JAPANESE BONUS TRACKS

HMV Japan is the first retailer to list the suspected additional bonus tracks on the upcoming Japanese editions of:

Electric Light Orchestra Live  - Telephone Line [Live from Bungalow Palace]
Zoom - Lucky Motel [Previously Unreleased]
Armchair Theatre - Strange Magic [Live from Bungalow Palace]

Again, like Long Wave and Mr. Blue Sky, these CDs will be SHM-CDs.  Release date: April 17, 2013.

THE NEXT BATCH OF THREE

The official announcement was made today.  Electric Light Orchestra Live, Zoom and Armchair Theatre are now on the release schedule for April 19 in Europe and Japan, April 22 in the UK and April 23 in the USA from Frontiers Records.

Again, the Japanese editions of Armchair Theatre, ELO's Zoom and Electric Light Orchestra Live will be first out of the gate, but no word yet whether they will contain additional bonus material.

Electric Light Orchestra - Live

1. Evil Woman
2. Showdown
3. Secret Messages
4. Livin' Thing
5. Sweet Talkin' Woman
6. Mr. Blue Sky
7. Can't Get It Out Of My Head
8. Twilight
9. Confusion
10. Don't Bring Me Down
11. Roll Over Beethoven
12. Out of Luck (Bonus - 2010 recording)
13. Cold Feet (Bonus - 1993 recording)

Electric Light Orchestra - Zoom

1. Alright
2. Moment in Paradise
3. State of Mind
4. Just for Love
5. Stranger on a Quiet Street
6. In My Own Time
7. Easy Money
8. It Really Doesn't Matter
9. Ordinary Dream
10. A Long Time Gone
11. Melting in the Sun
12. All She Wanted
13. Lonesome Lullaby
14. One Day (Bonus - 2004 recording)
15. Turn to Stone (Live From CBS Television City) (Bonus)

Jeff Lynne - Armchair Theatre

1. Every Little Thing
2. Don't Let Go
3. Lift Me Up
4. Nobody Home
5. September Song
6. Now You're Gone
7. Don't Say Goodbye
8. What Would It Take
9. Stormy Weather
10. Blown Away
11. Save Me Now
12. Borderline (Bonus - 1989 recording)
13. Forecast (Bonus - 1989 recording)

ADDED TO ITUNES

More vintage videos have made their way out on iTunes...

Wild West Hero, Showdown, Turn To Stone from Wembley are new - as well as the original promos for Rockaria, Livin' Thing and It's Over.  And also oddly thrown in, the TV performance of Telephone Line.

UPDATE: COMING SOON ON BLUE VINYL...

The new color vinyl editions of Long Wave and Mr. Blue Sky are sliding to February 11...

IT WAS 25 YEARS AGO (YESTERDAY)...

Here's an interesting article from Billboard Magazine.  Yesterday (January 16) marked 25 years since any member of The Beatles topped the Billboard Hot 100.  That #1 track: George Harrison's Got My Mind Set On You - co-produced by Jeff Lynne. 

COMING SOON ON BLUE VINYL ctd...

A few points of clarification on the new LP editions of Long Wave and Mr.Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra coming later this month.

Long Wave will actually be on white vinyl and Mr. Blue Sky will be on 2 blue vinyl LPs.  These releases will be pressed on 140g vinyl and are limited to 1000 each.

Release date: January 28 from the UK-based Let Them Eat Vinyl...

A FULL HARVEST

It appears as many as 20 vintage EMI Harvest titles will be re-issued on CD in Japan this coming March.  Among the titles being re-issued:

Electric Light Orchestra - Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra - ELO 2
Roy Wood - Boulders
The Move - Message From The Country
Wizzard - Wizzard Brew

No further info on these yet, but they are expected to be released in Japan on March 20.

END NOTES 2012

A few quick notes before we let this year slip away...

First off, for those of you who pledged to the Songs After Sandy benefit album, make sure you check your e-mail... the link to download the 2012 Electric version of Save Me Now was e-mailed to everyone around Dec. 16 or so...

And don't forget, Dave Morgan's new album Across the Divide is now out on CD.  You can check it out and order one at his website.

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who helped contribute to the blog this year. Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2013!  Happy New Year, everyone!

LONG ENDURANCE, BULKY CURTAINS ctd...

Happy 65th Birthday, Jeff...

And thank you for all the amazing stuff this year!

SOME HOLIDAY JAMMING

Look who was having some fun at the Troubadour a few nights ago... (hat tip: Neil)

More from Lynn Hoskins at Showdown:

Thursday night at the Troubadour in Los Angeles Jeff Lynne was part of Jonathan Wilson's Merry Minstrel Musical Circus that did a benefit jam-a-thon to raise money for Little Kids Rock and the Tazzy Animal Rescue Fund. Taking turns onnstage were Bob Weir, Mike Campbell, Benmont Tench, and Jackson Browne, who called Jeff's appearance a 'visitation.'

COMING SOON ON BLUE VINYL

It appears next month will see the release of a new batch of vinyl for Jeff Lynne's Long Wave and Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra - this time on limited edition blue vinyl - Mr. Blue Sky will be on two discs.  They will be limited to 1000 each and are on the schedule for January 28 2013 in the UK.

Preorders also at Amazon:

Long Wave

Mr. Blue Sky

(hat tip: Rich)

ALSO ON ITUNES

Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne & ELO comes to iTunes on Tuesday, but just added and available to buy now are four more ELO videos from back in the day.

The live Wembley version of Sweet Talkin' Woman and the original promo videos for So Serious, Last Train To London and the rare version of Shine A Little Love are now available to buy for $1.99 each.

MR. BLUE SKY: THE STORY OF JEFF LYNNE & ELO

From elo.biz:

The full version (presumably) of Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne & ELO will be available to download starting Tuesday December 18 on iTunes.

A physical release on DVD is still on target for next year.

The trailer:

RECORD COLLECTOR

ELO is the cover story and Jeff Lynne is gracing the cover of the December 2012 Record Collector Magazine in the UK.  Two full articles about ELO - one from Jeff Lynne:

Two albums released on the same day saw Jeff Lynne break a lengthy silence. Terry Staunton meets up with ELO’s head honcho and asks just why he had to hide away for so long. 

The Top 10 albums chart in late October made interesting reading, with a familiar name dominating the list. One of the highest new entries was Long Wave, a collection of vintage oldies from the 50s and 60s refashioned for the 21st century by Jeff Lynne. Just below it was Mr Blue Sky, with Lynne revisiting some of his old band ELO’s best loved songs, re-recording each one from scratch. A few places below those offerings was a catalogue compilation of ELO originals, sales reignited by the buzz surrounding the front man’s return. 

Not that Lynne has ever been away, he’s just been out of the spotlight. Since the demise of ELO in 2001 (having fought and won a legal battle for rights to the name from drummer Bev Bevan’s touring outfit ELO II), Jeff has mostly worn his producer’s hat. He worked on George Harrison’s last album, Brainwashed, continued his long association with Tom Petty, and his name can also be found on the credits of releases by Regina Spektor and Joe Walsh. 

He was involved in the Traveling Wilburys reissue campaign in 2007, which saw the supergroup that also featured Harrison, Petty, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison top the album charts again, but releases with his own name front and centre have been conspicuous by their absence. 

All that changed in the autumn of 2012, …

The other article is on Bev Bevan...

The strings soared, Jeff Lynne delivered the hits, but the foundation was Bev Bevan, driving it all behind the drum kit. Here, he recalls his times with The Move, Black Sabbath and ELO. Matt Eastley snares him for an interview
Sometimes, what looks on paper like the dream ticket simply fails to come off. 

The metamorphosis of Birmingham band The Move into the Electric Light Orchestra and the subsequent failure of the Roy Wood/Jeff Lynne partnership is one of the more curious tales in rock’s annals. 

The Move had been one of the finest bands to emerge in the late 60s, largely driven by the creativity and inventiveness of Wood. 

But come the 70s, the band was struggling for direction and when close mates, mutual admirers and stellar talents Wood and Lynne finally hooked up, they looked set to take the world by storm with a vehicle that would satisfy both their ambitions. 

But as far as the pairing was concerned, it never happened, and within a year, Wood had stunned everyone by upping sticks and leaving to form the complex but often-amusing and parodic Wizzard. 

Watching all this at first hand was drummer Bev Bevan, who had known Wood since the mid 60s. To this day is flummoxed as to why the Wood/Lynne axis did not flourish.

On newsstands in the UK but you can also order one right from Record Collector's website...

WEEKEND READING

While housecleaning this weekend, I came across this nugget from the Philadelphia Inquirer dated February 1, 2003.  It was the first time many of us heard the new remake of Mr. Blue Sky in a Volkswagen Beetle commercial.  The tongue-in-cheek(ish) article's writer has a hard time accepting that bands like ELO are finding a niche in 'hip' movies and TV commercials. Enjoy.

BLU-SPEC CD2

First up in 2013 so far looks to be this: A New World Record, Out of the Blue, Discovery and Time will be released on a new Blu-Spec CD2 "format".  The blurb:

Features the high-fidelity Blu-spec CD2 format (compatible with standard CD players). Part of a 4-album Electric Light Orchestra Blu-spec CD2 reissue series featuring albums "New World Record," "Out of the blue," "DISCOVERY," and "Time." *Blu-spec CD2 is the next generation Compact Disc that employs the Phase Transition Mastering, the technology developed for mastering of Blu-ray discs, to further perfect the acclaimed characteristics of Blu-spec CD. Fully compatible with standard CD players, Blu-spec CD2 completely alters the experience of music.

We'll see... Release date for Japan: March 6, 2013

NOW PLAYING: ADAM CAROLLA PODCAST

The Adam Carolla Show podcast is now available for download...

THE ECONOMIST AND MR. BLUE SKY

The Economist has a nice new article about Jeff Lynne in today's online edition.  It has a small blurb about the upcoming release of Mr. Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne and ELO.  Pre-orders for the documentary will begin next month on iTunes (for the digital download) followed by the DVD release next year.

NOW STREAMING: SAVE ME NOW 2012

Preorders and pledges are still being taken for Songs After Sandy: Friends of Red Hook for Hurricane Sandy Relief.  But if you put in your $15 pledge now, you can hear a stream of the entire first volume of tracks including Jeff Lynne's new version of Save Me Now.

COMING SOON: SONGS AFTER SANDY

Joe Walsh, Ringo Starr and Jeff Lynne will be among the musicians who are contributing to a new benefit album for people who were affected Hurricane Sandy.

It's called Songs After Sandy : Friends of Red Hook for Hurricane Sandy Relief and an official announcement was made today.

Jeff's contribution:

...is a new version of a song he’d written decades ago. In a statement, he said, “This is a brand new electric version of ‘Save Me Now,’ a song I wrote 22 years ago about this very subject — global warming and the need to listen and be kind to our planet. I wanted to contribute to Songs After Sandy because I feel terrible about what happened, and my heart goes out to all of the people still stuck in it and trying to work through it.”

Here is a direct link to pre-order Songs After Sandy.  It appears it will be available for a $15 donation.  More details as soon as we find them...