Song of the Day 9/10: Electric Light Orchestra, “Showdown”

Tonight’s televised face-off between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump can’t possibly meet expectations, if only because they’re so high for Harris and so low for Trump. I think those expecting a Trump meltdown will be disappointed, and if he holds himself together he will be declared the winner because he stepped over that low bar. But there’s always the chance that this will be the time he blows it, which is how he’s kept the country in his thrall for almost a decade.

“Showdown,” released in 1973, was one of ELO’s first singles. It was one of John Lennon’s favorite songs, and thought it wasn’t a hit in America, it made No. 12 on the UK singles chart.