ELO's Greatest Hits

ELO's Greatest Hits is a compilation by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released 23 November 1979.^[7][8] Despite being released after the album Discovery, this album omitted the band's most recent hits, "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Shine a Little Love".

ELO's Greatest Hits
Greatest hits album by Electric Light Orchestra
Released	23 November 1979
Recorded	April 1973–August 1977
Length	44:50
Label	Jet CBS
Producer	Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra chronology
Discovery (1979) ELO's Greatest Hits (1979) A Box of Their Best (1980)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Christgau's Record Guide	B+[2]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[3]
MusicHound	3/5[4]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[5]
Record Mirror	[6]

The album sleeve art features a letter written by the band's co-founder and leader, Jeff Lynne, describing the '73–'78 period and the recording of each of the songs.

Track listing

All tracks written by Jeff Lynne.

Side one

#	Title	Album	Length
1	"Evil Woman" (Single version)	Face the Music (1975)	4:10
2	"Livin' Thing"	A New World Record (1976)	3:31
3	"Can't Get It Out of My Head"	Eldorado (1974)	4:22
4	"Showdown" (U.S. single edit)	On the Third Day (U.S.) (1973) Showdown (UK) (1974)	3:51
5	"Turn to Stone"	Out of the Blue (1977)	3:48
6	"Rockaria!"	A New World Record (1976)	3:12

Side two

#	Title	Album	Length
1	"Sweet Talkin' Woman"	Out of the Blue (1977)	3:47
2	"Telephone Line"	A New World Record (1976)	4:37
3	"Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" (Single edit)	On the Third Day (1973)	3:35
4	"Strange Magic" (UK single version)	Face the Music (1975)	4:07
5	"Mr. Blue Sky"	Out of the Blue (1977)	5:05

Personnel

• Jeff Lynne – vocals, guitars
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion
• Richard Tandy – keyboards
• Mike de Albuquerque – bass (to 1974)
• Kelly Groucutt – bass, vocals (1974 onwards)
• Mik Kaminski – violin
• Mike Edwards – cello (to 1974)
• Melvyn Gale – cello (1975 onwards)
• Hugh McDowell – cello
• Wilfred Gibson – violin on "Showdown" and "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle"
• Colin Walker – cello on "Showdown" and "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle"
• Marc Bolan – guitar on "Ma-Ma-Ma Belle"

Charts

Chart (1979-1980)	Peak position
Argentinian Albums Chart[9]	7
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[10]	1
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[11]	17
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[12]	2
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[13]	13
Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[14]	28
UK Albums (OCC)[15]	7
US Billboard 200[16]	30

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[17]	Platinum	50,000^
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong)[18]	Gold	10,000*
United Kingdom (BPI)[19]	Platinum	300,000^
United States (RIAA)[20]	4× Platinum	4,000,000^
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. ELO's Greatest Hits at AllMusic
2. Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: E". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies. Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 089919026X. Retrieved 24 February 2019 – via robertchristgau.com.
3. Larkin, Colin, ed. (2011). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (5th edn). London: Omnibus Press. p. 916. ISBN 978-0-85712-595-8.
4. Graff, Gary; Durchholz, Daniel, eds. (1999). MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Farmington Hills, MI: Visible Ink Press. p. 382. ISBN 1-57859-061-2.
5. Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th edn). New York, NY: Fireside/Simon & Schuster. p. 274. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
6. Nicholls, Mike (24 November 1979). ELO: ELO's Greatest Hits. Vol. 26. Record Mirror. p. 25.
7. "BPI certifications for ELO".
8. Burbeck, Rodney, ed. (10 November 1979). "Phenomenal Response to Best of ELO" (PDF). Music Week. London, England, U.K.: Morgan-Grampian: 1. ISSN 0265-1548. Archived from the original on 9 March 2021. Retrieved 9 October 2023. On November 23, Jet Records releases worldwide the Electric Light Orchestra's Greatest Hits album.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
9. "Cash Box - International Best Sellers" (PDF). worldradiohistory.com. Cash Box. 26 April 1980. p. 18.
10. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, New South Wales: Australian Chart Book. p. 101. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
11. "Austriancharts.at – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO's Greatest Hits" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
12. "Charts.nz – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO's Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
13. "Norwegiancharts.com – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO's Greatest Hits". Hung Medien. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
14. Salaverri, Fernando (2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
15. "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
16. "Electric Light Orchestra Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved February 28, 2024.
17. "Kent Music Report No 341 – 5 January 1981 > Platinum and Gold Albums 1980". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 12 November 2021 – via Imgur.com.
18. "IFPIHK Gold Disc Award − 1983". IFPI Hong Kong. Retrieved 6 December 2021.
19. "British album certifications – Elo – ELO's Greatest Hits". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 10 April 2022.
20. "American album certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – ELO's Greatest Hits". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 10 April 2022.