| January 23, 2018 | |||||||||
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Lyrics: Sailin’ away on the crest of a wave And you, and your sweet desire
(I’m taking a dive, dive) Making believe this is what you conceived And you, and your sweet desire Takin’ a dive ‘cos you can’t halt the slide And you, and your sweet desire |
The year was 1976, and I was a dorky third-grader at Washington Elementary School in Marion, Indiana. And I was in love. Rhonda was her name, and “going with her” was my game. The problem, as I previously mentioned, was that I was dorky third-grader with no game. How did boys get girls? I had no clue. But I had a plan. You see, I’d just purchased a brand-spankin’ new 45 record of Electric Light Orchestra’s Livin’ Thing, and I was sure this was my ticket to Rhonda’s show. So there I was, hanging upside down on the monkey bars at recess, telling Rhonda about my new record. It was the first—and far from the last—recorded instance of me trying to use my knowledge of music to get the girl. I’d like to tell you that it worked, but sadly, it didn’t. Her riposte? “Have you heard the Bee Gees’ You Should Be Dancing? That’s a cool record.” She left me there with a bruised ego and blood pooling in my dorky, sweaty, upside-down face. Fast forward to 2018. I can’t hang upside down on the monkey bars; in fact, my surgeon has banned me from even looking at monkey bars. But I still try to impress the girls (and in this case, I mean only Mrs. Dances with Bass) with my musical knowledge. I wish I could say that it worked now, but that wouldn’t be strictly true.  Electric Light Orchestra formed in Birmingham, England in 1970, and was fronted by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood, and drummer Bev Bevan. ELO used what many describe as Beatlesesque pop fused with classic orchestral arrangements to produce a sound that was—and still is 48 years later—all its own. To say ELO was a success would be a gross understatement. Between 1972 to 1986, the band produced more combined UK and US Top 40 hits than any other band in the world. During its nearly 50-year tenure, the only mainstay in the band has been Jeff Lynne. (Drummer Bev Bevan formed an offshoot band, ELO Part II, which was mostly a flop.) ELO has produced 13 studio albums, 5 live albums, 16 compilation albums, 1 EP, 1 soundtrack, 8 box sets, 13 video albums, 33 music videos, and 50 singles. Along the way, the band scored multiple hits including Sweet Talking Woman, Mr. Blue Sky, Livin’ Thing, Evil Woman, Do Ya?, Don’t Bring Me Down, and many more. Today, the band tours as Jeff Lynn’s ELO and in 2018, the band is embarking on a 10-stadium tour. In fact, the staff at Dances With Bass Radio will be attending the August 18 show at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto. For one weekend in August, Ontario will be Mecca. Maybe Rhonda will be there, and just maybe she’ll be green with envy when she sees Mrs. Dances with Bass on my arm. Yeah. She’ll rue that crisp fall day when we spurned a certain dorky third-grader’s concupiscence. I might even take my Livin’ Thing 45 with me and flaunt it in her face. Don’t look at me like that. And stop laughing. Video: Here is ELO’s video for Livin’ Thing. And let me just say that while I am a fan of most things 70s-related, I am glad we no longer must endure the Pants So Tight, We Know What Religions You Aren’t (or Which Direction You Dress) era; see Mr. Apple Green Jumpsuit.
And because it’s four minutes of pure pop goodness—and we like the often misheard “Bruce” lyric (it’s actually a made-up word, “grooss”)—here is the video for Don’t Bring Me Down, which appeared on 1979’s Discovery.
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