Shine a Little Love

"Shine a Little Love"
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Discovery
B-side	"Jungle"
Released	27 April 1979 (US) 11 May 1979 (UK)
Format	7" single 12" single
Recorded	1979 at Musicland Studios, Munich
Length	4:41 (Album version) 4:11 (Single version)
Label	Jet
Writer(s)	Jeff Lynne
Producer(s)	Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology
The ELO EP (1978) "Shine a Little Love" (1979) "The Diary of Horace Wimp" (1979)
Discovery track listing 9 tracks Side one "Shine a Little Love" "Confusion" "Need Her Love" "The Diary of Horace Wimp" Side two "Last Train to London" "Midnight Blue" "On the Run" "Wishing" "Don't Bring Me Down"

"Shine a Little Love" is a song by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released as a single in the US and UK in May 1979.

Summary

The song is the first track on their 1979 album Discovery. This was one of the band's most commercially successful singles, peaking at no. 1 in Canada, no. 6 in the UK Singles Chart^[1] and no. 8 in the US Billboard Hot 100.^[2] The song subsequently became one of their biggest worldwide hits as well. The 12" release was also available in white vinyl. Two different promotional videos were filmed for the single, a recording studio version shot on 35mm film, minus the band's three string players and a video-taped version made for the Discovery video album, featuring the full touring line-up.

“	A bit of a disco beat on this one, and quite a lot of things going on, forty piece string section and all. It's very jolly and bouncy and I must have been in a very good mood when I wrote it!	”
	— Discovery remaster (2001), Jeff Lynne

The song was later sampled as a club remix by Lovefreekz and featured on their club hit "Shine". This version was featured in the episode "Okay Awesome" during season 1 of the TV show How I Met Your Mother.

In 2007, the Starlight Children's Foundation of Australia promoted their national Starlight Day on 4 May through television advertisements featuring this song.

The Norwegian comedy group band Prima Vera also used the 14-second long intro in their song "Den Sinte Festus", which also features the melody of the title song from the popular western series Bonanza.

Chart performance

Weekly charts Chart (1979) Peak Position Australia (Kent Music Report)[3] 14 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[4] 23 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] 21 Belgium (VRT Top 30 Flanders)[6] 17 Canada (CHUM)[7] 1 Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[8] 14 Canada Top Singles (RPM)[9] 4 Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[10] 18 France (IFOP)[11] 11 Germany (Official German Charts)[12] 30 Ireland (IRMA)[13] 4 Italy (FIMI)[14] 18 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[15] 10 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[16] 17 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[17] 17 Norway (VG-lista)[18] 9 South Africa (Springbok Radio)[19] 16 Spain (AFYVE)[20] 16 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[1] 6 US Billboard Hot 100[2] 8 US Cash Box[21] 7 US Record World[22] 8

Year-end charts Chart (1979) Rank Australia (Kent Music Report)[23] 97 Canada (RPM Top 200 Singles)[24] 39 Italy (FIMI)[14] 67 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[25] 89 US Billboard Hot 100[26] 71 US Cash Box[27] 67

B-side

"Jungle" is a song written by Jeff Lynne which first appeared as an album track from the 1977 album Out of the Blue. According to the band members' opinions, recording Jungle was a lot of fun owing to the various types of sound effects, the upbeat tune, and the jungle animal noises provided by Lynne, Bev Bevan, and Kelly Groucutt. Like most songs from the LP, the song starts with a fade in sequence by Tandy then continues in a different tune.

“	On 'Jungle', I was inspired by an old Hollywood movie 42nd Street by Busby Berkeley. I liked the sound of the tap dancers so we re-created this dance in the corridor of Musicland.	”
	— 26 February 2007 - Out Of The Blue remaster liner notes, Jeff Lynne

“	Great fun recording this song with our imitations of bird calls, elephants, Tarzan and even a tap dance sequence performed by Jeff, Kelly and myself.	”
	— 1977 - Japanese Out Of The Blue LP liner notes (United Artists GXG 25/26), Bev Bevan

“	For Jungle, Jeff, Richard, Kelly and Bev provided their own effects and ably imitated the sound of animals, Tarzan and a dubiously named dance troupe in full swing.	”
	— 26 February 2007 - Out Of The Blue remaster liner notes, Rob Caiger

References

1. "Archive Chart: 1979-06-09" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
2. "Electric Light Orchestra – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
3. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
4. "Austriancharts.at – Electric Light Orchestra – Shine A Little Love" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
5. "Ultratop.be – Electric Light Orchestra – Shine A Little Love" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
6. "Radio 2 Top 30 : 23 juni 1979" (in Dutch). Top 30. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
7. CHART NUMBER 1175 – Saturday, July 21, 1979 at the Wayback Machine (archived 29 July 2007). CHUM.
8. "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 4407." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
9. "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4497a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
10. European Top 50 Singles – compiled by Europarade – Week Ending 16.06.79 at the Wayback Machine (archived 13 June 2014). World Charts.
11. "InfoDisc : Tous les Titres par Artiste" (in French). InfoDisc. Select "Electric Light Orchestra" from the artist drop-down menu. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
12. "Offiziellecharts.de – Electric Light Orchestra – Shine A Little Love". GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
13. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Shine a Little Love". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
14. "I singoli più venduti del 1979" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
15. "Nederlandse Top 40 – Electric Light Orchestra - Shine A Little Love search results" (in Dutch) Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
16. "Dutchcharts.nl – Electric Light Orchestra – Shine A Little Love" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
17. "Charts.org.nz – Electric Light Orchestra – Shine A Little Love". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
18. "Norwegiancharts.com – Electric Light Orchestra – Shine A Little Love". VG-lista. Retrieved 5 July 2013.
19. "South African Rock Lists Website SA Charts 1969 – 1989 Acts (E)". Rock.co.za. Retrieved 29 April 2013.
20. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (in Spanish) (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
21. CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending JULY 21, 1979 at the Wayback Machine (archived 20 August 2011). Cash Box magazine.
22. RECORD WORLD 1979 at the Wayback Machine (archived 11 May 2005). Record World. Geocities.com.
23. "Forum – ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts – Top 100 End of Year AMR Charts – 1970s". Australian-charts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
24. "Top Singles – Volume 32, No. 13, December 22 1979". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
25. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1979" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
26. "Top 100 Hits for 1979". The Longbored Surfer. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
27. The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1979 at the Wayback Machine (archived 25 August 2012). Cash Box magazine.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics