A To Z Challenge, Music Blog

That’s Entertaiment – Letter E

Nancy's Notes 🖊️🎶

Welcome back to “That’s Entertainment!” –
The A To Z Challenge.
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Let’s see what’s up today!

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Artwork by Ernest Federspiel

ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA – In 1968, guitarist, vocalist and songwriter Roy Wood had an idea to form a new band that would use violins, cello, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, allowing rock music to “pick up where the Beatles left off.” The orchestral instruments would be the main focus, rather than the guitars. Jeff Lynne, frontman of fellow Birmingham group The Idle Race, was excited by the concept and in January 1970 he joined the band. The eponymous debut album, Electric Light Orchestra, was released in 1971. The name is a pun that references both electric light and “light orchestral music“, a popular style featured in places such as the BBC Light Programme between the 1940s and 1960s. After Wood’s departure in 1972, Lynne became the band’s sole leader, arranger and producer of every album while writing nearly all of their original material. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of top 10 albums and singles, including the double album, Out of the Blue, and the disco-inspired Discovery, both reaching the top of the British charts. “Don’t Bring Me Down” is the 9th and final track on Discovery; it is ELO’s second-highest-charting hit in the UK, where it peaked at #3 and their biggest hit in the US, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song was dedicated to the NASA Skylab space station which re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere and burned up over the Indian Ocean and Western Australia on July 11, 1979. On November 4, 2007, Jeff Lynne was awarded a BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc) Million-Air certificate for “Don’t Bring Me Down” for the song having reached two million airplays.

This is “Don’t Bring Me Down” by ELO


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I’m Nancy and I’ll see you on the flip side. 😎

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44 thoughts on “That’s Entertaiment – Letter E”

  6. “Don’t Bring Me Down” was a huge hit in Germany and made me get the corresponding ELO album “Discovery” on vinyl at the time. ELO were an interesting band I would call weirdly catchy. Their productions sound like Phil Spector on steroids. That said, they had many great songs that undoubtedly sound Beatle-esque. I know Jeff Lynne is wrapping up their farewell tour in the summer in the UK. I’ve never seen them.

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    1. Christian, your description made me laugh, although I think perhaps “Wall of Sound on Steroids” might be a bit more visually appealing. 😁 Picking up where the Beatles left off is not far off the mark, right? I bet their live performances are incredible. Perhaps you’ll get to one of their final shows in The States.

      Thanks for sharing your thoughts today, Christian.

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      1. Looks like the North American leg of their “Over and Out Tour” already wrapped up last October, and I could have caught them in New York or Philly in September, which I obviously didn’t. All of their remaining gigs are in the UK. Oh, well, another one I missed! With ticket prices for many shows being so high, I guess my wallet will like it! 🙂

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  15. A great band that I’ve always liked. I saw one of their first gigs, when they toured on the strength of their hit single 10538 Overture. It was a disaster: one of the roadies spent the gig lying on the floor trying to hold down Bev Bevan’s drum kit, which wanted to move around the stage. And they played for less than an hour, giving us 10538 for a second time as their encore, as “we don’t have any other songs.” Fortunately they improved!

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  17. Yeah … ELO were definitely a great band … meanwhile back here in Aussie-land, instead of the “Easybeats”, I am going give you “Empire of the Sun” …
    Empire of the Sun is an Australian electronic music duo formed in 2007.

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  18. I’ve kept two of their vinyl albums somewhere in my collection. Jeff Lyn as part of the Traveling Willbury’s, who would have thought that up? ELO, making music back when musicians actually made real music. Good pick, Nancy.

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