R.I.P. Olivia Newton-John

[Scott Bails]

According to Wiki:

Personnel
Olivia Newton-John – lead and backing vocals
John Farrar – electric guitars, electric piano, synthesizers and backing vocals
David Hungate – bass
Carlos Vega – drums and percussion
Strings arranged and conducted by Richard Hewson
David J. Holman – engineering and mixing

"But is the music for Magic not played by ELO? It sure sounds like it to me."

The first side of the record is all ONJ tunes played by some of the best studio cats of the day.

Those Toto guys were everywhere back then.

[Dan Roth]

While on the topic of Xanadu, a friend let me know of a sixth ELO song from the movie that appeared on b-sides of singles, but not on the soundtrack. I listened once and I don't think I would ever listen again:

[Progatron]

^^^ Yeah, that's the lead-in to the title musical number at the finale. Doesn't really work on its own as a separate 'song' to listen to though!

[GuitarGeek]

Those Toto guys were everywhere back then.

They (and a gaggle of other musicians) were the Wrecking Crew of the late 70's and 80's. Most rock, pop and soul records made in LA during that period have at least one person from Toto on it. I remember someone telling me that She's A Beauty by The Tubes is effectively "Toto pretending to be The Tubes".

[Digital_Man]

^Right. Both times I saw the Tubes they all left the stage for Toto to come on and replace them just for that one song ("she's a beauty").

Imagine being in a band and then having other guys come in to tell you to leave early because these other guys were going to do the hit song? I think the fists would be flying pretty fast. Yes, I do realize that can and does happen (Union anyone?) but sooner or later "there's going to be a heartache" as the Eagles would say.

I don't deny that the Toto guys were ubiquitous in the music business in the late 70s and 80s or whenever though. Heck, they even backed Jon Anderson on his City of Angels album.

[GuitarGeek]

^Right. Both times I saw the Tubes they all left the stage for Toto to come on and replace them just for that one song ("she's a beauty").

Imagine being in a band and then having other guys come in to tell you to leave early because these other guys were going to do the hit song? I think the fists would be flying pretty fast. Yes, I do realize that can and does happen (Union anyone?) but sooner or later "there's going to be a heartache" as the Eagles would say.

I forget who it was who said that they always felt bad for some of the Wrecking Crew guys who played on records in the 60's, because they didn't get the recognition at the time. There were a number of instrumental records where, there was a band name on the record, but at the time of the session, no such band actually existed. Tommy Tedesco used the example of the Marketts. The Marketts, for the purposes of recording Out Of Limits (and probably the other records) was Tedesco, Hal Blaine, and I forget who else. Then, after "The Marketts" had scored a couple hits, the producer assembled a band to put on the road.

In the Wrecking Crew documentary, there's a bit where they're talking about...I think it's a Gary Lewis And The Playboys song, where Tommy Tedesco played this apparently amazing guitar solo, which Gary Lewis claims no guitarist he's ever worked with could replicate exactly. And there's a moment where, i can't remember if it's Tommy or someone else who says The Playboys' guitarist at the time, I forget his name, said he felt bad for Tommy because people were forever walkign up to him and saying "That's an amazing solo on that song!" and of course, it wasn't him, it was Tommy who played the solo.

Oh, and maybe She's A Beauty being "Toto pretending to be The Tubes" is hyperbole, but it is a known fact that's Steve Lukather playing that guitar solo (likewise for Talk To Ya Later).

[Digital_Man]

^ I thought I heard about Steve Lukather playing the solo on Talk To Ya Later but didn't know he played on "she's a beauty." I guess it makes sense since he co-wrote the song along with Fee Waybill and David Foster. However, it's not like Roger Steen couldn't play it live. I think maybe they just wanted to nail it in the studio or maybe they just thought they would allow him to do it since he co-wrote it. I doubt Steve played on other songs on the Outside Inside (or completion backwards principle albums though) because if they did what would be the point of having the actual Tubes members on there. My speculation is they just wanted him to more or less guarantee a hit. They used Todd Rundgren on their remote control album (as producer only but he co-wrote at least one track) in hopes of maybe they same thing (although that one was earlier). However, Remote Control wasn't as big as their early 80s albums or at least the songs on it weren't as successful. You see this in modern prog too. A band will hire someone like say Nick D'Virgilio or Steve Hackett or whoever to play on an album but in these cases it's probably more for name recognition and to have something catchy for the little sticker on the cd.

I didn't see the wrecking crew documentary and as such I don't know much about them and the only musicians I know who played with them were Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye. I do remember seeing someone mention in a youtube video for the Association (I think it was "along comes Mary") that they played on that track (and maybe others) and they may have played with the Monkees too (I'm sure you know the details about that).

[Progbear]

It actually happened to ELO too. Starting around Eldorado, Jeff Lynne started contracting actual orchestras, and this became a sticking point for the string players in the band, who were getting used less and less and wound up jumping ship after Discovery. (There’s a performance out there of one of the Discovery hits where the string players are wearing masks, and this was several years before Rondo Veneziano!)

[Scott Bails]

I didn't see the wrecking crew documentary and as such I don't know much about them and the only musicians I know who played with them were Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye. I do remember seeing someone mention in a youtube video for the Association (I think it was "along comes Mary") that they played on that track (and maybe others) and they may have played with the Monkees too (I'm sure you know the details about that).

Highly recommend it, if you can find it. It's a great documentary.

[Gruno]

Of course a RIP thread for a pop artist on a prog forum has come to this.

[ronmac]

Of course a RIP thread for a pop artist on a prog forum has come to this.

In the off-topic section, bro

[Dan Roth]

Starting around Eldorado, Jeff Lynne started contracting actual orchestras, and this became a sticking point for the string players in the band, who were getting used less and less and wound up jumping ship after Discovery.

According to this 1981 interview with Lynne, he fired them, rather than they jumped ship:

"Lynne's disenchantment with the old ELO pop-classical sound peaked in 1978, after the release of the "Out of the Blue" album and during the band's last tour. So he fired the three-member string section, reducing ELO to a quartet..."

[mozo-pg]

It was never the same after the firing the the string section and violin. It's paled in comparison.

[FirthOf5th]

Her grandfather was Max Born, one of the “inventors” of quantum mechanics, and Nobel Prize winner in physics.

[AncientChord]

I was never a fan of hers, whether it was audio or video. Too much pop for me. But I do know she was a good person. Sorry, no disrespect here, but she was beautiful, and I remember a friend in the 70's who told me that he couldn't resist tossing off to photos of her album covers. I do hope that she's resting in peace.

[Digital_Man]

I was never a fan of hers, whether it was audio or video. Too much pop for me. But I do know she was a good person. Sorry, no disrespect here, but she was beautiful, and I remember a friend in the 70's who told me that he couldn't resist tossing off to photos of her album covers. I do hope that she's resting in peace.

That's ok; as long as he didn't buy the albums just to do that.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

That's ok; as long as he didn't buy the albums just to do that.

I confess, I discovered Roxy Music that way by buying and, ahhh, admiring the cover of, an import copy of Country Life... These days, with hardcore available all over the Intartoobs, these young people will never know how hard we had to work to find wankable material... Why in my day...

[moecurlythanu]

Of course a RIP thread for a pop artist on a prog forum has come to this.

Well, no one mentioned the neutron bomb.

[moecurlythanu]

These days, with hardcore available all over the Intartoobs, these young people will never know how hard we had to work to find wankable material... Why in my day...

Yep. When I was young, we had to wank uphill both ways.

[FirthOf5th]

I confess, I discovered Roxy Music that way by buying and, ahhh, admiring the cover of, an import copy of Country Life... These days, with hardcore available all over the Intartoobs, these young people will never know how hard we had to work to find wankable material... Why in my day...

I was reduced to shocking the monkey looking at Cynthia on the cover of Nursery Cryme.

[happytheman]

I didn't see the wrecking crew documentary and as such I don't know much about them and the only musicians I know who played with them were Hal Blaine and Carol Kaye. I do remember seeing someone mention in a youtube video for the Association (I think it was "along comes Mary") that they played on that track (and maybe others) and they may have played with the Monkees too (I'm sure you know the details about that).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZgBexrZvM0

[Digital_Man]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZgBexrZvM0

Thanks. I'll definitely check it out.