A kung fu fighter in a disco

This is one of their best-known songs (and my favourite):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P7NwtjNpl-U

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jeff-worrell.livejournal.com

They are very pop, Lex (alth' they also rock out). You would probably like some of these, especially the disco-flavoured ones.

"Don't Bring Me Down" you almost certainly know, if only through the cover version on 'As heard on Radio Soulwax pt.2'.

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and surely everyone knows Xanadu too

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If you've seen 'Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind', you've heard "Mr Blue Sky". It turns up quite a lot these days, but randomly, so you might well have heard it on an ad.

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alexmacpherson.livejournal.com

Never seen it...are they prog-rock?

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It was on an M&S ad as well I think. And yes, it seems to turn up more and more these days on all kinds of things.

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and, er, doctor who. not that that will help

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dansette.livejournal.com

I've heard of them but never heard of any of the songs! I'm glad I'm not the only one in ignorance.

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atomic kitten 'be with you' = Last Train to London sort of messed around with

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Oooh blimey, yes! I've always had mixed feelings about LTTL as well, in an odd sort of way that makes even more sense.

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WHERE IS XANADU?????

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katstevens.livejournal.com

My bad - I used 'begins' instead of 'contains' :(

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I may have to withdraw one of my eight votes in protest as obviously it is one of their finest moments (and Olivia's too)

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Yee, 'Xanadu' may be one of *her* finest moments but I'm not sure it's an ELO great. Obv, it should still be on the list, of course. I'm surprised 'Four Little Diamonds' isn't on here, as I thought it was released a single. My bad there, I guess.

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i wuv the xanadu album. what i don't like on it, is bobbins enough to merit the WTF listening.

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The film is pretty WTF from start to finish. I'd never seen it until last year when I was in Australia (where it has cult status) and forced to see it by friends.

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still not actually seen it!

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You can get an idea of some of the WTF-ness of it from this clip (featuring another ELO song from the film):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEiDN3GH-0

although the whole thing really needs to be seen to be believed

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Oh I totally think it's one of their finest moments too. It's got all the recognisable moments that make me love ELO - and so sounds as much their song as it is hers.

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I like *bits* of it, but other bits are all wrong. For some reason, the verse (not chorus, obv), to me, makes her voice sound all flat and uninspired - and that's hardly the first thing I'd think of in connection with ONJ's voice.

Can't quite put my finger on it, may be something about so much of the song being in the upper registers? Which is, of course, typical ELO. But for some reason it doesn't really work for me. It seems so light and breathy in places that it's in danger of floating away. ELO typically have an undercurrent of darkness anchoring even their fluffiest song, IMHO (their best ones, anyway), and I fear that 'Xanadu' lacks that all-important element.

It kind of makes me think of Duran Duran and "Rio", weirdly - there's 10 seconds of the song here and there which really gets me, the intervening bits are such a disappointment. Although at least it's less disjointed than "Rio".

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carsmilesteve.livejournal.com

yes, i was also surprised at the lack of four little diamonds. i think it's the only ELO on my ipod due to GTA: Vice City

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i have just found a cover of this by "Dj Happy Vibes Feat Jazzmin" in my iTunes. no idea why - could have been a podcast submission??

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carsmilesteve.livejournal.com

hmmm, never made it to a podcast if so...

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jeff-worrell.livejournal.com

Hurrah! Thanks, kat.

I was very good and only ticked 8 as instructed. This is what and why:

10538 Overture
From when Roy Wood was still involved. Heavy! Also, the most 'orchestral' ELO ever were really.

Evil Woman
So many great moments - the killer synth/clavinet "riff" in the chorus, the backing singers, the 'a propos of nothing' descending phrase on the violins in the middle (later much sampled)...

Livin' Thing
Guilty Pleasures anthem

Rockaria!
What it says on the tin. Sublimely silly. "I thought I saw the mayor there! But I wasn't really sure"

Mr Blue Sky
Duh. The false ending -> abrupt key and tempo change = gets me every time.

Shine A Little Love
Disco classic.

Don't Bring Me Down
Written for Discovery at the last minute because there weren't enough LOUD SONGS on the album. Stomp, stomp, stomp.

Here Is The News
I only heard this for the first time recently. Weird choice for a single (quite avant garde for ELO) from what is a pretty odd space-themed concept album. Perhaps not one of their best, but I like that Jeff Lynne wasn't resting on his laurels with all the dosh he'd got from sales of Out Of The Blue.

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