Don't worry, Jeff Lynne hasn't died.
Jet Black has, but I wasn't about to go sifting through all the lyrics that feature his name to work out if any of them are actually referring to him. (Although, if you're interested, he does get referenced in Rocket by Def Leppard.) RIP, Jet, anyway.
The Stranglers - No More Heroes
No, I had a non-RIP reason for including Jeff Lynne in the jukebox this week... which will become apparent at the end of the post.
Meanwhile...
The Idle Race. The Move. The Electric Light Orchestra. The
Travelling Wilburys. That’s as much introduction as Jeff Lynne needs. Let’s get
onto the songs that pay him tribute…
We’ll start with a very funny song about how the Beatles
comeback is highjacked by record company bullshit (and isn’t John dead?). With
maybe a subtext about how the Legend of the Beatles is bigger than The Beatles
actually were. Jeff was heavily involved in that whole ridiculous Beatles
“comeback” in the 90s, but let’s not hold that against him.
John Wesley Harding – When The Beatles Hit America
And finally they get into the studio
To be co-produced by George Martin and Jeff Lynne
And Ringo’s disappointed to find that no one needs him anymore
Except for the vibe
Next, how can you resist a band called Moose & The Grizzlies?
Moose & The Grizzlies - Cruelty of the Kindest Face
Sneaking in a little after 4
If you try and ask her where
She snaps like a Jeff Lynne snare
Back in the 70s, Jeff was accused of putting a devil-worshipping
backwards message in the ELO song Eldorado. Jeff’s typically self-deprecating
response was, “Anyone who can write a song played forwards and have it say
something else backwards has got to be some king of genius… and that I ain’t!”
An extract from the interview where he says just that is included at the end of
the Boards of Canada track Happy Cycling. But guess what? It’s played
backwards! See what they did there?
Boards of Canada – Happy Cycling
Rebecca Peake is the wife of cool astronaut Tim Peake. She
doesn’t make records as far as I can tell. However, her name is also used by
synthpop-shoegaze melders James Webster & Tech Honors.
La Casa Azul is the brainchild of Spanish singer, songwriter
and DJ Guille Milkyway, famous for producing songs you can listen to between
meals without ruining your appetite. (Admit it: you’d have done exactly the
same joke.) And he knows a secret about Jeff. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s
got something to do with Chris Montez…
La Casa Azul – El Secreto de Jeff Lynne
Sueño, y en cada sueño intento no perderme y desvelar
El ansiado secreto de Jeff Lynne
Y creo que esta vez elegiré no despertar jamás
(I dream, and in each dream I try not to lose myself and
reveal
The long-awaited secret of Jeff Lynne
And I think this time I'll choose never to wake up)
Atlanta’s Paul Melancon caught my eye when I saw his music
described thus: “An indie-power-pop-singer-songwriter-angel-voiced-geeky kinda
thing.” Sounds right up my street. Although clearly he’d be much happier if he
was Jeff Lynne…
They say I do myself in
Things will pick up if I just try
Can’t they see that I
That I have tried
To be just like Jeff Lynne
That's a proper tribute!
However, the reason I chose to feature Jeff here today is because of this. A brand new Christmas song from Grandaddy! Available to download here, it’s already gone to the top of my Christmas tree.
