| Secret Messages | |
| Cover: | Secret Messages.jpg |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Electric Light Orchestra |
| Album: | Secret Messages |
| B-Side: | Buildings Have Eyes |
| Released: | 26 August 1983[1] |
| Recorded: | 1983 at Wisseloord Studios, Hilversum, the Netherlands |
| Length: | 4:44 (Album version) 3:35 (Single edit) 4:51 (Double album version) |
| Label: | Jet |
| Producer: | Jeff Lynne |
| Prev Title: | Rock 'n' Roll Is King |
| Prev Year: | 1983 |
| Next Title: | Four Little Diamonds |
| Next Year: | 1983 |
"Secret Messages" is a song recorded by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and is the title track (and opening track) of the 1983 album Secret Messages.
The song begins with strange effects and a backmasked voice (saying "welcome to the show") followed by a burst of morse code spelling out E.L.O., something Jeff Lynne did also 10 years earlier on "Ocean Breakup/King of the Universe" from On the Third Day. The song and album were recorded very much tongue in cheek with Jeff Lynne's love of hidden messages in songs.
The single peaked at 48 in the UK Singles Chart[2] and at number 14 in the Irish Singles Chart.[3]
Parts of the music video featuring a radio telescope were filmed at Jodrell Bank in Cheshire, England.
| Chart (1983) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Irish Singles Chart[4] | 14 |
| Polish Singles Chart[5] | 5 |
| UK Singles Chart | 48 |