 | Mr Blue Sky
Electric Light Orchestra
 |  |
He鈥檚 been in the Move, he鈥檚 been a Traveling Wilbury and he鈥檚 even produced The Beatles. But for most people, Jeff Lynne remains forever associated with Electric Light Orchestra.
When Lynne founded ELO in 1971, along with Roy Wood, critics immediately branded them 鈥渁 poor man鈥檚 Beatles鈥 but fans loved the innovative fusion of classical and rock鈥檔鈥檙oll instrumentation, and the band clocked up twenty Top 20 hits between 1972 and 1983 - including 鈥楳r Blue Sky鈥, which reached #6 in January 1978.
Lavishly orchestrated with a pounding beat, 鈥楳r Blue Sky - like the bulk of ELO鈥檚 hits - was written by Jeff Lynne.鈥 This one came about after he locked himself away in a Swiss chalet determined to fashion ELO鈥檚 follow-up to A New World Record.
 | |
Jeff Lynne talks about how he wrote Mr. Blue Sky in a chalet near Lake Geneva in Switzerland. |
 | Lots of Gibb Brothers鈥 vocal inflexions and Beatles鈥 arrangement quotes (Penny Lane bell, Pepper panting, Abbey Road arpeggio guitars). But this fabulous madness creates its own wonder 鈥 the bendy guitar solo, funky cello stop-chorus, and the most freakatastic vocoder since Sparky鈥檚 Magic Piano. Plus the musical ambush on 鈥渨ay鈥 at 2.51 still thrills. And that鈥檚 before the Swingle Singers/RKO Tarzan movie /Rachmaninoff symphonic finale gets underway. Kitsch, yet truly exhilarating.
Dominic King
|  |
鈥淚t was dark and misty for two weeks,鈥 Lynne later recalled, 鈥渁nd I didn鈥檛 come up with a thing. Suddenly the sun shone and it was 鈥榃ow, look at those beautiful Alps.鈥 I wrote 鈥楳r Blue Sky鈥 and 13 other songs in the next two weeks.鈥 The subsequent album, 1977鈥檚 Out Of The Blue, consolidated Electric Light Orchestra鈥檚 success.
Even Lynne admitted later that early ELO had 鈥渟ounded like an accident in a violin warehouse.鈥 But realising that they鈥檇 never see The Beatles again, and captivated by the type of extravagant concert put on by Pink Floyd, America lapped up Electric Light Orchestra. Half a dozen gruelling tours, supporting the likes of Blood, Sweat & Tears and Deep Purple, saw ELO crack the lucrative US market and establish themselves as one of the decade鈥檚 biggest bands.
Songwriting tips It's not easy to keep up with Jeff.
There's more songwriting help in Look for unusual words and phrases to make your song stand out
More in
| | |
|
Like this song? Try these...A Day In The Life
The Beatles
 |
|
| 听DON'T MISS |
|
|
|
 |
|
Doves
Special guests on Dermot's show this week
|
|
What's on
Find out more about current and forthcoming documentaries on Radio 2.
|
|
听Full Schedule
听Newsletter sign-up