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"Wild West Hero" | ||||
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Single by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||
from the album Out of the Blue | ||||
B-side | "Eldorado" | |||
Released | 26 May 1978 [1] | |||
Recorded | 1977 | |||
Studio | Musicland Studios, Munich, Germany | |||
Genre | Art rock | |||
Length | 4:41 | |||
Label | Jet | |||
Songwriter(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||
Producer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology | ||||
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"Wild West Hero" is a song by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), and the closing track and third single from the album Out of the Blue . The song was written reputedly by lead singer Jeff Lynne in 4 minutes while on holiday. Melvyn Gale, normally the band's cellist, provided the Western-style piano for this track.
It entered the UK Top 40 at No. 31 in June 1978 but fell to number 36 the following week. Thanks to a rush-release in 12" format on yellow vinyl, its fortunes were reversed a week later, and within six weeks it had risen to a peak position of number 6. [2] Coincidentally this was also the highest UK position achieved by the group's previous single, "Mr. Blue Sky", and the next two, "Sweet Talkin' Woman" and "Shine a Little Love".
The chorus of the song has the same chord progression as Pachelbel's Canon's but transposed from D to G, which is the tonality of "Wild West Hero". The only exception is the 7th chord of the chorus, which is A instead of C.
Chart (1978) | Peak position |
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Irish Singles Chart [3] | 9 |
UK Singles Chart [2] | 6 |
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.
Out of the Blue is the seventh studio album by the British rock group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released on 24 October 1977 in the United States and four days after in the UK on 28 October. Written and produced by ELO frontman Jeff Lynne, the double album is among the most commercially successful records in the group's history, selling about 10 million copies worldwide by 2007.
Discovery is the eighth studio album by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released on 1 June 1979 in the United Kingdom by Jet Records, where it topped record charts, and on 8 June in the United States on Jet through Columbia Records distribution. A music video album featuring all the songs being played by the band was then released on VHS in 1979, then re-released as part of the Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley DVD and VHS in 1998.
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"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.
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"Shine a Little Love" is a song by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released as a single in the US and UK in 1979.
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"Eldorado" is the title track from the 1974 album of the same name by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).
The discography of the English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) consists of 15 studio albums, 7 live albums, 40 compilation albums, 13 video albums, 33 music videos, 1 extended play, 50 singles, 1 soundtrack album and 8 box sets. ELO have also sold over 50 million records worldwide.
"Boy Blue" is a song written by Jeff Lynne and performed by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) which first appeared as track number 3 from their 1974 album Eldorado.