Chapter 60: Mr. Blue Sky (September 1978 - May 1979)

In Honor of John Lennon's 80th Birthday

Without Whom, The World of Rock and Roll Would Be a Much Different Place

1940 - 1980

15 September 1978

Electric Light Orchestra - Light Years

Released: 15 September 1978

Recorded: 1972 - 1977

Producer: Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood (1972-1975 tracks)

Track listing[1]

Side A

Ball Park Incident
Momma
Roll Over Beethoven
See My Baby Jive

Side B

Showdown
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
Daybreaker
Rock and Roll Winter
Illusions in G Major

Side C

Can't Get It Out of My Head
Are You Ready to Rock
Strange Magic
Evil Woman
Indiana Rainbow

Side D

Turn to Stone
Wild West Hero
The Whale
Sweet Talkin' Woman
It's Over

Concerto for a Rainy Day had inevitably led to an extensive, nine-month, 92-date world tour, which would later become the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point. There was no room for Jeff Lynne to write music for a new album in 1978, and so, as a stop gap release, the Electric Light Orchestra instead put out the compilation album, Light Years (#3 UK, #25 US), covering their non-album singles and B-sides from 1972 ("Ball Park Incident") to 1978 ("Sweet Talkin' Woman"). The follow-up album, Discovery (#1 UK, #2 US), would be released on 31 May 1979 and include Top 10 hits such as "Don't Bring Me Down", "Last Train to London", "Shine a Little Love", "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp".

10 November 1978

Paul McCartney & Smile - Rockestra

Released: 10 November 1978

Recorded: June - October 1978

Producer: Paul McCartney, Roy Thomas Baker and Chris Thomas

Track listing[2]

Side A

Rockestra Theme
Fat Bottomed Girls
Getting Closer
Spin It On
Again and Again and Again
Old Siam, Sir
Arrow Through Me

Side B

Weep for Love
Goodnight Tonight
Fun It
Leaving Home Ain't Easy
Baby's Request
More of That Jazz

FREDDIE MERCURY: "Mary [Austin, his girlfriend from 1970-1976] broke off our engagement when I came out to her as bisexual; she insisted that I was gay, and I was heartbroken when she left. She was the love of my life, and I almost felt lost without her, even if we remained friends. That was where Elton came in." (1995)

ELTON JOHN: "I had come out in 1976 as bisexual, the year after I broke up with John Reid [his manager up until 1998]. I'd known Freddie since he joined Apple in 1973, and I was good friends with Paul, Denny, Brian and Roger as well. I took pity on him when I'd heard about his breakup with Mary, and wanted to do something to make him feel better. I went over to his house one day in 1977, and... well, things got a bit 'hot' between us, let's just say. *chuckles*" (2004)

The sexuality of both Freddie Mercury and Elton John was a mystery to the public, although the latter wouldn't fully come out as gay until 1988. There were rumors from the music grapevine that both men were now in a relationship and had been kept in secret for the past year or so. The members of Smile - Paul McCartney, Brian May, Roger Taylor and Denny Laine - were among the first to be told about the relationship and supported them for it. Mercury himself soon felt more comfortable about his own sexuality, as could be heard in his music from 1978 such as the Top 10 hit "Don't Stop Me Now". The relationship between Elton and Mercury would last up until 1983, although they still remained friends; the former would marry Renate Blauel in 1984 but would divorce in 1988, and the latter would become partners with Irish hairdresser Jim Hutton in 1985. Mercury and Hutton would remain together until Hutton's death in early 1996 from complications with AIDS.[3]

"Mary and Jim were the only real loves of my life," Freddie would say years later. "The rest have been occasional flings."

Paul McCartney and Keith Moon, 1978.

Paul McCartney & Smile's sixth album, Rockestra, featured varying musical styles, whether they included hard rock ("Old Siam, Sir", "Fat Bottomed Girls"), R&B and funk ("Arrow Through Me"), disco ("Fun It", "Goodnight Tonight") or instrumental rock ("Rockestra Theme"). The album was given both praise and criticism for its varied music styles, with the defenders even noting that "never, at one point, do Paul and his bandmates ever sit still." Roger Taylor was critical of the album in later years, despite liking a select few songs on it.

The title track, credited to the Apple Rockestra, was composed by McCartney to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the formation of Apple Records, and featured various members from its artists including Christine McVie of Fleetwood Mac, Rat Scabies of The Damned, Steve Jones of Sex Pistols, and Mike Gibbins of Badfinger. While the variety of artists from the past decade was praised, there was criticism over artists from Highway 61 and Swan Song Records having little representation, as the only prominent musicians from either label were Jeff Porcaro from Toto, Nancy Wilson from Heart (both from Highway 61), John Paul Jones from The Yardbirds and Gerald Casale from Devo (both from Swan Song).

Personnel for The Apple Rockestra, 3 October 1978

• vocals - Paul McCartney
• bass - Paul McCartney, John Paul Jones, Gerald Casale, Steve Jones
• piano - Vangelis, Elton John, Graham Nash
• keyboards - Christine McVie, David Bowie
• electric guitar - Denny Laine, Brian May, Stephen Stills, Eric Clapton, Nancy Wilson
• drums - Roger Taylor, Mick Fleetwood, Rat Scabies
• percussion - Jeff Porcaro, Nicky Headon, Paul Cook, Mike Gibbins
• horns - Howie Casey, Tony Dorsey, Steve Howard, Thaddeus Richard

Summary of Paul McCartney & Smile releases, 1978 - 1979

• "With a Little Luck" / "Children Children" - 20 February 1978 (#5 UK, #1 US)
• "It's Late" / "Name and Address" - 8 May 1978 (#39 UK, #17 US)
• "Goodnight Tonight" / "Fat Bottomed Girls" (double A-side) - 6 November 1978 (#5/#3 UK, #5/#12 US)
• Rockestra - 10 November 1978 (#2 UK, #6 US)
• "Getting Closer" / "Dead on Time" - 19 March 1979 (#14 UK, #6 US)
• "Arrow Through Me" / "To You" - 9 July 1979 (#10 US)
• "Wonderful Christmastime" / "Daytime Nighttime Suffering" - 19 November 1979 (#6 UK)

December 15, 1978

Christopher Reeve as the titular superhero in Superman, 1978.

The first film in what would later be known as the Appleverse, Superman, was released with wildly positive reception from critics and fans alike. At the time, it was the most expensive film ever made, on a budget of $55 million, but it was still a box-office success by earning $300 million for Apple Films. Christopher Reeve's performance as the Man of Steel himself was met with acclaim, as were the performances of Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor) and Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) and the score of John Williams, having achieved similar success with Jaws and Star Wars earlier that decade.

The film begins on the fictional planet of Krypton, which is under threat of destruction when its red supergiant sun goes supernova. Jor-El sends his infant son Kal-El to Earth on a spaceship, where his dense molecular structure would give him superhuman strength and other powers. Kal-El is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent in Smallville, Kansas, and given the name Clark Kent. After his father dies, Clark journeys to the Fortress of Solitude where he meets a hologram of Jor-El, living there for twelve years to learn about his reason for being sent to Earth. Returning to society, Clark Kent becomes a reporter for the Daily Planet in Metropolis, where he meets Lois Lane and develops a romantic attraction for her. When she gets involved in a helicopter accident, Clark uses his powers publicly for the first time and rescues her before helping other citizens in need and stopping criminals in their tracks, being given the name "Superman" by Lois.

Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor in Superman. In his hand is a kryptonite necklace which he uses to weaken Superman to prevent him from ruining Luthor's evil plans.

Meanwhile, criminal genius Lex Luthor, along with his minions Otis and Miss Teschmacher, learns of a joint nuclear missile test between the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy and reprograms one of the missiles to detonate in the San Andreas Fault. Knowing that Superman could defeat him, Lex and his accomplices retrieve a piece of unknown mineral from a meteor from the planet Krypton and expose it to Superman after luring him to their lair, weakening him. Teschmacher betrays Luthor upon learning that the eastbound missile could kill her mother, who lives in Hackensack, New Jersey, and she frees Superman, who sends the eastbound missile into outer space. Not fast enough to stop the westbound missile from hitting the San Andreas Fault, Superman is still able to mitigate the effects by sealing the fault line, and even saves Lois from suffocating when her car falls into a crevice from one of the aftershocks. Afterwards, Superman brings Luthor and Otis to prison.

After the end credits played, there was a brief teaser to Superman II, which was to feature General Zod, Ursa and Non (respectively played by Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O'Halloran) as the villains.[4] The Electric Light Orchestra's "Mr. Blue Sky" was included twice in the film; the first time was during the montage sequence of Superman helping citizens in times of trouble and catching criminals in the act, and the second time was during the end credits following John Williams' "Superman March", shortly before the ending stinger. (Jeff Lynne was reported to have spoken very positively about its inclusion.) Already, fans were anticipating what Richard Donner had in mind for the next Superman movie, and wondering if Apple was going to produce movies featuring their other favorite DC superheroes, including Batman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, etc.

16 February 1979

The Dark Horses - Backless

Released: 16 February 1979

Recorded: March - November 1978

Producer: George Harrison and Glyn Johns

Track listing[5]

Side A

Love Comes to Everyone
Watch Out for Lucy
Breakin' My Heart
Wings
Roll It
Faster

Side B

Who Needs a Heart
Tell Me That You Love Me
Your Love is Forever
Early in the Morning
If You Believe

As far as music business was concerned, 1978 was mostly quiet for George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The former, along with Apple Films president Denis O'Brien, had helped to finance Monty Python's next film, Life of Brian, which was due for a summer 1979 release; Harrison had mortgaged Friar Park just to finance the film, which to Eric Idle would later call "the most anybody's ever paid for a cinema ticket in history."[6] Life of Brian would later go on to gross $21 million at the box office in America, and be regarded as one of Apple Films' greatest features alongside Willy Wonka, Superman and Young Frankenstein, affirming the production company's status as one that brought out "everything for everyone".

On 1 August 1978, George and Olivia Harrison's first-born child, Dhani, was born at Princess Christian Nursing Home in Windsor, Berkshire. John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo, as well as their respective families, sent their congratulations to the man who people used to believe was "the Quiet Beatle".

In between these developments in Harrison's personal life and business affairs, along with Starr, Eric Clapton, Ronnie Wood and Vangelis, he was able to record the second Dark Horses album, Backless, co-produced with Glyn Johns. The album and its singles reflected on the positive feelings he was going through at this point in his life, having written his own songs in the tranquil setting of Maui in Hawaii. However, the Dark Horses would not go on tour for the album, as Ronnie Wood was busy recording new material with the Rolling Stones, Vangelis had been given the invitation by Jon Anderson to consider joining Yes (as well as thinking about joining Swan Song Records at the start of 1980), and Slowhand himself was about to get married...

Summary of Dark Horses releases, 1979

• "Wings" / "Golden Ring" - 12 February 1979 (#47 UK, #12 US)
• Backless - 16 February 1979 (#18 UK, #8 US)
• "Love Comes to Everyone" / "Buried Alive" - 16 April 1979 (#10 UK, #4 US)
• "Watch Out for Lucy" / "Soft Touch" - 16 July 1979 (#37 UK, #9 US)

19 May 1979

Pattie Boyd and Eric Clapton on their wedding day, 19 May 1979.

GEORGE HARRISON: "It felt very strange, going to Eric and Pattie's wedding. I mean, we're talking about my best friend marrying my first wife, and in the early 1970s, we sort of fought for her heart, but in the end, Eric won the battle. But as long as both were happy with each other, so was I, especially after marrying Olivia a couple of years before. Now me and Eric were husbands-in-laws." (1997)

At the wedding reception, George was not the only ex-Beatle to make an appearance. Paul McCartney (along with Linda and their kids) and Ringo Starr soon turned up, shortly followed by John Lennon along with Madeline Kahn and their son Freddie. Feelings between all four members of the world's biggest band were highly positive, and they even played a little jam session together along with other musicians like Pete Townshend, Mick Jagger, Jack Bruce and Elton John.[7] The four caught up on how the others were getting on, with John commenting, rather cryptically but with a bit of a smirk, "Maddy and I just filmed a scene or two for a movie about puppets." He was, of course, referring to The Muppet Movie, not due for release until June in America (May in England), and he and his family were big fans of the characters created by Jim Henson.[8]

None of them knew this at the time, but this little jam session at the wedding would eventually pave the way for something even bigger in the next decade. However, that almost would not have happened, because the prior month, Starr had become severely ill with intestinal problems relating to his childhood bout of peritonitis and had been rushed to the Princess Grace Hospital in Monte Carlo, Monaco. During an operation on 28 April, several feet of intestine had to be removed, and Starr narrowly survived this health scare. To this day, he's lucky to still be alive.

Footnotes

1. Tracks are sourced from Wizzard Brew (1, 4 and 6), ELO 2 (2 and 3), On the Third Day (5 and 7), Introducing Eddy and the Falcons (8 and 11), Eldorado (9 and 10), Face the Music (12 and 13), Mustard (14) and Out of the Blue (15-19). "Roll Over Beethoven" is the single edit as can be found on the compilation album Light Years: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra.
2. Tracks are sourced from Back to the Egg, Jazz and McCartney II. "Weep for Love" is sourced from the bootleg Studio Rarities Volume 2.
3. For TTL, Freddie Mercury never meets with Paul Prenter, let alone get into a relationship with him. As a result, he doesn't catch AIDS in the 1980s, although Freddie does contract it much later in the mid-1990s, some time after he and Elton John have broken up, but are still friendly with each other. In addition, Jim Hutton died in 2010 from cancer, having been diagnosed with AIDS in 1990 and living with them until his death.
4. For TTL, Richard Donner will be able to complete his vision for Superman II, and it is released December 1979 as was intended. In addition, Superman is able to rescue Lois Lane in time, as explained in the synopsis for the film, which prevents the infamous moment in which Superman reverses time by spinning the Earth in reverse.
5. Tracks are sourced from George Harrison's eponymous album from 1979, Backless, Gimme Some Neck, Ringo the 4th and Bad Boy. "Love Comes to Everyone" is the single edit sourced from Best of Dark Horse 1976-1989.
6. Verbatim.
7. Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr all played together for a jam session at Eric Clapton's wedding with Pattie Boyd in OTL; why John Lennon never joined the others remains unclear to this day. The next time all three would be together would be for "All Those Years Ago" on Somewhere in England.
8. John Lennon plays the pianist at El Sleezo (done by Paul Williams in OTL) while Madeline Kahn plays the patron who hits on Kermit, much like in OTL. Her first involvement with the Muppets was on the ninth episode of the second season which premiered on September 30, 1977. By that point, she had married John and had little Freddie with him. Madeline would later record inserts for Sesame Street in 1978 (various episodes between 1106 and 1174), played herself as a bird watcher in 1981 (episode 1576) and then the Commissioner of Fun in 1993 (episode 3136). She even made appearances in episode 2370 (during season 19) and Sesame Street, Special in 1988. All of these will still happen per OTL.

Author's Comments

So here we go with another milestone reached for the story; sixty chapters! Four more, and there's going to inevitably be a Beatles reference in play. As the 1970s draw to a close, we're getting closer and closer to the long-awaited Beatles reunion. We won't be seeing much of them for the next few chapters, but I'm fairly certain that the wait is going to be worth it.

Hopefully, I'll be able to finally do something for Yes in the 80s; Jon Anderson left the group in 1980 to pursue a solo career, and that affected their music when he did so. This time around, he won't leave, he'll be joined by Vangelis, and Yes will end up on Swan Song Records (though I need to figure out how that will play out). Why is there so much idealism in this chapter? Well, it's to counter what is to come for the next chapter...

Album cover for Rockestra designed by Auran.