They sold over 50 million records worldwide, and they placed 15 songs in the top 20 in the Billboard Hot 100 charts. Blue Sky became one of ELO’s signature tunes (their other signature tune, for obvious reasons, was Chuck Berry’s Roll Over Beethoven).ĮLO continued through the 70s and early 80s as a hit-producing machine. Schematic for the original vocoder, invented by Homer Dudley in 1938.ĮLO keyboardist Richard Tandy uses the vocoder extensively in this song. This word, a portmanteau of ‘voice’ and ‘encoder,’ describes an electronic device that records human speech and allows it to be re-transmitted or altered. You will notice that the last half of the song relies heavily on a device called the vocoder. It certainly makes use of the “orchestra” part of ELO’s name, with lush strings and a full orchestra. The song bangs along at a hearty and upbeat pace, buoyed by Jeff Lynne’s vocals and backed up by a large choir. Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but I really enjoy Mr. Because of its sophisticated electronic effects, it has been compared to several later Beatles tunes, including A Day In The Life. It was less successful in the U.S., making it only to #35. The single of this tune reached #6 on the British pop charts. The song relies on many technical innovations and studio tricks so here is the official music video of Mr. Blue Sky is living here today, hey-ay-ay! It then segues into the tune, which describes everyone’s reaction when it stops raining and the Sun emerges to a lovely cloudless day. The song begins with a simulated weather forecast - Morning! Today’s forecast calls for blue skies. Blue Sky and 13 additional songs that were included in the ELO album Out Of The Blue. At first, the weather did not cooperate and it rained for two straight weeks.īut when the rain finally stopped, Lynne was surrounded by majestic Alpine peaks and beautiful blue skies. Lynne had rented a Swiss chalet in an attempt to create songs for a new album. Blue Sky was written and produced by Jeff Lynne in 1978. They issued a number of top-selling albums, and developed a lush signature sound that included strings, synthesizers, and significant overdubbing. Also, the string instruments adopted new pickups this solved the technical difficulty of allowing the strings to be heard over the guitars.Īt this point, ELO became a rock powerhouse. However, Jeff Lynne took over the songwriting and arranging duties. Many people predicted that ELO would fold without founding member Roy Wood. Several musicians had problems with the band’s manager in addition, during their tour the group had significant technical difficulties trying to balance the sound of the electric and acoustic instruments. Unfortunately, friction developed between the band members, and Roy Wood and other band members departed while the second ELO album was being recorded. They released an album that was critically acclaimed, and embarked on a tour. In addition to Wood, Lynne, Bevan and Tandy, the group added bass, cellos, and violin. Original logo for Electric Light Orchestra, or ELO. To highlight this, the group initially adopted a logo where the acronym for their band, ELO, is written out in a script that is reminiscent of the General Electric logo. One meaning of their name is that the group added electric music to a “light orchestra,” while a second meaning would be the association with an “electric light” bulb. The group decided on the clever name Electric Light Orchestra. Richard Tandy also joined the band in 1972, first as a bass player and later as keyboardist. Below is a photo of the founding members of Electric Light Orchestra from April 1972. He brought in multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jeff Lynne from another Birmingham band and drummer Bev Bevan from The Move. Wood had been a guitar player, vocalist and songwriter for the band The Move. Violins, cellos, string basses, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound, taking rock music in the direction to “pick up where the Beatles left off”. Wood initially envisioned a band that would produce a fusion of rock and classical elements, and would include The group was the concept of Birmingham musicians Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan. Next, we will review a cover by Tony Visconti, and finally a cover by Postmodern Jukebox.Įlectric Light Orchestra was an extremely successful group for about a 15-year period. We will first discuss the original version by ELO. Hello there! This week our blog features a fascinating pop song from the 70s, Mr.
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