12. Discovery by Electric Light Orchestra
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU9qoM5S2xY&list=OLAK5uy_kxLsiLo3uUk4X2Gl335o91SjkTzZtWGu8
This is the album that made me an ELO fan. I really liked some of their songs before this album, but when I heard "Don't Bring Me Down" back in 1979, my 9th grade life changed, and for the better. That's because it wasn't just a catchy song, it was an anthem for the Virgin Lips Club / He-Men-Woman-Haters Club that helped sustain me through the heartbreak of repeated rejection of those handful of high-school girls that I opened my heart to--most of which never really knew I'd opened it or, for those who did know, how far I'd flung it open. Of course, I'd done my share of rejecting girls that liked me, some which I knew liked me, and some of which I'm sure I was completely oblivious to their feelings for me until it was too late to actually do anything but apologize because I'd managed to hurt them without even knowing I'd hurt them. But such is the nature of young love.
I remember singing along to "Don't Bring Me Down" during lunchtime in the Jr. High building for a while until the Jolly Green Jolley decided that the line "One of these days you're going to break your glass" was too suggestive and wouldn't let us listen to the song anymore. What a douche!
Of course, there were other songs on the album that I liked then, especially the disco classics "Shine a Little Love" and "Last Train to London," as well as the under-appreciated "On the Run." But over the years, I grew to like all the other songs just as much or even more. "Need Her Love," "Confusion," "Wishing," and "Midnight Blue" are great for dealing with the conflicting feelings that come with unrequited love, and they are also a good balance to the I-don't-give-a-hairy-crap-about-you-anymore attitude on "Don't Bring Me Down." But "The Diary of Horace Wimp," which is now my favorite song from the album, gives me goosebumps and makes me want to cry for joy when I think about the time HondoJoe got out and found himself a wife.
My only complaint about this album is that there should have been more songs on it. Unfortunately, the B-sides to the hits from this album were songs from previous albums. But there were two songs that are definitely related to Discovery.
Little Town Flirt
This was a bonus song on the 2001 remastered release of Discovery. It is a remake of the 1962 song by Del Shannon, so it doesn't quite fit with the disco vibe on Discovery. Still, it's a fun listen. But I think it might have been a better fit if they'd included it on their 1983 album right after "Rock and Roll Is King," as there was a bit of a revival of that '50s and early '60s sound in '83, which in my mind was led out by Billy Joel's album An Innocent Man.
Second Time Around
Another bonus track from the 2001 remaster. It's a bit short though. Needed some more development for sure.
And to my disappointment, that's it. There are lots of rare and unreleased ELO songs floating out in the interwebs, but none from the Discovery time period. Of course, part of the reason for that is because ELO produced a lot of albums every few years, so I guess I shouldn't complain. There aren't a lot of "in-between album" songs during this time period because they were too busy writing songs that actually made it onto the albums--which is a pretty damn good excuse for not finding more rare Discovery gems.
Musically speaking, I think I should probably rank this album much higher on my list. In fact, it started out in my top ten albums, but I had other albums that have such sentimental value to me that I had to push this album down to number 12.
But speaking of sentimental memories, anytime I listen to this album it takes me back to that 9th grade year and all the fun I had with the Arimo Mafia on campouts and other activities. It's the year I started to really love playing in the band. It's the year I started playing football with Chris as the manager. And it's also the year I started running track and loving the long-distance races, which eventually led me to run a marathon with HondoJoe in later years. So it's a year with lots of good memories of good friends and, thanks to ELO, some damn good music!
Nardo
#12: Electric Light Orchestra—Discovery. Okay, so we both agree that this is one of the greatest albums ever. Because it is. But, not everyone saw it that way. Much like my beloved Minnesota Vikings and Utah Jazz haven’t won a championship, the Electric Light Orchestra never had a number one single, nor a number one album. So, I thought I’d take a look at the songs/albums that stopped them.
ReplyDeleteThe highest ELO ever reached on the singles chart was “Don’t Bring Me Down” at #4. What songs kept it out of the top spot? The song spent two weeks, 9/8/79 and 9/15/79, at #4. That first week the schlocky breakup song “After the Love Has Gone” by Earth, Wind, and Fire was #3, and the disco juggernaut “Good Times” by Chic was #2. The second week, Earth, Wind, and Fire had worked their way up to #2, while passing “Don’t Bring Me Down” into the #3 spot was “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” by the Charlie Daniels Band! But, what song was at #1 both of those weeks? None other than “My Sharona” by The Knack. The Knack! Kept out of the top spot by a one-hit wonder. (Yes, “Good Girls Don’t” got to #11, but no one today considers that song a hit, especially not any good girls.)
On the album charts, “Discovery” peaked at #5, where it also spent just two weeks. Both weeks, the top 5 were the same: #1-“Bad Girls” by Donna Summer; #2-“Breakfast In America” by Supertramp; #3-“I Am” by (these guys again!) Earth, Wind, and Fire; and #4-“At Budokan” by Cheap Trick. Okay, there are some decent albums there, but, toot-toot, ah, beep-beep, I’m of a mind that “Discovery” was better than all of them.
But, “Discovery” was not the highest charting ELO album; that honor would go to “Out of the Blue,” which peaked at #4 for four weeks in January of 1978. For all four of those weeks, the same two albums occupied the #2 and #3 slots: #2-“Foot Loose and Fancy Free” by Rod Stewart (featuring the songs “Hot Legs” and “You’re In My Heart,”); and #3 “All ‘n’ All” by (here’s these guys AGAIN!!!) Earth, Wind, and Fire (featuring the hits “Serpentine Fire” and “Fantasy.”) (Apparently, ELO couldn’t even occupy the #1 spot in the “E” section at the record store!)
The #1 albums for those four weeks were a couple of juggernauts: the final two of 31 weeks that “Rumours” by Fleetwood Mac would spend at the top spot, and the first two of 24 weeks that the soundtrack for “Saturday Night Fever” was at #1.
Interestingly enough, when “Out of the Blue” dropped a spot to #5 on the first week of February, the album that replaced it at #4 was “News of the World” by Queen. That week the Top Ten Albums also featured “The Grand Illusion” by Styx at #8, and a little album called “The Stranger” by Billy Joel on its way up the charts at #9. It was a very good week for albums, that first week of February in 1978!
The bottom line, though, is that it seems as if the very earth itself (with help from wind and fire,) has seemed to rise up to make sure the Electric Light Orchestra never have a #1 song or album. But, on the plus side, the Vikings and Jazz are both having surprisingly good seasons so far this year, so maybe….