76. "Ordinary Dream" by Electric Light Orchestra [iTunes? Yes] {Video: Ordinary Dream. (Once again, a video of a live performance by Jeff Lynne actually makes the song seem duller than it is. As much as I love his music, Jeff Lynne doesn't seem to be a very enthusiastic or energetic live performer.)}
Sometimes people say stupid things.
A while back I was listening to the radio one day and the DJ (remember DJs?) at the classic rock station was talking about how annoying it is when you go to a concert and the group insists on doing a song or two from their new album. He then said that not only should they stop playing new songs at their concerts, but that the groups should stop putting out new albums altogether!
Like I said, people say stupid things.
Who is to say when a group should stop putting out new albums? Foreigner's third album, Head Games, was pretty crappy. Maybe they should have stopped there. But, if they had we would have missed out on "Juke Box Hero," "Urgent," and "I Want to Know What Love Is."
One of the problems with the current radio format is that there is no outlet for new songs from old groups. New music stations won't play songs by old groups, and classic rock stations won't play any new songs by old groups, because the songs aren't "classic" yet. There's no way those songs can ever be "classic" if no one ever gets to hear them!
In 2002, Boston came out with the album Corporate America, which featured the excellent song "I Had a Really Good Time." No one noticed. In 2003, Styx released the album Cyclorama, which had a lot of great songs on it. Not many people cared at all.
In 2001, Jeff Lynne decided it was time for the return of the Electric Light Orchestra. He planned a big tour to go with the release of the album, which was titled Zoom. And then, the crickets chirped. Jeff Lynne found out that the ELO name couldn't sell out big stadiums like it once could. Radio stations didn't care to play anything off of Zoom, because ELO wasn't relevant and none of the songs were "classic." Life sucks.
As an album, Zoom was pretty scattershot. Half of the songs on the album are so instantly forgettable that I forgot about them. (Instantly.) There are three or four songs that are pretty good. And then there is this song, which is fantastic! It's one of those soaring, floating songs that I like so much, but it also has a jarring little guitar bit repeated several times through the song that compels me to air-guitar along with it every time it plays. It's just well-crafted songmanship. Jeff Lynne is a very talented man.
That DJ was, of course, an idiot. These are the musicians who wrote and performed the songs we love. Why would we deny them the chance to write more music? What I wouldn't give for Billy Joel to come out with some new material. Who knows, for all the great songs he's written over the years, maybe Paul McCartney has yet to write his greatest song? And if the price of maybe getting some more great songs is that we have to listen to a song or two we aren't familiar with at a concert, well I'm willing to pay that price.
COMING UP NEXT: How do you like your egg, man?
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