In 1978, Jeff Lynne made the most painstaking song of his career. Now, it has been streamed over 116,000,000 times

Jeff Lynne reworked ELO’s “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” after scrapping an earlier version called “Dead End Street”, turning the 1978 single into one of the band’s enduring hits. The story shows how Lynne’s exacting approach to recording helped shape ELO’s polished sound, while placing heavy demands on the musicians and studio process.

Lynne said he spent a day recording backing vocals for the original lyrics, then erased them and rewrote the song in about an hour before recording the vocals again. He described “Sweet Talkin’ Woman” as the record with the most edits he had ever made, painstakingly joined with half a mile of editing tape. The song, from ELO’s 1977 album *Out of the Blue*, has since been streamed more than 116 million times.