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"Don't Walk Away" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO).
| "Don't Walk Away" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Electric Light Orchestra | ||||
| from the album Xanadu | ||||
| B-side | "Across the Border" | |||
| Released | November 1980 | |||
| Recorded | 1980 | |||
| Studio | Musicland Studios (Munich, Germany) | |||
| Genre | Soft rock | |||
| Length | 4:47 | |||
| Label | ||||
| Songwriter(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||
| Producer(s) | Jeff Lynne | |||
| Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
It was used in the 1980 feature film Xanadu in an animated sequence by Don Bluth and appears on the Xanadu soundtrack album. It was the last single released from the album.
The song was also used in the 2007 Broadway musical Xanadu.
The song is written in a standard key signature of C Major and was a number 21 hit in the UK.[1]
B side
editAcross the Border
edit"Across the Border" is a song written by Jeff Lynne and performed by Electric Light Orchestra.
It is track 4 on their highly successful 1977 album Out of the Blue. In 1980, the track became the B-side to the hit single "Don't Walk Away".
The song opens with a steam train and horn sound effect, then switching into a small bridge with the violin and the moog, then switching to an upbeat rock song, with the opening verse being reminiscent of The Beach Boys track "Heroes and Villains". Mik Kaminski plays violin and the song also has a Latin mariachi style brass section.
"Listen out for the train noises first, also some Spanish style trumpets. Big finish with much phasing on the drums". - Bev Bevan (1977 - Japanese Out of the Blue LP liner notes)
EP
editIn 1980, after the release of the UK box set Four Light Years, the song was intended to be the lead track on a proposed Across the Border EP which also included "Don't Bring Me Down", "Telephone Line" and "Mr. Blue Sky". For reasons unknown, the EP was withdrawn and the intended EP artwork which matched the parent box set was used as the slip cover for ELO's 1982 double A-side single "Here Is the News/Ticket to the Moon" instead. The EP version of the song first appeared on the 1997 compilation album, Light Years.
Personnel
edit- Jeff Lynne – lead vocals, backing vocals, electric guitars, acoustic guitars, keyboards, synthesizers
- Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, tympani
- Richard Tandy – pianos, synthesizers, keyboards
- Kelly Groucutt – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Additional personnel
- Strings by Louis Clark
- Mack – engineer
Chart positions
edit| Chart (1980) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| German Media Control Singles Chart[2] | 52 |
| Irish Singles Chart[3] | 7 |
| UK Singles Chart[1] | 21 |
Cover versions
editA successful foreign version was the Italian Mi mancherai ("I will miss you"), recorded in 1981 by Sicilian singer Marcella Bella as a theme for a popular TV show, on air on Sunday afternoons for Rete Uno (today's RaiUno). The Italian text was written by Giorgio Calabrese.
References
edit- ^ a b "Electric Light Orchestra". Official Charts Company. Retrieved March 5, 2013.
- ^ "Electric Light Orchestra". charts.de. Archived from the original on September 12, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
- ^ "All there is to know". The Irish Charts. Archived from the original on June 2, 2009. Retrieved March 6, 2013. Enter "Electric Light Orchestra" in the Search by Artist field, then click Search.