"It's A POLLin' Thing": ELO's A New World Record

Michael Penn
Composer
Paul really wanted “Livin’ Thing” as the song at the end of the movie. He was really, really nervous to show the film to Jeff Lynne, but Jeff came down to a screening and Paul was just sort of watching the back of his head while he was watching the movie. Then the film ends and “Livin’ Thing” comes on and Paul just sees both Jeff Lynne’s arms shoot up triumphantly.

Gonna be obvious and go for Do Ya

Every song except "Mission" has been my favorite song on the album over the years. Might have to go with "Tightrope."

If I could vote for that glorious coda after "Shangri La," I'd do it in a second.

"after years of floundering, they've gone all the way and made a Moody Blues album with brains, hooks, and laffs galore"

And 5 years later the Moody Blues put out the single "Gemini Dream," one of my favorite ELO rips.

I think I posted on ILM once about the differences in the drumming on The Move vs. ELO's "Do Ya" but I can't search it...

Gonna say fuck it and vote for So Fine.

Gonna say fuck it and vote for So Fine.

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Above The Clouds. It's the Starlight of New World Record.

This is tough, so think I will vote for the one I heard John Lennon play when he was a guest DJ in my town.

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Interesting results

Can’t decide whether it’s a good or bad thing that “Shangri-La” starts with the “Sleep Walk” steel guitar lick.

I think I posted on ILM once about the differences in the drumming on The Move vs. ELO's "Do Ya" but I can't search it...

haha, well... it was something like "why did they tame Bev so much!?!?!?!"

In The Move version he is super high in the mix and playing incredibly loose with these surprisingly interminable 5-second rolls that lead into the "never seen nothing like you" part... then of course there is the cowbell. But by the end, those rolls are just coming in left & right, it just adds to the excitement/propulsion of the track.

In the ELO version, he's way tighter and trades those rolls for tom tom doubling the cello chugs for the build part. I don't believe there is a single drum roll on the entire song unless you count that weird breakdown that only lasts for a couple seconds before the final chorus/bridge/outro.

This is as good a place as any to point out for vinyl heads what a bargain The Move's Split Ends LP is: It's Message From The Country with the goofy tracks removed in favor of their great period non-LP singles, including the originals of "California Man" and "Do Ya", the latter of which United Artists was really trying to make a thing Stateside in '72-3. Nice copies can usually be had for less than $10.

Thanks for that. That is something definitely up my alley.

Yeah! That's actually a great alternate version on that release.... check out the drumming, the extended bridge, a little more slide guitar (Roy?), then Roy taking the final verse:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kuRvumUxMMI

ooh la
ooh la la
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ooh la la
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And you won’t see me