Electric Light Orchestra
| Electric Light Orchestra | |
|---|---|
 Electric Light Orchestra in Oslo (1978) |
|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Progressive rock , pop rock , symphonic rock |
| founding | 1970, 2000, 2014 as Jeff Lynne's ELO |
| resolution | 1986, 2001 |
| Website | www.jefflynneselo.com |
| Founding members | |
| Roy Wood (until 1972) | |
Vocals, guitar, piano , electric bass |
Jeff Lynne |
Drums , vocals |
Bev Bevan (until 1986) |
| Current occupation | |
Vocals, guitar |
Jeff Lynne |
| former members | |
| Richard Tandy (1971-2017) | |
Electric bass, vocals |
Mike de Albuquerque (1972–1974) Kelly Groucutt † (1974–1983) |
| Steve Woolam † (1971) Wilfred Gibson † (1972–1973) Mik Kaminski (1973–1980, 1981–1986) |
|
cello |
Andy Craig (1972) Hugh McDowell † (1972, 1973–1980) Michael Edwards † (1972–1975) Colin Walker (1972–1973) Melvyn Gale (1975–1980) |
Keyboards, French horn
|
Bill Hunt (1971–1972) |
| Live and studio musicians | |
Guitar, backing vocals |
Marc Bolan (1973) Dave Morgan (1981–1986) |
Electric bass |
Martin Smith (1986) Matt Bissonette (2001) |
violin |
Chereene Allen (2014) Rosie Langley (since 2016) |
Keyboards |
Louis Clark (1981-1986) Marcus Byrne (since 2014) |
Drums |
Gregg Bissonette (2001) Donavan Hepburn (since 2014) |
Backing vocals |
Rosie Vela (2001) Melanie Lewis-McDonald (since 2014) |
cello |
Peggy Baldwin (2001) Sarah O'Brien (2001) |
The Electric Light Orchestra ( ELO for short ) is a British rock band that combines their music with classical string arrangements and experimental studio technology and was one of the most successful of the 1970s and 1980s.
Band history
The beginnings and the experimental phase (1970–1973)
The Electric Light Orchestra was founded in Birmingham in 1970 by members of The Move , Roy Wood , Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan . The goal I set myself was to pick up where the Beatles left off with I Am The Walrus . So rock music was combined with avant-garde classical music. Instruments such as the cello , violin and oboe that were rather untypical for the genre were also used . Wood, Lynne and Bevan were joined by horn player Bill Hunt and violinist Steve Woolam for the recordings of the first album. A short time after the first album was completed in 1971, The Move was dissolved in order to continue to work under the name Electric Light Orchestra. The band name means "small electric orchestra" and has nothing, as is often assumed, to do with electric light. Even in classical pieces, a light orchestra is an orchestra with a few musicians. Steve Woolam committed suicide in 1971 and was replaced by Wilfred Gibson for the first live cast in 1972. Since Roy Wood could not play more than one instrument live, which alternated between guitar, bass and cello, Andy Craig, Hugh McDowell and Mike Edwards were hired as cellists. Richard Tandy , who has already played as a guest musician with The Move, became the bass player for the live line-up.
Andy Craig left the group shortly after the first appearance. Roy Wood left the band in the summer of 1972 shortly after the first album was released and founded Wizzard , which also included horn player Bill Hunt and cellist Hugh McDowell. Then Jeff Lynne took over the sole management of the band. Richard Tandy switched from bass to keyboard, bassist Michael de Albuquerque and cellist Colin Walker joined the group. The first single, 10538 Overture , reached the British top 10.
In 1973, ELO II was released, from which Roll Over Beethoven , her first Top 50 hit in the USA (number 42 in the US singles charts; a Chuck Berry cover version), was released. In England the song reached number 6. In the same year, On the Third Day followed with the top 20 single Showdown . During the recording sessions of this album, Wilfred Gibson and Colin Walker left the band. Gibson was replaced by Mik Kaminski and Walker was later replaced by Hugh McDowell, who had previously left Wizzard.
After Roy Woods left, the band with Jeff Lynne was in fact a one-man company with employed musicians. Only the drummer Bev Bevan owned 50 percent of the naming rights and was accordingly involved in the income. Jeff Lynne wrote and produced all songs by himself from now on. The other musicians recorded their parts and sometimes heard the songs for the first time after they were completely produced. From 1974 onwards, most of the string arrangements were made by Louis Clark.
Artistic zenith with orchestral rock music (1974–1978)
In 1974 the next studio album Eldorado was released, which contained Can't Get It Out Of My Head, the first top 10 hit in North America. The album clearly distinguished itself from its predecessors in that it contained less experimental music and relied much more on catchy melodies. The album also benefited from the advances in recording technology made during this period. Almost nothing could be heard of the sometimes "rumbling" sound of the predecessor. With sales of over 500,000, Eldorado was the first ELO album to receive gold in the USA.
After Michael de Albuquerque left the band, bassist and singer Kelly Groucutt joined the band in 1974. In January 1975, Mike Edwards was replaced by Melvyn Gale. In the same year the album Face the Music was released. The first single Evil Woman reached the top 10 in the USA and England. With this and the following albums as well as the singles released from them, ELO consistently continued the path it had taken in the previous year by increasingly focusing on "radio-friendly" rock music with an orchestral background. In 1976, the album A New World Record hit stores, which thanks to four single releases, achieved multiple platinum status . Another year later the double album Out of the Blue was released. The band then went on a world tour.
Worldwide success with contemporary pop music (1979–1982)
In 1979, with the album Discovery , Lynne concentrated increasingly on the increasingly stronger disco sound (he himself once pronounced it "disco very"). This album produced their biggest hit, Don't Bring Me Down . Shortly after the album was released, the violinist Mik Kaminski and the two cellists Hugh McDowell and Melvyn Gale were dismissed as "no longer needed".
Shortly afterwards, Lynne was commissioned to write half of the soundtrack for the musical Xanadu and to record it with ELO. The other half came from John Farrar ; his songs were sung by Olivia Newton-John , who starred with Gene Kelly . Although the film itself was a flop, the soundtrack, especially the title track in which Newton-John sang with ELO, became a huge commercial hit.
In 1981 the sound of ELO changed again, away from the disco style to the electronic sound of the 1980s with the science fiction concept album Time , which contained another worldwide hit with Hold on Tight . Time was the last ELO album in Great Britain and also the first in Germany to hit number 1 in the charts. Violinist Mik Kaminski, guitarist Dave Morgan, as well as arranger Louis Clark, who was now responsible for synthesizers, were hired for the live line-up.
Waning success and temporary end (1983–1986)
The next studio album was released in 1983 and was called Secret Messages . It was originally designed as a double album by Jeff Lynne, but the record company cut the album down for financial reasons. Shortly after this album, Kelly Groucutt was fired, who then sued the band for profit sharing. In contrast to the previous albums, Secret Messages was significantly less successful. Because in the course of the new post-punk and new wave bands (such as Duran Duran , OMD or Ultravox and the associated “new wind”) it became more and more difficult for Jeff Lynne to assert himself in terms of sound, let alone get away from it take off. With the move to a new recording studio in Belgium - since the mid-1970s Lynne had always produced his albums in the Munich Musicland Studios - the will to change was audible in terms of sound, but the pressure for new single hits was omnipresent. This became particularly clear with the two released singles Secret Messages , which is somewhat reminiscent of Twilight from the album Time , and Four Little Diamonds , which probably had Don't Bring Me Down as a model. Only the track Rock'n'Roll is King , which is strikingly reminiscent of Hold on Tight , was a successful single.
After a break from the band, the band released the album Balance of Power , recorded in the previous year, in 1986 , whose sales figures were no longer comparable with those of the most successful albums despite the passable hit Calling America . Jeff Lynne dissolved ELO in the same year.
Jeff Lynne's career as a producer
Jeff Lynne was active as a producer for many other artists in addition to his work with the Traveling Wilburys . In the mid-1990s, for example, he produced the newly released Beatles pieces Free as a Bird and Real Love and worked a. a. for George Harrison ( Cloud Nine and Brainwashed ), Tom Petty ( Full Moon Fever , Into the Great Wide Open and Highway Companion ), Roy Orbison ( Mystery Girl and King of Hearts ), Brian Wilson ( Let It Shine ), Paul McCartney ( Flaming Pie ), Joe Cocker ( Night Calls ) as well as Dave Edmunds , Everly Brothers , Del Shannon , Ringo Starr , Hank Marvin & Mark Knopfler , Little Richard , Duane Eddy , Randy Newman , Tom Jones , Aerosmith , Joe Walsh and others. a. Furthermore, Lynne worked as a producer at Regina Spektor Album Far with, appeared in mid-2009 and produced the 2015 album released Get Up by Bryan Adams . He also wrote songs for Agnetha Fältskog , Bonnie Tyler , Helen Reddy and others. a.
Electric Light Orchestra Part II
After a lengthy legal dispute, ELO drummer Bev Bevan formed the group ELO Part II in 1990/1991 without Jeff Lynne . The later Asia singer John Payne and the composer Jim Steinman were to participate in this project . But after the first legal problems caused by Jeff Lynne's interventions, the two left Bevan's band. One of the few singles of that time was Honest Men, with whom they wanted to build on earlier times. On the ELO Part II tour, the pieces to which Jeff Lynne had the rights could only be played in one medley . The audience, who also wanted to hear the old pieces, acknowledged this with whistles. Bev Bevan sold his 50 percent stake in the ELO name to Jeff Lynne in 1999.
ELO comeback in 2001
The comeback by Jeff Lynne with ELO started in late 2000 with the compilation "Flashback" (a triple-CD box with detailed liner notes by Jeff Lynne in 2000) and the announcement of a completely new studio album. In June 2001 the real comeback followed with the album Zoom . In contrast to the ELO albums of the 1980s, Zoom had a more natural sound, including real violins and cellos. However, with the exception of a few guest musicians, Jeff Lynne renounced the participation of other musicians and recorded the album more or less single-handedly. In terms of sales, Zoom wasn't a huge success. Former band member Richard Tandy returned to the band during this time to go on tour with other completely new band members. In the end, there were only two concerts for advertising purposes because ticket sales for the tour were too bad.
Deaths
First violinist Steve Woolam died by suicide in 1971 at the age of 25.
On February 19, 2009, the former bassist and background singer Kelly Groucutt died of a heart attack.
On September 7, 2010, Mike Edwards, the band's former cellist, died in a car accident. He was driving home in Devon, UK, when he was hit by a 600 kilogram hay bale rolling down a slope. Edwards died at the scene of the accident from his sustained injuries.
Former cellist Hugh McDowell died of cancer on November 6, 2018.
ELO comeback in 2014
In September 2014, the band headlined the BBC Radio 2 Festival in a Day in London's Hyde Park under the name Jeff Lynne's ELO . The 50,000 available tickets for the event were sold out within minutes. The concert, at which the band played almost all of the big hits from previous years, was a complete success. On November 13, 2015 the studio album Alone in the Universe was the first time in 14 years that completely new song material was released. These are also solo recordings by Jeff Lynne.
On May 5, 2016 Jeff Lynne's ELO performed a single concert in Germany in the König-Pilsener-Arena in Oberhausen in front of around 10,000 spectators. The 12-member band around Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy competed with an LED and laser show.
In December 2016, ELO was honored with the induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame . The official event for this took place on April 7, 2017.
Due to illness, Richard Tandy was unable to take part in the 2017 tour.
A new tour was announced for 2018 that included the US and Europe. In the German-speaking countries there were concerts from September 18 to 25 in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich, Vienna and Mannheim. According to a statement by Jeff Lynne on the DVD "Wembley or bust", Richard Tandy should also be back as keyboard player. Due to an illness he was replaced by Markus Byrne on the 2018 tour.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks / months, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks / months, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
|||
| 1971 | The Electric Light Orchestra / No Answer | - | - | - |
UK32 (4 weeks) UK |
US196 (2 weeks) US |
First published: December 1971
|
| 1973 | ELO 2 / Electric Light Orchestra II | - | - | - |
UK35 (1 week) UK |
US62 (22 weeks) US |
First published: February 1973
|
| 1973 | On the third day | - | - | - | - |
US52 (24 weeks) US |
First published: November 1973
|
| 1974 | Eldorado | - | - | - | - |
US16  (32 weeks)US |
First published: September 1974
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 1975 | Face the Music | - | - | - | - |
US8th (48 weeks)US |
First published: September 1975
Sales: + 500,000 |
| 1976 | A New World Record |
DE7 (9 months) DE |
AT9 (4 months) AT |
- |
UK6th  (99 weeks)UK |
US5 (69 weeks)US |
First published: September 11, 1976
Sales: + 1,575,000 |
| 1977 | Out of the blue |
DE6th (20 months)DE |
- | - |
UK4th (111 weeks)UK |
US4th (58 weeks)US |
First published: October 1977
Sales: + 10,000,000 |
| 1979 | Discovery |
DE7th (73 weeks)DE |
AT3 (15 months) AT |
- |
UK1 (45 weeks)UK |
US5 × 2
(35 weeks)US |
First published: May 1979
Sales: + 3,065,000 |
| 1980 | Xanadu |
DE1 (30 weeks)DE |
AT1 (6 months) AT |
- |
UK2 (17 weeks)UK |
US4th × 2
(36 weeks)US |
First published: June 1980
Sales: + 2,350,000; with Olivia Newton-John |
| 1981 | Time |
DE1 (41 weeks)DE |
AT2 (4 months) AT |
- |
UK1 (32 weeks)UK |
US16 (20 weeks)US |
First published: July 1981
Sales: + 1,050,000 |
| 1983 | Secret Messages |
DE6 (17 weeks) DE |
AT11 (2 months) AT |
- |
UK4th (15 weeks)UK |
US36 (16 weeks) US |
First published: June 1983
Sales: + 100,000 |
| 1986 | Balance of power |
DE18 (17 weeks) DE |
AT29 (½ month) AT |
CH10 (10 weeks) CH |
UK9  (12 weeks)UK |
US49 (15 weeks) US |
First published: January 1986
Sales: + 60,000 |
| 2001 | zoom |
DE16 (8 weeks) DE |
AT51 (3 weeks) AT |
CH26 (10 weeks) CH |
UK34 (2 weeks) UK |
US94 (2 weeks) US |
First published: June 12, 2001
|
| 2015 | Alone in the Universe |
DE7 (6 weeks) DE |
AT14 (3 weeks) AT |
CH7 (4 weeks) CH |
UK4th (17 weeks)UK |
US23 (3 weeks) US |
First published: November 13, 2015
Sales: + 300,000; as Jeff Lynne's ELO |
| 2019 | From Out of Nowhere |
DE14 (4 weeks) DE |
AT10 (2 weeks) AT |
CH14 (3 weeks) CH |
UK1 (9 weeks)UK |
US47 (1 week) US |
First published: November 1st, 2019
|
gray hatching : no chart data available for this year
Trivia
- The first ELO album was released in 1971 under the name No Answer in the USA due to a mix-up on the phone .
- The albums On The Third Day , Eldorado and Face The Music were also released together under a 3-piece compilation in 1978 on Jet Records under the name Three Light Years .
- The ELO song Mr Blue Sky from the album Out of the Blue accompanies the opening scene of the superhero film Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 .
literature
- Bev Bevan: The Electric Light Orchestra Story. Mushroom, London 1980, ISBN 0-907394-00-0 .
- Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, Alexander von Petersdorff: Unexpected Messages. The Story of The Electric Light Orchestra, The Move, Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan including all Members and related Artists' Projects with the complete World Discography. FTM, Villingen 1996, ISBN 3-00-000642-7 .
- José Luis Schenone: More light for the Orchestra. The ELO's Biography and their Members through their Records. Self-published, sl 1997, ISBN 950-43-8302-5 .
Web links
- Official website
- Fan club website
- Electric Light Orchestra at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ [1]
- ^ The Bill Hunt History. In: 10538overture.dk. Accessed March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Ken Stavensoe Nielsen: Steve Woolam. In: 10538overture.dk. Accessed March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ [2]
- ↑ Killed by the hay bale. In: stern.de. Retrieved October 11, 2018 .
- ↑ [3]
- ↑ Your official Rock Hall class of 2017 roster. Hall of Fame website, accessed December 22, 2016
- ↑ Watch ELO Dazzle With 'Evil Woman,' 'Mr. Blue Sky 'at Rock Hall of Fame . In: Rolling Stone . ( rollingstone.com [accessed June 15, 2017]).
- ↑ Jeff Lynne's ELO - Alone In The Universe Tour. In: jefflynnesongs.com. Accessed March 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Jeff Lynne: Tour schedule. In: Homepage Jeff Lynnes ELO. Jeff Lynne, 2018, accessed January 11, 2018 .
- ↑ Ken Stavensoe Nielsen: Members and relatives of ELO. In: http://10538overture.dk/index.html . Ken Stavensoe Nielsen, December 12, 2018, accessed March 24, 2019 .
-
↑ Chart sources:
- Electric Light Orchestra in the German charts on OfficialCharts.de
- Electric Light Orchestra in the Austrian charts on AustrianCharts.at
- Electric Light Orchestra in the Swiss charts on Hitparade.ch
- Electric Light Orchestra in the Official UK Charts (English)
- Electric Light Orchestra on Billboard 's US charts
- US singles: Joel Whitburn : Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2006 . Billboard Books, New York 2007, ISBN 0-89820-172-1 .
- US albums: Joel Whitburn : Joel Whitburn presents the Billboard Albums . 6th edition. Billboard Books, New York 2006, ISBN 0-89820-166-7 .
-
↑ Reference error : Invalid
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