Electric Light Orchestra

 

Electric Light Orchestra, also known as E.L.O., were a successful rock music group of the 1970s and 1980s from Birmingham, England that was originally intended to be a side project of established rock band The Move; however, the departure of founding member Roy Wood saw Jeff Lynne finally achieve the success and recognition that had eluded him from his days in the Idle Race.  It was in the United States that the band was first warmly received, billed as The English guys with the big fiddles. They soon gained a cult following despite lukewarm reviews back in their native United Kingdom. They were managed by no-nonsense businessman Don Arden (the father of Sharon Osbourne).  By the mid seventies they had become one of the biggest selling Rock music bands in the world. Under Lynne's leadership the group scored twenty top-20 UK hit singles, as well as fifteen top-20 appearances in the US Billboard chart. The band also holds the record for having the most Billboard Top 40 hits of any band in US history, without ever having a #1 single. The band proved to be an excellent vehicle for confessed Beatles fan Lynne's semi-classical Beatlesque compositions, steering a fine line between an album-oriented rock outfit and a hit-making machine.  The group's name is an intended pun based not only on electric light (as in a light bulb as seen on early album covers) but also using "electric" rock instruments combined with a "light orchestra" (orchestras with only a few cellos and violins that were popular in Britain during the 1960s).  See Electric Light Orchestra LIVE!  Purchase your Electric Light Orchestra tickets today!