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Post by fluffy on Dec 23, 2021 12:54:05 GMT
here is my receipt.
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Post by lasttrain929 on Dec 24, 2021 11:02:17 GMT
Mine saying 10th January!!!
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Post by whoman on Dec 24, 2021 13:54:47 GMT
Unexpectedly, mine just turned up from Amazon. I have had a quick skim through and looks like an interesting read. In the colour section it presents the “Hand-shake” version of Secret Messages and explains that it was mistaken for an alternative cover for years, when in fact it is an American point-of-sale promotion. Hopefully there are other snippets throughout.
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Post by ShardEnder on Dec 24, 2021 17:04:41 GMT
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Post by lawrev on Dec 24, 2021 20:43:06 GMT
Is this new book actually worth it? I don't mean to disparage the book, I am just curious whether this publication has anything confirmed and concrete as fact with regards to ELO.
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Post by Horacewimp on Dec 28, 2021 15:39:53 GMT
It’s dispatched, delivery tomorrow.
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Post by ShardEnder on Dec 28, 2021 19:59:11 GMT
Is this new book actually worth it? I don't mean to disparage the book, I am just curious whether this publication has anything confirmed and concrete as fact with regards to ELO. I'm a bit conflicted on this aspect, as the author is a self-described ELO superfan, yet in a recent interview he also admitted to not being aware of the band ever covering Eleanor Rigby until a recording surfaced just a few weeks ago, even though this detail had been clearly documented on Rob Porter's JL Song Database for years under the ANWR Tour page. (At this point, I reckon the next "holy grail" to surface will be a Time Tour version of Ticket To The Moon...) Sure, the guy has put in a degree of original research and was inspired to write this book after contacting the publishers behind the On Track series, but it all seems like a product created to fill a gap in the market. I nearly made the same mistake by initially proposing a volume of Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 that would only look at the history behind Secret Messages, when in reality what the world needs is a more comprehensive read giving a perspective of ELO's history that isn't just mostly repeating what little Jeff himself is prepared to say these days. Much like with John Van Der Kiste's efforts, Song By Song or Before And After, I'm sure it will be a perfectly serviceable introduction for the casual audience and may even have a few genuinely new scraps of information. However, I fear that Barry Delve is another writer who has fallen into the mainstream-catering trap rather than daring to scrape too far below the surface. Alas, the format doesn't suit itself to that kind of exhaustive treatment, which is probably why the aforementioned website remains such an invaluable resource.
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Post by lawrev on Dec 29, 2021 1:24:37 GMT
Is this new book actually worth it? I don't mean to disparage the book, I am just curious whether this publication has anything confirmed and concrete as fact with regards to ELO. I'm a bit conflicted on this aspect, as the author is a self-described ELO superfan, yet in a recent interview he also admitted to not being aware of the band ever covering Eleanor Rigby until a recording surfaced just a few weeks ago, even though this detail had been clearly documented on Rob Porter's JL Song Database for years under the ANWR Tour page. (At this point, I reckon the next "holy grail" to surface will be a Time Tour version of Ticket To The Moon...) Sure, the guy has put in a degree of original research and was inspired to write this book after contacting the publishers behind the On Track series, but it all seems like a product created to fill a gap in the market. I nearly made the same mistake by initially proposing a volume of Bloomsbury's 33 1/3 that would only look at the history behind Secret Messages, when in reality what the world needs is a more comprehensive read giving a perspective of ELO's history that isn't just mostly repeating what little Jeff himself is prepared to say these days. Much like with John Van Der Kiste's efforts, Song By Song or Before And After, I'm sure it will be a perfectly serviceable introduction for the casual audience and may even have a few genuinely new scraps of information. However, I fear that Barry Delve is another writer who has fallen into the mainstream-catering trap rather than daring to scrape too far below the surface. Alas, the format doesn't suit itself to that kind of exhaustive treatment, which is probably why the aforementioned website remains such an invaluable resource. Thanks, ShardEnder. This reminds me of a ELO book I purchased back in the early 2000s, which came out in the mid 1990s, covering Jeff's songs and ELO. I forget the name of it. Regardless, I looked at it once, put it on a shelf, and about 5 years later threw it out. There are so many important aspects of ELO that haven't been fully told (and may never, now) that any books coming out that don't attempt to cover the big ticket items are really just window dressing for the authors (and I am not faulting anyone who writes a book on ELO). I just would like to see the big topics addressed but that probably will never happen.
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Post by barryd on Dec 29, 2021 9:03:24 GMT
Hi everyone, author here. I’ve been a member here since 2014 and before that was on the ELO fans board. I have never posted anything up until now but have always enjoyed and followed the conversations here, but I thought I’d break my silence to give some background on the book and respectfully correct a couple of points that Shardender has made about me.
The book is absolutely not the inside story of ELO and I have never claimed it is. I don’t believe that book will ever be written because as we all know, Jeff Lynne is a very private man and expects the same from those people he works with. I did however, track down and speak to many people who were peripherally involved with ELO to corroborate some stuff and glean new information.
What the book is though, is an album by album overview of ELO’s recorded output with reviews and analysis of every song, where to find them (very useful when covering all the outtakes from the first 2 albums) and packed with as many facts as I could muster.
Regarding Shardender’s post above.
I have never described myself as a ‘superfan’ anywhere. ELO were my first band and they’ve been special to me throughout my life. I’ve followed them across the years, but superfan, especially combined with the words ‘self described’, which is simply untrue, has connotations that I do not recognise in myself or subscribe to.
Nor do I say I was unaware of ‘Eleanor Rigby’. I say it was undocumented. Robert Porter’s site mentions that the song may have been played which, without supporting evidence such as documented confirmation or a recording, wasn’t a hard enough fact for me to go with. I’ve gone to great pains to research everything in the book myself which means listening to everything, making sure the facts can be backed up and not relying on other peoples work, such as Robert’s amazing website, for content without going back to the original sources for information.
Absolutely. Surely filling a gap in the market is the best reason for making a book like this!
I genuinely think the book is better than that. Yes the book is ‘mainstream’ but that is intentional. The ‘on track’ format is fixed by the publisher and the ELO book had to fit within that format, and page count was limited to 160 pages maximum. While writing the book I tried to cater for both the longer term fan such as myself (ie, what would I find interesting about ELO) and those who had a looser relationship with the band. I also tried to avoid the what has been described here as ‘dryness’ of previous books in the style of my writing. It’s a fine line to walk along and some reviews have appeared alongside the Amazon listing which are very positive which makes me believe I have achieved what I set out to do. (on the subject of Amazon, they have sold out of their initial allocation and are restocking. The book is available from other online retailers in the UK).
Finally I do hope that those who have purchased the book enjoy it! I don’t expect people to agree with everything I wrote but I do hope they appreciate it in the spirit in which it was written.
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Post by cleldo on Dec 29, 2021 10:17:48 GMT
barryd I have enjoyed the book so far and I for one was not expecting any great unheard revelations It gives good insight into the making and recording of the albums which is what it is meant to do. Thank you barryd
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Post by Horacewimp on Dec 29, 2021 10:55:15 GMT
Good to see you on the forum barryd my copy of the book should be arriving today. Thanks for explaining and confirming details of your project and I wish you ever success.
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Post by Timeblue on Dec 29, 2021 11:41:36 GMT
So we now have a successful author as well as the amazing Joy from Quill on this site, any more famous folk I wonder?
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Post by Horacewimp on Dec 29, 2021 12:02:31 GMT
So we now have a successful author as well as the amazing Joy from Quill on this site, any more famous folk I wonder? We have two other authors brianpaone who wrote Yours Truly 2095 and of course vlogdance
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Post by lawrev on Dec 29, 2021 14:19:24 GMT
Jeff Lynne is a private man, except when he doesn't want to be. When he chooses the topics he wants to speak about. So, what I'm hearing is - Jeff alone is allowed to craft the ELO legacy / narrative while everybody else should stay silent like grade school kids.
Jeff lives in LA. Maybe someone should ask him whether he believes in the U.S. Constitution and the freedom of speech.
Jeff can be "private" about his blood type. But that does not stretch to how he acted with regards to his ELO bandmates. That's the book I want to read and willing to purchase. The fact that nondisclosure agreements had to be put in place to shut up former bandmates tells me that his "creative methods" may be at variance with the narrative he has carefully crafted since the original ELO broke up.
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Post by Southernman on Dec 29, 2021 16:18:22 GMT
Hi everyone, author here. I’ve been a member here since 2014 and before that was on the ELO fans board. I have never posted anything up until now but have always enjoyed and followed the conversations here, but I thought I’d break my silence to give some background on the book and respectfully correct a couple of points that Shardender has made about me. Thanks for posting Barry. I can't comment on your book yet as I've not read it, but congratulations on (a) finishing it and (b) getting it published; both notable achievements. And thanks for fact checking a certain supercilious post upthread which I thought was frankly embarrassing given their own track record.
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