A New World Record – Classic Rock Pick of the Week

Being that Don Morgan is on vacation and not picking a Classic Rock Pick of the Week, I figured I would do it this week.

I'm going to go with the Electric Light Orchestra album that was released this week in 1976 called 'A New World Record.

I remember as a kid, riding in the backseat of my sister's (then) boyfriend's souped up muscle car. They were going out for ice cream and I asked if I could tag along and they said yes. Gary had an awesome car. I don't remember the make of the car. It could have been a Malibu or a 442, I was really young. But, I do remember sitting in the backseat of that souped-up car with the windows all the way down eating my ice cream and E.L.O.'s 'A New World Record' blasting from his 8-track player. I was literally blown away. Not by the windows being down but by the awesome music coming out of those speakers.

I remember hearing ELO on the radio before that, but never really paid much attention to it. After listening to that album as we're driving through the countryside eating our ice cream, I kept asking over and over again. what's the name of this band? What's the name of the album? I asked for it for Christmas that year and I got it. I think I actually warped the album playing it so many times. ELO, had at that point, become my favorite band as a youngster. I started collecting all of their previous albums and all the albums they have released since.

Still to this day, I will put that album on and think back to that car ride and all the time I spent listening to that album. It is definitely one of my top 10 favorite albums.