"Showdown" | ||||
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Single by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||
from the album On the Third Day (US version) | ||||
B-side | "In Old England Town" (instrumental) | |||
Released | 1973 | |||
Recorded | AIR (London) | |||
Length |
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Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||
Producer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology | ||||
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Official audio | ||||
"Showdown" on YouTube |
"Showdown" is a 1973 song written by Jeff Lynne and recorded by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was the band's last contemporary recording to be released on the Harvest label. The song was released as a single and reached No 12 in the UK Singles Chart, in the week beginning 28 October, and No 9 on the Norwegian chart VG-lista.
In the US the song was included on the album On the Third Day (1973), while in the UK the song was omitted from that album but featured a year later on the band's first compilation album, also entitled Showdown . In 2006 the remastered issue of On the Third Day would feature the song on the album in both countries for the first time. [ citation needed ]
The song showed a change of style for ELO, with a funkier backbeat beneath the band's trademark sweeping strings, and the inclusion of a clavinet. The record was a favourite of John Lennon's at the time, who dubbed the band "Son of Beatles" in a US radio interview. [1] Lennon described the song as "a beautiful combination” of Marvin Gaye’s 'I Heard It Through the Grapevine' and Lou Christie’s 'Lightnin' Strikes,' with a little ['I Am the Walrus'] underneath." [2]
Marc Bolan of T. Rex was at the session where the song was recorded and played on several of the band's tracks at that time, but did not play on "Showdown" itself. Instead, Jeff Lynne borrowed Bolan's Gibson Firebird guitar to play over the instrumental break. [3]
Lynne said "I made the riff up and I was thrilled with it. I knew it was going to be a hit even after I had just done a few notes of it. When we cut it the engineer said, ‘This is a classic.’ I was thrilled to bits." [4]
Cash Box said the song "can almost be termed 'classical blues' and sheds a new light on the group that most folks will immediately be attracted to." [5] Record World called it "a Jeff Lynne original that's bound to click on AM and FM alike." [6]
Stereogum contributor Ryan Reed rated it as ELO's 6th best song. [2] John Lennon rated the song highly and said ""Showdown' I thought was a great record and I was expecting it to be #1 but I don’t think UA [United Artists] got their fingers out and pushed it. And it’s a nice group – I call them 'Son of Beatles' – although they’re doing things we never did, obviously." [4]
In 2022 Lynne listed it as one of his nine favourite ELO songs. [7]
![]() | This section includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations .(October 2021) |
The B-side, "In Old England Town", is an edited instrumental version of "In Old England Town (Boogie No. 2)" by Lynne. Recorded in 1972, this was the opening track of the band's second LP ELO 2 , and was one of two songs on the album that featured Roy Wood on cello and bass guitar, the other being "From the Sun to the World". Shortly after recording these tracks, Wood abandoned ELO to form Wizzard, and he was not originally credited on the LP sleeve. Normally Wood and Lynne co-produced all their collaborations, but it is unknown whether Wood was involved in the production of either track.
A planned concept album entitled "The Lost Planet" was quietly abandoned and sessions for the second LP proper began May 1972. Two new Jeff Lynne songs, "From the Sun to the World" and "In Old England Town" were the first to be recorded and included Roy Wood on bass guitar and cello, but in little more than a month, the co-founder of the ELO concept left the group. —Rob Caiger, 28 March 2006, ELO II Remaster
The song was included in ELO's first 1972 tour playlist, simply titled Jeff's Boogie #2, and had a different set of lyrics. This early live version was filmed for Granada Television's Set of Six in 1972; that is the only live footage of the original ELO known to exist. These songs were released on a 2006 DVD called ELO – Total Rock Review .
The Moog intro of the edited version was later sampled and included on Paul Weller's hit single "The Changingman", as was the main riff from "10538 Overture".
Source: [8] [ failed verification ]
Chart (1973–1974) | Peak position |
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Canada Top Singles ( RPM ) [9] | 47 |
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40) [10] | 28 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [11] | 25 |
Norway (VG-lista) [12] | 9 |
UK Singles (OCC) [13] | 12 |
US Billboard Hot 100 [14] | 53 |
US Cash Box [15] | 51 |
Lynne re-recorded the song in his own home studio in 2012. It was released on the compilation album Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra along with other re-recorded ELO songs, under the ELO name. [16]
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. During their first run from 1970 to 1986, Lynne and Bevan were the group's only consistent members.
Jeffrey Lynne is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder, and latterly the sole member, of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970, and has written all of the band's music since 1972. This includes hits such as "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down", and "Hold On Tight". He also has had a solo career, with two albums: Armchair Theatre (1990) and Long Wave (2012).
Face the Music is the fifth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released in September 1975 by United Artists Records and on 14 November 1975 in the United Kingdom by Jet Records. The album moves away from the large-scale classical orchestrated sound of the previous album, Eldorado, in favour of more "radio-friendly" pop/rock songs, though the string sections are still very prominent. The new sound proved successful for the group, for Face the Music was the first ELO album to go platinum.
On the Third Day is the third studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), and the first to be recorded without input from Roy Wood. It was released in the United States in November 1973 by United Artists Records, and in the United Kingdom on 14 December 1973 by Warner Bros. Records. From this album on, the word The was dropped from the band's name. The album was reissued on 12 September 2006.
ELO 2 is the second studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in 1973. In the US, the album was released as Electric Light Orchestra II. It was the band's last album to be released by the Harvest label, the last on which the band used the definite article The in their name, and the one that introduced their abbreviated name 'ELO'.
A New World Record is the sixth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released on 15 October 1976 on United Artists Records in the U.S., and on 19 November 1976 on Jet Records in the United Kingdom. A New World Record marked ELO's shift towards shorter pop songs, a trend which would continue across their career.
ELO's Greatest Hits is a compilation by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released 23 November 1979. Despite being released after the album Discovery, this album omitted the band's most recent hits, "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Shine a Little Love".
"Mr. Blue Sky" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), featured on the band's seventh studio album Out of the Blue (1977). Written and produced by frontman Jeff Lynne, the song forms the fourth and final track of the "Concerto for a Rainy Day" suite on side three of the original double album. "Mr. Blue Sky" was the second single to be taken from Out of the Blue, peaking at number 6 in the UK Singles Chart and number 35 in the US Billboard Charts.
"Can't Get It Out of My Head" is a song written by Jeff Lynne and originally recorded by Electric Light Orchestra.
"10538 Overture" is the debut single by the English band the Electric Light Orchestra. It was released on 23 June 1972 as the lead single from their self-titled debut studio album (1971). It is a hard rock song influenced by psychedelic music, with cello instrumentation and lyrics about an escaped prisoner. Originally written by co-founder Jeff Lynne for his and Roy Wood's previous band, the Move, it became the first recording by the Electric Light Orchestra after Wood added orchestral instruments to the song.
"Do Ya" is a song written by Jeff Lynne, that was originally recorded by The Move, which became a hit for the Electric Light Orchestra in 1977.
"Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" is a song recorded by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).
"Evil Woman" is a song recorded by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and written by lead vocalist Jeff Lynne. It was first released on the band's fifth album, 1975's Face the Music.
"Telephone Line" is a song by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released in May 1977 through Jet Records and United Artists Records as part of the album A New World Record. It was commercially successful, topping the charts of Canada and New Zealand and entering the top 10 in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
"Don't Bring Me Down" is the ninth and final track on the English rock band the Electric Light Orchestra's 1979 album Discovery. It is their highest-charting hit in the United States.
"Last Train to London" is a song from the English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), the fifth track from their album Discovery.
"Mr. Radio" is a song recorded by the Electric Light Orchestra.
The Electric Light Orchestra is the debut studio album by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in December 1971 in the United Kingdom by Harvest Records. In the United States, the album was released in March 1972 as No Answer, after a misunderstood telephone message made by a United Artists Records executive asking about the album name; the caller, having failed to reach the ELO contact, wrote down "no answer" in his notes, and this was misconstrued to be the name of the album.
Light Years, The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra is a two CD compilation album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in 1997.