Jeff Lynne on the BBC

Here’s a podcast you might have missed, if you’re an ELO fan.

Gary Barlow talks to Jeff Lynne on BBC Radio 2 with WE WRITE THE SONGS and finds out how the hits happened on A New World Record, among others.

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.

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.[12] 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.