Better finish this song before the Amtrak runs over the drummer again…
Ready to start your Monday with a song in your heart and a worm in your ear? No? You think that sounds yucky? Well, too damned bad! Because The Nest is ready to roll out another wire brush Q-Tip from that retro inner ear we like to call the Dusty Vinyl Archive! DJ Scratchy’s ready to bang on your eardrum all day, while the Sponkies are making cute animals out of nothing but earwax. OK, that might be yucky, but this week’s song is anything but….
The 1980’s was loaded with bands that weren’t just plain, average, ordinary rock bands… but were known as supergroups. These supergroups consisted almost entirely of members of other successful bands and well known solo artists. Asia consisted of members from The Buggles, Emerson Lake and Palmer, and Yes. The Power Station was Robert Palmer, a Chic, and two guys from Duran Duran. USA For Africa was…… well, a bunch of unknown nobodies…
Really, did anybody check ID’s at the door?
But in terms of star power, no supergroup could possibly match the late 80’s quintet known by the corny name of The Traveling Wilburys. The Wilburys were the brainchild of George Harrison, who along with ELO’s Jeff Lynne worked quickly to put together the remaining members of the band in 1988… and you may have heard of them as well: Tom Petty, Roy Orbison, and none other than the legendary Robert Zimmerman… you know, that Dylan guy.
Everybody must get stoned. But probably not while you’re picking out a wardrobe…
The song that led to The Wilburys becoming a thing was their debut single “Handle With Care,” which was also their biggest “hit”…. as in, it made it to #45 on the pop charts. Eh, not a lot of people were interested in corny rock when hip hop, hair metal and Debbie Gibson were a thing. Their second single fared even worse at #63, but is probably their best known song… and that may be stretching things. But it’s a damned fine piece of music, and there’s almost no way you can’t tap along to its infectious beat. Here’s The Traveling Wilburys 1989 magnum opus, “End of the Line”…
All five Wilburys get a chance to sing a solo part, with the exception of Bob Dylan… and that’s a blessing. This includes Roy Orbison, who belts out a beautiful third chorus in this video despite the fact that…. um…. he was slightly deceased at the time this video was made. Orbison took the words of this song literally and died of a heart attack on December 6, 1988… barely a month after the Wilburys debut album was released, and a full month before “End of the Line” was put out as a single. The band pays a nice tribute to Roy in this video by turning down the lights and placing his guitar on a rocking chair during his time to shine.
It would have been cooler had they put a pair of sunglasses on the guitar, though…
The Dusty Vinyl Archive won’t reach the end of the line until I do. Come back for another great lost hit next Monday…
Evil Squirrel's Nest 
Yep I really like this song and did from the minute I first heard it. I hadn’t seen the video before though – the Orbison/chair touch was nice.
Pam
Yep, although nobody ever pay tribute to me by putting a squirrel in a rocking chair. I’m not that old!
love it!!! and I sometimes wish the good old times back… with perms and aquanet and pennies in my shoes and frozen arms because the sweater was my scarf LOL
I’d forgotten the Traveling Wilburys – and I loved listening to them! Thanks for the reminder!
Absolutely!
This makes me so happy. Love this song. Adore the Traveling Wilburys. Thank you Evil Squirrel.
I think I promised this song a long time ago, but just now thought to feature it. I also promised some Debbie Gibson and have yet to use one of her songs, so I must get on that…
I’ve actually heard of this bunch (the band, obviously the members). The epitome of “easy listening” and a nice change from the usual 80s fare.
It was certainly different…. which I guess is why it wasn’t popular.
Thank YOU SO MUCH! ❤ I love me some Wilburys. It's sad therefore that they're (mostly) all dead now. But half of the Highwaymen are too. *sigh* To find one's favorite artists and their music are dusty vinyls is vaguely depressing. But then I found this to share with YOU as a way of expressing my gratitude for your wonderful dusty today!!
Enjoy. ❤
Well, that video was quite unsettling. The song, though, must be a legitimate earworm… because this was the last thing I listened to before leaving for work last night, and it was going through my head the entire way there. Nice song…. but man, that guy in the video needs those huge teeth knocked out….
I’d never have known that that song was called End of the Line, because you hear the lyrics “well it’s all right” far more obviously!
Songwriters never name their songs after the obvious. Bob Dylan was in the band, after all…
Very good point there!