ELO – Last Train To London

Last Train to London was on the Discovery album released in 1979. Dave (A Sound Day) covered this album and he has some great trivia on who the model was on the cover. Click on there and see who it was…it will probably surprise you.

I had this album and there are two songs I really liked off of it other than the big hits. One of them is this one and the other was The Diary of Horace Wimp.

Jeff was happy to admit that he appreciated disco. Shine a Little Love and Last Train To London certainly pointed that way.

This album generated four top-ten UK singles, a successful new milestone in spite of the fact that this was the first which the group did not support with a tour.

Last Train To London peaked at #39 in the Billboard 100, #28 in Canada, and #8 in the UK.

Discovery peaked at #5 in the Billboard Album Chart, #1 in the UK and #3 in Canada.

Jeff Lynne: “I love disco. I love it and I always have loved it, ever since I first heard that ‘bang, bang, bang, bang!’ And I realized, ‘Wow! You just keep the bangs in and fill the holes in with something else.’ And it worked. I mean Shine A Little Love is the perfect example, right there. And Last Train To London. I really enjoyed doing disco.”

Last Train To London

It was 9-29, 9-29 back street big city
The Sun was going’ down, there was music all around
It felt so right

It was one of those nights
One of those nights when you feel the world stop turning
You were standing there, there was music in the air
I should have been away, but I knew I’d have to stay

Last train to London, just heading out
Last train to London, just leaving town
But I really want tonight to last forever
I really wanna be with you
Let the music play on down the line tonight

It was one of those nights
One of those nights when you feel the fire is burning
Everybody was there, everybody to share, it felt so right

There you were on your own
Looking like you were the only one around
I had to be with you, nothing else that I could do
I should have been away, but I knew I’d have to say

Last train to London, just heading out
Last train to London, just leaving town
But I really want tonight to last forever
I really wanna be with you
Let the music play on down the line tonight

Underneath a starry sky
Time was still but hours must really have rushed by
I didn’t realize, but love was in your eyes
I really should have gone, but love went on and on

Last train to London, just heading out
Last train to London, just leaving town
But I really want tonight to last forever
I really wanna be with you
Let the music play on down the line tonight

…

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player.

37 thoughts on “ELO – Last Train To London”

  1. thanks for the plug and link!
    A great song, of which ELO had a ton of in the 70s. Weird tiny bit Jeff added in that I always liked was the muffled notifications (‘last train to London”)in the background that sounded like they were in a train station.

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      5. I got a movie tonight I never could find! It’s from 1970…H.R. Pufnstuff the movie! It’s from 1970…it has Cass Elliot…. a blogger named Graham brought it up that he saw it years back…I finally found it.
        I posted about H.R. Pufnstuff today.

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      8. Uh… I just deleted Easy Rider & FM from the account. I don’t recall a movie from last week. Back around August 7, I was looking for Threshold (TV Series) and Invasion: Earth, a BBC mini-series.

        *scratching head*

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  3. Have always loved ELO! And as a lover of Disco myself, knowing Jeff Lynne loved it too makes me love him even more. I never thought of “Last Train to London” being a dance song. I just thought it had a great melody and infectious beat.

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    1. I never thought of it as a dance song either. I can hear elements of disco in it but I dont’ hear “Boogie Fever” in it by no means.
      Their music leant itself for this though. Lynne can write a great pop song. His solo album Armchair Theatre has some great pop melodies.

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  5. I actually got the “Discovery” album on vinyl when it came out at the time. The main motivation was “Don’t Bring Me Down”, a favorite at parties with my school mates. That tune also got lots of radio play in Germany, as did “Shine a Little Love.”

    While nowadays I’m no longer as fond of the album, Jeff Lynne just knows how to write catchy tunes, regardless of the genre. “Last Train to London” is a great example. It’ll be stuck in my head for the rest of the day! 🙂

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    1. It is disco tinted yes…I will admit that. It’s NOT Boogie Night lol. Hey there is some I like…Donna Summer, Jive Talking and I Love The Nightlife…I don’t know why but I like that one…and Burn Baby Burn

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      1. Well, no, it isn’t disco funk but, it is disco. Even your data said Lynne loved disco.

        OMG, I can’t stand I Love The Nightlife. I cringe every time I hear it. LOL!

        Burn Baby Burn…you mean Disco Inferno?

        I can remember my mother talking about wanting to go to Miami and scale the wall. She LOVED Barry Gibb.

        Another one I can’t stand…I Will Survive. Dear GOD I hope I never have to hear that, again. LOL!

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      2. You have never played I Love The Nightlife on a distorted electric guitar in front of a lot of drunks! A big old look of surprise….All I would do is the chorus…the looks that got! Also did Scoobie Doo.

        Yes Disco Inferno…you know I don’t know them by name lol. I like Donna Summer.

        LOL Barry…Mr Hairy chest.

        I liked the Pointer Sisters…We Are Family

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      3. No. I can honestly say that I never have. LOL! Alicia Bridges AND Scooby. Were YOU drunk?

        Donna Summer was top bad ass!

        He was very handsome at one time. He is old now. Happens to the best…

        Um…We Are Family is Sister Sledge but, the Pointer Sisters were OK. They were more pop than disco. How about A Taste of Honey?

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      4. No…I would do all sorts of silly things like that. It was fun and people could relate….Oh the Fat Albert theme also…”I’m going to sing a song for you….”…the Ladybug song… 123 456… just fun things. Good reactions

        Donna was great and she was a looker.

        I don’t remember them…I’ll look them up. The reason for Pointer Sisters is because of the 79 Pittsburg Pirates…they played We Are Family…it was cool during the World Series.

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      5. I’m not sure where the Pointer Sisters come in. Everything I have come across is Sister Sledge:
        https://thesportsnotebook.com/1979-pittsburgh-pirates-sports-history-articles/
        https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/mlb/2019/07/20/family-reunion-close-ties-still-bind-1979-pirates/39788531/

        And, the Pointer Sisters never did a cover of it:
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/We_Are_Family_(song)#Cover_versions

        Which one, you don’t remember? Sister Sledge or A Taste of Honey?

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      6. That is ME…I’m stuuuupid lol… I get those names mixed up….but they are not in my wheel house lol.

        Sister Sledge!!! Yep that was it. My disco-pop knowledge is not great.

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      8. They are both female singing groups….both had sisters in the band lol… Yea I’m not that good. That isn’t the first time I’ve called Sister Sledge the Pointer Sisters.

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  7. Fab track fab album, the Other side of this was Confusion in the UK, a double A, both got airplay, and I preferred Confusion. ELO at their peak, along with Out Of The Blue. Re: disco, what’s not to love. I Feel Love changed the face of popular music and influenced all genres and it still sounds like it arrived yesterday not 43 years ago. The I Hate Disco movement meant nothing in the UK, it’s never been a dirty word 🙂

    Last Train To London was heavily sampled on the UK hit Be With You from Atomic Kitten and the hook borrowed in 2002. It’s disco!

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