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While live the group moved into cabaret, in the studio they were becoming more adventurous with their second album, (“Shazam”, 1969), being hailed as a masterpiece. It was however Carl Wayne’s swansong as he left the group in January the following year, relationships within the group had become strained and Roy was developing a new concept – the Electric Light Orchestra.
At this point Jeff Lynne joined the group and Roy took on the task of lead singer. While The Move continued to record both LPs and singles and continue to have hits the group started to take a back seat to Roy’s new vision – ELO – and, in 1971, Roy, Jeff and Bev formed the nucleus of the Electric Light Orchestra. Roy had got the idea for the group while working with Tony Visconti on orchestral arrangements for Move songs but it was Jeff who gave birth to the sound with his composition “10538 Overture”. Released as a single it matched the bombast of the Glam movement and reached the top ten in 1972.
Whilst their first album was critically acclaimed there were difficulties between Roy and Jeff regarding the group’s direction and just after the release of “10538 Overture” Roy left the group to form Wizzard and write his own chapter in Glam Rock.
Jeff took over leadership of the group and they made a major impact at the 1972 Reading Festival. Their interpretation of Chuck Berry’s “Roll Over Beethoven” became an instant classic, hit the top ten and saw them at the height of their powers with regard to Glam Rock. Their success was consolidated with “Showdown” but the subsequent single “Ma Ma Ma Ma Belle” failed to chart in the UK (despite an uncredited performance by Bolan playing lead alongside Jeff) as did “Can’t Get It Out Of My Head”.
Whilst ELO’s star started to wane in the UK it was rising in the US where the albums “On the Third Day” and “Eldorado” saw their fan base grow. As the audiences in the UK dwindled the group concentrated on the US with extensive tours. They continued to record however and in the UK were rewarded with a top five in the form of “Livin’ Thing” in December 1976 (this was the beginning of an unbroken run of 15 UK top twenty singles taken from hit albums). With the associated album “A New World Record” realising another two hits singles with “Telephone Line” and “Rockaria!” (probably their last track to capture some of the Glam ethos) ELO were back on track.
Their following album was to become a major release in the history of rock music – “Out of the Blue”. Supported by a nine month sell out tour and containing the iconic “Mr. Blue Sky” this saw ELO become a global concern. At the end of 1978 they had a single, EP, album, double album and triple album box set all in the UK top fifty at the same time!
In 1979 they released the LP “Discovery”. It contained “Don’t Bring Me Down”, their biggest ever single hit, and marked another first for the group – this was the first Electric Light Orchestra single that didn’t have strings. The group had come a long way from Roy’s first vision and Jeff’s first composition...............
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