Electric Light Orchestra
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Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), from Birmingham, England, was a successful rock music group of the 1970s and 1980s.
History
The band, formed by Jeff Lynne (of The Idle Race) with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan (the remaining members of The Move) in 1970, used cellos and violins to give their music a "classical" sound. "Who is the lead singer of ELO?" is a classic quizo question, but one that will not be missed by Zach. Roy Wood left ELO shortly after the release of their eponymous first album in 1971 (which produced the UK hit "10538 Overture") and Jeff Lynne stepped up to lead the band. In the USA, this album was released with the mistaken title of No Answer, due to a mix-up with an uncompleted telephone call to the American label and subsequent secretarial message. [link]
The band went through a line-up change (as Wood took some musicians with him to form Wizzard), including a new keyboardist, Richard Tandy, and released Electric Light Orchestra II in 1973, from which came their first U.S. chart hit, a hugely elaborate cover of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven". They also released On The Third Day in 1973, and Eldorado in 1974, scoring another U.S. Top 40 hit with "Can't Get It Out Of My Head".
In late 1974, bassist and vocalist Kelly Groucutt joined, and in 1975 Face The Music was released, from which the major singles were "Evil Woman" (whose instrumental string hook was sampled in 2006 by Pussycat Dolls to form the basis of their hit "Beep") 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 CBS Sports Spectacular montages, though most viewers had no idea of the song's origins. The multi-platinum album A New World Record was released in 1976 with hits such as "Livin' Thing" (remade by The Beautiful South in 2004), a re-recording of The Move's "Do Ya", and "Telephone Line". The songs "Livin' Thing" and "Telephone Line" were prominently featured in the films Boogie Nights and Billy Madison, respectively.
That was followed by the double album Out of the Blue, featuring the singles "Turn To Stone", "Sweet Talkin' Woman", "Its Over, and "Mr. Blue Sky". The band then set out on a world tour, with an enormous (and hugely expensive) space ship set in tow.
In 1979, Lynne set out to capitalize on the growing popularity of disco with the album Discovery (or "Disco very" as he has been quoted). The album generated their biggest hit "Don't Bring Me Down" (the first ELO track not to feature strings), along with "Shine A Little Love" (sampled in 2005 by Lovefreekz for a dance hit called "Shine") and "Last Train To London" (sampled in 2003 by Atomic Kitten on their hit "Be With You"). Not long after this album, the violinist Mik Kaminski and the two cellists Hugh McDowell and Melvyn Gale were considered surplus to requirements and dismissed.
Soon after, ELO was enlisted to provide half of the soundtrack for the musical film Xanadu, the other half provided by Olivia Newton-John, who starred in the movie along with Gene Kelly. The movie bombed but the soundtrack did very well, with hit singles from both Newton-John ("Magic", #1 in the U.S.) and ELO ("I'm Alive" and "All Over the World") as well as the title track to the movie, performed by Newton-John with ELO which reached #1 in the UK single charts and #8 on the U.S. Billboard top 40 chart.
In 1981, ELO's sound changed again, moving away from disco and into the 1980s, with the science-fiction concept album Time (singles: "Hold On Tight", "Twilight") on which synthesizers replaced classical strings. Following this, their popularity began to wane.
Secret Messages was released in 1983, with a guest appearance by former ELO violinist Mik Kaminski on the track "Rock 'n' Roll Is King"; this was the only hit single taken from this album. Secret Messages was originally recorded as a double album; however, the record company had different ideas, citing that it would be too expensive. Some of the songs that didn't survive the hatchet job cropped up as single B-sides and on later box sets; however, the tribute song "Beatles Forever" is still unavailable. It has been reported that Jeff Lynne is embarrassed by this song, hence its unavailability. Shortly after this album Kelly Groucutt was dismissed from the band, and subsequently sued Jeff Lynne for royalty fees.
By 1986, ELO was reduced to a three-piece band. They released their final album, Balance of Power. Though the single Calling America placed in the Top-20, Getting to the Point/So Serious failed to chart. All of the songs had synthesizers and no strings. A short while later, the bandmembers went their seperate ways.
Electric Light Orchestra Part II
In 1988, ELO drummer Bev Bevan approached Jeff Lynne, wanting to do another ELO album. After Lynne declined to participate, Bevan intended to continue the band without him. Lynne objected, and lawyers were soon involved. The legal agreement reached between Lynne and Bevan resulted in ELO disbanding and Bevan forming a new band, initially called Electric Light Orchestra Part Two. Bevan recruited longtime ELO string conductor and co-arranger Louis Clark into his new band, along with Eric Troyer (keyboards and vocals), Pete Haycock (guitar and vocals) and Neil Lockwood (guitar and vocals). ELO Part Two released a self-titled album in 1991 which featured former ELO violinist Mik Kaminski on one track. The album was intended to harken back to ELO's classic sound of the mid-to-late 1970s, but opinion is strongly divided as to whether or not it succeeded. The first tour featured the band performing live with The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, and was well-received in the UK. Approximately two-thirds of the songs performed were ELO hits. The concert in ELO's home town of Birmingham was captured on video and on the live album with the long-winded title Performing ELO's Greatest Hits Live Featuring The Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Kaminski, former ELO cellist Hugh McDowell, and former ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt were part of the live band, with Groucutt sharing lead and backing vocals with Troyer, Haycock and Lockwood. Kaminski and Groucutt were initially appearing as guest artists from another ELO offshoot band they had formed called OrKestra, but eventually they ended their own band and joined ELO Part Two full-time. McDowell's tenure with the band was short, as some personality conflicts emerged and he was let go. Plans to tour the USA with the MSO were cancelled, as costs became prohibitive.The band continued to tour Germany and the UK in 1992 with Louis Clark playing keyboards to duplicate the strings of the absent orchestra. In 1993, Haycock and Lockwood left the band, and were replaced by guitarist/vocalist Phil Bates, who had been in the band Trickster which were the opening act for ELO's 1978 world tour. An ambitious world tour was undertaken by ELO Part Two in 1993, including dates in the USA and Eastern Europe.
Now a six-piece band with a slightly altered name, Electric Light Orchestra Part II recorded a second studio album, Moment Of Truth, which was released in 1994. The album was not a commercial success, but was generally considered superior to their first album. The band continued its rigorous tour schedule over the following years, sometimes augmenting the core band with a backing orchestra. On these occasions, they took only a small number of string players on the road and added local musicians to the orchestra at each venue to cut down costs. This was one of the features that distinguished ELO Part II from ELO, as the original band never played live with orchestral accompaniment. Another live album with orchestral backing was recorded in Sydney, Australia in 1995 and was released the following year in Germany as a double album One Night, and the year after that in the USA as a single album One Night - Live In Australia. The band sold the master tapes of this album, and it has since been remixed, remastered, and re-released under so many guises that the original CD may prove difficult to acquire.
Bates remained with the band until 1998 and was replaced by Parthenon Huxley (guitar, vocals). As the decade progressed, the percentage of original material in the band's set list tended to decrease, and their concerts often consisted of 90% ELO songs. Bevan started to get frustrated, especially with their inability to break through in the United States, where the band sometimes performed in bars or at festivals where they were not the centre of attention. In November 1999, Bevan played his last show with the band at the Sands Hotel in Atlantic City.
Unlike the original ELO, which were under the creative control of writer/producer Lynne, ELO Part II were often portrayed as more of a democracy, with various band members sharing songwriting and lead vocals. But Bevan was still the leader of the band, and he issued a press release in early 2000 indicating that ELO Part II were disbanded. The remaining members of the band, now including drummer Gordon Townsend, disputed this. But Bevan sold his 50% share of the ELO name and the rights to the ELO Part II name to Lynne, and Lynne, now the full owner of the ELO name, took legal action to prevent the band from continuing to call themselves ELO Part II. They initially tried to call themselves "ELO 2", but they eventually submitted and changed their name to The Orchestra.
In 2001, The Orchestra released an extremely limited number of their CD No Rewind which was produced and released without involvement from a major record label (but was later released in Argentina by Art Music in 2005). The album contains The Orchestra's best known non-ELO song, "Over London Skies", and a cover of "Twist and Shout" which begins in a slow, plaintive minor key with arpeggiated chords before building to the familiar, rocking major progression. The band continues to tour, albeit irregularly, in the United Kingdom, India, Spain, Argentina, Brazil, and occasionally the United States.
The Orchestra have been touring in 2006 using the name "Electric Light Orchestra Part II Former Members". Lynne, owner of the names Electric Light Orchestra and Electric Light Orchestra Part II, has sued The Orchestra, claiming copyright infringement. The matter is presently in litigation.
Reforming Electric Light Orchestra
Jeff Lynne's comeback with ELO started in 2001 when he reformed the band with completely new members and released the album Zoom. Former ELO member Richard Tandy rejoined the band a short time afterwards for a tour that was cut short due to poor ticket sales. A DVD of the opening concert was released in the wake of the aborted tour. Zoom was made after Lynne had collaborated with The Traveling Wilburys and took on a more organic sound, with less emphasis on strings and electronic effects. Guest musicians included former Beatles Ringo Starr and George Harrison.Trivia
The touring ELO act of the 1970s was an audio-visual extravaganza due to the elaborate spaceship sets, but towards the end of the decade the band was criticized for using taped backing tracks providing orchestral riffs.In recent years, many ELO songs have been used in advertising, soundtracks and similar:
- In 2005, "Hold On Tight" was used in an Ameriquest commercial
- "Do Ya" has been used in a Monster.com commercial and also in trailers for the movie The 40-Year-Old Virgin
- "Four Little Diamonds" was featured in the video game
- In the 1996 Comedy movie Kingpin, "Showdown" was used as background music during a one-on-one bowling tournament
- "Twilight" from Time was used as the theme song for the popular Japanese TV series Densha Otoko and in the opening of the 1983 Japanese sci-fi convention Daicon IV
- JCPenney used "Livin' Thing" in its 2005 Christmas commercials
- TV comedy show My Name Is Earl also used "Livin' Thing" in 2005 for the episode "Quit Smoking", as well as "Hold on Tight" in the season one finale
- In 2006, New Zealand rap group Frontline sampled a piece of "Dreaming of 4000" (from "On The Third Day") for their latest release "Hold 'em"
- "Mr. Blue Sky" has enjoyed a particular resurgence:
- *In 2003 and 2004, it appeared in a commercial for the Volkswagen Beetle convertible
- *It was featured as a song sung by the main characters in the movie adaptation of The Magic Roundabout
- *It was used in the trailers for the films Adaptation and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
- *It was the theme song of the television series LAX
- *It is part of the soundtrack for the Atari video game , featuring prominently in the 1970s section of the game
- *In 2005, it was used in a successful advertising campaign on British television for a new clothes range from the retailer Marks & Spencer
- *It featured as backing music for the Doctor Who episode 'Love & Monsters', and a few other ELO tracks were performed by members of the cast during the course of the episode.
A famous, deliberately recorded backward message comes from the beginning of the song "Fire on High," where the mysterious deep mumbling reverses to "The music is reversible, but time is not ... turn back! Turn back! Turn back!" — ostensibly a shot at the hysteria surrounding "reversed speech" at the time the album was released.
At the end of "Mr. Blue Sky," there is a section of vocoder speech. Jeff Lynne says "please turn me over" as this was the last song on the first side of the 2nd vinyl included as part of this double-album.
In 1989, Ace Frehley released a cover version of "Do Ya" on his album Trouble Walkin'. The song was suggested by Frehley's bassist, John Regan. The video for this version of the song is sometimes seen on VH1 Classic.
In 2006, the BBC science fiction series Doctor Who featured a character who was a fan of Jeff Lynne and ELO in the story Love & Monsters.
In 2006, Electric Light Orchestra was mentioned in VH1's I Love the '70s Volume II in I_Love_1974_Volume_II, the fifth episode of the series.
Electric Light Orchestra band members
- Jeff Lynne - producer, lead vocal, guitars, bass guitar, keyboards, drums, backing vocals (1970–1986, 2000—)
- Roy Wood - guitars, bass guitar, cello, clarinet, bassoon, oboe, recorder, lead vocal (1970–1972)
- Bev Bevan - drums, backing vocals (1970–1986)
- Richard Tandy - keyboards, bass guitar, guitars (1972–1986, 2000—)
- Kelly Groucutt - bass guitar, lead vocal, backing vocals (1974–1983)
- Michael d'Albuquerque - bass guitar, backing vocals (1973–1974)
- Mike Edwards - cello (1973–1974)
- Hugh McDowell - cello (1972, 1973–1979)
- Andy Craig - cello (1971–1972)
- Wilfred Gibson - violin (1973)
- Melvyn Gale - cello (1974–1979)
- Bill Hunt - horn (1971–1972)
- Steve Woolam - violin (1971–1972)
- Trevor Smith - cello (1971–1972)
- Colin Walker - cello (1971–1972)
- Mik Kaminski - violin (1973–1979, 1983)
- Louis Clark - orchestral arrangements (1974—1979, 1983) keyboards (1981—1982, 1986)
- Martin Smith - bass guitar (1986)
- Dave Morgan - guitar, vocoder, backing vocals (1981– 1983, 1986)
- George Harrison - slide guitar, backing vocals (2000—2001) Zoom (album)
- Ringo Starr - drums (2000–) Zoom (album)
- Rosie Vela - backing vocals (2000—) Zoom (album)
- Marc Mann - guitars, keyboards, backing vocals, cello arrangements (2000—) Zoom (album)
- Gregg Bissonette - drums, backing vocals (2000—) Zoom (album)
- Matt Bissonette - bass guitar, backing vocals (2000—) Zoom (album)
- Peggy Baldwin - cello (2000—) Zoom (album)
- Sarah O'Brien - cello (2000—) Zoom (album)
Discography
Studio albumsHarvest Records -
32 (UK), 196 (US)
(realeased in US as "No Answer") Image:ELO ELO2 album cover.jpg|2. Electric Light Orchestra II - 1973,
Jet Records -
35 (UK), 62 (US) Image:ELO On The Third Day album cover.jpg|3. On The Third Day - 1973, Jet Records -
52 (US) Image:ElectricLightOrchestraEldorado.jpg|4. Eldorado - 1974,
Jet Records -
16 (US) Image:ELO Face The Music album cover.jpg|5. Face the Music - 1975,
Jet Records -
8 (US) Image:ELO A New World Record album cover.jpg|6. A New World Record - 1976, Jet Records -
6 (UK), 5 (US) Image:ELO-Out of the Blue.jpg|7. Out of the Blue - 1977,
Jet Records -
4 (UK), 4 (US) Image:ELODiscoveryalbumcover.jpg|8. Discovery - 1979,
Jet Records -
1 (UK), 5 (US) Image:Xanadualbumcover.jpg|9. Xanadu - 1980,
Jet Records -
2 (UK), 4 (US)
(Soundtrack with Olivia Newton-John) Image:ELO Time expanded album cover.jpg|10. Time - 1981,
Jet Records -
1 (UK), 16 (US) Image:ELO Secret Messages expanded album cover.jpg|11. Secret Messages - 1983, Jet Records -
4 (UK), 36 (US) Image:ELO Balance Of Power album cover.jpg|12. Balance of Power - 1986, Jet Records -
9 (UK), 49 (US) Image:ELOZoomcover.jpg|13. Zoom - 2001,
Epic Records -
34 (UK), 94 (US)
Live album
- Live At The BBC (1972-1976)
- BBC Sessions (1972-1973)
- The Night The Light Went On (In Long Beach) (May 12, 1974)
- Live In Winterland (Face The Music Tour) (1976)
- Live In Wembley (Out Of The Blue Tour) (1978)
Reissues
- Eldorado (expanded) (2001)
- Discovery (expanded) (2001)
- Time (expanded) (2001)
- Secret Messages (expanded) (2001)
- ELO 2 — Lost Planet (2003)
- First Light Series (2003)
- No Answer (expanded) (2006)
- ELO II (expanded) (2006)
- On the Third Day (expanded) (2006)
- Face the Music (expanded) (2006)
- New World Record (expanded) (2006)
Compilation albums
- Olé ELO (1976)''
- ELO's Greatest Hits (1979) UK#7
- A Box of their Best (1980) US#192
- Afterglow (1990)
- ''ELO Classics (1990)
- ''Burning Bright (1992)
- (1995)
- ''The Best of the Electric Light Orchestra (1995)
- '' (1997)
- ''Definitive Collection (1999)
- Flashback (2000)
- The Essential Electric Light Orchestra (2003)
- ''Early Years (2004)
- (2005) UK#6
Singles and highest chart positions
| Release Date | Single | UK | US | Album |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972, July | 10538 Overture | 9 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Electric Light Orchestra | ||||
| 1973, January | Roll Over Beethoven | 6 | 72 | Electric Light Orchestra II |
| 1973, February | Showdown | 12 | 59 | On The Third Day |
| 1974, May | Daybreaker | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| 87 | On the Third Day | |||
| 1974, April | Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle | 22 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| On the Third Day | ||||
| 1974, November | Can't Get It Out Of My Head | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| 9 | Eldorado | |||
| 1974, November | Boy Blue | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Eldorado | ||||
| 1976, January | Evil Woman | 10 | 10 | Face The Music |
| 1976, July | Strange Magic | 38 | 14 | Face The Music |
| 1976, November | Livin' Thing | 4 | 13 | A New World Record |
| 1977, February | Rockaria! (UK Only) | 9 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| A New World Record | ||||
| 1977 | Do Ya (US Only) | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| 24 | A New World Record | |||
| 1977, May | Telephone Line | 8 | 7 | A New World Record |
| 1977, October | Turn To Stone | 18 | 13 | Out Of The Blue |
| 1978, January | Mr. Blue Sky | 6 | 35 | Out Of The Blue |
| 1978, June | Wild West Hero (UK Only) | 6 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Out Of The Blue | ||||
| 1978, October | Sweet Talkin' Woman | 6 | 17 | Out Of The Blue |
| 1978 | It's Over (US Only) | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| 75 | Out Of The Blue | |||
| 1978, December | ELO EP (UK Only) | 34 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| - | ||||
| 1979, May | Shine A Little Love | 6 | 8 | Discovery |
| 1979, July | The Diary Of Horace Wimp (UK Only) | 8 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Discovery | ||||
| 1979, September | Don't Bring Me Down | 3 | 1 | Discovery |
| 1979 | Confusion (US Only) | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| 37 | Discovery | |||
| 1979 | Last Train to London (US Only) | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| 39 | Discovery | |||
| 1979, November | Confusion / Last Train To London | 8 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Discovery | ||||
| 1980, May | I'm Alive | 20 | 16 | Xanadu |
| 1980, June | Xanadu -Feat. Olivia Newton-John | 1 | 8 | Xanadu |
| 1980, August | All Over The World | 11 | 13 | Xanadu |
| 1980, November | Don't Walk Away | 21 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Xanadu | ||||
| 1981, August | Hold On Tight | 4 | 10 | Time |
| 1981, October | Twilight | 30 | 38 | Time |
| 1982, January | Here Is The News / Ticket To The Moon | 24 | align="center" valign="top" | |
| Time | ||||
| 1983, June | Rock 'n' Roll Is King | 13 | 19 | Secret Messages |
| 1983 | Four Little Diamonds | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| 86 | Secret Messages | |||
| 1986, March | Calling America | 28 | 18 | Balance of Power |
| 1986 | So Serious | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Balance of Power | ||||
| 1986 | Getting To The Point | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Balance of Power | ||||
| 2001 | Alright | align="center" valign="top" | ||
| align="center" valign="top" | ||||
| Zoom | ||||
Today many of those songs are famous in Jive competitions, for example "Rockaria!" and "Rock 'N' Roll Is King".
Electric Light Orchestra, Part II
Band members
- Bev Bevan - percussion, vocals (1988–1999)
- Kelly Groucutt - bass guitar, vocals (1988–1999)
- Mik Kaminski - violin (1988–1999)
- Eric Troyer - keyboards, vocals, guitar (1988–1999)
Discography
Influences
Followers
- Boston
- Elton Pope
- Depeche Mode
- Autoliner
- Bejole
- Air
Similar Artists
- Cheap Trick
- Dave Edmunds
- Olivia Newton-John
- Tom Petty
- Ringo Starr
- Supertramp
- The Traveling Wilburys
- The Tubes
- Queen
- The Beatles
Contemporaries
External links
- [The Official Mail List for the ELO Appreciation Society]
- [ELO Fans.com] - news and discussion for fans of the Electric Light Orchestra
- [Face The Music] - official ELO and related artists information site
- [MusicMoz category for ELO]
- [Rockaria.com] - fan site with full history and discographies of ELO and the Move
- [Under London Skies] - unofficial fanzine for The Orchestra, the band formerly known as ELO Part II
- [Light Years Ahead] - fan site with the rarest collection of 7" single sleeves on the web
- [Electric Light Orchestra Lyrics]
- [ELO's Music] (a Rhapsody Playlist)
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Wizzard-Brew - Unofficial Mailing List for fans of The Move, Wizzard and Roy Wood
Videos
http://music.aol.com/artist/main.adp?artistid=4177Hold on Tight http://www.mediamob.co.kr/tearsfor/Post/PostView.aspx?PKId=50754
So Serious http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQ0teOXOi4Q
Don't Bring Me Down http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ArkpfhEM2rs
Evil Woman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7MIW_Rr3AIg
Livin' Thing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBMpWw6ceBo
Diary of Horace Wimp http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2ldSgsqbxY
Telephone LIne http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqMrZjaPDV8
It's Over http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=479p8fekZwI
Calling America http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0swWN2emZJw
All Over The World http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSS3S3T25qw
Rock n' Roll Is King http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsgxkPRCYJY
Twilight (FLCL) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VycCt4jh1aY
Telephone Line Live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H93_OalYWkM
So Serious Live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bGdgngSBsxY
I Can't Get It Out Of My Head http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZiTyE1lTto
Mr. Blue Sky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnhsNaOgnjw
Turn To Stone http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QdG2gd_gp8
Do Ya & Rockaria Live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WG99lYC2-1M
Hold On Tight Live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKGkHB4qkO8
Dont Bring Me Down Live http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMxlDXtJFH0
Wild West Hero http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDyqDpiOerI
Sweet Talkin' Woman http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3dLR14ag3Y
Wild West Hero (Anime) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6EXMOUt7Ew
10538 Overture http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dK5wwe9mqLA&search=electric%20light%20orchestra
Jeff Lynne Video- Promo from Electric Dreams http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=piXcYnsUxvg
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