“One day I got up and the sun was shining, all the mountains were lit up, and I came up with Mr. Blue Sky”: How Jeff Lynne created his masterpiece with ELO’s Out Of The Blue

Jeff Lynne in 1977.

In April 1977, as The Clash broke into the UK top 40 with their incendiary debut single White Riot, and the punk revolution threatened to overthrow the ruling elite of so-called ‘dinosaur’ rock bands, one seasoned English musician remained detached from such unpleasantness – sequestered in a chalet high in Switzerland’s Jura Mountains.

A bearded sophisticate, soon to turn 30 and still hung up on The Beatles, Jeff Lynne was leader of smart-arse rock/classical fusionists Electric Light Orchestra.