Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCCLXXX--Electric Light Orchestra: Strange Magic

Just a wee bit late for this one...

Anyhoo, if I were to sit down and start writing down my all-time favorite songs off the top of my head, this week's tune would be one of those that, when I was done, I would slap my forehead and say, "How the hell did I forget that one?"  Needless to say, as I've done my half-assed research and listened to it a few times it's been a real treat, akin to seeing a long-lost friend...

Electric Light Orchestra (here on out, ELO) formed in Birmingham, England in 1970, and thankfully, their music is considerably more interesting than their history.  ELO has basically been the brainchild of leader and co-founder Jeff Lynne (noted earlier on Friday Jukebox for his work as a member of the Traveling Wilburys), and as he's gone so has the band.  ELO had quite a bit of success between their beginning and when it was disbanded in 1986 by Lynne, selling over fifty million records.  The band performed in different incarnations and variations on the name until 2014 when Lynne reformed the band.  For their career, ELO has released fourteen studio albums (with five of them hitting the top ten here in the States), and fifty singles (with six peaking in the top ten, again in America).  The band had a little more chart success in their native U.K., with 3 #1 albums and one #1 single.  ELO released its latest album in 2019 under the moniker Jeff Lynne's ELO.

Fun Fact:  ELO holds the record for the most top forty hits on the Billboard Hot 100 (20) without ever having a number one single.  I'm pretty sure they can live with it....

"Strange Magic" was the second single released from ELO's 1975 album Face the Music.  The single peaked at #14 (with a bullet!), while the album reached #8 on the Billboard 200.

It's hardly surprising after 380 posts about songs I'm beginning to run out of both superlatives and ways to describe how [insert gushing adjective here] these songs are to me.  Suffice it to say that "Strange Magic" hits all the right notes (to turn a phrase) for an emaycee pop music dream--catchy, lush harmonies, heartfelt vocals, and striking instrumentation.  It's been delightful ear candy for me all week, and as is often the case with my weekly tunes, I've been singing it to my heart's content (if not my partner's and my youngest son....).

Lyric Sheet:  "Oh, I'm never gonna be the same again/Now I've seen the way it's got to end/Sweet dream, sweet dream...

Enjoy:

Republican = Traitor

Peace,

emaycee

Friday Night Jukebox, Vol. CCLXI--Traveling Wilburys: End of the Line

At one point in time I had thought that if I ever decide to bring Friday Night Jukebox to a close this week's tune would be perfect for its ending...but considering that I have songs to cover the next three years and seem to come up with a year to a year and a half's worth of songs each year to continue FNJ, its demise seems pretty remote....

The Traveling Wilburys formed in 1988 when George Harrison (Nelson Wilbury) asked Jeff Lynne (Otis) and Roy Orbison (Lefty) to help him with a B-side for his next single.  As Bob Dylan's (Lucky) house was nearby and had a recording studio, they asked if he'd let them use it.  Tom Petty (Charlie T., Jr.) came on when Harrison stopped by his house to pick up a guitar he'd left there.  They deemed the B-side single they recorded ("Handle with Care") too good for a B-side...and decided to join forces.  Their first album was a surprise hit, won a Grammy, and led to a second--and final--LP.  Sadly, Roy Orbison passed away shortly after the first album was released, George Harrison passed away in 2001, and Tom Petty in 2017.  The band discussed touring but it never came to be.  The super group is credited with revitalizing the careers of Dylan, Petty, and Roy Orbison (the revitalization, especially Dylan, played a large part in their only releasing two albums, as solo careers took precedence), and also with giving rock and roll a shot in the arm as it defied what were then the most commercially successful genres of pop music.  If nothing else, they were a hell of a lot of fun....

"End of the Line" was the second single released from the Wilburys' appropriately named debut album, The Traveling Wilburys, Vol 1 (have to admit the "Vol. 1" was a nice touch, separating them from every other group with an eponymous album).  The single would reach #63 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard Hot 100, while the album roared up to #3 on the albums chart.

Fun (if somewhat sad) Fact:  Roy Orbison had passed away by the time the Traveling Wilburys made the video (seen below) for "End of the Line," so Orbison is memorialized by showing a rocking chair with a guitar on it next to his picture every time Orbison's vocals are present in the song.

The Traveling Wilburys pretty much had me at the jangly guitar (adroitly played by Harrison) at the beginning of the song--that the rest of the song is a gem is just icing on the cake.  Much like the Grateful Dead's "Touch of Grey" (which I wrote about in Jukebox No. 23, "End of the Line" is a paean to getting older and relishing in it.  While I was still a young man when the single debuted, I've come to appreciate its sentiments more and more as I get older.  Surprisingly enough, getting older is "all right" as the band tells us, and you do tend to appreciate the day to day treasures just a bit more.  The song features Tom Petty's vocals through the stanzas, and each of the band members (except Dylan) takes a turn leading the chorus vocals.  The music is top tapping good, there's a knowing humor to both the lyrics and the vocals, and the band's chiming "...at the end of the line, end of the line..." as the end of each sentence Petty sings makes one of those special moments that all great songs have.  As I've noted here a time or two, one of the surest ways for me to know how amazing a song is is how much I sing it after I've done my half-assed research for the week--suffice it to say this one's been driving my wife and youngest son nuts all week--having to listen to me sing it again and again and again....

Lyric Sheet:  "Well it's all right, even if you're old and gray/Well it's all right, you still got something to say..."


Enjoy:

Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee