"Dear Elaine" is a 1972 song written and produced by

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a n ...

. It was first released on Wood's July 1973 debut solo album, ''

Boulders In geology, a boulder (or rarely bowlder) is a rock fragment with size greater than in diameter. Smaller pieces are called cobbles and pebbles. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive. In co ...

'', before being issued as a single on 11 August 1973. Wood played all of the musical instruments on the recording, as well as supplying lead and multi-tracked backing vocals. The song was globally published by Essex Music International, Inc. (ASCAP). The track reached number 18 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. The single remained in the UK chart for eight weeks. "Dear Elaine" was a "semi-classical"

experimental pop Experimental pop is pop music that cannot be categorized within traditional musical boundaries or which attempts to push elements of existing popular forms into new areas. It may incorporate experimental techniques such as musique concrète, al ...

song reminiscent of

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experimentation, philo ...

and

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

. It featured a slow tempo, with Wood singing with acoustic guitar,

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

s and bass, alongside sporadic usage of Wood's multitracked choir. In 1994, Wood stated, "Even though we didn't actually record it as

the Move The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their caree ...

, I had already written "Dear Elaine", which I subsequently put on the Boulders solo album. I thought that was probably the best song I'd written at that time". The track has appeared on numerous

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

s, including Wood's own ''Singles'' (1993, Connoisseur Records). The track is still played on national radio, with

BBC Radio BBC Radio is an operational business division and service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a royal charter since 1927). The service provides national radio stations covering th ...

airing it in January 2019.

Reception

Sounds In physics, sound is a vibration that propagates as an acoustic wave, through a transmission medium such as a gas, liquid or solid. In human physiology and psychology, sound is the ''reception'' of such waves and their ''perception'' by the ...

'' magazine, in its July 1973 edition, described the song as "a charming, eccentric, gentle record from one of rock's real craftsmen. It may be too languid for popular success but it's a lovely record anyway. Ignore it at your peril".

References

External links

YouTube video
{{authority control 1972 songs 1973 singles Baroque pop songs Experimental pop songs Songs written by Roy Wood Song recordings produced by Roy Wood Harvest Records singles