I saw the OOTB tour in Philadelphia, September, 1978...yes, there were backing tapes used to enhance the music being played, but the musicians were clearly playing live...to the point that several times thru the evening, the string instruments would need to re-tune as the heat from under the ship lid was causing them to detune halfway thru a song, and that was clearly heard...the tapes, if you will, were things like sound effects and choral backgrounds...stuff that just wasn't feasible to reproduce in person...the whole tape thing has been debunked many times over the years...
Much of the controversy began because the initial video releases and airings on cable of that show were, in some instances, dubbed with studio tracks to hide errors...the most recent release of the DVD restores the original sound board recordings...
I saw the OOTB tour in Anaheim, near Los Angeles, in 1978. My main memory is that it was pretty anti-climactic. Kind of rote and with few deviations from the studio versions. I do remember the obvious backing tapes for effects. I don't recall thinking at the time that they were miming, but it was all so close to the records that I was definitely disappointed. Trickster, Kingfish and Journey opened. None impressed. And this would have been the Steve Perry Journey after Infinity came out--an album I had on release as a promo. Hmmm...
It's funny, because I was disappointed that so much of it DIDN'T sound close to the records...this was my first ever live concert, so maybe I wasn't real savvy about what my expectations should have been...LOL
Going to be May in a couple weeks and still no info or dates on 50th anniversary releases? Jeff you’re starting to bum me out. Need something to look forward to during pandemic world.
Been on a bit of an Eighties ELO kick recently and listened to Secret Messages & Balance Of Power a few times. Really enjoyed 'em. Better albums than their reputations would suggest.
Imagine the happiness many of our favourite artists could bring forth in these crap times by simply releasing some choice stuff..... has there really ever been a better time for an artist to generate good will with their fans? Sadly Jeff and Sony will not come through... they seemed excited about sharing a spotify playlist the other week. Depressing.
Want to see an fantastic rock show while we are still in the pandemic? Check out the video on demand Mick Fleetwood and Friends tribute to Peter Green and the early Fleetwood Mac. Started running yesterday and very very impressed. A worthy tribute to Green and the rest of the early Mac!
Enjoy Balance as well Carl. Picked up the cassette back in 86 after hearing Calling America on my local station, it was actually played quite a bit in my area
Glad you like the album! Calling America was a really good single. Always thought Getting To The Point should have been a smash too. I do understand why people who love the big sound of the Seventies albums might have been a tad non-plussed by Balance but taken on its own terms, it a set of well written, highly enjoyable pop-rock tunes.
When I first heard Calling America I fell out of my chair. Shocked! Thought ELO was done based upon the actions of the prior 2.5 years - Kelly's departure, Bev playing with Black Sabbath, Jeff producing Riff Raff and the track Video! (not impressed with either). Played B0P a lot and like the ELO fan I was then, I purchased it on the day of its USA release. Could have seen ELO at Wembley in July 86 as I was in school in London, but passed upon the chance. Turns out that show was one of the final ones. Of course, it would have been helpful if Jeff / Jet announced that those were the final ELO gigs. The original ELO never had a proper send off, but rather a pathetic whimper. Not fitting for a band that was once known as a major concert draw. I put that whimper at the feet of ELO's management and Jeff.
I really like Balance of Power and took to it instantly after first buying its audio cassette back around February 17th, 1986! Like most of the songs on Balance of Power, "Calling America" is musically upbeat and bright. Lyrically, it features a similar theme to ELO's earlier single "Telephone Line", where the narrator is longing for a lover from across the telephone. However, what differentiates the song is a focus on communication via satellite and problems with such. Appropriately, the song pays homage to the 1962 #1 hit "Telstar" by The Tornados, which had celebrated the communication satellite of the same name, in the instrumental section. In his column Real Life Rock (published in The Village Voice), Greil Marcus called the song an "answer record to [the] 24-year old hit". "Greil Marcus was the only person besides me who realized that 'Calling America' by ELO was one of the most brilliant records of last year. I thought it was really neat that it ended up on both our top 10s." - Interview with Chuck Eddy, Nerve magazine, 1986 (archive.org)
I attended both Zoom Tour Live DVD fan mailing list concerts for PBS at CBS Television City in Hollywood over consecutive nights on May 23-24, 2001, met Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy, Marc Mann, Laura Lynne, Rosie Vela, Peggy Baldwin and Sarah O'Brien. Jeff Lynne April 19 at 2:42 PM · Happy Anniversary to ELO Live! What’s your favorite track on the album? https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=451887199204817 PS-Hard to believe that it's already been 20 years since these concerts. Thanks Lynn Hoskins and Rob Caiger, I'm forever grateful! Facebook
I hate to be the clock watcher on this 50th anniversary celebration but.... we’re half way through the celebratory year and I havnt heard a peep out of anyone save for that initial notice months back. With only 6 months left are they actually going to release anything old or new?
No - but why does anyone need new or unreleased ELO music, when fans can now share their "favorite ELO related memories, stories, or a time when ELO was the soundtrack to an important moment" in their lives?! As Jeff Lynne's Facebook page puts it: "we will pick our favorites to share!" Isn't that amazing. This is the ELO 50th anniversary celebration we've all been waiting for.
Next year will be the 50th anniversary of when Jeff took over the band (not counting Bev being a legal co-owner of the ELO name until late 1999), but would he really try throwing his former bandmates under the bus in such a way? Maybe the revisionism started long ago and we either didn't spot it or allowed him to test things so far? Let's weigh up the evidence: 1. Even though it was already announced and has been available in digital "preview" form for months, the hardback edition of Wembley Or Bust was delayed until September not to add any new content, but so Jeff could slap his name on the revised cover no less than three times, including a logo that clearly reads JLELO50, referencing a brand that he's only been using since the Hyde Park show in 2014. 2. Notice how the Mr. Blue Sky album from 2012 had a remake of 10538 Overture described as a 40th anniversary version? Was that his way of drawing a line under the first album so that he doesn't have to acknowledge this period in any future plans? From this point on, don't hold your breath for anyone else also being acknowledged - it's quite clearly going to be Jeff's ELO from this point on, with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony a stage he shared out of courtesy to the other two founders. I'd call that sufficient precedent. Despite everything that was promised before, enjoy your social media posts and themed streaming playlists, because that's all we're now apparently getting for a while. Pretty much any other legacy artist would be celebrating such a milestone in style. Even the notoriously fractured Beach Boys just about managed to keep it together for when they reached their half-centennial. Again, pretty much any other artist... P.S. In case you didn't figure this out, it's 2021. Who still thinks a mailing list is the most effective way of reaching fans?!
My thinking...and hoping was that for a guy who claims to love playing in the studio more than anything, he might have some new tunes to share. He’s been totally quiet the entire year and a half of this pandemic and with health situations Improving maybe use the 50th as a great launch for any new material. Makes sense to my fan-ish mind. Lol.
Revisionist history, it's now cancel culture, which is exactly what Jeff Lynne's doing to The Electric Light Orchestra classic albums era & former members from 1972-1986! "2021 marks 50 years of ELO. We’ve been all over the world and have so many incredible memories to look back on, and more to create! Throughout the year, we will be sharing special 50th anniversary surprises with you." I hope a 40th Anniversary 2 LP of ELO's Time will still secretly be on tap for August like Secret Messages was 3 years ago, it'd make my year in this so-called #ELO50 2021!
Been a ELO fan since the early 80's, currently spinning a US MCA vinyl copy of "Xanadu" which was one of the first ELO albums I owned back then, it was widely available in cut-out bins. Fun thing in the first post twitter quote, mention "we" ELO hasn't really been a "we" thing (for band members) since when, 1971? or?
Ironically there seemed to be far more activity 20 years ago than there is now, in the 50th anniversary year. We had the start of the remaster campaign from Sony, the Zoom album and show, plus EMI released a 2 CD edition of the debut album. I don’t know the story but it appears Rob Caiger long since stopped working on ELO projects. I can’t help but think we would be seeing more reissues / releases were he still involved now.
Hoping for a Blu-Ray with unreleased studio or live video material, together with a new remaster of the s/t!
It doesn't matter if you like them or not, because they were constantly on the radio or lurking in someone's record collection, making it impossible to avoid them. Whether or not you like them, they are now a part of you.
Just to be clear on this: I don't begrudge the decision to release coffee table books (that no one looks at more than once), and not releasing music / old or new. Reminding fans of the ELO brand is probably based on good advertising science. It did have me draw a line however, and hit the "unfollow" button on Lynne's page. Another recent similar example: PRINCE's official page advertising a new Prince make-up line. What's fair is fair, and they'll continue tossing out expensive garbage as long as people take it off them. At least the Jeff Lynne camp has yet to include (lost) marbles or coasters in archival sets...
