Honest Men

"Honest Men"
Single by ELO Part II
from the album Electric Light Orchestra Part Two
B-side	"Love For Sale"
Released	15 April 1991
Genre	Rock
Length	4:25 (remix) 6:13 (full version)
Label	Telstar, Disky
Songwriter	Eric Troyer
Producer	Jeff Glixman
ELO Part II singles chronology
"Honest Men" (1991) "For the Love of a Woman" (1991)
Music video
"Honest Men" on YouTube

"Honest Men" is the debut single by ELO Part II. It is the second track on their self-titled debut album. It peaked at No. 36 on the Dutch Single Top 100 and at No. 60 on the UK Singles Chart.

Overview

A music video of "Honest Men" was first aired in June 1991. ^[1]

Music & Media noted "Honest Men" as sounding very similar to ELO Part II's predecessor Electric Light Orchestra. ^[2] In his review of the album, Doug Stone of AllMusic said, "…'Honest Men', 'Every Night', and 'Heart of Hearts' imitate the band's glory daze to the point of enjoyability". ^[3]

The inspiration was that there’s too much corruption and dishonesty in our public figures … even the honest ones still bend the rules …

—  Eric Troyer ^[4]

The single's B-side, "Love For Sale", was a song written by Bev Bevan and Pete Haycock. "Love For Sale" only appeared as a B-side to "Honest Men" and thus did not appear on the album.

Track listing

CD "Honest Men" (remix) – 4:25 "Love For Sale" – 4:14 "Honest Men" (full version) – 6:13

12" Vinyl "Honest Men" (full version) – 6:13 "Love For Sale" – 4:14 "Honest Men" (remix) – 4:25

7" Vinyl, Cassette "Honest Men" (remix) – 4:25 "Love For Sale" – 4:14

Personnel

Personnel list according to the inner sleeve. ^[5]

ELO Part II

• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals
• Pete Haycock – guitars, bass, backing vocals
• Eric Troyer – keyboards, lead and backing vocals
• Neil Lockwood – backing vocals

Additional Personnel

• Jeff Glixman - producer
• Don Arden - executive producer
• Louis Clark - string arrangement
• Ron McPherson - art and design

Charts

Chart (1991)	Peak position
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [6]	36
UK Singles (OCC) [7]	60
UK Airplay ( Music Week ) [8]	53

References

1. "Electric Light Orchestra Honest men". mvdbase.com. Archived from the original on 4 November 2005. Retrieved 4 March 2021.
2. "New Releases – Albums" (PDF). Music & Media . Vol. 8. Issue 24. Amsterdam, Netherlands. 15 June 1991. p. 8. Retrieved 15 March 2021– via WorldRadioHistory.Com.
3. Stone, Doug. "Electric Light Orchestra Part Two". AllMusic . Retrieved 3 November 2020.
4. Sinclair, Keith (28 May 2009). "Calling All Honest Men". elobeatlesforever. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
5. Honest Men (inner sleeve, back). ELO Part II. Telstar. 1991. ELOCD100.
6. "Electric Light Orchestra Part Two – Honest Men" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
7. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
8. "Playlist Chart" (PDF). Music Week . 25 May 1991. p. 16. Retrieved 17 October 2025.