In 1979, Lynne set out to capitalize on the growing popularity of disco with the album Discovery (or "Disco very" as 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"), "Last Train to London" (sampled in 2003 by Atomic Kitten on their hit "Be With You"), "Confusion" and "The Diary of Horace Wimp". Also that year Randy Newman wrote "The Story of a Rock and Roll Band", an ELO tribute song about "The English boys from Birmingham", including the lyrics,“ I love their Mr Blue Skies, almost my favorite is Turn to Stone and how 'bout Telephone Line? I love that E.L.O.!
I'd like to meet:
The magic roundabout cast..Formed in October 1970 by Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan (the remaining members of the 1960s rock group The Move), the band used cellos, violin, horns and woodwinds to give their music a classical sound. This was an idea Roy Wood initially had while with The Move to take rock music in a new direction.In January 1970, when Carl Wayne left the The Move, Jeff Lynne, front man with fellow Brum band Idle Race, responded to Wood's second invitation to join the line-up with the lure of starting the new band. To help finance the fledgling project, two more Move albums were released during the lengthy recordings for their eponymous first album between 1970 & 1971, which produced the UK hit "10538 Overture".In the US, 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. [3]However, tensions soon surfaced between Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne. With most of the media attention focused on Wood, differences in musical direction and a disastrous first live outing followed by an uneven tour of Italy took a toll on the Wood-Lynne friendship. The band went through the first of its many line-up changes as Wood took cellist Hugh McDowell and horn player Bill Hunt with him to form WizzardDespite the music press's predictions that the band would fold without Wood, who had been the driving force behind the creation of ELO, Jeff Lynne stepped up to lead the band, with Bevan remaining on drums, bassist Richard Tandy switching to moog synthesizer, Mike de Albuquerque taking over on bass, Mike Edwards and Colin Walker adding cello and Wilfred Gibson replacing Steve Woolam on violin. They released ELO 2 in 1973, an album begun before Wood's departure, from which came their first U.S. chart hit, a hugely elaborate version of the Chuck Berry classic "Roll Over Beethoven".During the recording of the third album, violinist Gibson was dismissed, allegedly due to a payment dispute, and replaced by Mik Kaminski. The band released On The Third Day in 1973 featuring the hit "Showdown", with Mike Edwards playing all the cello parts due to Colin Walker leaving the band. Second lead guitar on two tracks on the album ("Ma-Ma-Ma Belle" and "Dreaming of 4000") were contributed by Lynne's friend Marc Bolan. Later that same year saw the return of Hugh McDowell, who had jumped ship the year previous, to replace cellist Colin Walker. In 1974 Lynne hired a thirty-piece orchestra, choir and Louis Clark, then began work on the next LP Eldorado, A Symphony by the Electric Light Orchestra, a concept album about dreams, scoring their first U.S. Top Ten hit with "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" in 1975.
Music:
An incredible 35 years since their formation, the music of the Electric Light Orchestra is still as popular as ever. All over the world, people are tuning into the sound of ELO via radio, the internet, cinemas and TV. The seemingly ageless songs of ELO leader Jeff Lynne are even being heard again in the singles charts, thanks to the cream of today’s young dance acts sampling the band’s original music and turning on a whole new generation of fans.‘All Over The World’ celebrates that continuing success. Compiled under the supervision of Jeff Lynne, the newly remastered CD features twenty Electric Light Orchestra classics from 1973 – 2001 and is released worldwide as the definitive ELO collection.ELO thrived under the guidance of Lynne, recording twelve original studio albums and releasing twenty-eight hit singles in the UK alone. At their peak between 1974 and 1981, ELO amassed a string of nine consecutive gold, platinum and multi-platinum albums. The band were one of the biggest arena and stadium draws during the seventies and early eighties, with spectacular shows including massive flying saucer stage sets and vibrant light and laser displays.Originally a 1970 experimental offshoot of sixties English hitmakers The Move, ELO’s initial concept of a rock band augmented by a string section struggled to find success. Though early singles such as ‘Showdown’ and ‘Ma-Ma-Ma-Belle’ were hits, ELO albums failed to make the charts in the UK and the group was virtually ignored as a live act.It was the USA that first embraced ELO, thanks to lengthy coast-to-coast tours that helped propel singles ‘Evil Woman’ and ‘Strange Magic’ and albums ‘On The Third Day’, ‘Eldorado’ and ‘Face The Music’ into the American charts. UK acceptance finally came in 1976 with ‘A New World Record’ and Top 10 singles ‘Livin’ Thing’, ‘Rockaria!’ and ‘Telephone Line’.A double album masterpiece, 1977’s ‘Out Of The Blue’ was a worldwide smash on pre-orders alone and featured global hits ‘Turn To Stone’, ‘Wild West Hero’, ‘Sweet Talkin' Woman’ plus the song Lynne considers to be his greatest ELO achievement, ‘Mr. Blue Sky’. Recently voted “Anthem Of The Midlands†by the public, the track continues to appear in film soundtracks and ads to this very day. The bands’ legendary 1978 tour set audience attendance records wherever it played and established ELO as one of the most popular acts in the world.‘Discovery’ in 1979 consolidated that success with the singles ‘Shine A Little Love’ (sampled back into the charts in 2005 by The LoveFreekz), ‘Don’t Bring Me Down’ ‘The Diary Of Horace Wimp’ and ‘Confusion’. While subsequent albums ‘Xanadu’, ‘Time’, ‘Secret Messages’, and ‘Balance Of Power’ were huge sellers, together with later hits ‘Hold On Tight’ and ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll Is King’, Lynne decided to disband ELO in 1986 for newer challenges.From 1987 onwards, Jeff Lynne has become one of the world’s most in-demand songwriters and producers, successfully collaborating with artists such as George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Roy Orbison, Del Shannon, Tom Petty and Brian Wilson. With Harrison, Orbison, Petty and Bob Dylan, he was a member of the Grammy-award winning Traveling Wilburies and in 1996, his formidable musical talents were officially recognised when he was presented with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Services to British Music.During 2000, Lynne decided to reactivate the Electric Light Orchestra with ‘Flashback’, a retrospective 3-CD boxset, followed a year later by new album ‘Zoom’ and single ‘Alright’ plus a DVD of ELO’s first live shows for over 15 years, filmed in Los Angeles.‘All Over The World’ is the latest ELO release eagerly awaited by the bands’ ever-growing worldwide fanbase. 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!Rob Caiger, April 2005
Movies:
NEWS!
Electric Light Orchestra Expanded Edition Albums In Stores Now!Each album has been digitally remastered from the original master tapes withthe cooperation of Jeff Lynne. 15 bonus tracks have been added across the 3 titles, 10 of which are previously unreleased. New liner notes are featured from both Lynne and ELO archivist Rob Caiger.
