaria!") and ballads ("Telephone Line," "Shangri La") and dance tunes ("So Fine") and upbeat hits ("Livin' Thing") and more. 

The opening track, "Tightrope," is a nice, upbeat number that starts off with a nice orchestral interlude that sounds like the arrival of the spaceship from the album cover. (The first 1:10 of the song.) The space travel theme is continued in the song "Mission (A World Record,)" which tells the tale of a traveler from another planet who is sent here to record what is happening on Earth. It's a fairly clever play on words resulting in the album's title. "A New World Record" is typically thought of as a faster than ever time in an Olympic event, or some oddity to be featured in the Guinness Book of World Records, not as a log of happenings on the planet.

"Above the Clouds" is an odd little song, but I grew to appreciate it more when I heard a cover version of it by a group called the Sparkle Jets UK on an album of Jeff Lynne covers called "Lynne Me Your Ears." I think it's worth a listen.

Album flow is important. Sometimes there are songs that just belong together. "So Fine" is a nice little dance track, and it starts out like some fever dream from an engineer or producer, with layer added upon layer until it becomes a complete composition. But, I cannot hear the buzzsaw end-fade of the song without immediately hearing Mik Kaminski's opening violin refrain from "Livin' Thing." One song blends right into the other, making them inseparable. 

The biggest hit from the album was "Telephone Line," and rightly so, because it's a doo-whop classic with space age sound effects. (To get the sound of a ringing phone, they called someone in America that they knew wouldn't be home, because American ringtones sound better than English ones, apparently.) But, my two favorites from the album are the rockers "Do Ya," and "Rockaria!" The opening guitar riff from "Do Ya" is phenomenal, and "Rockaria!" is about as much fun as you'll ever have with a rock and roll opera song. These two songs make me wish Jeff Lynne had tried some heavy electric guitar sounds a bit more often.

Looking back, I'm glad my brother chose this album as one of his first to purchase. Its influence on me has spanned decades. And maybe, just maybe, someday in the future that guy sitting on a street corner can add a Super Bowl win by the Minnesota Vikings to his record of the world.

Up next: The end of a very funky era.