The perpetually-threatened FAVORITE ELO TUNE poll

[Bossy Monkey]

Poll question: The perpetually-threatened FAVORITE ELO TUNE poll

so I can't threaten to do it anymore. Unless you're a fellow over-40 former megafan (I SAID "former") a lot of these tunes probably won't ring any bells. Don't vote "other" until at least 6:30pm, as I'll as usual change non-vote-getters in favor of most popular nominees (or in this case, most probably, any or all nominees) among replies below. These are just my favorites, or at least the ones I can still remember...

No, there won't be a NONE OF THE ABOVE/THESE GUYS SUCK option. Feel free to knock yourself out and reply to this effect; it just kicks my poll.

Poll result (44 votes)
Ma-Ma-Ma Belle	(3 votes, 7%)	Vote
Evil Woman	(2 votes, 5%)	Vote
Roll Over Beethoven	(5 votes, 11%)	Vote
Sweet Talkin` Woman	(2 votes, 5%)	Vote
Livin' Thing	(5 votes, 11%)	Vote
Summer and Lightning	(0 votes, 0%)	Vote
Turn To Stone	(1 votes, 2%)	Vote
Mr. Blue Sky	(6 votes, 14%)	Vote
Showdown (live)	(2 votes, 5%)	Vote
Other (specify below)	(18 votes, 41%)	Vote

[Delano]

1. Don't Bring Me Down!

EOM

[KamaAina]

27. Excellent choice, D. Oh, and by the way...

Welcome to The 700 Club!!!

[Delano]

35. Thanks - I hadn't noticed 700...

I feel all Christiany inside...

[2bfree]

31. That was my pic as well.

[MikeG]

2. Kuiama

[Bossy Monkey]

17. A great one, but I'm afraid it would have suffered the same fate as Momma

Hell, Roll Over Beethoven, also from ELO II but vastly better known, only has 2 votes after an hour and a half. But kudos on picking a good one.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

3. No way man! Do ya do ya want my love!

Great rock n roll tune!

[Bossy Monkey]

19. This is why the live version of 10538 Overture was originally on the poll

It was on The Night The Light Went On In Long Beach, an import record (go figure) that came out about the same time as Face The Music and featured the guitar lick (figure, whatever) that later would show up in Do Ya, but even snarlier. For this reason, Do Ya was always a disappointment to me, even though I grasped even as an adolescent that folks reuse musical figures all the time.

Of course nobody'd know this unless they had that live album, a really thorough compilation, or happened to see that tour, but at least there was a reason.

Do Ya is certainly a fine song, too.

[Philostopher]

30. The Move did a version of this, as well.

Of course, it was noisier and less mannered than the ELO version, but I love the fact that, halfway through the fade, Roy Wood growls, 'look out Baby, there's a plane a'comin'!' But, then, Roy Wood was kind of a nut biscuit.

There's also a cover of it on the "Utopia - Another Live" album that's pretty good.

[Bossy Monkey]

32. You're so right; I had forgotten

Oh well, disregard my reply # 19.

[Kolesar]

4. Fire on High (instrumental)

I owned a bunch of ELO vinyl. It is decades later and I'm getting weary of ELO. I think it is Jeff Lynne's voice. He gets "buzzy" like a blown speaker at some frequencies.

[Servo300]

5. "Living Thing"

[Feanorcurufinwe]

7. ditto

[jus_the_facts]

6. Doo wop....doobie doobie wop...doo waaa doo waaaa......

....oh oh TELEPHONE LINE...give me some time...I'm livin' in twiiiiilight!!

[Duncan Grant]

8. "Summer and Lightning"

Closeted ELO fan here !

Would also add "Nightrider".

[NewHampshireDem]

9. Ahh, memories!

I remember riding around with my dad in his pickup listening to ELO on 8-track! Good times! I also remember listening to Queen's "A Night at the Opera" too! All I can say is, "WTF happened to my dad?"

[jpgray]

10. Showdown and Evil Woman -- ELO are a great guilty pleasure (nt)

[TheMightyFavog]

11. Ma-Ma-Ma- Belle

or I will get you........ *Starts groovin'

It was a tough decision either that or Mr. Blue Sky.


IMHO Showdown should never have been put on the US Version of On the Third Day.

[Shakespeare]

12. "Mr. Blue Sky" always, always, ALWAYS improves my mood.

Looooove that song.

[LynneSin]

14. Me too - I love that whole album side: Concerto for a Rainy Day

You have to listen to it on vinyl - with all the scratches and other strange noises!!!

[wyldwolf]

13. Last Train To London, Livin' Thing, I'm Alive (Xanadu soundtrack)

[Bossy Monkey]

15. EDIT: Replaced Momma & 10538 Overture

with Livin' Thing & Summer and Lightning, respectively. I TOLD you not to vote Other before 6:30!

[gmoney]

16. Also "Rockaria" and "Rock and Roll is King"

I know that "Rock and Roll is King" was their last gasp of a hit... Someone at the time joked that Jeff Lynne was producing the Dave Edmunds "Slippin' Away" record to sound like ELO, and producing his ELO record to sound like Dave Edmunds. But it has hooks galore...

I went to the iTunes Music Store a while back and made my own ELO's Greatest Hits since all the compilations seem to leave off several key songs, and I couldn't see buying all the albums for 15 or so essential songs.

[Bossy Monkey]

25. You know you're really over 40 if you remember Rockaria

A great one, but I don't think a lot of folks are going to remember it but us. Apologies of course if you aren't really over 40.

[acmavm]

18. Telephone Line.

.

[EstimatedProphet]

20. Can't get it out of my head

I love that song

[Bossy Monkey]

26. I probably should have put it on

but then, who'dathunk Evil Woman would have garnered no votes?

[CrownPrinceBandar]

21. Other: Yours Truly, 2095................

From the album "Time".

[Bossy Monkey]

28. I liked a lot of stuff from this record, including this

Probably got short shrift from me on the poll because I bought it on cassette, the cassette didn't live too long, and thus I haven't heard it in eons. A little late in the theme album/ rock opera sweepstakes, but a good one nevertheless.

[sundog]

22. i'm alive or anything off the xanadu soundtrack :)

the olivia newton-john side & elo side got equal play in my childhood

[chaska]

23. I picked Roll Over Beethoven cause, as far as I know, it's the only one ..

they didn't write. God, what an awful band.

[NightTrain]

24. "Hold On Tight."

One of the musical bright spots of that lame-ass summer of 1981!

[BigBigBear]

29. Can't Get It Out Of My Head

Midnight on the water.
I saw the ocean's daughter.
Walking on a wave she came,
staring as she called my name.


.....

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

33. "Laredo Tornado" from "Eldorado"...

"Laredo Tornado, adios amigos...what can you do, when your dream world is gone, and your friends and lovers too....na na na na na na..."

[Bossy Monkey]

34. Gee, I ought to vote on my own poll some time!

Just can't make up my mind

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

36. Other: Last Train to London; All Over The World; I'm Alive (nt)

[RandomKoolzip]

37. WAY too many to name a favorite....

But probably "Mr. Blue Sky" and "Livin' Thing." I fuckin' LOVE ELO.

Anyone interested in ELO should go out and pick up anything by The Move, Jeff Lynne's immediately pre-ELO group. Fantastic stuff, early proto-metal/power pop with psychedelic touches and a fat, fat bass sound.

[BringEmOn]

38. "Strange Magic"

or as we used to sing...gotta stretch ma-a-a-a-dick

[Bossy Monkey]

44. Of all the "I should've put this one on"s, this is the one I thought I had

Whoops!

[peekaloo]

39. 'Living Thing'.....makes me laugh because I think of

the ending to 'Boogie Nights'......"what a terrible thing to lose".

[XNASA]

40. Do Ya!

Originally a Move song, but I kinda like the ELO version as well.

[topherX]

41. The Diary Of Horace Wimp

This song really sticks in my head. It seems to describe how a man's life can become fulfilled by following society's expectation. It seems to poke fun and honor this progression at the same time.

Turn to Stone is my second favorite.

[ProfessorGAC]

42. Fire On High

Cool tune, plus a bonus! No Jeff Lynne singing!
The Professor

[southpaw]

43. Twilight...

preceeded by Prelude, of course...

Just on the border of your waking mind
There lies... Another time
Where darkness & light are one
And as you tread the halls of sanity
You feel so glad to be
Unable to go beyond
I have a message
From another time...

Also love Telephone Line and Can't Get it Out of My Head

[tom_paine]

45. Hold On Tight

...to your dreams!