“Mr. Blue Sky” by Electric Light Orchestra

"Mr. Blue Sky" is the grand finale of "Concerto for a Rainy Day", the four-part suite that filled side three of Electric Light Orchestra's 1977 double album Out of the Blue, their seventh. Jeff Lynne wrote it, produced it, sang it and played guitar and synthesizer on it, and after a suite named for the rain it's the moment the clouds split and the sun comes pouring through.

And does it ever pour. Bev Bevan's drums march, Kelly Groucutt's bass bounces, Richard Tandy's keyboards sparkle, and the arrangement, worked up by Louis Clark with Lynne and Tandy, swells like a Beatles session with a bigger budget. It went out as the album's second single, with promo copies pressed on blue vinyl to match the album, and its endless run through TV shows and films has made it about as close as ELO get to a signature song.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.