I'm having an ELO revival. I thought I was a fan in the late 70s, but I've just bought A New World Record and Out Of The Blue and I realise that I had just touched the fringe with Discovery and a Best Of.
While, I think my Best Of wasn't too wide of the mark, there's a lot of stuff on Out Of The Blue that I'm really enjoying. I'm especially delighted to find that Mr. Blue Sky is only the 4th of a whole 'concerto'.
I remember being excited and nervous about coming out as an ELO fan at school. I liked disco, mod, ska, Pink Floyd and even some Motorhead. But it seemed important to belong to a particular musical genre at the time, so it was difficult then)
But I do love some of their stuff still, especially Mr. Blue Sky. I was thrilled by the first Madness album (I learned all the words very quickly and invented a dance to each track), and Regatta De Blanc was fantastic. And I still cherish a glorious summer listening to Steel Pulse's Handsworth Revolution.
But given the middle-aged opportunity, the first song I wanted to own again was Mr. Blue Sky and it still touches something in me, reminds me of a childhood that I had almost forgotten.
