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Post by queenofthehours on Apr 14, 2016 20:53:38 GMT
I know Jeff isn't afraid of Xanadu tracks, proven by his glorious live 'All Over the World' performances, and 'Xanadu' was technically sung by ONJ, but it seems to me to be an interesting quirk of Jeff's that he isn't playing his only ELO number one single live.
All other bands with number ones can't wait to play their biggest hits live, they are the tracks that usually get the biggest cheers yet Jeff's biggest cheers come from 'MBS' which only reached number 6.
Maybe it's just me but I think it's plain odd to avoid your only number one single - and it's Jeff's oddness which makes him my favourite musician!
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Xanadu
Apr 14, 2016 21:27:02 GMT
Post by fourlittlediamonds on Apr 14, 2016 21:27:02 GMT
Probably because JL knows he's written far better than Xanadu. In fact out of the five Xanadu tracks its probably the weakest and the fact that they were written specifically for a movie and also they only appeared on an OST , rather than a specific ELO album. I'd quite like to hear I'm Alive, or The Fall or Don't Walk Away, but the fact that Xanadu was such a notorious bomb might explain why he steers clear of it. Let's face it , the back catalogue isn't exactly lacking in quality or hits.
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Post by ShardEnder on Apr 14, 2016 22:45:52 GMT
Probably because JL knows he's written far better than Xanadu. In fact out of the five Xanadu tracks its probably the weakest and the fact that they were written specifically for a movie and also they only appeared on an OST , rather than a specific ELO album. I can't wait to bust this myth once and for all in my upcoming book, thanks to a revelation provided to me by none other than engineer Bill Bottrell... Let's just say for now that at least one of the five* songs Jeff contributed to the film's soundtrack wasn't just written, but fully recorded months before Xanadu was even a twinkle in some Hollywood producer's eyes - never mind ELO accepting to be involved with the project! *The actual figure is seven if you consider Drum Dreams and the officially unreleased Xanadu Overture, later reworked into Love Changes All.
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Post by wilko on Apr 14, 2016 23:25:26 GMT
Mr Blue Sky is just one of those songs that is widely loved. People who aren't ELO fans still love MBS which certainly is not the case with Xanadu. (And quite right too !!).
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Post by queenofthehours on Apr 15, 2016 20:22:43 GMT
I wouldn't be surprised if 'All Over the World' is sung live because it is somehow "different" to the other tracks on Xanadu. The fact that Shard End gets a mention in it surely is a sign that Jeff has some kind of allegiance to it; an ownership that he doesn't seem feel for the rest of the soundtrack. If not perhaps it was suggested to him (by Mike Stevens?) as a great song, a nice surprise, for opening his Hyde Park set since no Xanadu track had ever been done on stage by Jeff before. This in itself is significant as it's debut surely signifies a new ELO era.
I'll never be convinced that Jeff leaving out Xanadu is because it's not so good. I like it a lot and so must others if it got to number one! Lots of bands have dodgy chart toppers yet they still play them. I reckon the crowd would go loopy (in a good way!) if ELO launched into 'Xanadu' during the tour. If Jeff hated it so much why record his own vocal version?
Perhaps 'Xanadu' isn't played because everyone's forgotten all about it as there are far too many hits to ever play in one night anyway. But I think the real reason is that Jeff feels as much ownership over 'Xanadu' as he does over 'You Got It' or 'Free Fallin'' - he wrote and played on those tracks too yet didn't sing them and so perhaps thinks it better to leave those songs to ONJ, Orbison and Petty as those songs are, to the audience, theirs and theirs alone.
ELO is a special band and Jeff is a special person - Not many people can have a list of 100% perfect songs to play live that allows even their only Number 1 single to be safely left off it. Most groups would be stricken without their chart-toppers.
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Xanadu
Apr 17, 2016 22:31:09 GMT
Post by joeyjoejoejr on Apr 17, 2016 22:31:09 GMT
May be ONJ and Sharleen Spiteri can join Jeff on stage to perform Xanadu.
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Xanadu
Apr 18, 2016 9:15:39 GMT
Post by nickheynes on Apr 18, 2016 9:15:39 GMT
May be ONJ and Sharleen Spiteri can join Jeff on stage to perform Xanadu. Or Laura Lynne?
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Xanadu
Apr 19, 2016 18:44:39 GMT
Post by queenofthehours on Apr 19, 2016 18:44:39 GMT
May be ONJ and Sharleen Spiteri can join Jeff on stage to perform Xanadu. I heard both Texas and Jeff on Chris Evans Radio 2 show today and thought "what would happen if Jeff produced an album for Sharleen?" What if?...
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