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Sun 3 August 2025 16:00, UK
Musicians disliking early versions of tracks isn’t entirely unheard of, but ELO’s Jeff Lynne once hated the original version of a track so much that he erased it and rebuilt it almost from scratch.
When we think of the broader milestones in ELO and Lynne’s legacy, it’s usually about the success of Out of the Blue, and how it signalled the peak of his creative ambition, not just with timeless melodies but with how he stretched the parameters of musical innovation in an era scrambling to even keep up. This was so apparent that even the subsequent tour had to make some adjustments to cater to some of the more technologically advanced songs on the record with equipment that was still far behind.
For instance, not every band found itself in the crux of a lip-sync scandal purely because ELO was substituting parts of the sets with more developed technology so that they could actually pull off some of the more innovative songs without the audience feeling disappointed and confused. But what one person regarded as a cop out and a cover-up for a band that couldn’t perform live was ELO’s way of putting on a good show and using tools as a failsafe when they didn’t have the means to perform the songs to the same standard as in the studio.
Still, all of this supported a broader accomplishment when it came to Out of the Blue, namely the way it all but reinvented basic approaches to music while proving that in 1977, all hope wasn’t lost with being polished and refined but maintaining a level of authenticity and integrity. In fact, for many, it was Lynne’s confidence with those polished productions that made him more authentic than most, even if he struggled to translate this to live spaces at first.
But technology wasn’t the only thing on Lynne’s mind when it came to innovation. Holding himself to high standards has seemingly been built in from the start, especially as he’s always had this kind of intuitive know-how that means he can trust his gut instinct when he knows something could be done better; a trait he carried with him even in projects with some of the biggest, most legendary names of all time.
But while Lynne breaking into the Traveling Wilburys’ studio seems like a more definitive example of this drive for the utmost artistic excellence, it’s always lingered in the crevices of his approach as a musician, in the subtle ways he sees the best in things enough to know how to disregard them when they’re not living up to their true potential. This was the case with Out of the Blue‘s ‘Sweet Talkin’ Woman’, when Lynne trusted his first feelings with the initial lyrics and decided to tear out the page, crumple it up, and start again.
Originally called ‘Dead End Street’, Lynne made it his mission to change it into something people (and himself) would actually like. “It was a song called ‘Dead End Street’. I’d done all the words and everything, finished it,” he told Off The Record. “And I came down the next day in the studio and I went, ‘I hate that. Let’s rub all the vocals off.’ And so, he goes, ‘Really?’ Y’know, me engineer. And I said, ‘Yup. Get rid of everything off there. Whatever to do with the vocals.’ And he did. He rubbed ’em all off.”
He continued: “And I’d been sitting up in the hotel, which is above the studio, working at night just trying to think of a new tune and new words, which I did. And tried it the next day and there they worked. So, it was a good job I did, but it also meant changing the arrangement slightly. So a lot of pairs of scissors were used that day.”
It’s hard to imagine there was ever a different version of the track, but this also just proves Lynne’s dedication to getting things exactly right (or his tendencies as a perfectionist, through and through). But while some would throw the towel in or disregard a tune completely if it wasn’t very good, Lynne kept at it, knowing exactly what it could be if he applied pressure in all the right places.
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