Electric Light Orchestra fans picked up on a similar-sounding piece of a hit Cher song, and believe it is a “tribute” to Jeff Lynne.
The songwriter behind Mr. Blue Sky, Evil Woman, and Showdown had one of his later songs ripped by Cher, who used it briefly on her chart-topping effort, Believe. A website profiling the songs of Lynne and ELO suggests Cher’s choice of track could be a “tribute” to the efforts of the Birmingham-born songwriter.
The suggestion has since been picked up in fan groups for ELO, with some suggesting Believe has an uncredited sample of two Time songs on it. Both Prologue and Epilogue are believed to have been sampled by pop icon Cher. The Jeff Lynne Songs website has since compiled information on Cher’s use of the song in her Believe hit.
They write: “Cher’s 1998 hit song Believe samples in its intro (about 13 seconds into the song) a small portion of keyboard that can be heard on both ELO’s Prologue and Epilogue. The sample, which is repeated in both ELO songs, is the water and keyboard sounds that build up before abruptly ending. It can be heard playing behind other keyboards about 20 seconds into Prologue and alone at the very end of Epilogue.
“Given the cleaner sound of this keyboard in Epilogue, the sample that Cher used for Believe is likely the source of the sample. Credit for the sample is not provided in the song’s liner notes. Some have speculated that this may have been a tip of the hat to ELO’s use of the vocoder as it is used heavily in both ELO’s Prologue and Cher’s Believe.”
Fans realising Cher sampled the song comes as it is claimed Time is “one of the best albums ever”. A post to Reddit saw listeners share their thoughts on the 1981 album, with many calling it the band’s best work.
Listeners have since tipped Time as a greatest of all time contender. One user wrote: “Is it realistic to say Time is genuinely one of the best albums written ever? I mean it has the best opening to an album I’ve ever heard and just an otherworldly list of songs, not to mention the 3 amazing songs (Bouncer, Time Stood Still, Julie Don’t Live Here) that aren’t even included on the album.
“Just wondering how Time would rank compared to albums that ARE recognized as some of the best ever. I feel as tho I’m very biased so I want a more realistic view.” Fellow ELO fans were equally stunned by Time as one revealed they listened to the album multiple times a week.
Some have even suggested they prefer it to The Beatles’ opus Abbey Road or Pink Floyd powerhouse Wish You Were Here. They wrote: “Personally, I dropped my ratings for Wish You Were Here and Abbey Road from 100 to 99 on album of the year after listening to Time because it just hit different.”
Discover more from Cult Following
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
