Song of the Week Oct 27 - Nov 2: Telephone Line

I'm sorry. Last week was a little crazy. I usually set Sundays aside for writing SOTW but last week, my wife, son and I were mobbed by family (we were okay with that)... so consequently, The Sonic Landscape found itself neglected and alone. But I guess no one is employing me to make regular posts, so I can't be fired, right? That's probably not the right attitude. I apologize to you, my one reader.

Let's press on, shall we? I'm pretty excited about this week. My last post dealt with George Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" and the song we'll focus on this week was actually written by a friend of his, a bloke named Jeff Lynne. Lynne was one of the founding members of a 70's/80's rock group called Electric Light Orchestra. The premise for the band's creation was to create rock music that was infused with classical instruments like cello and violin. The idea is by no means unique with our contemporary artists, but for musicians of the late 1960's, it was still a pretty groundbreaking concept. The other band of note that had dabbled in orchestrations were The Beatles, and that was only because of the influence of the creepy Phil Spector (McCartney hated the resulting sound anyway; "The Long And Winding Road" was a prime example). At any rate, The Beatles had gone the way of the dodo by 1970 so other artists were left to continue the expedition into uncharted sonic territories.

The Electric Light Orchestra were originally panned in their native England, but soon found a loyal following across the pond in America. This week's track comes from their sixth album, A New World Record. I didn't choose this song because it exemplifies ELO's "sound" (listen to "Don't Bring Me Down" or "Bluebird" for that). I chose it because they used the sound they had already popularized and gave a really classy nod to the doo-wop style of the 50's. The result is nothing short of awesome.

The track opens with everthing you'd expect from an ELO track: electronic tones, synthesizers, and sampled telephone loops. The effect on Jeff Lynne's vocals even resembles a voice heard through a telephone. I also really like how you can hear the similarities between the writing styles of George Harrison and Jeff Lynne; when Lynne starts singing at 0:27, sing the opening lyrics to Harrison's "Something" and you'll hear that the first three chords are identical. If you listen closely, you'll also notice how the telephone effect gradually fades from Lynne's vocals, eventually disappearing around 0:41. The orchestrations surge shortly thereafter and really become a primary element, much like the strings in "Something."

At 1:32, however, everything changes. We break away from the aftermath of Beatlesmania and are brought back to the local malt shop. Lynne and company pull off a series of "doo-wops" that are so good, you almost forget that they're employing a style that was popularized twenty years before. The section is smooth, poly-harmonic, and vocally-driven--everything a good doo-wop track should be. Then, just as soon as it begins, the section ends and at 2:31 we revert back to the electronic ambience. This pattern repeats itself, and we're immersed in doo-wop alchemy again until the song fades. I love every second of this track. I've included "Don't Bring Me Down" just for reference, but listen closely to "Telephone Line" and you'll hear why Electric Light Orchestra was such a great band.