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Electric Light Orchestra in the UK Top 40


View Poll Results: Please choose up to three titles
10538 OVERTURE 11 19.64%
ALL OVER THE WORLD 8 14.29%
CALLING AMERICA 3 5.36%
CONFUSION / LAST TRAIN TO LONDON 8 14.29%
DON'T BRING ME DOWN 7 12.50%
DON'T WALK AWAY 3 5.36%
ELO [EP] 2 3.57%
EVIL WOMAN 4 7.14%
HERE IS THE NEWS / TICKET TO THE MOON 3 5.36%
HOLD ON TIGHT 4 7.14%
I'M ALIVE 2 3.57%
LIVIN' THING 14 25.00%
MA-MA-BELLE 1 1.79%
MR. BLUE SKY 28 50.00%
ROCK 'N' ROLL IS KING 0 0%
ROCKARIA 5 8.93%
ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN 6 10.71%
SHINE A LITTLE LOVE 2 3.57%
SHOWDOWN 4 7.14%
STRANGE MAGIC 4 7.14%
SWEET TALKIN' WOMAN 9 16.07%
TELEPHONE LINE 8 14.29%
THE DIARY OF HORACE WIMP 6 10.71%
TURN TO STONE 9 16.07%
TWILIGHT 2 3.57%
WILD WEST HERO 8 14.29%
XANADU (WITH OLIVIA NEWTON-JOHN) 3 5.36%
Multiple Choice Poll. Voters: 56. You can't vote on this poll right now - are you signed in?

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Old 01-01-2017, 21:26
Kid B
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ELO made some good albums but with 27 UK Top 40 entries there were many terrific singles. Do you have a favourite? In this poll, you can select THREE titles and let's see what our members prefer. Myself, Wild West Hero is by far my fave, then Sweet Talking Woman, had that on 12" purple vinyl and maybe Rockaria third.
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Old 01-01-2017, 21:51
sheila blige
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Livin' Thing, All Over The World and Strange Magic for me.

If the album track Above The Clouds had been there (from A New World Record) that would have got my vote. In fact - I love every single track on ANWR.
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Old 01-01-2017, 21:54
Kid B
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Livin' Thing, All Over The World and Strange Magic for me.

If the album track Above The Clouds had been there (from A New World Record) that would have got my vote. In fact - I love every single track on ANWR.
Agreed. It's a fab LP but this is just a singles poll. I do know that generally speaking there is a lot of love for Strange Magic so I expect it to do well.
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Old 01-01-2017, 21:54
ramraider1
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ELO made some good albums but with 27 UK Top 40 entries there were many terrific singles. Do you have a favourite? In this poll, you can select THREE titles and let's see what our members prefer. Myself, Wild West Hero is by far my fave, then Sweet Talking Woman, had that on 12" purple vinyl and maybe Rockaria third.
Incredibly enough, Kid B, I chose the same 3 as you but my order would have been different. STW is my favourite with Rockaria second.
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Old 01-01-2017, 21:58
Kid B
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Incredibly enough, Kid B, I chose the same 3 as you but my order would have been different. STW is my favourite with Rockaria second.
I just looked and did wonder.... who's also voted for Rockaria and Wild West Hero!

ELO should be popular here, there's even a member called Horace Wimp.
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Old 01-01-2017, 22:25
mgvsmith
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I only like the first three albums, after that the concept seemed to falter and the music disappointed.

So, 10538 Overture, Ma-Ma-Belle, Roll Over Beethoven......

I would have loved to have seen what direction ELO would have taken with Roy Wood as the leader rather than Jeff Lynne but it didn't happen.
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Old 02-01-2017, 02:26
RoseAnne
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I love ELO and could have picked 10 easily from that list but picked "Don't Bring Me Down", "Evil Woman" and "Showdown".
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Old 02-01-2017, 07:16
Kid B
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It's probably a bit sad that their only number one featured Olivia Newton-John.
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Old 02-01-2017, 09:03
mushymanrob
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10538 overture for me, plus showdown...

10538 is sooo different for a single, i still dont get what 10538 means!
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Old 02-01-2017, 09:14
Kid B
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10538 is sooo different for a single, i still dont get what 10538 means!
Well it seems this was the first ELO song penned and at the time when Jeff Lynne was still in The Move and wanted to form a band with strings.

From Songfacts

http://www.songfacts.com/detail.php?id=754

Lynne wanted the lyrics to be about a man who had a number rather than a name.

1053 was the serial number of the desk Lynne used to write this.

They added the 8 and included the word "Overture" to make it clear they were an orchestra.
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Old 02-01-2017, 14:04
faversham saint
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Well it seems this was the first ELO song penned and at the time when Jeff Lynne was still in The Move and wanted to form a band with strings.
Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan were concurrent members of The Move and ELO and they continued to record and perform as The Move for several months after the first ELO album was released in 1971.

Below is a link to a post I made in the TOTP 1979 thread which includes links to two clips from a 1972 TV show in which The Move and ELO mimed to edited versions of their latest singles - 'California Man' and '10538 Overture'.

My understanding was that Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne fell out during the recording of this programme as a result of which The Move disbanded which explains the absence of Roy Wood from the ELO clip in the link, but according to another source he had already left ELO when they agreed to do the show - so I'm not sure what to believe.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...postcount=8238

10538 is sooo different for a single, i still dont get what 10538 means!
I could be wrong but I thought it was about an escaped convict with the prison number 10538.
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Old 02-01-2017, 14:30
mgvsmith
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10538 overture for me, plus showdown...

10538 is sooo different for a single, i still dont get what 10538 means!
I think 10538 Overture captures the idea of the ELO better than anything they did afterwards. I got the album from Knights record library (source of much great music) at the time. With the light bulb on the concert chamber floor it was brilliant, like a really witty take on prog rock. I just don' feel that any of the later stuff had the same impact, at least not for me.
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Old 02-01-2017, 14:55
Jedikiah
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I think 10538 Overture captures the idea of the ELO better than anything they did afterwards. I got the album from Knights record library (source of much great music) at the time. With the light bulb on the concert chamber floor it was brilliant, like a really witty take on prog rock. I just don' feel that any of the later stuff had the same impact, at least not for me.
Yes, i believe ''10538 Overture'' is possibly ELO's best track, but like a fool i made my preferences at an instant, and ended up overlooking it! It has a more progressive feel than some of their later more pure 'pop' efforts.
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Old 02-01-2017, 17:20
henryporter
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I only like the first three albums, after that the concept seemed to falter and the music disappointed.

So, 10538 Overture, Ma-Ma-Belle, Roll Over Beethoven......

I would have loved to have seen what direction ELO would have taken with Roy Wood as the leader rather than Jeff Lynne but it didn't happen.
Roy wood had nothing to do with Ma Ma Belle nor Roll Over Beethoven and 10538 was written and produced by Lynne so you may like them more than you think
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Old 02-01-2017, 17:22
henryporter
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Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood and Bev Bevan were concurrent members of The Move and ELO and they continued to record and perform as The Move for several months after the first ELO album was released in 1971.

Below is a link to a post I made in the TOTP 1979 thread which includes links to two clips from a 1972 TV show in which The Move and ELO mimed to edited versions of their latest singles - 'California Man' and '10538 Overture'.

My understanding was that Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne fell out during the recording of this programme as a result of which The Move disbanded which explains the absence of Roy Wood from the ELO clip in the link, but according to another source he had already left ELO when they agreed to do the show - so I'm not sure what to believe.

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showp...postcount=8238



I could be wrong but I thought it was about an escaped convict with the prison number 10538.
No they were the numbers on the console in the studio ( minus the 8)
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Old 02-01-2017, 17:52
Kid B
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No they were the numbers on the console in the studio ( minus the 8)
Which was what I reported earlier.

Anyhow, a brief return to the votes and I see Mr. Blue Sky has leapt out of nowhere into a healthy lead.
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Old 02-01-2017, 17:59
ShotDownInFlame
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Mr Blue Sky, Roll Over Beethoven (absolutely ROCKING cover) and Don't Bring Me Down for me.

My favourite ELO song is Tightrope but that's not part of the poll so I've gotta go with those 3, all absolutely smashing songs.
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Old 02-01-2017, 18:35
Elvisfan4eva
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Mr. Blue Sky, Diary Of Horace Wimp and Shine A Little Love.
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Old 02-01-2017, 19:15
faversham saint
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I could be wrong but I thought it was about an escaped convict with the prisoner number 10538.
No they were the numbers on the console in the studio ( minus the 8)
Which was what I reported earlier.
By chance, the numbers on the mixing console were assigned to the escaped prisoner in the song because Jeff Lynne didn't want to give him a name. As prisoners are identified by a number (Patrick McGoohan's character in the cult sixties TV drama series 'The Prisoner' was No. 6) it seems logical to assume that 10538 refers to his Prisoner Number.
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Old 02-01-2017, 20:38
terry45
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Confusion
Rockaria
Mr blue sky.
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Old 02-01-2017, 22:02
mgvsmith
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Roy wood had nothing to do with Ma Ma Belle nor Roll Over Beethoven and 10538 was written and produced by Lynne so you may like them more than you think
Sorry I didn't mean to sound like I was dissing Jeff Lynne. I know he was responsible for writing 10538 although Roy helped produce that. I was just wondering if ELO would have built more on the first album in a different way if Roy Wood had been with them? I was really impressed with that album but a little disappointed with the later direction.
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Old 03-01-2017, 07:13
wakey1512
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I like ELO but absolutely detest Mr Blue Sky. It's one of my least favourite songs of all time - the rest of their catalogue appeals to me though. Specifically confusion is probably my favourite
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Old 03-01-2017, 08:45
Kid B
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I like ELO but absolutely detest Mr Blue Sky.
I feel the same and it's one of the reasons for putting it to the test on a larger platform - to see if it really is the people's favourite... and just look what's happened!

But while I think they've made far better singles than Mr. Blue Sky, I could never put it in my 'least favourite singles ever category'.
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Old 03-01-2017, 09:54
mushymanrob
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I think 10538 Overture captures the idea of the ELO better than anything they did afterwards. I got the album from Knights record library (source of much great music) at the time. With the light bulb on the concert chamber floor it was brilliant, like a really witty take on prog rock. I just don' feel that any of the later stuff had the same impact, at least not for me.
i too have that album, its one that i have played quite often. unlike other albums of the time that i was bitterly disappointed with (moving waves. wizzards brew, the psychomodo) .

absolutely agree about 10538 capturing the idea of elo, i didnt really rate much they did afterwards especially post sweet talking woman.

yes, 10538 is about an escaped prisoner
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Old 03-01-2017, 12:05
Kid B
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unlike other albums of the time that i was bitterly disappointed with (moving waves. wizzards brew, the psychomodo)
You didn't like Moving Waves?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCBMPdqDAS0

It's not my favourite Focus album perhaps but I'll give it an airing this morning.
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