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The Idle Race were a British rock group from Birmingham in the late 1960s and early 1970s who had a cult following but never enjoyed mass commercial success.^[1] In addition to being the springboard for Jeff Lynne, the band holds a place of significance in British Midlands' pop-rock history as a link between The Move, the Electric Light Orchestra, Steve Gibbons Band and Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders.

Band history[link]

The core of the group, rhythm guitarist Dave Pritchard, bass guitarist Greg Masters and drummer Roger Spencer, was relatively unchanged from 1959 until February 1972. The band went through several incarnations, names, lead guitarists and lead singers: first Billy King and later, more successfully, with Mike Sheridan, with whom they first rose to prominence and, in 1964, to a record deal with EMI.

While Mike Sheridan and The Nightriders failed to crack the charts, the band's lineup during this period included a young lead guitarist and composer named Roy Wood, whose first commercial song "Make Them Understand," appeared on one of the band's B-sides in 1965.

Wood jumped ship to join the then Brum 'supergroup' The Move in December 1965. Sheridan left shortly thereafter.

The Nightriders soldiered on with a new lead guitarist, Johnny Mann, for a few months. When they placed an advert in May 1966 for a younger replacement, the winning applicant was Lynne, then a relatively unknown guitar prodigy from the Birmingham district of Shard End. The Nightriders recorded one single for Polydor, "It's Only The Dog/Your Friend", released in November 1966 with Lynne on lead guitar. Spencer sang lead on the former; the latter was written and sung by Pritchard.

Eager to showcase Lynne's vocal and guitar skills as well as his growing cache of catchy Beatlesque songs, the group changed its name, first to Idyll Race, then Idle Race. Wood, now a major star as the Move became a successful chart act, helped arrange a partnership with pop producers Eddie Offord and Gerald Chevin for his old bandmates. In 1967, The Idle Race were the first major signing by the new British arm of Liberty Records (which would soon merge with United Artists).

The group were well-received by the music press for their melodies, whimsical lyrics, and inventive production. They often appeared on the same bill with such bands as The Spencer Davis Group, The Who, The Small Faces, Pink Floyd, The Moody Blues, Status Quo, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Yes, Free, and The Move.

During this period, Idle Race was also, as one member later termed it, a very "schizophrenic" band. While their records were awash in melodic hooks, paisley-pop backdrops and lilting harmonies, they were a much heavier act in a live setting. Lynne's early trademark around the clubs and colleges was his ability to coax an unusual "violin" sound out of his guitar, while Masters would occasionally take a bow to his Hofner bass. In addition to original material, their set list included extended covers of Steppenwolf's "Born to Be Wild", The Jimi Hendrix Experience's "Purple Haze", Moby Grape's "Hey Grandma," The Lemon Pipers' "Blueberry Blue," The Doors' "Love Me Two Times", and an electric version of "Debora" by Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Influential BBC disc jockeys such as John Peel and Kenny Everett were big boosters of the group. But despite critical respect and famous admirers such as The Beatles and Marc Bolan, Idle Race failed to catch fire with the public.

Bad luck sabotaged efforts from the start. Their debut single on Liberty, a cover of Wood's "Here We Go 'Round the Lemon Tree", was scheduled for release and heavily promoted in September 1967. When the Move's version began getting national in airplay around the UK as the B-side of the hit "Flowers In The Rain," Liberty abruptly pulled the single in the UK (although it was still released by Liberty in the US). The record company replaced it with Lynne's crunching "Impostors of Life's Magazine" in October. With no promotion, "Impostors" received critical praise but this did not result in strong sales.

"The Skeleton and the Roundabout" (February 1968) and "The End of the Road" (June 1968) suffered similar fates. Work continued throughout the year on the Idle Race's debut album, the group commuting in from Birmingham to London on Sundays, when they were granted free studio time at Advision. The resulting "The Birthday Party" was released in October of that year to strong reviews but tepid sales. (Surprisingly, it was issued in the US on Liberty with a modified cover.)

Lynne and Wood's mutual respect and friendship deepened. The demo for the Move hit "Blackberry Way" was recorded in Lynne's front room and borrowed motifs from the Idle Race; the chorus of Lynne's 1969 rocker "Days of the Broken Arrows" lifted part of a riff from the Move's "Wild Tiger Woman". Wood and Lynne often spoke of working together on a project that would integrate classical instruments within a pop/rock idiom.

Lynne received an offer to replace Trevor Burton in the Move in February 1969 but declined with hopes of steering The Idle Race to commercial success — and producing the band's second LP for Liberty.

The self-titled Idle Race was eventually released in November 1969 (in the UK but not in the US). When the two Lynne-penned, Lynne-produced singles that preceded the LP, "Days of the Broken Arrows" (April 1969) and "Come With Me" (July 1969) also failed to chart, their composer's frustration mounted.

Despite more good reviews, Idle Race, the first album to be produced by Lynne flopped.

In January 1970, Lynne accepted a second offer by Wood to join the Move, on condition that they would eventually retire that band and concentrate on a new venture, Electric Light Orchestra.

Lynne made two albums ("Looking On" and "Message from the Country") and a handful of singles with the Move, including the first version of "Do Ya", as work on the first ELO album continued in the studio throughout 1970 and 1971. The Move, now comprising just Wood, Lynne and drummer Bev Bevan, ceased touring in 1970 and adopted its ELO alter ego permanently in 1972.

Meanwhile, Mike Hopkins (guitar) and Dave Walker (vocals) were hired to replace Lynne in The Idle Race. A cover of Mungo Jerry's "In the Summertime" on Liberty in 1970 finally got them into the top 10—in Argentina. A cover of Hotlegs' "Neanderthal Man" didn't fare as well.

In 1971 the band produced their final album, Time Is for Regal Zonophone (UK only). Pritchard and Spencer, later to become [comic "Ollie" Spencer],^[2] left shortly thereafter.

After Masters and Hopkins quit the group in 1972, the remnants became the Steve Gibbons Band.

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

• The Birthday Party (October 1968) (issued in UK and US)
• Idle Race (November 1969) (UK Only)
• Time Is (1971) (UK only)

Singles[link]

• "Here We Go 'Round the Lemon Tree"/"My Father's Son" (not issued in UK but issued in Europe and US) 1967
• "Imposters of Life's Magazine"/"Sitting in My Tree" (Liberty LBF 15026) October 1967 (UK only)
• "The Skeleton and the Roundabout"/"Knocking Nails Into My House" (Liberty LBF 15054) February 1968 (UK only)
• "The End of the Road"/"Morning Sunshine" (Liberty LBF 15101) June 1968 (UK only)
• "I Like My Toys"/"Birthday" (Liberty LBF 15129) 1968 *Unissued*
• "Days of Broken Arrows"/"Worn Red Carpet" (Liberty LBF 15218) April 1969 (UK only)
• "Come With Me"/"Reminds Me of You" (Liberty LBF 15242) July 1969 (UK only)
• "In the Summertime"/"Told You Twice" (not issued in UK or US but issued in other countries) 1969
• "Neanderthal Man"/"Victim of Circumstance" (not issued in UK or US but issued in Canada) 1970
• "Dancing Flower"/"Bitter Green" (Regal Zonophone RZ 3036) 1971 (UK only)

Compilations (CD only)[link]

• Impostors of Life's Magazine (Daffodil DDAF10046) 1974 (2-record set, Canada)
• Best of Idle Race Featuring Jeff Lynne 1990 (1 CD, UK only)
• Jeff Lynne - A Message From The Country 1968-1973 1990 (1 CD) Also features tracks by The Move and the Electric Light Orchestra - there is a companion disc, You Can Dance the Rock and Roll which focuses on Lynne's Move and ELO bandmate Roy Wood.
• Back to the Story 1996 (Re-issued 2007, 2 CDs)
• A new, 5-disc Idle Race box set is also in the works, although a release date has yet to be determined.

Cover versions of songs by The Idle Race[link]

• "The Birthday" was recorded by The Fall with vocals by then-bandmember Lucy Rimmer and no apparent contributions from bandleader Mark E. Smith; it was released as "Birthday" on their 1996 compilation album Sinister Waltz. (The Idle Race are also mentioned in the lyrics of The Fall's 1978 song "No Xmas for John Quays".)

• Ambrose Slade (pre-Slade) covered "Knocking Nails Into My House" on their 1969 Beginnings (Now expanded and remastered as part of a soon-to-be-released box set) album.

• "Morning Sunshine" was covered by Jeremy as part of the "Lynne Me Your Ears" tribute collection to Jeff Lynne in 2001.

• "I Like My Toys" was covered by Radio DJ, Ed Stewart (under the name Stewpot) and the Save the Children Fund Choir.

• "End of the Road", "I Like My Toys", "The Skeleton and the Roundabout" and "Sitting in My Tree" were covered by Norwegian pop group The Tables on their 7" EP "The Tables play The Idle Race" (Kippers Records, 2000)

References[link]

External links[link]

• The Idle Race discography at Discogs

Jeff Lynne
Lynne on 7 September 2008.
Background information
Birth name	Jeffrey Lynne
Also known as	Otis Wilbury/Clayton Wilbury[1]
Born	(1947-12-30) 30 December 1947 (age 64) Shard End, Birmingham, England
Genres	Progressive rock, pop rock, symphonic rock, art rock, pop
Occupations	Musician, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, bass, piano, keyboards, cello, ukulele, percussion
Years active	1966–present
Labels	United Artists, Jet, Harvest, Epic, SonyBMG, Reprise
Associated acts	Electric Light Orchestra, Traveling Wilburys, The Idle Race, The Move, George Harrison, Tom Petty, The Beatles, Olivia Newton-John, Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan
Website	ftmusic.com
Notable instruments
Gibson Les Paul Fender Telecaster Gibson Hummingbird Yamaha CS-80 Polymoog

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra. He was later a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty. Lynne has produced recordings for artists such as The Beatles, Brian Wilson, Roy Orbison, Dave Edmunds, Del Shannon and Tom Petty. He has co-written songs with Petty and also with George Harrison, whose 1987 album Cloud Nine was co-produced by Lynne and Harrison. Among the many compositions to his credit are such well-known hits as "Livin' Thing", "Evil Woman", "Turn to Stone", "Do Ya", "Xanadu", "Strange Magic", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Telephone Line", "Shine a Little Love", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Hold On Tight", "All Over the World", and "Don't Bring Me Down".

In 2008, The Washington Times named Lynne the fourth greatest record producer in music history.^[2]

Musical career[link]

Early career[link]

In 1963, Jeff Lynne, Robert Reader and David Walsh formed a group using little more than Spanish guitars and cheap electrical instruments to produce music. They were originally named "The Rockin' Hellcats" before changing to "The Handicaps" and finally to "The Andicaps". They practised at Shard End Community Centre and performed weekly. However, in 1964, Robert Reader and David Walsh left the band and Lynne brought in replacements. At the end of 1964, Lynne decided to leave the band to replace Mick Adkins of the local band "The Chads".^[3]

In 1966, Lynne joined the line-up of The Nightriders as guitarist. The band would soon change their name to The Idle Race, a name allegedly given to them sarcastically by his grandmother Evelyn Lynne who probably disapproved of pop music as not being a proper job. Despite recording two critically acclaimed albums with the band and producing the second, success eluded him. In 1970, Lynne accepted a lifeline from friend Roy Wood to join the line-up of the more successful band The Move.

The Electric Light Orchestra: 1970–86[link]

Lynne contributed many songs to The Move's last two albums while formulating, with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan, a band built around a fusion of rock and classical music. This project would eventually become the highly successful Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). Problems led to Wood's departure in 1972, after the band's eponymous first album, leaving Jeff Lynne as the band's dominant creative force. Thereafter followed a succession of band personnel changes and increasingly popular albums: 1973's ELO II and On The Third Day, 1974's Eldorado and 1975's Face the Music.

By A New World Record, Lynne had almost developed the roots of the group into a more complex and unique pop-rock sound mixed with studio strings, layered vocals, and tight, catchy pop singles. Jeff Lynne's now almost complete creative dominance as producer, songwriter, arranger, lead singer and guitarist could make ELO appear to be an almost solo effort. However, the ELO sound and the focus of Lynne's writing was also shaped by Louis Clark's and Richard Tandy's co-arranging, under Jeff's direction (notably the large string sections), Bev Bevan's drumming, and Richard Tandy's integration of the Moog, harmonium, and Mellotron, with more novel keyboard technology, gave Jeff's songs a more symphonic sound.

The pinnacle of ELO's chart success and worldwide popularity was the expansive 1977 double album Out of the Blue, which was largely conceived in a Swiss chalet during a two-week writing marathon.^[4] The band's 1978 world tour featured an elaborate "space ship" set and laser light show. In order to recreate the complex instrumental textures of their albums, the band used pre-recorded supplemental backing tracks in live performances. Although that practice has now become commonplace, it caused considerable derision in the press of the time.^[5] Jeff Lynne has often stated that he prefers the creative environment of the studio to the rigours and tedium of touring.

In 1979, Lynne followed up the success of Out of the Blue with Discovery, which held No. 1 in the UK for 5 weeks. The album is primarily associated with its two disco-flavoured singles ("Shine a Little Love" and "Last Train to London") and with the title's word play on "disco" and "very".^[6] However, the remaining seven non-disco tracks on the album reflected Lynne's range as a pop-rock songwriter, including a heavy, mid-tempo rock anthem ("Don't Bring Me Down") that, despite its use of a drum loop, could be considered the antithesis of disco. In an April 2008 interview, Lynne fondly recalled his forays into dance music:

I love the force of disco. I love the freedom it gave me to make a different rhythms across it. I enjoyed that really steady driving beat. Just steady as a rock. I’ve always liked that simplicity in the bass drum.^[6]

In 1979, Lynne rejected an offer for ELO to headline the Knebworth Concert in the UK, allowing Led Zeppelin to headline instead.

In the absence of any touring to support Discovery, Lynne had time to contribute five tracks to the soundtrack for the 1980 movie musical Xanadu. The score yielded a pair of top-40 singles, with the title track "Xanadu" reaching number one in the UK. Nevertheless, Lynne was not integrated into the development of the film, and his material subsequently had only superficial attachment to the plot. Xanadu performed weakly at the box office (although it later has experienced popularity as a cult favourite). Lynne subsequently disavowed his limited contribution to the project,^[7] although he later re-recorded the title song (with his lead vocal) for the 2000 box set Flashback. In 2007, the film was loosely adapted into a successful Broadway musical, incorporating almost all of the songs from the original film, and also using two other ELO hits: "Strange Magic" and "Evil Woman".

The 1980s[link]

In 1981 Lynne took the band in a somewhat different direction with the science-fiction themed album Time, reaching number one for two weeks in the UK, producing the second Top 3 single in less than two years. The strings were still featured, but with heavily synthesised textures. Following a marginally successful tour, Lynne kept this general approach with 1983's Secret Messages and a final contractually-obligated ELO album Balance of Power in 1986. Lynne discusses the contractually-obligated nature of the final albums on the short interview included with the 'Zoom' DVD. ELO now had only three remaining official members (Lynne, Bevan and Tandy), and Lynne began devoting more time to producing.

During his time in the Electric Light Orchestra, Lynne did manage to release a few recordings under his own name. In 1976, Lynne covered The Beatles songs "With a Little Help from My Friends" and "Nowhere Man" for All This and World War II. In 1977, Lynne released his first solo single, the disco-flavoured "Doin' That Crazy Thing"/"Goin' Down To Rio". Despite ELO's high profile at that time, it received little airplay and failed to chart. In 1984 Lynne and ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy contributed two original songs "Video!" and "Let It Run" to the film Electric Dreams (they also provided a third song, "Sooner or Later", which was released as the b-side of "Video!"). Lynne also wrote the song "The Story of Me," which was recorded by the Everly Brothers on their comeback album EB84.

Even before the official end of ELO, Lynne began his move toward focusing almost exclusively on studio production work. Lynne produced and wrote the 1983 top-40 hit "Slipping Away" for Dave Edmunds and played on sessions (with Richard Tandy) for Edmunds' album, Information. Lynne also produced six tracks on Edmunds' follow-up album in 1984, Riff Raff.

In contrast to the dense, boomy, baroque sound of ELO, Lynne's post-ELO studio work has tended toward more minimal, acoustic instrumentation and a sparse, "organic" quality that generally favours light room ambience and colouration over artificial reverb, especially on vocals. Lynne's recordings also often feature the jangling compressed acoustic guitar sound pioneered by Roger McGuinn and a heavily gated snare drum sound.

Lynne's influence by the Beatles was clearly evident in his ELO work and the connection to the Beatles was strengthened when Lynne produced George Harrison's Cloud Nine, a successful comeback album for the ex-Beatle, released in 1987, featuring the popular singles "Got My Mind Set on You", "When We Was Fab" (where Lynne played the violin in the video), and "This is Love", two of the three songs co-written by Lynne.

Jeff Lynne's association with Harrison led to the 1988 formation of the Traveling Wilburys, a studio "supergroup" that included George Harrison, Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Roy Orbison (as well as Lynne himself), and resulted in two albums (Vol. 1 and Vol. 3), both co-produced by Lynne. In 1988 Lynne also worked on Roy Orbison's album Mystery Girl co-writing and producing Orbison's last major hit, "You Got It", plus two other tracks on that album. For Rock On!, the final Del Shannon album, Jeff Lynne co-wrote "Walk Away" and finished off several tracks after Shannon's death.

In 1989, Lynne co-produced Full Moon Fever by Tom Petty, which included the hit singles "Free Fallin'", "I Won't Back Down", and "Runnin' Down a Dream", all co-written by Lynne. This album and Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 both received nominations for the Grammy Award for Best Album of the Year in 1989. The Traveling Wilburys won a Grammy for "Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal" that year.^[8] Lynne's song "One Way Love" was released as a single by Agnetha Faltskog and appeared on her second post-ABBA album, Eyes of a Woman. Lynne co-wrote and produced the track "Let It Shine" for Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson's first solo album in 1988. Lynne also contributed three tracks to an album by Duane Eddy and "Falling In Love" on Land of Dreams for Randy Newman.

The 1990s[link]

In 1990, Lynne collaborated on the Wilburys' follow up Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 and shortly after that released his first solo album Armchair Theatre, with old friends George Harrison and Richard Tandy featuring the singles "Every Little Thing" and "Lift Me Up". The album received some positive critical attention but little commercial success. Lynne also provided the song "Wild Times" to the motion picture soundtrack Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves in 1991.

In 1991, Lynne returned to the studio with Petty, co-writing and producing the album Into the Great Wide Open for Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, which featured the singles "Learning to Fly" and "Into the Great Wide Open". The following year he produced Roy Orbison's posthumous album King of Hearts, featuring the single "I Drove All Night".

In February 1994, Lynne fulfilled a lifelong dream by working with the three surviving Beatles on the Anthology album series. At George Harrison's request, Lynne was brought in to assist in reevaluating John Lennon's original studio material. The songs "Free as a Bird" and "Real Love" were created by digitally processing Lennon's demos for the songs and overdubbing the three surviving band members to form a virtual Beatles reunion that the band had mutually eschewed during Lennon's lifetime. Lynne has also produced records for Ringo Starr and worked on Paul McCartney's Grammy nominated album Flaming Pie.

Lynne's work in the 1990s also includes production of a 1993 album for singer/songwriter Julianna Raye entitled Something Peculiar and production or songwriting contributions to albums by Roger McGuinn (Back from Rio), Joe Cocker (Night Calls), Aerosmith (Lizard Love), Tom Jones (Lift me Up), Bonnie Tyler (Time Mends a Broken Heart), the film Still Crazy, Hank Marvin (Wonderful Land and Nivram), Et Moi (Drole De Vie), and the Tandy Morgan Band (Action).

In 1996, Lynne was officially recognised by his peers when he was awarded the Ivor Novello Award for "Outstanding Contributions to British Music" for a second time.

The 2000s[link]

Following legal action to get the ELO name back^[9] from Bevan's touring group ELO Part II, Lynne released a new album in 2001 under the ELO moniker entitled Zoom. Although the album featured guest appearances by Ringo Starr, George Harrison and original ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy, with Lynne multi-tracking a majority of the instruments and vocals. The album received positive reviews but had no hit singles. Despite bearing little sonic relationship to the halcyon ELO days of the late 1970s, it was marketed as a "return to the classic ELO sound"^[10] in an attempt to connect with a loyal body of fans and jump-start a planned concert tour (with Lynne and Tandy as the only returning original ELO members). While a live performance was taped at CBS Television City over two consecutive nights and shown on PBS (with subsequent DVD release), the tour itself was cancelled.

Speculation remains rife as to the reason (or reasons), for the cancellation of this tour. Certainly, initial ticket sales were disappointing, with publicity for the concerts minimal.^{[citation needed]} Although often cited by fans as a reason for the tour cancellation, the events and aftermath of 11 September occurred subsequent to the official cancellation of the tour. Greg Bissonette (ELO drummer), when asked, described it as "the greatest tour I never went on!"^{[citation needed]}

Earlier in 2001, Lynne began working with George Harrison on what would turn out to be Harrison's final album, Brainwashed. After Harrison's death from cancer on 29 November 2001, Lynne returned to the studio in 2002 to help finish the uncompleted album. Lynne was also heavily involved in the memorial Concert for George, held at London's Royal Albert Hall in November 2002, singing the lead vocal on "The Inner Light", "I Want to Tell You" and "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)", and subsequently produced the Surround Sound audio mix for the Concert For George DVD released in November 2003. The DVD received a Grammy.

Lynne reunited in 2006 with Tom Petty to produce his third solo release, Highway Companion.

ASCAP honoured Jeff Lynne with the Golden Note Award during their inaugural "I Create Music" EXPO on 24 April 2009, the presenter was Paul Williams.^[11][12] ASCAP's Golden Note Award is presented to songwriters, composers, and artists who have achieved extraordinary career milestones. Previous honorees include Tom Petty, Quincy Jones, Stevie Wonder, Sean "Diddy" Combs and Garth Brooks, to name a few.^[13]

Lynne said in a Reuters article on 23 April 2009, that he has finally been working on the long awaited follow-up to his 1990 solo debut album Armchair Theatre with a possible tentative release date of "later this year".^[14]

He also produced four tracks on Regina Spektor's fifth album Far, released 23 June 2009.

In a March 2010 interview with the Daily Express newspaper, Lynne confirmed he is working on a new album with Joe Walsh and simultaneously "writing a couple of albums under his own name, though he won't tell us in which musical direction he's heading."^[15]

Lynne contributed a cover of Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" for the tribute album Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, which was released on 6 September 2011.

31 December 2011, Brian Williams reported on NBC New Year's Eve with Carson Daly that "2012 releases will include rare new work from Jeff Lynne."^[16]

Albums Lynne participated on[link]

The Idle Race[link]

• The Birthday Party (October 1968)
• Idle Race (November 1969)

The Move[link]

• Looking On (December 1970)
• Message from the Country (8 October 1971)

Electric Light Orchestra[link]

• The Electric Light Orchestra (1971)
• ELO 2 (1973)
• On the Third Day (1973)
• Eldorado, A Symphony (1974)
• Face the Music (1975)
• A New World Record (1976)
• Out of the Blue (1977)
• Discovery (1979)
• Xanadu (1980)
• Time (1981)
• Secret Messages (1983)
• Balance of Power (1986)
• Zoom (2001)

Traveling Wilburys[link]

• Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1 (1988)
• Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 (1990)
• The Traveling Wilburys Collection (2007)

Others[link]

• He sang "With a Little Help from My Friends" for the movie All This and World War II, sang on the Beatles single "Free as a Bird", and performed at the Concert for George.
• He sang Buddy Holly's "Words of Love" for the album Listen to Me: Buddy Holly, which was released in September 2011.

Solo discography[link]

Albums[link]

• Armchair Theatre

Released: 12 June 1990

Peak Chart Positions: #7 Norway, #8 Sweden, #22 Canada, #24 UK,^[17] #31 Australia, #83 US Billboard 200

Compilation albums[link]

• A Message from the Country – The Jeff Lynne Years 1968/1973

Released: 1989

Singles[link]

• "Doin' That Crazy Thing" / "Goin' Down to Rio"

Released: 1977

• "Video! / Sooner Or Later"

Released: 1984

Peak Chart Positions: #85 US Billboard Hot 100, #87 UK Singles Chart

• "Every Little Thing" / "I'm Gone"

Released: June 1990

Peak Chart Positions: #8 Canada, #9 US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, #27 Australia, #59 UK Singles Chart^[17]

• "Lift Me Up" / "Sirens"

Released: September 1990

Peak Chart Positions: # 37 Canada

See also[link]

• Jeff Lynne and The Beatles

References[link]

External links[link]

• elo.biz Official Website
• Jeff Lynne Song Database
• Discovery - welcome to the show ELO & Jeff Lynne information page