Almost Hits: Electric Light Orchestra - Showdown (1973)

Electric Light Orchestra has been both praised and ridiculed for displaying their Beatles influences proudly, but before they became a slick, hitmaking machine in the late 70s they were a semi-pretentious, prog-rock outfit. The large band gradually transitioned into a hitmaking, pop-rock machine that could get downright funky when they wanted to, and they proved it with a single that - unfortunately - climbed no higher than #53. 

"Showdown," ELO's most famous song from their 1973 LP, On the Third Day, featured a clavinet played by member Richard Tandy that is so enticing it could have been performed by Stevie Wonder who helped make the instrument famous. Listen to this record - and the Motown star's fantastic, "Superstition," from a year earlier - to hear what this keyboard can add to a song.

Tandy's clavinet work provided a groove so cool that it even made ELO's signature string section sound hip and earthy.

Unfortunately, the clavinet - an instrument that is hard to maintain - became obsolete because more modern keyboards have been programmed to reproduce its sound, although there are still aficionados who make parts and repair older ones.

The late T-Rex founder, Marc Bolan, played on several ELO tracks - but not on "Showdown" - so Jeff Lynne borrowed his Gibson Firebird guitar to play his solo on this song.

During a radio interview John Lennon told an American audience that this Lynne penned track was a favorite of his at the time - not surprising considering how heavily his old band influenced ELO's sound.

The lyrics are not straightforward but it appears they are about a relationship that has gone bad and the fallout from it after the breakup.

The album version's length was 4:09 but the US single was edited down to 3:53.

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Almost Hits is an occasional exploration into songs that failed to reach the top 20 on the American Billboard Hot 100. Many have become classics despite what their chart position would indicate.