Album · Electric Light Orchestra
A New World Record by Electric Light Orchestra
A New World Record is an album by Electric Light Orchestra, released in 1976. 3 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 55 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Do Ya”, on 37 lists with a best position of #133.
A New World Record, Electric Light Orchestra's sixth album, arrived in 1976, and it's where Jeff Lynne trimmed the grand classical-rock sprawl down to tight, gleaming pop songs, a direction ELO would ride from then on. Lynne produced it at Musicland Studios in Munich, and the strings still sweep, with Mik Kaminski's violin and Hugh McDowell's cello sawing away over Bev Bevan's drums, Kelly Groucutt's bass and Richard Tandy's keyboards, but now they serve the hooks.
And what hooks: the giddy rush of "Livin' Thing", the transatlantic smash "Telephone Line", "Rockaria!", and a beefed-up "Do Ya", a song Lynne had first cut with the Move. After three albums that went nowhere at home, it was their first top ten album in Britain, it went multi-platinum on both sides of the Atlantic, and it's the first ELO sleeve with the band's logo, designed by Kosh.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from A New World Record on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Do Ya | 37 | #133 | – | 1997–2026 | |
| 2 | Livin' Thing | 11 | #14 | – | 2011–2025 | |
| 3 | Telephone Line | 7 | #511 | – | 2019–2025 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.