104: Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado (1974)

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“This is one of yer actual ‘concept’ albums. It’s all about the goings on in a dream world.”

–Jeff Lynne

We talked about our first classical suite a few episodes back, so now it’s time for Discord & Rhyme to talk about its first symphony! Electric Light Orchestra have been going through something of a resurgence in the 21st century, but in the ‘70s, music critics savaged Jeff Lynne’s attempts to mix pop songwriting with orchestral pomp. But with 1974’s Eldorado, Lynne was attempting to please his harshest critic of all, his classical-loving father, who claimed that ELO’s songs “have got no tune.” The result was a fascinating, overblown concept album about a Walter Mitty-esque character who escapes the real world through the power of fantasy, and whether the concept holds for the entire album (it doesn’t), it dazzled Producer Mike as a child and continues to dazzle him today. So join our hosts for an evening at the symphony, as we fight some of the holiest wars and smash some of the holiest jawrs(?!!).

Miscellany

• Eldorado was one of the albums involved in the ludicrous moral panic over Satanic backmasking in the 1970s. Jeff Lynne decided that if people were going to look for hidden backwards messages, he’d give them something to look for, which is why the next ELO album, Face the Music, is filled with fun backwards Easter eggs.

• That weird yell Mike does while Ben thanks the Patreon donors is in fact a full-length a cappella rendition of Napalm Death’s “You Suffer,” which set a new world record in 1987 as the shortest song ever recorded.

• Rich wasn’t on this episode, but he wants to throw in a recommendation for the 1981 album Time, a futuristic rock opera about a man from the 1980s who travels to the year 2095. It received mixed reviews at the time because of its heavy use of synthesizers, but it has aged very well. We clipped the single “Hold On Tight,” and “Yours Truly, 2095” sounds like a great lost Buggles track.

• ELO have an official Spotify playlist of songs featuring the vocoder, further demonstrating that they are a band after Mike’s own heart.

• A tiny snippet of “Can’t Get It Out of My Head” was sampled in Daft Punk’s “Face to Face.” See if you can spot it! 

Other links 

• Jeff Lynne’s ELO: Official website (jefflynneselo.com)

• Face the Music: An Electric Light Orchestra Song-By-Song Podcast (Podbean.com)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Eldorado playlist (Spotify)

• Discord & Rhyme’s Patreon

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call 

• Mike DeFabio (host)

• Ben Marlin (moderator)

• Phil Maddox

• Amanda Rodgers 

Eldorado tracklist 

1. Eldorado Overture

2. Can’t Get It Out of My Head

3. Boy Blue

4. Ladero Tornado

5. Poor Boy (The Greenwood)

6. Mister Kingdom

7. Nobody’s Child

8. Illusions in G Major

9. Eldorado

10. Eldorado Finale 

Other clips used 

Electric Light Orchestra:

• New World Rising/Ocean Breakup Reprise

• Queen of the Hours

• In Old England Town (Boogie #2)

• The Battle of Marston Moor (July 2nd 1644)

• Dreaming of 4000

• Daybreaker

• Fire on High

• Mr. Blue Sky

• Don’t Bring Me Down

• Xanadu (with Olivia Newton-John)

• 10538 Overture

• Look at Me Now

• Roll Over Beethoven

• Showdown

• Ma-Ma-Ma Belle

• Eldorado Suite (live at Winterland)

• Dark City

• Rockaria!

• Hold On Tight

• Standin' in the Rain

• Sweet Talkin' Woman

• Nightrider

• First Movement (Jumping Biz) 

Others:

• Randy Newman - The Story of a Rock and Roll Band

• The Move - Flowers in the Rain

• The Idle Race - Imposters of Life's Magazine

• The Move - Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart

• Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 4: IV. Finale: Allegro Con Fuoco

• Gioachino Rossini - William Tell Overture

• John Lennon - Meat City

• Jeremiah Clarke - The Prince of Denmark's March

• Sammy Johns - Chevy Van

• The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour

• Foetus - (You Got Me Confused With) Someone Who Cares

• Billy Joel - Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

• The Beatles - Across the Universe

• Pink Floyd - Echoes

• The Traveling Wilburys - Nobody's Child

• Glen Campbell - Wichita Lineman

• J Dilla - Dillatronic 33

• Ween - Buckingham Green

• The Moody Blues - Evening

Band/album personnel 

• Jeff Lynne – lead & backing vocals, electric & acoustic guitars, bass, Moog, production, orchestra & choral arrangements

• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion

• Richard Tandy – piano, Moog, clavinet, Wurlitzer electric piano, guitar, backing vocals, orchestra & choral arrangements

• Mike de Albuquerque – bass & backing vocals (credited; departed during the recording of the album)

• Mike Edwards – cello

• Mik Kaminski – violin

• Hugh McDowell – cello

• Peter Forbes-Robertson – spoken word

• Louis Clark – orchestra and choral arrangements and conducting

Credits 

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of: 

• Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf

• Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste

• The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...

• Faith No More - Midlife Crisis

• Herbie Hancock - Hornets

• Kraftwerk - Autobahn

• Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen

• Electric Light Orchestra - Laredo Tornado (this episode only) 

You can buy or stream Eldorado and other albums by Electric Light Orchestra at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.