ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA

The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) was the brainchild of Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Beverly Bevan of the British band, "The Move".

Formed in 1971 to play Jazz and classically-influenced free form music aligned more to an orchestra than a rock band." The trio added bassist Rick Price, French horn player Bill Hunt and violinist Steve Woolam to record their self-titled debut LP (issued as No Answer in the U.S.).

In the months between the sessions for the album and its eventual release, The Move embarked on their farewell tour, with Woolam leaving the ELO line-up prior to the enlistment of violinist Wilf Gibson, bassist Richard Tandy, and cellists Andy Craig and Hugh McDowell. When ELO first debuted in 1972 at the Greyhound pub in Croydon, Surrey England, they were not well received. The public had never seen a rock band that included cellos, violins and a French horn.  

In 1972 10538 Overture', was released the single reached the UK Top 10. Their self-titled album only reached #196 on the album charts.

Roy Wood left ELO to form Wizzard, taking Hunt and McDowell with him; When Andy Craig dropped out, the remaining quartet maintained the ELO name with the addition of Mike D'Albuquerque to handle bass and vocals and cellists Mike Edwards and Colin Walker, Lynne assumed lead vocal duties, with his Lennonesque tenor proving the ideal complement to his increasingly sophisticated melodies. With 1973's ELO II, the group returned to the Top Ten with their cover of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven"; the record was also their first American hit, with 1974's Eldorado yielding their first U.S. Top Ten, the lovely "Can't Get It Out of My Head." Despite Electric Light Orchestra's commercial success, the band remained relatively faceless; the line-up changed constantly, with sole mainstays Lynne and Bevan preferring to let their elaborate stage shows and omnipresent spaceship imagery instead serve as the group's public persona.

In 1975, bassist and vocalist Kelly Groucutt joined, and the album "Face The Music" was released, from which the major singles were "Evil Woman" and "Strange Magic", marking a shift to a more radio friendly sound. From the same album, the instrumental "Fire on High", with its mix of strings and blazing acoustic guitars, saw heavy exposure as background music on ABC's Wide World of Sports montages, though most viewers had no idea of the song's origins. The Electric Light Orchestra became a star attraction on America's lucrative stadium circuit and achieved considerable commercial success.

The platinum-selling double-LP, Out of the Blue, appeared in 1977, although the record's success was tempered somewhat by a lawsuit filed by Electric Light Orchestra against their former distributor, United Artists, whom the band accused of flooding the market with defective copies of the album. Columbia distributed the remainder of the group's music, issued through their own Jet Records imprint, beginning with 1979's Discovery, which notched Top Ten entries "Shine a Little Love" and "Don't Bring Me Down." In the wake of ELO's best-selling Greatest Hits compilation, Lynne wrote several songs for the soundtrack of the Olivia Newton-John film Xanadu, including the hit title track. The next Electric Light Orchestra album, 1981's Time, generated their final Top Ten hit, "Hold on Tight." Following 1983's Secret Messages, Bevan left the group to join Black Sabbath, although he returned to the fold for 1986's Balance of Power, which despite the presence of the Top 20 hit "Calling America" received little interest from fans and media alike.

Despite their chart success, recurrent legal and distribution problems conspired to undermine ELO's momentum. "Time" and "Secret Messages" lacked the verve of earlier work and the group's future was put in doubt by a lack of quality releases and Lynne's growing disenchantment. The guitarist's pursuit of a solo career signalled a final split.

During the 1980s and early '90s, Jeff Lynne has made a name for himself as a producer, helping artists such as Brian Wilson and Tom Petty. A long time Beatles fan, Lynne produced George Harrison's 1987 "Cloud Nine". He and Harrison later joined Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, and Roy Orbison to form the Traveling Wilburys. In 1994 and 1995, Lynne helped produce the Beatles' singles "Free As A Bird" and "Real Love."

Jeff Lynn and Bev Bevan each owned 50% of the name 'ELO' Bevan formed Electric Light Orchestra with vocalist Neil Lockwood, keyboardist Eric Troyer, and bassist Pete Haycock; but had to add Part II as Lynne filed suit against the group although a self-titled LP followed in 1991, with a live collection recorded with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra appearing a year later. Outside of 1994's Moment of Truth, subsequent ELO II releases have been live efforts as well. . Although the group didn't have any recording success, they continued to tour and rehash the oldies until 2001, when Bevan left and Lynn gained 100% control of the ELO name. The remaining members of ELO 2 were then forced into another name change, opting for 'Orchestra'.

Lynn decided to resurrect ELO and tour again but interest in The Electric Light Orchestra had fallen and they were forced to cancel their first U.S. tour in more than fifteen years, as the band failed to sell enough tickets to fill the arena-sized venues. The group planned a tour behind their summer release, "Zoom", the first ELO recording with Lynne since 1986's 'Balance of Power'. This seemed to build disinterest rather than nostalgic fascination, as "Zoom" was met with a lukewarm reception, selling fewer than 20,000 units in its first week, to debut at Number Ninety-four on the charts. Two weeks later it exited the Top 200.

ELO weren't without 2001 performances though, as the band recorded an episode of Storytellers for VH1 and a special for PBS. In April, 2003, Legacy Records released a digitally remastered collection of ELO's Greatest Hits and in the Summer of 2005, yet another greatest hits collection called "All Over The World" hit store shelves, the career-defining collection celebrates Jeff Lynne’s outstanding musical legacy which continues to this day - all over the world - and will for many more Light years!

Interesting Fact
Marc Bolan played guitar & did minor backing vocals on “Showdown” and played guitar on "Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle". 1973

  DISCOGRAPHY

ALBUMS

1971 The Electric Light Orchestra(Titled as No Answer in the U.S. and released in 1972) 1973 ELO 2(Titled as Electric Light Orchestra II and ELO II in the U.S.) 1973 On the Third Day 1974 Eldorado, A Symphony 1975 Face the Music 1976 A New World Record 1977 Out of the Blue 1979 Discovery 1980 Xanadu 1981 Time 1983 Secret Messages 1986 Balance of Power 2001 Zoom

SINGLES

1972 10538 Overture 1973 Roll Over Beethoven Showdown 1974 Ma-Ma-Ma Belle Daybreaker Can't Get It Out of My Head 1975 Evil Woman 1976 Strange Magic Showdown (reissue) Livin' Thing 1977 Rockaria! Do Ya Telephone Line Turn to Stone 1978 Mr. Blue Sky Wild West Hero Sweet Talkin' Woman It's Over The Elo EP 1979 Shine A Little Love The Diary of Horace Wimp Don't Bring Me Down Confusion Last Train to London 1980 I'm Alive Xanadu -Feat. Olivia Newton-John All Over The World Don't Walk Away 1981 Hold on Tight Twilight Rain Is Falling 1982 Here Is The News / Ticket to the Moon 1983 Rock 'n' Roll Is King Secret Messages Four Little Diamonds Stranger 1986 Calling America So Serious Getting To The Point 2006 Surrender

  RELATED T O

THE MOVE

TOMORROW

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