The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. During their first run from 1970 to 1986, Lynne and Bevan were the group's only consistent members.
Jeffrey Lynne is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and currently the sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970, and as a songwriter has written all of the band's music past 1972, including the hits "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down", and "Hold On Tight". He also has had a solo career, with two albums: Armchair Theatre (1990) and Long Wave (2012).
The Move were a British rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their career The Move were led by guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood. He wrote all the group's UK singles and, from 1968, also sang lead vocals on many songs. Initially, the band had four main vocalists who divided the lead-vocal duties among themselves.
The Idle Race were a British rock group from Birmingham who in the late 1960s and early 1970s had a cult following but never enjoyed mass commercial success. In addition to being the springboard for Jeff Lynne, the band holds a place of significance in British Midlands' pop-rock history as a link between the Move, Electric Light Orchestra, the Steve Gibbons Band and Mike Sheridan & The Nightriders.
Roy Wood is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard.
Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of the Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra. The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartney." They are most famous for their 1973 Christmas single "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday".
Shazam is the second studio album by English rock band the Move, released in February 1970 by Regal Zonophone. The album marked a bridge between the band's quirky late 1960s pop singles and the more aggressive, hard rock, long-form style of their later albums. It was the last Move album to feature vocalist Carl Wayne, and the first to feature bassist/vocalist Rick Price.
Wizzo Band were an English jazz rock band formed by Roy Wood after Wizzard split in 1975, fulfilling his ambitions to create an ensemble that was more jazz-orientated than rock or pop. The line-up included former Wizzard and Move member Rick Price, alongside Bob Wilson (trombone), Billy Paul, Paul Robbins, Graham Gallery (bass), and Dave Donovan (drums).
A lot of people had been doing jazz-rock stuff. There had been jazz musicians getting into the rock field, like Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke, but it's very rare that you find a band doing it the other way around a rock and roll band getting into jazz, and it's quite interesting. The rhythm section is very heavy, almost Zeppelinish, the horns are very jazzy and the songs are very commercial, so it makes for quite an interesting combination.
Wizzard Brew is the debut album by rock group Wizzard, released in 1973 on EMI's Harvest label. It reached a peak of No. 29 in the UK Albums Chart. In the United States, it was released by United Artists Records as Wizzard's Brew but failed to chart there.
Message from the Country is the fourth and final studio album by the Move, as well as the group's only album for EMI's Harvest label. It was recorded simultaneously with the first Electric Light Orchestra album, The Electric Light Orchestra.
Looking On is the third studio album by the English rock band the Move, released in the UK in December 1970. The album is their first to feature Jeff Lynne, their first containing entirely original compositions, and the first on the Fly label, its catalogue number being FLY 1. It includes both their 1970 singles, the Top 10 hit "Brontosaurus," released on Regal Zonophone in March, and the less successful "When Alice Comes Back To The Farm," released on Fly in October.
"10538 Overture" is the debut single by the English band the Electric Light Orchestra. It was released on 23 June 1972 as the lead single from their self-titled debut studio album (1971). It is a hard rock song influenced by psychedelic music, with cello instrumentation and lyrics about an escaped prisoner. Originally written by co-founder Jeff Lynne for his and Roy Wood's previous band, the Move, it became the first recording by the Electric Light Orchestra after Wood added orchestral instruments to the song.
"Do Ya" is a song written by Jeff Lynne, that was originally recorded by The Move, which became a hit for the Electric Light Orchestra in 1977.
"Showdown" is a 1973 song written by Jeff Lynne and recorded by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was the band's last contemporary recording to be released on the Harvest label. The song was released as a single and reached No 12 in the UK Singles Chart, in the week beginning 28 October, and No 9 on the Norwegian chart VG-lista.
"California Man" is a song by British rock and roll band The Move. It was written by the band's guitarist/vocalist Roy Wood, who has said he wrote it as a pastiche of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.
"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", sometimes written as "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day", is a Christmas song recorded by British glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was written and produced by the band's frontman Roy Wood—formerly of The Move and a founding member of Electric Light Orchestra. Despite the song's strong, long-lasting popularity, it has reached no higher than number four on the UK Singles Chart, a position it occupied for four consecutive weeks from December 1973 to January 1974. The song was beaten to the 1973 Christmas Number 1 spot by Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody", which remained at the top of the charts for five weeks, from December 1973 to January 1974.
"When Alice Comes Back to the Farm" is a rock-blues song recorded by The Move and written and sung by Roy Wood. Musically, it is a hard rock song and features Wood playing slide guitar, cello and baritone saxophone, reinforcing Rick Price's bassline.
"Wild Tiger Woman" is a song recorded by the Move, and as with all the other A-sides of their singles, written by Roy Wood. First issued as their fifth single, it failed to chart on the UK Singles Chart, despite all previous singles having reached the top-5 on that chart.
"I Can Hear the Grass Grow " is the second single by the Move, written by Roy Wood. The song was first released on 31 March 1967, and reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart on 10 May 1967, staying for ten weeks in the charts. "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" was the second of a string of four consecutive top-5 singles in the UK.
"Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" is a song performed by English band The Move. The song was written by Roy Wood, though the group's drummer Bev Bevan was credited as songwriter, as a reward for his promotional efforts on behalf of the band. Bevan noted that the song was "the sort of the thing that the Wild Angels might like to play".
