Electric Light Orchestra

Jeff Lynne was able at one stage to enjoy the critical notion that ELO picked up where the Beatles left off. Though Roy Wood left after the early years, Lynne helped craft a solid catalogue of hits, and after they knocked it on the head in the 1980s, they have recently risen from hiatus (albeit as Jeff Lynne's ELO) to great acclaim and even new material. Here's a selection of their highlights:

Roll Over Beethoven

Mr Blue Sky

Livin' Thing

Don't Bring Me Down

When I Was A Boy

Mr Blue Sky: The Story of Jeff Lynne & E.L.O.
Lynne is currently promoting reworked versions of many of E.L.O.'s hits, and this show was by way of a plug and a retrospective. After an early slice of formative stuff, it was mainly anecdotes about his new project, the formation of the Travelling Wilburys, and his production work on the Beatles mid-1990's efforts. By sticking to the same look (big specs, big beard, big frizzy hair), Lynne appears not to have aged in 40-odd years. There were impressive talking heads here, too: Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh, Barbara Orbison, Ringo Starr, Eric Idle and Olivia & Dhani Harrison amongst others.

Jeff Lynne Acoustic: Live from Bungalow Palace
Excerpts featured in the above, but this was the full half-hour (!) with Jeff joined by fellow E.L.O. alumnus Richard Tandy on a few E.L.O. hits played at Jeff's house.

E.L.O. - Out of the Blue: Live at Wembley
From their 1978 World Tour, and introduced by Tony Curtis (!), this was a concert featuring many big hits.

Rock Family Trees: The Birmingham Beat
Completing the back-slapping, this edition of the 1995 series focussed on the Moody Blues, the Move (viewed as the punks of their day), and mainly E.L.O., but also Wizzard, the Steve Gibbons Band, and another look at the Travelling Wilburys. An always informed series, this was helped by contributions from many of the players, whether Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Denny Laine, Trevor Burton etc

Jeff Lynne's ELO: Live at Hyde Park
His first concert with them for 28 years, interspersed with chats from Jeff himself. He ran through 16 classic ELO numbers, with "Handle With Care" from the Travelling Wilburys project included too. A decent enough show, Jeff reacted to the crowd as though it really made his life complete.

Total Rock Review: Electric Light Orchestra - 1970-1973
Really, the story of how Roy Wood left The Move, took drummer Bev Bevan, hooked up with Jeff Lynne, and presented his new musical concept. The first album was a close mix of Lynne and Wood's songwriting ideas, but once Wood changed his mind and moved on, Lynne softened the edges and stayed as ELO. I loved the story that their American record company asked for the name of their first album, called the UK and got no answer. So they called the album... "No Answer"

Jeff Lynne's ELO - In Concert
At the BBC Radio Theatre, in London, to plug his new album, and run through most of their big hits, from Turn to Stone, to Mr Blue Sky.

Jeff Lynne's ELO @ Glastonbury 2016
In the "legends" slot on Sunday teatime on the Pyramid Stage, making their debut at this legendary festival, Jeff led through a decent set of old favourites, finishing on Roll Over Beethoven despite the rainy conditions.

Gotta say, I love ELO. When I first started charting music, their final Top 40 hit 'Rock N Roll Is King' was my actual introduction to them. They still played their older hits a lot on radio, so I became very familiar with them fast with their unique style. Funny enough, I started whistling 'Don't Bring Me Down' when I got up this morning. Now it's been bloody stuck in my head all day and when ELO gets stuck, it sticks!

I've warmed more to ELO over time. I got a compilation of theirs about 4 years ago which was fairly solid, and the shows are always reliable.

I always think that when Jeff takes his specs off, he becomes Kevin Godley (of G& Crème)

Neil McCormick's Needle Time: Jeff Lynne
This 2015 edition was mainly to plug the then-new album, and how Jeff was fed up with orchestration to justify shortening the name to ELO (or rather Jeff Lynne's ELO). He was glad when Roy Wood left because he preferred having total free rein, he finds lyrics the last part of the puzzle when doing songs and is almost a reluctant lyricist. He was inspired by Roy Orbison and George Formby, although he obviously only worked with the former in the Travelling Wilburys. His Dad would give him critical comments like "your tunes have got no tune". Found no contradiction between being a control freak, and being a collaborative kind of producer.

Jeff Lynne's ELO - Wembley or Bust
From Wembley Stadium, earlier this year, a familiar run-through of material, mixed with skits about the grand stage set, Jeff's pride in the band, feeling they're the best they've ever sounded, and encoring on Roll Over Beethoven.

Hugh McDowell, who was in the early incarnation of the band before joining Roy Wood when he left for Wizzard, has died at the age of 65. RIP   

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-46139419

You wait ages for a thread update, and then...

Music Icons: Soft Rock
This time the trio under consideration were Supertramp, ELO and Barclay James Harvest, though Toto and Chicago did get a mention. There was a connection between bands with British origins, who pursued that So-Cal LA sound, which I'm not entirely sure was universal to these bands, even if vocoders or electronics generally were a common feature.