Not sure if anyone commented already but the guitar riff was used as the theme for CBS Sports Spectacular in the mid 70s. Loved your analysis, ELO is my fav, and you got yourself a follow after this!
OMG... I've heard Fire On High hundreds of times over the last 45 years and never realized the chorus at the end was singing "fire on high"! Thank you so much
I've been an ELO fan since 1979 when I got Discovery for Christmas since then I acquired everything ELO that I possibly could and do consider myself a bit of an expert,....today I too learned that the choir in the background of that song was singing "Fire on high!....blow my hair back!
I remember back in the day, dropping the drive belt on my record player and manually spinning the record backwards to decipher the secret message: “the music is reversible but time is not. Turn back, turn back, turn back!” Ah, 1975….
I did the same but with a cassette player. It was about 2AM and I was about 14. It creeped me out a little but was so cool when I heard it. And of course the music is reversible...
ELO have just got their own unique sound, you can usually tell when it’s one of their tunes. Jeff Lynne is one of the best composers and songwriters of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Don’t forget producer! He produced albums for George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty (with and without the Heartbreakers). And of course Traveling Wilburys.
You know why Jeff's songs are really good? Because he approach them as a producer, not just as a singer. Therefore, he knows what hooks and instruments would work for the listeners.
ELO sound like a more modernized version of Beach Boys meets Pink Floyd. And i don't mean any disrespect in saying that. ELO to me might be the most underrated band that was still recognized, and out there. The producation and vocal arrangements are bar none.
The mentioned song Eldorado with its Finale shouldn't be missed. My favourite track off the album of the same name. Thanks for the enjoyable analysis and reaction to one of ELO's album cuts. I myself discovered ELO and Jeff Lynne at age 15 and have been a fan ever since. Grüße aus Deutschland Greetings from Germany
Great song. This album came out just as I was being introduced to Yes and "prog" rock. This blending of orchestra and rock seemed to fit in well with the prog I was obsessing over at that stage. Very fun times to explore music as a 12-13 year old lad.
I also got to ELO when I was around 11 ... I'm born 1977 (best year of music ;-) and listened through ELO when I was 11-13 ... I was instantly hooked and never got better music in my ears since then ... apart from maybe Dire Straits or Lord Huron 😁😁
I was born in 65 & I guess I was into prog rock at around age 10, although I didn’t know what prog rock was until recently. Lol! Always loved (still do) ELO, Kansas, Yes, & and specially my all time favorite, Rush.
Always a fan of the older ELO. My absolute fave is “Time” (the whole album, start to finish, needs to be a single listen… a concept album, everything ties in together).
Time is one of those few albums that blew my mind the first time I ever heard it and left me speechless. Buddy of mine turned me onto it a few years ago. It was all I played in the car for two months straight. Album is an 11/10.
I love this, Doug. One of my favorite ELO tunes. Bev Bevan does the backwards speech. He says "The music is reversible, but time is not. Turn back! Turn back! Turn back! Turn back!"
@@peterharrington8709 Thanks! I couldnt afford a Talk Box so a friend had a keyboard with the Vocoder.I was able to fake it thru Rocky Mtn Way. Thanks for the info!
I was massively into ELO in the mid-seventies and listening to this reminds me why. This still sounds incredibly fresh with great production. I think they had a patch of 4 albums in a row - Eldorado, Face the Music, A New World Record, and Out of the Blue - that are consistently brilliant, beginning to end. I remember listening to the OoTB follow-up, Discovery, and being very disappointed. But I still have those 4 on vinyl.
I have all my ELO vinyl too. Had excellent seats at a Chicago concert and it was spectacular, opened with a 'flying saucer' effect with a glorious light show.
@@jeffrakestraw573 Well, I think Out of The Blue was a high watermark (although, as albums go, I prefer the predecessors) and Discovery seemed to lack the same quality of songwriting as its predecessors. Also, the band's (or should I say, Jeff Lynne's) tendency to appropriate popular music motifs from the charts, such as disco, are to my memory, more evident on Discovery. I'll tell you what, as its been over 40 years since I last listened to it, I might give it a spin and get back to you.
I've been waiting so long for you to react to this! This is definitely my favorite ELO song, and I knew you of all people would appreciate the beautiful sounds of this song
For a great album opening, from their fourth album "Eldorado", take a listen to the Eldorado Overture / Can't Get It Out Of My Head, follow up with the end of the album, Eldorado/Eldorado Finale. Great opening and closing. You'll get chills.
I greatly enjoy your analytical reactions. They are unlike all others. Although under appreciated by critics when ELO was in its prime (but not by record buyers), history is showing great kindness to Jeff Lynne. He has emerged the last decade as an important elder statesman of pop/rock. Even his one-time harshest detractors at the time have made reassessments. I’m biased, but I’d place Lynne as one of the 20th century’s great composers. Please do yourself a favor and review the album Eldorado - or to start, the connected Eldorado Overture and Can’t Get It Out Of My Head combo. The album is a concept symphonic rock album with complicated orchestration you’d go crazy over.
Talking about unique instrumentals from the 70s, ABBA has a very overlooked instrumental called Intermezzo No. 1. It's such a wonderful piece of music that is severely underrated. I hope you can react to this amazing piece of music soon. Thanks, Doug!!🙂
If I recall, the CBS Sports Special Show in the mid-1970's used "Fire On High" as its Theme Music, it's what got me to delve into ELO as a Tweener just starting to spread my musical wings from the music I grew up with: Classical (Dad) & Folk/Oldies (Mom). Mahalo for the Memories Doug!
I absolutely love this song! Since I was a kid, I've gone to an amusement park in Maine that uses this song for one of the rides. This song is tied to alot of good memories!!
Excellent reaction!! Many thanks for reacting to the ELO. Fire on High is a unique masterpiece. I think you could react to El Dorado Overture maybe. I really enjoy your video. Best regards from Chile :-)
I love this song. When my local radio station, Beacon Radio, started in 1975, this piece was on the tape loop they used for the test transmissions, so I could hear it once an hour, every hour. Fantastic. The album's a cracker too!
Notice how Bevan plays the first phrase after the violin solo then rolls the toms, but on the next violin solo, he swaps them around, rolling the toms first, then mixes it up. Bev Bevan is a very underrated drummer
Bev Bevan's drumming and drum sound on this one are awesome. I hope you will do more ELO. If you haven't already listened to the full Eldorado album you really need to.
Thanks Doug. You are making me revisit all these wonderful songs from my teens when I first got into music. ELO had wonderful light shows when you saw them live, way ahead of their time. As others have said, Eldorado is superb from an orchestral perspective but FTM onwards was the beginning of the more radio friendly stuff. Keep up the good work 🥃
7:20 was me shaking my head as a kid realizing how incredible this whole sound is. Pops was like check this out - nearly shat my pants the first half and had my eyes opened to what music can do in the 2nd
Hey Doug! Great reaction to a really great, lesser known, ELO tune. Something you might be interest in hearing is their rendition of Edvard Grieg's. " In the Hall of the Mountain King", from the " On the Third Day album. As a classical music aficionado, I think you'd get a smile from it. Keep doing what you're doing here, my friend! I really enjoy your reactions!
I remember when this came out, I was like 13 years old. This track got a lot of air-play and it paved the way for “A New World Record” witch spawned a couple Top 10 hit songs in the USA and more in the UK and Australia. ELO was my favorite group until I got a little older and started getting into heavier music in the 1980’s.
Jeff Lynne -- not only unbelievably creative as a producer/arranger, but one of the most melodic pop/rock composers of the latter half of the 20th century. He would have been the perfect Fifth Beatle had be started a decade earlier, and he became the Fourth Beatle later on in his career. A MAJOR talent who is still underappreciated. He helped produce the best albums by Tom Petty, George Harrison, Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, etc.
Bev Bevan has had an interesting career as a drummer and his singing voice is lower than most. He was in "The Move" in the mid 60`s which later became "The Electric Light Orchestra".Often the spokesman for the band he was always TV and Radio in the UK. He kept the band going as "ELO2" when others went off to do other things. He has played for "Black Sabbath" amongst others.
Also the song one summers dream is lovely. This album’s drum sound went on to be Jeff’s go to for most of his incredibly long career. And he is still going. All of the early albums had his original core members that defined the orchestral style of the music. But through the years he went through at least 38 members. For many different reasons. He was constantly molding his visions. But for me the first five albums were the real heart of the ELO I so loved. Not that the rest is not fantastic, but those original albums cemented a period of time in my head. I can remember leaving eight grade and starting high school…
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Doug! I knew the "air drums" would come out! The rest of the album is fantastic too. It was the first one I ever bought. And yes, I spun the record backwards on my turntable to figure out what they were saying.
Sirius XM channel 27 Deep Tracks plays this at least twice a day. Only place other than my living room I've ever heard Flash's "Children Of The Universe".
BLM in Portland, ME still plays it. it was the music played in the indoor Scrambler ride at a local fun park so a LOT of people here associate it with that.
When I first listened to this, so many years ago, I had the record and knew the reverse voice was not just some effect. Time is not reversable, so just face the music. I think this whole album was like they felt they were falling out of time with what was going on musically. Now isn't that poetic. Just another example of how intelligent music can last decades. Thank you again for a review that reminds us of those golden years.
One of my favorite Jeff Lynne penned/produced ELO pieces. Excellent way to start the LP. The rest of the orchestration is at their finest! Great review.
If you really want your mind blown check out the lead track on the 1st ELO album. "10538 Overture" is the stepchild of "I Am The Walrus", albeit with interesting chord changes similar to what Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne used on the final albums by The Move. Great stuff y'all!!!
Hey Doug! Since you are fond of Jeff's overtures, definitely check out ELO's "Eldorado Overture / Can't Get it Out of My Head" from 1974's Eldorado. It's a masterpiece and I think you will enjoy it!
Here in Maine, we have a small local theme park with a scrambled eggs ride built inside a building. They have a bunch of speakers and laser lights set to this song in the dark. It's such a great little ride.
Fire on high hit at the beginning of my teen years. LOVED it. An air drummers dream. You could see muscle cars swerving from the occupants drumming out the chorus. When lasers dawned, this was one of the best tunes for a show. The tune was also on wide world of sports, if I recall correctly.
This has always been a favorite of mine. It was used for sports shows back then. Love that you got to this one. The last track, Shangri-La is a must listen! :)
ELO was the first group that I had gotten into. Started just buying their albums without hearing any songs first. Loved them all. Was a bit disappointed when they dropped the cellos and violin and went electronic, but still liked them. Unique sound.
Soon after the album "Face The Music" was released, "Fire On High" became the theme song for The CBS Sports Spectacular, a weekly sports show kind of like ABC's Wide World Of Sports. One of the first times a rock song was used in that way.
Sorta related, when I was younger our local news show opened with the last 30 sec of "Living Sin" by ELP. But yea I remember Fire On High being used for sports events as well.
The amusement park "FunTown" in Saco, Maine used to have a ride featuring this song and it would get requested on the radio as "That song from FunTown."
It was an opener for the mid-1970s concerts. I was hoping they were going to use it for the 2020 arena tour that was cancelled due to Covid. They used Tightrope and Standin In The Rain the previous two tours. It was Fire On High’s turn!
"Fire On High" was the B side of "Sweet Talkin' Woman" from 1978, three years after the "Face The Music" LP. Also the 45 version omits the ninety second intro from the LP.
In the UK it was the B side to Livin' Thing. Imagine flipping the disc and discovering this amazing instrumental gem as a 12 year old. Have loved it ever since that first play and bought the album some time after.
In the 70's, this song was used on ABC's Wide World of Sports as the theme music. Being an Instrumental, the fast strumming 12-string guitar section chugged along like a slalom course, and they did show skiing footage snippets intermingled with other various sports clips all edited together in a mashup/smashup. There are more examples of back-masking hidden throughout the album, and subsequent releases as well. Jeff discovered a fondness for adding little Easter eggs in his music, and he, along with Richard Tandy, was one of the 1st innovators of that embedding technique (He uses Morse code on later albums). Personal story: in 1975 I was a 10 year old kid discovering music as my passion, and I had a 2 car garage vamped up into a ManCave. Mom called me to supper on a quiet dark October evening, and since it was Indian Summer, I left all the doors open with the stereo ON because I knew I'd be back in 15 minutes. Upon returning, this song began playing on my Quadrophonic stereo system with dual channels (8 speakers) placed strategically around my garage room, Including the rafters, for a truly surround sound experience. I noticed the full moon somewhat obscured by clouds, and it set the creepy ass mood for what I was hearing, but now it sounded like it was something real, And not from my stereo at all. Suddenly I felt I was becoming the unwitting victim in a Horror film, and as I walked inside my room, I noticed a huge tarantula as large as my hand had snuck in, and was sitting atop my console stereo, just as the backwards voice spoke to me in surround sound, and I thought Satan had materialized to claim my soul and surely drag me off to Hell, and I almost pooped on myself. SCARED THE BEJESUS OUT OF ME. The tarantula got away, and it took me almost an hour to calm down. That evening, I did not sleep out in the garage. I went and hugged my Mommy 🥺💀 I had heard this song before, but radio stations would always edit the Intro out, so it was a rare occurrence to hear it Aired in its original form. Trust me, I never looked at this song the same way after that, and as soon as I could find the album in a store, I bought it, so I could verify that Haunted House scene was actually on the record, or if I imagined it. I met ELO but not with Jeff there. If I ever got the chance, I would tell him this story, as I'm sure he'd have a great chuckle at my folly. And it makes me wonder how many other innocent unsuspecting good folks fell prey to his wee diabolical scheme. - the tally list of how many people he inadvertently caused to soil themselves 💩 HOLY $h!T
I've always had a soft spot for instrumentals, and this one is definitely in my personal music collection. The first time I ever heard it, I was in my early to mid 20's. I was staying with some ex friends of mine. They were out, and they had their XM radio on and tuned to a station that played music from this era. Once this song came on, and I realized it was an instrumental, I was instantly hooked. I was also kinda bummed out, because at that time I had no way of knowing what the song was. The people I was with had a docking station that would display the name of whatever was being played, but no one was home to tell me, and I have no eyesight, so at that time, I was out of luck. Fast forward to about a year ago, give or take. I was talking about music with a friend of mine, and he mentioned this track by name, asking me if I'd heard it. I responded with "I don't think so," but then as soon as he started to play it for me, I recognized it at once. Knowing the name of the song, I went and got it almost immediately.
At our local amusement park Seabreeze in Rochester NY back 50 years ago they had a scrambler ride with a dome over it that played this song while on the ride. To make it even more awesome they projected weird images on the dome while you’d spun round and round. BTW Seabreeze also has the country’s oldest roller coaster The Jack Rabbit.
If you made a highlight compilation of Jeff Lynne's most beautiful overtures, even just 20 seconds of each melody, you'd have hours of music, but I've always thought this was among the most beautiful he ever wrote.
Credits also to the late Louis Clark for the orchestral and choral arrangements (with Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy). My guess is that no members of ELO's string section is involved in the orchestral part in the beginning of the track but are featured in what you call the groovy and folky part. I believe ELO more often than not used outside players on strings on their 70's albums. They also had big problems at that time to find proper microphones for the violin and the cellos (or is it celli, I never learn...) when performing live.
@@guitarchannel5676 You may be right about that. When I saw ELO 1982 the "string section" was Mik Kaminski on violin plus Louis Clark on synthesizer strings or orchestral keyboards or whatever they called it back then. Tandy had about nine pianos/keyboards/synthesizers...
@@maxslamer Yeah, that was toward the end of their Golden era. But you can see videos of ELO from their prime '74-77, and Tandy has a Mellotron 400. So he was underlaying the violins/viola/cellos with it, at times, to recreate that larger string orchestra studio sound. On the early albums Roy Wood handled the strings and created the orchestral effect via overdubbing numerous tracks.
@@guitarchannel5676 I was going to correct you about Roy Wood as i thought he only was on the first album. But I had forgotten that he played cello (and bass) on two tracks on ELO 2. The violin on the first album was played by Steve Woolam who sadly commited suicide before the album was released in 1971. Wilf Gibson (1942-2014) played violin on ELO 2 and half (side two) of On The Third Day. After that Mik Kaminski took over for the rest of ELO's "string section era".
@@maxslamer Well, Wood might have transitioned to his solo career by their 2nd LP, I don't remember exactly. But I know that he wrote several songs on ELO's first LP and handled a lot.of the string overdubs, even if it was cellos. Roy Wood was also a capable brass and woodwind player, so if there are wind instruments on any of those songs, I assume Wood played those too.
Orchestra nerd here. Back in high school (mid-70s), a bunch of us would get together on Friday nights for pizza and new music. A friend brought over this album and 'Fire On High' blew. Us. Away. I've listened to ELO ever since. Brilliant. Have to say, Bev Bevan's drumming brings all of this together. And it still sounds as fresh as it did when it first came out. Btw, the joke with the 'turn back' comment is that if you were listening to the album on vinyl, if you didn't 'turn back', the needle would fall off the record :D
Great reaction sir! Jeff is really the master of both the album opener, and closer. Eldorado Overture/Can't Get it Out of My Head, Tightrope, Prologue/Twilight, are other spectacular intros! 💕
Jeff Lynne is a musical genius. I feel he has been under appreciated as such throughout the years. ELO is my favorite band and will be till the day I die. I have so many wonderful memories with their music. Its hard to pick a favorite love ballad from them. However Dont Walk Away is a great one. From the soundtrack Xanadu from 1980. With the late Olivia Newton John. R.I.P.
To hear early ELO at their absolute best, sans all the layers of studio strings, check out the "Ocean Breakup" song suite on side one of their album "On The Third Day."
You will love the orchestral fills between tracks that provide a sense of continuity in a subtly nostalgic manner. This is a masterfully crafted album that shows everything in Jeff Lynne's toolkit to full effect.
Back in the day, my Dad did a job for Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street in Toronto. They gave him a copy of "Out of the Blue" as a bonus. That was my first time hearing ELO. I've been a fan ever since. "Fire on High" is one of those unique master pieces. The more I hear it, the more I love it.
ELO was my first favorite band, and led me into an appreciation of symphonic music combined with rock, thus leading me to prog rock (Yes, ELP, etc). Still love ELO - own all their albums and listen frequently. Jeff Lynne is a genius songwriter, and I absolutely love RIchard Tandy's synth work.
I was really hoping you’d review Fire on High!! I remember when I first heard it and thinking, this intro can’t deliver what it’s building up to, and yet it does. If you haven’t, do go and listen to the first two tracks of Eldorado, the way they blend together is amazing
Not sure if anyone commented already but the guitar riff was used as the theme for CBS Sports Spectacular in the mid 70s. Loved your analysis, ELO is my fav, and you got yourself a follow after this!
OMG... I've heard Fire On High hundreds of times over the last 45 years and never realized the chorus at the end was singing "fire on high"! Thank you so much
Same. I feel like a complete idiot for never figuring that out on my own despite loving the track, and Doug gets it on his first listen.
I've been an ELO fan since 1979 when I got Discovery for Christmas since then I acquired everything ELO that I possibly could and do consider myself a bit of an expert,....today I too learned that the choir in the background of that song was singing "Fire on high!....blow my hair back!
Same here
@@corncake29I’ve got you beat, I’ve been a fan since Eldorado Overture came out when I was in high school
I was today years old when I learned that.
Can you imagine listening to this in 75. The first time I put this album on I was 24, now I'm 70 & it's still fantastic. Thanks for the post Doug.
I remember back in the day, dropping the drive belt on my record player and manually spinning the record backwards to decipher the secret message: “the music is reversible but time is not. Turn back, turn back, turn back!” Ah, 1975….
I did the same thing!
I did the same but with a cassette player. It was about 2AM and I was about 14. It creeped me out a little but was so cool when I heard it. And of course the music is reversible...
I've just done this in software, but it's still creepy.
Some very basic back masking.
I thought he was saying "madness, madness, madness"
ELO have just got their own unique sound, you can usually tell when it’s one of their tunes. Jeff Lynne is one of the best composers and songwriters of the 20th and 21st centuries.
Agree
Don’t forget producer! He produced albums for George Harrison, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty (with and without the Heartbreakers). And of course Traveling Wilburys.
1000% agree, and his status has only grown the last decade.
You know why Jeff's songs are really good? Because he approach them as a producer, not just as a singer. Therefore, he knows what hooks and instruments would work for the listeners.
ELO sound like a more modernized version of Beach Boys meets Pink Floyd. And i don't mean any disrespect in saying that. ELO to me might be the most underrated band that was still recognized, and out there. The producation and vocal arrangements are bar none.
One of the best instrumental pieces of the 70's. Jeff Lynne is a music genius.
For some more "orchestral" ELO I'd got to the album El Dorado, specifically Eldorado Overture/Can't Get It Out of My Head
An absolute next step for a reaction here.
Yes definitely!!!! This is their Magnus opus. A timeless gem!!!
Can't Get it Out of My head is in my top 10 songs by anyone.
The mentioned song Eldorado with its Finale shouldn't be missed. My favourite track off the album of the same name. Thanks for the enjoyable analysis and reaction to one of ELO's album cuts. I myself discovered ELO and Jeff Lynne at age 15 and have been a fan ever since.
Grüße aus Deutschland
Greetings from Germany
Perhaps a full album reaction to Face the Music would be really cool. It’s one of my top 5 ELO albums
Great song. This album came out just as I was being introduced to Yes and "prog" rock. This blending of orchestra and rock seemed to fit in well with the prog I was obsessing over at that stage. Very fun times to explore music as a 12-13 year old lad.
I also got to ELO when I was around 11 ... I'm born 1977 (best year of music ;-) and listened through ELO when I was 11-13 ... I was instantly hooked and never got better music in my ears since then ... apart from maybe Dire Straits or Lord Huron 😁😁
I was born in 65 & I guess I was into prog rock at around age 10, although I didn’t know what prog rock was until recently. Lol! Always loved (still do) ELO, Kansas, Yes, & and specially my all time favorite, Rush.
Always a fan of the older ELO. My absolute fave is “Time” (the whole album, start to finish, needs to be a single listen… a concept album, everything ties in together).
Can't agree more.A delight from begining to end.
Time is one of those few albums that blew my mind the first time I ever heard it and left me speechless. Buddy of mine turned me onto it a few years ago. It was all I played in the car for two months straight. Album is an 11/10.
Not real ELO, but it has a few good tracks on it.
@@Cosmo-Kramernot real elo? Really shut up with that nonsense
@@BradenMcClure-q6k If you know, you know. You, obviously, do not.
The whole Face the Music album is one of the best they made. Almost every song on it had radio airplay.
He made :)
The next track on the album is the absolutely sublime "Waterfall" - a piece of pure Jeff beauty.
Thanks for the reaction, Doug.
I love this, Doug. One of my favorite ELO tunes. Bev Bevan does the backwards speech. He says "The music is reversible, but time is not. Turn back! Turn back! Turn back! Turn back!"
I wonder if Bev did the turn the record over on another great ELO LP Doug reacted to.My memory is real bad.
He probably did. You’re thinking of Mr Bluesky and I think Bev was still working with Jeff.
@@davidvasquez8658 no it's Richard Tandy on that one. Using the Vocorder.
@@michellowe8627 Yes! Mr Bluesky.Doug liked it a lot.ELO is great.Thanks for that.
@@peterharrington8709 Thanks! I couldnt afford a Talk Box so a friend had a keyboard with the Vocoder.I was able to fake it thru Rocky Mtn Way. Thanks for the info!
The Electric Light Orchestra's opening instrumental "Fire On High", was used as the theme for CBS Sports Spectacular, from 1976 to 1978.
I was massively into ELO in the mid-seventies and listening to this reminds me why. This still sounds incredibly fresh with great production. I think they had a patch of 4 albums in a row - Eldorado, Face the Music, A New World Record, and Out of the Blue - that are consistently brilliant, beginning to end. I remember listening to the OoTB follow-up, Discovery, and being very disappointed. But I still have those 4 on vinyl.
I have all my ELO vinyl too.
Had excellent seats at a Chicago concert and it was spectacular, opened with a 'flying saucer' effect with a glorious light show.
ELO and Mike Oldfield had albums called Discovery, and I can't remember which one was intentionally a play on "Disco Very"
There's a reason why we fans called it Disco Very ;)
Why were you disappointed in Discovery?
@@jeffrakestraw573 Well, I think Out of The Blue was a high watermark (although, as albums go, I prefer the predecessors) and Discovery seemed to lack the same quality of songwriting as its predecessors.
Also, the band's (or should I say, Jeff Lynne's) tendency to appropriate popular music motifs from the charts, such as disco, are to my memory, more evident on Discovery.
I'll tell you what, as its been over 40 years since I last listened to it, I might give it a spin and get back to you.
ELO is a pioneer of Symphonic Rock, which eventually gave birth to Symphonic Metal. I love it.
I've been waiting so long for you to react to this! This is definitely my favorite ELO song, and I knew you of all people would appreciate the beautiful sounds of this song
A brilliant piece of music. Thanks for reacting to this.
For a great album opening, from their fourth album "Eldorado", take a listen to the Eldorado Overture / Can't Get It Out Of My Head, follow up with the end of the album, Eldorado/Eldorado Finale. Great opening and closing. You'll get chills.
Just say it, Jeff Lynne is a genius.
Love this song. A theme park in southern Maine plays this during its astrosphere ride. Takes me back to my teenage years. Thanks
The live performance of this was a wonderful way for them to open their show.... late 70's in Oklahoma City
I greatly enjoy your analytical reactions. They are unlike all others. Although under appreciated by critics when ELO was in its prime (but not by record buyers), history is showing great kindness to Jeff Lynne. He has emerged the last decade as an important elder statesman of pop/rock. Even his one-time harshest detractors at the time have made reassessments. I’m biased, but I’d place Lynne as one of the 20th century’s great composers.
Please do yourself a favor and review the album Eldorado - or to start, the connected Eldorado Overture and Can’t Get It Out Of My Head combo. The album is a concept symphonic rock album with complicated orchestration you’d go crazy over.
Talking about unique instrumentals from the 70s, ABBA has a very overlooked instrumental called Intermezzo No. 1. It's such a wonderful piece of music that is severely underrated. I hope you can react to this amazing piece of music soon. Thanks, Doug!!🙂
If I recall, the CBS Sports Special Show in the mid-1970's used "Fire On High" as its Theme Music, it's what got me to delve into ELO as a Tweener just starting to spread my musical wings from the music I grew up with: Classical (Dad) & Folk/Oldies (Mom). Mahalo for the Memories Doug!
ABC Wide World of Sports - (the thrill of victory; the agony of defeat)
It was called CBS Sports Spectacular. Similarly, from 1981-1983 ESPN used an excerpt from Cat Stevens' "18th Avenue" as its theme music.
@@davidheiser2225 - I stand corrected, but it took me quite a while to find an example -- th-cam.com/video/OP6V4lxkmBw/w-d-xo.html
@@davidheiser2225 Yep, that's what it was.
Actually I believe it was the NFL on CBS that used it for their pregame show in late 70s.
This is my all time favorite instrumental song. It’s amazing and unique. Thanks!!!
Fire On High was a staple on 70’s ABC Wide World Of Sports.
I absolutely love this song! Since I was a kid, I've gone to an amusement park in Maine that uses this song for one of the rides. This song is tied to alot of good memories!!
Yes!! The Astrosphere! I bought a piece of the old yellow and white dome when they replaced it a few years back. Funtown USA! Saco, ME
@@michaelbalvin6306 I am officially jealous!
Excellent reaction!!
Many thanks for reacting to the ELO. Fire on High is a unique masterpiece. I think you could react to El Dorado Overture maybe.
I really enjoy your video.
Best regards from Chile :-)
I love this song. When my local radio station, Beacon Radio, started in 1975, this piece was on the tape loop they used for the test transmissions, so I could hear it once an hour, every hour. Fantastic. The album's a cracker too!
I graduated from HS in 1975, what a magical era for music, did not realize how spoiled we were.
Did they ever play the tape backwards? "The music is reversable. Turn back ! Turn back !"
Thanks Doug, for playing one of my favourite ELO songs from my favourite ELO album. I've always loved Bev Bevans drum fills at the end.
Notice how Bevan plays the first phrase after the violin solo then rolls the toms, but on the next violin solo, he swaps them around, rolling the toms first, then mixes it up. Bev Bevan is a very underrated drummer
Thanks for the dive in, Doug. You also got a snippet of "Oranges and lemons, said the bells of St Clement", at the start. 😁
Track two is "Waterfall", another great song, give it a listen too.
Bev Bevan's drumming and drum sound on this one are awesome. I hope you will do more ELO. If you haven't already listened to the full Eldorado album you really need to.
Part of this song was used in the Wide World of Sports intro back in the 70'.s. Love this song.
Thanks Doug.
You are making me revisit all these wonderful songs from my teens when I first got into music. ELO had wonderful light shows when you saw them live, way ahead of their time.
As others have said, Eldorado is superb from an orchestral perspective but FTM onwards was the beginning of the more radio friendly stuff.
Keep up the good work 🥃
7:20 was me shaking my head as a kid realizing how incredible this whole sound is. Pops was like check this out - nearly shat my pants the first half and had my eyes opened to what music can do in the 2nd
Hey Doug! Great reaction to a really great, lesser known, ELO tune. Something you might be interest in hearing is their rendition of Edvard Grieg's. " In the Hall of the Mountain King", from the " On the Third Day album. As a classical music aficionado, I think you'd get a smile from it. Keep doing what you're doing here, my friend! I really enjoy your reactions!
I remember when this came out, I was like 13 years old. This track got a lot of air-play and it paved the way for “A New World Record” witch spawned a couple Top 10 hit songs in the USA and more in the UK and Australia. ELO was my favorite group until I got a little older and started getting into heavier music in the 1980’s.
Jeff Lynne -- not only unbelievably creative as a producer/arranger, but one of the most melodic pop/rock composers of the latter half of the 20th century. He would have been the perfect Fifth Beatle had be started a decade earlier, and he became the Fourth Beatle later on in his career. A MAJOR talent who is still underappreciated. He helped produce the best albums by Tom Petty, George Harrison, Del Shannon, Roy Orbison, etc.
I first heard fire on high when I was 12 and it blew me away, still does. Outstanding.
Bev Bevan has had an interesting career as a drummer and his singing voice is lower than most. He was in "The Move" in the mid 60`s which later became "The Electric Light Orchestra".Often the spokesman for the band he was always TV and Radio in the UK. He kept the band going as "ELO2" when others went off to do other things. He has played for "Black Sabbath" amongst others.
Also the song one summers dream is lovely. This album’s drum sound went on to be Jeff’s go to for most of his incredibly long career. And he is still going. All of the early albums had his original core members that defined the orchestral style of the music. But through the years he went through at least 38 members. For many different reasons. He was constantly molding his visions. But for me the first five albums were the real heart of the ELO I so loved. Not that the rest is not fantastic, but those original albums cemented a period of time in my head. I can remember leaving eight grade and starting high school…
I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Doug! I knew the "air drums" would come out! The rest of the album is fantastic too. It was the first one I ever bought. And yes, I spun the record backwards on my turntable to figure out what they were saying.
I did too. Also did it with Pink Floyd's The Wall.
I did it to the diary of horace wimp and found messages .when it said Monday Tuesday ecr...
There was a time where you would hear this played on classic rock FM radio. Sadly, those days are long gone.
Sirius XM channel 27 Deep Tracks plays this at least twice a day. Only place other than my living room I've ever heard Flash's "Children Of The Universe".
I still hear this one played on FM radio every so often.
BLM in Portland, ME still plays it. it was the music played in the indoor Scrambler ride at a local fun park so a LOT of people here associate it with that.
This gets played fairly often still
When I first listened to this, so many years ago, I had the record and knew the reverse voice was not just some effect. Time is not reversable, so just face the music. I think this whole album was like they felt they were falling out of time with what was going on musically. Now isn't that poetic. Just another example of how intelligent music can last decades. Thank you again for a review that reminds us of those golden years.
I saw them do this live in the early 80s. Such a wonderful band! Such ingenuity and creativity. Jeff Lynne at his finest.
I so loved this song when it came out. And loved figuring out and playing along with the guitar parts! Long live ELO and Jeff Lynn!
One of my favorite Jeff Lynne penned/produced ELO pieces. Excellent way to start the LP. The rest of the orchestration is at their finest! Great review.
It's absolutely one of the greatest ELO tunes ever! It's perfect.
If you really want your mind blown check out the lead track on the 1st ELO album. "10538 Overture" is the stepchild of "I Am The Walrus", albeit with interesting chord changes similar to what Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne used on the final albums by The Move. Great stuff y'all!!!
This song was programmed to play in sync with an indoor amusement park ride called the Gyrosphere in Rochester NY when I was kid. It was awesome!
Hey Doug! Since you are fond of Jeff's overtures, definitely check out ELO's "Eldorado Overture / Can't Get it Out of My Head" from 1974's Eldorado. It's a masterpiece and I think you will enjoy it!
Here in Maine, we have a small local theme park with a scrambled eggs ride built inside a building. They have a bunch of speakers and laser lights set to this song in the dark. It's such a great little ride.
Fire on high hit at the beginning of my teen years. LOVED it. An air drummers dream. You could see muscle cars swerving from the occupants drumming out the chorus. When lasers dawned, this was one of the best tunes for a show.
The tune was also on wide world of sports, if I recall correctly.
CBS Sports Spectacular
This has always been a favorite of mine. It was used for sports shows back then. Love that you got to this one. The last track, Shangri-La is a must listen! :)
This has been a total joy for me for almost 50 years... Just love it.
ELO was the first group that I had gotten into. Started just buying their albums without hearing any songs first. Loved them all.
Was a bit disappointed when they dropped the cellos and violin and went electronic, but still liked them.
Unique sound.
Its brilliant! Fantastic piece of music. Love it.
Kansas' "Incomudro-Hymn to the Atman" is an amazing prog masterpiece. Dark and beautiful. Give it 15 seconds. :)
ELO was a major part of my musical awakening in the mid 70's, when I was just not a kid any more
Soon after the album "Face The Music" was released, "Fire On High" became the theme song for The CBS Sports Spectacular, a weekly sports show kind of like ABC's Wide World Of Sports. One of the first times a rock song was used in that way.
I also remember the guitar part as the theme for The NFL Today 🙂
Sorta related, when I was younger our local news show opened with the last 30 sec of "Living Sin" by ELP. But yea I remember Fire On High being used for sports events as well.
Here's an odd one for you, in the 80s the Scottish football highlights show on the BBC used "Run Like Hell" from The Wall. That was just strange.
@@philconner3946 Yeah, CBS loved ELO. Guess it makes sense, one good three letter logo deserves another.
More ELO please. "Prologue+Twilight" from their Time album should be the next one.
I love the Time album.
The amusement park "FunTown" in Saco, Maine used to have a ride featuring this song and it would get requested on the radio as "That song from FunTown."
So much fun watching you be enthralled by a song I have listened to thousands of times. One of my first 10 CDs I bought when I was 13.
Not just a great album opener, but the perfect concert opener as well!!
It was an opener for the mid-1970s concerts. I was hoping they were going to use it for the 2020 arena tour that was cancelled due to Covid. They used Tightrope and Standin In The Rain the previous two tours. It was Fire On High’s turn!
@@chronomatt6990 - I was too late, saw them on their Out of the Blue tour in 1977.
I was today years old when I learned that the choir is singing "Fire On High".
Me too.lol.
My late mother exposed me to ELO at an early age, the musicality and musicianship really impressed me. Been a fan ever since.
"Fire On High" was the B side of "Sweet Talkin' Woman" from 1978, three years after the "Face The Music" LP. Also the 45 version omits the ninety second intro from the LP.
I had the purple vinyl 45!
@@CB-kj6xw Me Too!
In the UK it was the B side to Livin' Thing. Imagine flipping the disc and discovering this amazing instrumental gem as a 12 year old. Have loved it ever since that first play and bought the album some time after.
@@stevenburdin9981 I always played the flip sides too - if I liked the B-side I knew the album had to be good.
@@CB-kj6xw Same, and I ended up listening to Fire on High a LOT more than Sweet Talking Woman.
Have to say this was my first ELO album just because of the opening track. I said I had to have the album.😉
In the 70's, this song was used on ABC's Wide World of Sports as the theme music.
Being an Instrumental, the fast strumming 12-string guitar section chugged along like a slalom course, and they did show skiing footage snippets intermingled with other various sports clips all edited together in a mashup/smashup. There are more examples of back-masking hidden throughout the album, and subsequent releases as well.
Jeff discovered a fondness for adding little Easter eggs in his music, and he, along with Richard Tandy, was one of the 1st innovators of that embedding technique (He uses Morse code on later albums).
Personal story: in 1975 I was a 10 year old kid discovering music as my passion, and I had a 2 car garage vamped up into a ManCave. Mom called me to supper on a quiet dark October evening, and since it was Indian Summer, I left all the doors open with the stereo ON because I knew I'd be back in 15 minutes. Upon returning, this song began playing on my Quadrophonic stereo system with dual channels (8 speakers) placed strategically around my garage room,
Including the rafters, for a truly surround sound experience. I noticed the full moon somewhat obscured by clouds, and it set the creepy ass mood for what I was hearing, but now it sounded like it was something real,
And not from my stereo at all.
Suddenly I felt I was becoming the unwitting victim in a Horror film,
and as I walked inside my room,
I noticed a huge tarantula as large as my hand had snuck in, and was sitting atop my console stereo, just as the backwards voice spoke to me in surround sound, and I thought Satan had materialized to claim my soul and surely drag me off to Hell, and I almost pooped on myself. SCARED THE BEJESUS OUT OF ME. The tarantula got away, and it took me almost an hour to calm down. That evening, I did not sleep out in the garage. I went and hugged my Mommy 🥺💀 I had heard this song before, but radio stations would always edit the Intro out, so it was a rare occurrence to hear it Aired in its original form.
Trust me, I never looked at this song the same way after that, and as soon as I could find the album in a store, I bought it, so I could verify that Haunted House scene was actually on the record, or if I imagined it.
I met ELO but not with Jeff there.
If I ever got the chance, I would tell him this story, as I'm sure he'd have a great chuckle at my folly. And it makes me wonder how many other innocent unsuspecting good folks fell prey to his wee diabolical scheme.
- the tally list of how many people he inadvertently caused to soil themselves 💩 HOLY $h!T
The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat when the ski jumper fell off the ramp.
@@jeffreywilmot3798 LOL that's RIGHT !
My little Brother's favorite part 💥☠🙈
Seeing them play this live was an experience!
Face The Music is an all-time great album. Song after song are fabulous.
Love Fire on high! First ELO song I remember listening to back in the 70’s!
I've always had a soft spot for instrumentals, and this one is definitely in my personal music collection. The first time I ever heard it, I was in my early to mid 20's. I was staying with some ex friends of mine. They were out, and they had their XM radio on and tuned to a station that played music from this era. Once this song came on, and I realized it was an instrumental, I was instantly hooked. I was also kinda bummed out, because at that time I had no way of knowing what the song was. The people I was with had a docking station that would display the name of whatever was being played, but no one was home to tell me, and I have no eyesight, so at that time, I was out of luck.
Fast forward to about a year ago, give or take. I was talking about music with a friend of mine, and he mentioned this track by name, asking me if I'd heard it. I responded with "I don't think so," but then as soon as he started to play it for me, I recognized it at once. Knowing the name of the song, I went and got it almost immediately.
Thanks for the reaction. In the day I went through an entire needle playing their albums. This album also contains one our their finest, “Waterfall”.
At our local amusement park Seabreeze in Rochester NY back 50 years ago they had a scrambler ride with a dome over it that played this song while on the ride. To make it even more awesome they projected weird images on the dome while you’d spun round and round. BTW Seabreeze also has the country’s oldest roller coaster The Jack Rabbit.
The rhythmic section starting around 7:16 was used in commercials for the Olympics, at least in the USA. Anyone else remember that?
If you made a highlight compilation of Jeff Lynne's most beautiful overtures, even just 20 seconds of each melody, you'd have hours of music, but I've always thought this was among the most beautiful he ever wrote.
Face The Music is probably my favorite ELO album, although El Dorado is right up there. Every song is good.
The reverse bit at the beginning says "The music is reversible, but time is not. Turn back, turn back, turn back, turn back."
Credits also to the late Louis Clark for the orchestral and choral arrangements (with Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy). My guess is that no members of ELO's string section is involved in the orchestral part in the beginning of the track but are featured in what you call the groovy and folky part. I believe ELO more often than not used outside players on strings on their 70's albums.
They also had big problems at that time to find proper microphones for the violin and the cellos (or is it celli, I never learn...) when performing live.
I believe Tandy would use Mellotron to double the string section (i.e. the band members) for live performances.
@@guitarchannel5676 You may be right about that. When I saw ELO 1982 the "string section" was Mik Kaminski on violin plus Louis Clark on synthesizer strings or orchestral keyboards or whatever they called it back then. Tandy had about nine pianos/keyboards/synthesizers...
@@maxslamer Yeah, that was toward the end of their Golden era. But you can see videos of ELO from their prime '74-77, and Tandy has a Mellotron 400. So he was underlaying the violins/viola/cellos with it, at times, to recreate that larger string orchestra studio sound. On the early albums Roy Wood handled the strings and created the orchestral effect via overdubbing numerous tracks.
@@guitarchannel5676 I was going to correct you about Roy Wood as i thought he only was on the first album. But I had forgotten that he played cello (and bass) on two tracks on ELO 2. The violin on the first album was played by Steve Woolam who sadly commited suicide before the album was released in 1971. Wilf Gibson (1942-2014) played violin on ELO 2 and half (side two) of On The Third Day. After that Mik Kaminski took over for the rest of ELO's "string section era".
@@maxslamer Well, Wood might have transitioned to his solo career by their 2nd LP, I don't remember exactly. But I know that he wrote several songs on ELO's first LP and handled a lot.of the string overdubs, even if it was cellos. Roy Wood was also a capable brass and woodwind player, so if there are wind instruments on any of those songs, I assume Wood played those too.
This was licensed as the the theme song for CBS Sports Spectacular, which was direct competition for ABC's Wide World of Sports.
This music was actually utilized on the TV show "Wide world of Sports."
Bev absolutely murders his drum kit on this one. Fantastic!!!!
Orchestra nerd here. Back in high school (mid-70s), a bunch of us would get together on Friday nights for pizza and new music. A friend brought over this album and 'Fire On High' blew. Us. Away. I've listened to ELO ever since. Brilliant. Have to say, Bev Bevan's drumming brings all of this together. And it still sounds as fresh as it did when it first came out.
Btw, the joke with the 'turn back' comment is that if you were listening to the album on vinyl, if you didn't 'turn back', the needle would fall off the record :D
Great reaction sir! Jeff is really the master of both the album opener, and closer. Eldorado Overture/Can't Get it Out of My Head, Tightrope, Prologue/Twilight, are other spectacular intros! 💕
Jeff Lynne is a musical genius. I feel he has been under appreciated as such throughout the years. ELO is my favorite band and will be till the day I die. I have so many wonderful memories with their music. Its hard to pick a favorite love ballad from them. However Dont Walk Away is a great one. From the soundtrack Xanadu from 1980. With the late Olivia Newton John. R.I.P.
Huge ELO fan. This was a great album. Listening to this takes me back to high school. So nostalgic.
Got bless Bev Bevan, so underrated as drummer. He never gets the credit he deserves. Great choice Doug.
To hear early ELO at their absolute best, sans all the layers of studio strings, check out the "Ocean Breakup" song suite on side one of their album "On The Third Day."
This has long been my most favorite ELO piece, I never get tired of hearing it! 🥰
My favorite band of all time!
I said it would play with your mind after Concerto but what a wonderful song. Jeff Lynne is such a creative man.
You will love the orchestral fills between tracks that provide a sense of continuity in a subtly nostalgic manner. This is a masterfully crafted album that shows everything in Jeff Lynne's toolkit to full effect.
Back in the day, my Dad did a job for Sam The Record Man on Yonge Street in Toronto. They gave him a copy of "Out of the Blue" as a bonus. That was my first time hearing ELO. I've been a fan ever since.
"Fire on High" is one of those unique master pieces. The more I hear it, the more I love it.
ELO was my first favorite band, and led me into an appreciation of symphonic music combined with rock, thus leading me to prog rock (Yes, ELP, etc). Still love ELO - own all their albums and listen frequently. Jeff Lynne is a genius songwriter, and I absolutely love RIchard Tandy's synth work.
Great to see you delving into more ELO at last! I hope you reach Eldorado one day.
I was really hoping you’d review Fire on High!! I remember when I first heard it and thinking, this intro can’t deliver what it’s building up to, and yet it does. If you haven’t, do go and listen to the first two tracks of Eldorado, the way they blend together is amazing
Bought this album on it's release and still remains my favourite..
TRACK 2 IS Waterfall followed by the classic hit EVIL WOMAN! The Album Face The Music by ELO is a masterpiece.