As 1977 drew to a close, freshers year in terms of punk rock being new and abrasive within the college of contemporary music, it was evident the dissenting young acts to have emerged had brought alternative schools of thought not only to song presentation, but also to the perspective of the rock press.
While critics had spent much of the decade fawning over the output of 70s titans such as Led Zeppelin and Yes, it appeared no coincidence that during 12 months which brought startling debut sets from the Sex Pistols, Elvis Costello, Ian Dury and The Clash (among others), 1977 releases by those two members of the old guard should meet with a frosty reception from certain scribes.
Indeed, Yes and Zeppelin, along with Rod Stewart and Elton John, were pilliored by the punks for creating what they felt was complacent, grandiose music, that until now had been dutifully applauded by a rock media willing to indulge them.
While there were varied reasons for an absence of new material from venerable veterans such as The Who, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones through the year, it added to the perception of 1977 being a time of transformation.
Yet against the backdrop of revolutionary fires, a sense of normality still burned as big-selling mainstream bands such as Queen and Supertramp continued happily about their business – any notion that punk had put paid to musical extravagance dispelled when string-laden, power-pop ensemble Electric Light Orchestra turned their seventh L.P. into the double-album bonanza that was ‘OUT OF THE BLUE‘ (October 1977).
Coming together in 1970 from the remnants of Birmingham-based (U.K.) late-60s hitmakers The Move, founding ELO members Roy Wood (guitar/keyboards), Jeff Lynne (guitars) and Bev Bevan (drums) were taken with the idea – particularly Wood and Lynne – of fusing orchestrated arrangements with pop sensibilites. This trio of core players were responsible for most of their December 1971 self-titled debut set, which offered grounds for encouragement while yielding a U.K. hit single with an instrumental Lynne composition entitled ‘10538 Overture.’
Assembling a line-up to undertake concert performances in support of the album, Hugh McDowell (cello) and Richard Tandy (bass) were among those recruited. But during sessions for a follow-up album, Wood lost interest in the project and taking the newly-enlisted celloist and keyboard player Bill Hunt with him, left to form Wizzard, who would go on to create some nicely-constructed hit singles in the glam-rock vein through the mid-70s.
Those who predicted an abrupt end for ELO in the wake of Wood jumping ship were proved wide of the mark. Lynne single-handedly filled the creative breach, penning the second album, ‘ELO II‘ (1973) in its entirity, save for an eloborate cover of the Chuck Berry classic ‘Roll Over Beethoven‘ that brought the band another appearance in the U.K. singles chart.
While the dye was now cast for Lynne to be the sole source of material for ELO albums (his duites also extending to production and lead vocals), ‘ELO II‘ met with decidedly mixed reviews and modest sales on both sides of the Atlantic.
Their line-up began to become more stabilised with recuitment of violinist Mik Kaminski and return of McDowell for ‘On the Third Day’ (1973). Once again it generated a muted critical response, except that is for ‘Showdown‘, which most reviewers recognised as a fine soul-infused track which as a single enjoyed success in the U.K. and U.S, the band now starting to build a sizeable Stateside following.
Despite another imminent change in personnel, bassist Michael De Albuquerue participating in sessions for ‘Elderado‘ (1974) but leaving before its completion (his place taken by Kelly Groucutt), their fourth album was the first to prompt widespread encouragement from the music press – the undisguised Beatle-hooks fleshed out with sweeping strings, suggesting Lynne had found a winning formula.
With Melvyn Gale replacing fellow celloist Mike Edwards prior to the recording of ‘Face the Music‘ (1975), the ensemble was now in place that would see them through the next four albums – Lynne (guitar), Bevan (drums), Groucutt (bass), McDowell (cello), Tandy (keyboards), Kaminski (violin) and Gale (cello). The group consolidated recent gains with another high-charting album, hit singles ‘Evil Woman‘ and ‘Strange Magic‘ both containing elements of the symphonic pop and lightweight prog that had fast become their trademark.
With ‘A New World Record‘ (1976) the floodgates were finally torn off their hinges. Helped in no small way by big-selling single ‘Livin’ Thing‘, the parent L.P. hit the top five in both Britain and America, chalking up collossol sales during a six month stay on the U.S. charts.
Such was the confidence now running through the group, particularly in regard to Lynne as songwriter, when a three-week composing sojourn in the Swiss Alps yielded a glut of new songs, the decision was quickly taken to make their next release a double-set. While it remains a moot point whether there was enough substantive material to warrant a running time of 70 minutes, justification arrived in the form of massive worldwide sales that topped three million even before the year was out.
Recorded in Munich through the summer of 1977, ‘Out of the Blue‘ is a lavishly produced collection that leaves nothing to chance, being structured down to the very last note – that said, the engaging final track, ‘Wild West Hero‘, finds Lynne stepping away from his oft-used subject matter of the weather or being embrolied in a complicated love affair.
With precision rather than passion continuing as the order of the day where ELO were concerned, they are steered through the eighteen tracks by central figure Lynne, whose narrow lyrical perspectives conspire to create songs that for the most part are a mile wide and an inch deep.
However, pieces such as opening cut ‘Turn to Stone‘, with its endearing mix of glam-rock and Abba-esque motifs, the disco-styled ‘Sweet Talkin’ Woman‘ and optimistic anthem ‘Mr. Blue Sky‘ are stellar examples of just how adept Lynne had become at crafting the stylized offerings that were now their calling card – all three making notable incursions into hit single listings around the world.
If tracks such as these were Lynne the writer and ELO as an entity at their most effective, the expanse of a two-record canvas, offered full license to his creative ambitions. Had Yes, for example, come up with something so high falutin as ‘Concerto for a Rainy Day‘ (the collective title he gave to the four songs on side three), it would have been perceived as prog-rock at its most bombastic.
Indeed, taken as a song-cycle – which is the intention – ‘Standin’ in the Rain‘ could be The Moody Blues with a touch of merriment, ‘Big Wheels‘ a Lennon-honed vocal performance atop of multi-layered instrumentation, while ‘Summer and Lightning‘ begs the not unreasonable question of why Lynne has never been asked for the theme song to a James Bond film. Thankfully ‘Mr. Blue Sky‘ that closes the suite, arrives to cuts through the pretension, the near nursery-rhyme lyric fitting perfectly with an uplifting performance that stands as the pinnacle of what ELO would achieve.
Sequenced as the first and third tracks of the album, ‘Turn to Stone‘ and ‘Sweet Talkin’ Woman‘ are joined on side one by ‘It’s Over‘ a downbeat, but highly polished break-up ballad featuring impressive keyboard work from Tandy, the first side closing with ‘Across the Border‘. This engaging mid-tempo affair is flavored with Latin American inflections to support the imagery (‘The Mardi Gras will be blowing strong/And the people dancing all across the city‘), a striking violin solo from Kaminski serving to offset passages of melody evoking ‘Sorrow‘ by David Bowie.
Side two opener ‘Night in the City‘ weaves both rock and soul overtones through the orchestration, Lynne having an atmospheric backdrop for his observations, (‘Madness at midnight/Night in the city/Driving you insane‘). The writer then switches his focus upward for ‘Starlight‘, a synthetic r&b effort reflecting on a summer romance over due to distance, yet continuing in the mind of the narrator.
After adopting more Lennon-like phrasing on ‘Starlight‘, Lynne then moves head first into McCartney territory with the whimsical novelty number ‘Jungle.’
At this point of their respective careers it often appeared the two were setting the challenge of not being able to be told apart, a number of Paul written pieces on ‘Wings at the Speed of Sound‘ (1976) having a distinct ELO taste.
Conjuring dream-like connotations of someone reaching a jungle clearing to find all manner of singing animals, (when delivering their ‘Chooka chooka, hoo la ley/Looka looka, koo la ley‘ refrain Lynne is mirror-image McCartney), the sound of a ringing alarm clock at the end of the track signifies the dream is over and morning has come. Yet for all its qurky charm, had ‘Out of the Blue‘ been presented as a single album, ‘Jungle‘ is likely to have been earmarked as a future b-side and nothing more.
To all intents and purposes a 90-second instrumental interlude containing barely three lines of lyrics, ‘Believe Me Now‘ serves as prelude to ‘Steppin Out‘ that finds Lynne depitcing a character in defiant mood, one who is taking the initiative in leaving old ways and familiar places behind:
‘I’m steppin’ out, I’m moving on/I’m gonna see the world/Like a rolling stone/I’m steppin’ out/I’m gonna be somebody.’
Served well by the big ballad treatment – the sombre piano chords having similarity to the 1972 Gilbert O’Sullivan hit ‘Alone Again‘ (Naturally) – the piece is also enhanced by an affecting vocal, Lynne having no difficulty adjusting his voice to the more self-conscious words, (‘Did you hear what he said?/He said they sold me down the river/They thought I was a fool/They said the rain would fall/What did they know?’). While the melodrama of the melody would have sounded totally out of place on a Randy Newman or James Taylor track, here it brings added texture to the most expressive song on the album.
Side four opener ‘Sweet is the Night’ while utilising all the expected traits of a glossy, large scale ELO production, stands apart due to the vocals being shared between the writer and bass player Groucutt, also for the fact it portrays a relationship with a chance of lasting (‘Sweet, sweet is the night/Now you are near/Dark, dark were the days/They disappear‘), this an unusual facet among the songs Lynne composed for this record.
Undoubtedly well intended, fourth side instrumental ‘The Whale‘ comes with a sense that an accompanying set of descriptive lyrics would have enhanced the point of these sea mammals being slain to the point of extinction. Commendably, ELO donated a portion of royalties from ‘Out of the Blue‘ to enviromental group Greenpeace in displaying committment to the cause, but two years earlier when Graham Nash took up the same fight he came up with the vivid imagery of, ‘Over the years you have been hunted/By the men who throw harpoons/And in the long run he will kill you‘, for the song ‘Wind on the Water.’
The two tracks that bring the set to a close ‘Birmingham Blues‘ and ‘Wild West Hero‘ both show Lynne and by definition the group working at their most assured, two songs where straightforward subject matter is attached to brisk, breezy melodies.
On the former he realigns ‘Rockin’ All Over the World‘ as a homesick homage to his home city, (‘It may be kind of homely/But it sure is sweet/Industrial Revolution/Put it on its feet/But it’s a long, long way/Boy, I’ve got the Birmingham blues’), while on the closing cut ‘Wild West Hero‘ he elucidates on a yearning to be the man in a white stetson, bringing peace to the plains:
‘Ride the range all the day/’Til the first fading light/Be with my western girl/’Round the fire, oh, so bright/I’d be the Indians’ friend/Let them live to be free/Ridin’ into the sunset/I wish I could be.’
By no means the first and not nearly the last to find inspiration in imagining life as a cowboy, it is an altogether pleasant way to round things off as Lynne reins in a tendency for over-elaboration. The temptation on a number of other tracks, however, with a double album at his mercy, proved too great for someone whose forte was lush, textured pop. In truth, he showed no sign of curbing increased excesses on their next album, ‘Discovery‘ (1979), either.
While all around many of those new to the game were writing songs shot through with social comment, (Ian Dury, for example, doing so from a satirical standpoint), Lynne and no doubt the fast growing legion of ELO followers, were content with a lyrical approach that eschewed political topics of the day – although in terms of sales, steering clear of contentious issues also did no harm to Queen, Abba or Fleetwood Mac.
On release ‘Out of the Blue‘ raced to the upper etchelons of charts around the world (U.K. 4/U.S.5), no other album of 1977 so reflective of the demarcation line that had now entered rock criticism – ‘A masterpiece, one of the best albums of the year‘ (Record Mirror), ‘Hollow and bland‘ (Rolling Stone), ‘Totally uninteresting and horrifyingly sterile‘ (NME).
In throwing their weight firmly behind the burgeoning new wave movement, the NME were quick to champion any group of young reactionaries espousing the punk ethos. To a man ELO were accomplished musicians who together produced slick, syncopated music that was gratifying to those preferring the conventional nicities of late-70s soft rock. In contrast, some of the emerging upstarts (Angelic and otherwise), could barely carry their guitars let alone produce a tune from one, but wanted for nothing in terms of attitude – something the New Musical Express, judging by their disparaging review of ‘Out of the Blue‘, placed more store by than application.
Before the 1970s were out ‘Out of the Blue‘ had shipped more copies than ‘The Clash‘, ‘This Year’s Model‘ (Costello) and ‘New Boots and Panties!!’ (Dury) would, combined, in their entire lifespan – but two years before it suddenly became important if you preferred Dury’s ‘Sweet Gene Vincent’ to ‘Sweet Talkin’ Woman.’
1977 was that kind of year.
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA – OUT OF THE BLUE (Released October 28 1977):
Turn to Stone/It’s Over/Sweet Talkin’ Woman/Across the Border/Night in the City/Starlight/Jungle/Believe Me Now/Steppin’ Out/Standin’ in the Rain/Big Wheels/Summer and Lightning/Mr. Blue Sky/Sweet is the Night/The Whale/Birmingham Blues/Wild West Hero;
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