HAPPY BIRTHDAY, GEORGE

GRAMMY ROUND-UP

Billboard

Rolling Stone

Ultimate Classic Rock

And Mr. Blue Sky was the most Shazamed moment of the entire Grammy telecast. (More about Shazam) The top 10:

1. Electric Light Orchestra and Ed Sheeran, Mr. Blue Sky
2. Katy Perry, By the Grace of God
3. Ed Sheeran & John Mayer, Thinking Out Loud
4. Hozier, Take Me to Church
5. Adam Levine and Gwen Stefani cover Maroon 5, My Heart is Open
6. Hozier and Annie Lennox, I Put a Spell On You
7. Rihanna, Kanye West, Paul McCartney, FourFiveSeconds
8. Sia, Chandelier
9. Kanye West Feat. Paul McCartney, Only One
10. AC/DC, Highway to Hell

...and was the 9th highest 'click to buy' tracks of the night.

...and during today's check, All Over The World: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra is #16 on iTunes Top Albums.  On iTunes top singles, Mr. Blue Sky is #118, Evil Woman is #122.

JEFF LYNNE'S ELO AT THE GRAMMYS 2015

Post by Jeff Lynne.

COUNTDOWN TO GRAMMYS ctd

Post by Jeff Lynne.

JEFF LYNNE & ELO 101

For those watching the Grammys and who have never heard about, are curious about or want to revisit Jeff Lynne and ELO, here is your crash course directed by Martyn Atkins.

Special Look: John Mayer, Ed Sheeran Rehearse Grammys Collaboration

Special Look: John Mayer, Ed Sheeran Rehearse Grammys Collaboration

COUNTDOWN TO GRAMMYS

View image | gettyimages.com

TRENDING

This was on the Facebook feed tonight:

JEFF LYNNE'S ELO AT THE GRAMMYS

Post by Jeff Lynne.

BERNARD BUTLER

i'm 2 songs in this week with the legend @DALEYmusic and now the amazing @_laurawelsh . All set for the Jeff Lynne session tomorrow…

— Bernard Butler (@Bernard_Butler) January 29, 2015

STAY WITH ME

It's one of the biggest songs of 2014 and now Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne are on the songwriting credits for it.  Sam Smith's Stay With Me may do well at the Grammys on February 8 - and thanks to an out-of-court settlement in October, Petty and Lynne will receive 12.5% each in royalties for it, due to the similarity to Tom Petty's I Won't Back Down.

From Tom Petty:

"About the Sam Smith thing. Let me say I have never had any hard feelings toward Sam. All my years of songwriting have shown me these things can happen. Most times you catch it before it gets out the studio door but in this case it got by. Sam’s people were very understanding of our predicament and we easily came to an agreement. The word lawsuit was never even said and was never my intention. And no more was to be said about it. How it got out to the press is beyond Sam or myself. Sam did the right thing and I have thought no more about this. A musical accident no more no less. In these times we live in this is hardly news. I wish Sam all the best for his ongoing career. Peace and love to all."

ALL THIS AND WORLD WAR II

Culture Factory USA is giving us another crack at owning the soundtrack to All This and World War II on CD.  Hip-O Select did a few years ago and the sets sold out quickly.  The new edition is part of Culture Factory's Vinyl Replica Collection and was released on January 20.  With A Little Help From My Friends/Nowhere Man by Jeff Lynne and Lovely Rita and Polythene Pam by Roy Wood are newly remastered for this set.

The short blurb:

This 1976 major studio film presents documentary WWII footage to the accompaniment of Beatles songs. The soundtrack album features many star singers such as Peter Gabriel, Rod Stewart, Bryan Ferry, Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Elton John, David Essex and Leo Sayer.

JEFF AT THE GRAMMYS

UPDATE: Jeff Lynne with Ed Sheeran

In one of the commercials promoting the upcoming Grammys ceremony on Sunday February 8, Jeff Lynne is listed as performing with Album of the Year nominee Ed Sheeran.  Stay tuned.

WILF GIBSON

Martin Kinch from Cherry Blossom Clinic has learned from the daughter of Wilf Gibson that Wilf passed away in October after a short illness.  Wilf played on 1973's ELO 2 and was even kind enough to sign copies of the UK remastered CD back in 2003.

OUT OF THE BLU-RAY

Eagle Rock Entertainment is now set to release ELO's 1978 Out Of The Blue Tour Live at Wembley on Blu-Ray.  Mixed signals on whether this will be Region 2 (for UK, Australia etc) or Region Free (for everyone.)

The set appears to merge both the Wembley '78/Discovery DVD with the ELO Live The Early Years DVD from 2010 into one Blu-Ray release.

UK release date: 16 March 2015

The blurb:

Eagle Vision’s SD Blu-ray range presents upscaled standard definition original material with uncompressed stereo and DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound for the best possible quality. The Electric Light Orchestra are one of the most successful British bands of all time. Formed after the break-up of The Move in 1970, they pioneered the integration of orchestral instruments into pop music and released a series of groundbreaking and increasingly successful albums through the seventies that culminated in the multi-million selling “Out Of The Blue”. The main concert on this SD Blu-ray release is from the world tour for that album featuring their legendary spaceship stage design and was filmed at London’s Wembley Arena in 1978. This show is combined with a wealth of bonus material to give an overview of E.L.O. performances right through the seventies.

The full 'set' list:
1) Introduction
2) Standing In The Rain
3) Night In The City
4) Turn To Stone
5) Tightrope
6) Telephone Line
7) Rockaria!
8) Wild West Hero
9) Showdown
10) Sweet Talkin' Woman
11) Mr Blue Sky
12) Do Ya
13) Livin' Thing
14) Roll Over Beethoven

BONUS FEATURES:
Live At Brunel University 1973:
1) King Of The Universe
2) Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
3) In The Hall Of The Mountain King
4) Great Balls Of Fire

Live On Rockpalast 1974:
1) Daybreaker
2) Showdown
3) Day Tripper
4) Orange Blossom Special
5) Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
6) In The Hall Of The Mountain King
7) Great Balls Of Fire
8) Roll Over Beethoven
Rockpalast Interview 1974

Fusion 1976:
1) Poker
2) Nightrider
3) Showdown
4) Eldorado Overture
5) Can t Get It Out Of My Head
6) Poor Boy (The Greenwood)
7) Illusions In G Major
8) Strange Magic
9) 10538 Overture
10) Do Ya
11) Evil Woman
12) Ma-Ma-Ma Belle
13) Roll Over Beethoven

Discovery 1979:
1) Shine A Little Love
2) Confusion
3) Need Her Love
4) Diary Of Horace Wimp
5) Last Train To London
6) Midnight Blue
7) Wishing
8) Don t Bring Me Down

PROGRESSIVE ROCK SHM-CD COLLECTION

This set of EMI/Harvest years releases was on the docket for release around this time last year in Japan but was cancelled.  It looks like Warner Japan is going to have another go at it - without the bonus material.

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

...are now set to be issued on SHM-CD as part of the Progressive Rock SHM-CD Low-Priced Edition Series.  The product description says it will have original album artwork, new description and lyrics included.  Track lists appear to be just their original line-ups.

Release date for Japan: April 8, 2015

LONG ENDURANCE, BULKY CURTAINS ctd...

Post by Jeff Lynne.

JEFF LYNNE ON TAP

Get More: Music Videos, Free Music Videos

MERRY MINSTREL MUSICAL CIRCUS III

Jeff Lynne made another trip to the Troubadour in Los Angeles over the weekend to spread a little holiday cheer.

NOW AVAILABLE: TAKE THAT III

Take That III - containing one track produced by Jeff Lynne (Fall Down At Your Feet) - is now available to buy.  Fall Down At Your Feet is only available in the Google Play Store in the UK.