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Jason Maloney reviews
V o l u m e # 1 7 Week Commencing: 04th June 1979 Online Date: 08th June 2005
Discovery
Home to no fewer than four back-to-back UK Top 10 hits within the calendar year, E.L.O.’s 1979 album was their first chart-topper. Ultimately it didn’t manage to equal the lengthy residencies of Out Of The Blue and A New World Record, lasting a mere 46 weeks compared to 100 and 108 for its predecessors, but Jeff Lynne and co. enjoyed a prolific period of Top 40 action with the tracks chosen as singles from Discovery.
First up was the heavily disco-influenced Shine A Little Love, which tipped its hat in the direction of the Gibb Brothers rather than the usual Fab Four influence of yore. The Diary Of Horace Wimp was more to type while the barnstorming Don’t Bring Me Down swiftly followed, peaking at a best-ever #3 in September.
To round off the year, the traditional symphonic pop of Confusion was paired with dancefloor classic Last Train To London for another chart smash as Epic strangely opted to issue an E.L.O. Greatest Hits set in the build-up to Christmas 1979, shifting attention away from Discovery and probably accelerating its chart decline.
Rickie Lee Jones
Debut of the year was arguably the self-titled album from quirky American boho singer-songwriter Rickie Lee Jones, rumoured paramour of Tom Waits and an instant star courtesy of her single Chuck E’s In Love. Its Top 20 status in Britain was far outstripped by the song’s success on the US chart, where the album also found a significant audience. Elements of jazz, folk, swing and breezy pop all combined to make a stunning set which continued to sell despite no further hit singles.
Such was the buzz created by her debut that 1981’s long-awaited follow-up Pirates went Top 3 Stateside without anything so bold as a genuine single among its often lengthy and cinematic vignettes.
Page Content copyright © Jason Maloney, 2005.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.