21 Guns On The Telephone Line

July 23, 2009 at 11:03 pm (Entertainment, General, Media, Music) (, , , , , , , , )

Hey, kids!  Dlock’s back again with another Magical Musical Juxtaposition.

Green Day’s newest album, 21st Century Breakdown, features a little tune called 21 Guns. Something about the chorus seemed a little familiar. Let’s have a listen…

It took me a few weeks here for my wobbly old brains to make the connection.  Let’s listen now to a band from my youth (which feels like only yesterday, but for some reason is now decades gone)…

Oh, telephone line, give me some time – I’m living in twilight. Those few bars sound – to my grizzled ears – a lot like the Green Day chorus.

Good old Electric Light Orchestra. They were quite the supergroup, back in the days of leisure suits and disco dancing. I first saw ELO on NBC’s late night Midnight Special concert program, which was a sort of cross between MTV and American Bandstand, and announced by Wolfman Jack. They performed Roll Over Beethoven which, at the time, I thought was the coolest thing ever.

(Jeff Lynne looked totally freaky! Hey, it was 1973, and everyone had as much hair as they could possibly grow.)

Have a fine weekend, everyone.  Got to get back to work.  Be looking for more examinations of music and pop culture in a few days.

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