ELO Part II
{{short description|English rock/pop band}}
{{Redirect|Electric Light Orchestra Part Two|the group's debut album|Electric Light Orchestra Part Two (album)}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{More citations needed|date=September 2012}}
{{Infobox musical artist
| name = ELO Part II
| image = Elo part ii.jpg
| caption = Official ELO Part II logo
| background = group_or_band
| alias =
| origin = Birmingham, England
| instrument =
| genre = Symphonic rock, Rock, pop
| occupation =
| years_active = 1989–2000
| label = Scotti Brothers, Telstar, Volcano, Zomba Label Group, Sony BMG, Curb, Edel Music
| spinoffs = The Orchestra
| website =
| spinoff_of = {{hlist|The Move|Electric Light Orchestra|Climax Blues Band|OrKestra}}
| past_members = Bev Bevan
Louis Clark
Eric Troyer
Pete Haycock
Neil Lockwood
Mik Kaminski
Kelly Groucutt
Hugh McDowell
Phil Bates
Parthenon Huxley
}}
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) Part II was a British-American rock band formed by Electric Light Orchestra drummer and co-founder Bev Bevan. The band also included former ELO bassist and vocalist Kelly Groucutt, and violinist Mik Kaminski for most of its career, along with conductor Louis Clark, who toured as a guest with ELO in its later years; ELO cellist Hugh McDowell likewise briefly performed with the group in 1991. Alongside these ELO personnel, Part II rotated through several ELO-unaffiliated frontmen during its lifetime, with singer-songwriter and keyboardist Eric Troyer the only one to retain constant membership.
After Bevan left the band in late 1999, he sold his half of the rights to the Electric Light Orchestra name back to Jeff Lynne, and the band changed its name to The Orchestra.{{cite web|url=http://www.face-the-music.de/frame_e.html|title=Electric Light Orchestra Part II|publisher=face-the-music.de|access-date=2019-11-22}}
History
=Formation=
In 1988 drummer Bev Bevan approached Jeff Lynne, wanting to record another ELO album.{{cite interview |last1=Bevan|first1=Bev|subject-link1=Bev Bevan|last2=Clark|first2=Louis|subject-link2=Louis Clark|interviewer=Judi Spiers|title=Pebble Mill|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_z1hTw1jqY |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/a_z1hTw1jqY |archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|access-date=13 November 2020}}{{cbignore}} Lynne declined to participate, so Bevan signaled that he intended to continue the band without him.{{Cite web|last=Boehm|first=Mike|date=1995-07-22|title=ELO Part II: It Can Rise, but Can It Shine?|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-07-22-ca-26553-story.html|access-date=2020-10-01|website=Los Angeles Times}} Lynne, however, objected over use of the ELO name, and the final agreement reached between the two resulted in ELO officially disbanding and Bevan forming a new band in 1989 called Electric Light Orchestra Part Two.{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/electric-light-orchestra-part-ii-mn0001753734/biography|title=Electric Light Orchestra, Part II Biography by Jason Ankeny|author=Jason Ankeny|publisher=allmusic.com|access-date=2019-11-22}}
Another term of the agreement was that Lynne would get a percentage of ELO Part II's record royalties. ELO co-founder Roy Wood was approached about joining the band, but declined. Bevan recruited longtime ELO string conductor and co-arranger Louis Clark into his new band, but not as an initial official member (Clark was never an official member of the original ELO either.) The first line-up comprised Bevan, plus three musicians unrelated to ELO: American musician and songwriter Eric Troyer (keyboards, guitar and vocals), English musician and songwriter Pete Haycock (guitar, bass and vocals), formerly of the Climax Blues Band, and Welsh musician Neil Lockwood (guitar, keyboards, bass and vocals). John Payne had also been recruited as a member early on but dropped out, eventually to join Asia in 1991.{{cite web|url=https://melodic-hardrock.com/john-payneandy-nye-the-passion-1987|title=JOHN PAYNE/ANDY NYE – THE PASSION [1987]|publisher=melodic-hardrock.com|access-date=2019-11-22}}{{Cite web|date=8 January 2011|title=Biography|url=http://www.theasiaband.com/biography/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108045745/http://www.theasiaband.com/biography/|archive-date=8 January 2011|access-date=6 November 2020|website=theasiaband}}
=Debut album=
ELO Part Two released a self-titled album in 1991, which featured former ELO violinist Mik Kaminski on one track.
The first tour featured the band performing live with the 80-piece Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) conducted by Konstantin Krimets,{{Cite press release|title=Electric Light Orchestra Part Two – The Album|date=1991|url=http://www.45worlds.com/i/18cf1799f54112f3db2|access-date=6 November 2020}}{{Cite web|title=Projects|url=http://stasnamincentre.ru/projects|access-date=2020-10-02|website=The Stas Namin Centre|language=ru}} and was well received in the UK. The band chose the MSO so they could have a western band playing with an eastern orchestra. Approximately two-thirds of the songs performed were ELO hits. The tour's set was designed by Tom McPhillips and included the ELO spaceship. The show in ELO's home town of Birmingham was captured on video and on the live album Performing ELO's Greatest Hits Live Featuring The Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Kaminski, former ELO cellist Hugh McDowell, and former ELO bassist and vocalist Kelly Groucutt were part of the live band, with Groucutt sharing lead and backing vocals with Troyer, Haycock and Lockwood. While performing alongside Part II as part of a single eight-piece unit (now containing five former ELO alumni), Kaminski, McDowell and Groucutt were initially billed as guest artists from a band they had formed called OrKestra,{{Cite book|last1=Guttenbacher|first1=Patrik|title=Unexpected Messages|last2=Haines|first2=Marc|last3=Von Petersdorff|first3=Alexander|date=1996-01-01|isbn=3-00-000642-7}} itself a vehicle to exploit their past association with ELO. Groucutt and Kaminski ultimately dissolved the group by 1993 and joined Part II full-time, albeit without McDowell, whose tenure with Part II was resultantly a brief one. ELO Part II and MSO planned to kick off their tour in the USA at Radio City Music Hall.{{Cite magazine|date=8 June 1991|title=Electric Light Orchestra Part Two|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Billboard/90s/1991/BB-1991-06-08.pdf#page=8|magazine=Billboard|page=8|access-date=6 November 2020}} But the tour was cancelled as costs became prohibitive.
The band continued to tour Germany and the UK in 1992 with Louis Clark playing keyboards to emulate the strings of the absent orchestra. In 1993 Haycock and Lockwood left the band, and were replaced by guitarist/vocalist Phil Bates, who had been in the band Trickster, one of the opening acts for ELO's 1978 world tour. A world tour was undertaken by ELO Part Two in 1993, including dates in the USA and Eastern Europe.
=Moment of Truth=
Now a six-piece band (containing four members or affiliates of the original ELO) with a slightly altered name, Electric Light Orchestra Part II recorded a second studio album, Moment of Truth, which was released in 1994. Despite featuring several tracks contributed by both Groucutt and Clark (the latter in the form of orchestral interludes), the album's songwriting was primarily dominated by Troyer and Bates. The success of the album and the single "One More Tomorrow" were determining factors if the band would re-establish themselves in the US. The album was not a commercial success. The band continued its tour schedule over the following years, sometimes augmenting the core band with a backing orchestra. On these rare occasions they hired local orchestras at each venue to cut down costs.
Another live album with the Australian Rock Orchestra was recorded in Sydney, Australia in March 1995{{cite book|last=Duxbury|first=Janell R.|date=2000|title=Rockin' the Classics and Classicizin' the Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2-wyCE21VEQC&dq=Electric+Light+Orchestra+Part+Two&pg=PA325|publisher=Xlibris|page=325|isbn=0738837547}} and was released the following year in Germany as a double album One Night Live in Australia , and the year after that in the USA as a single album One Night - Live in Australia. The band sold the master tapes of this album and it has since been remixed, remastered, and re-released several times under different titles.
=Later career and transition to The Orchestra=
Phil Bates remained with the band until January 1999 and was replaced by Parthenon Huxley (guitar and vocals).
In November 1999 Bevan played his last show with the band at the Sands Hotel in Atlantic City and issued a press release in early 2000 indicating that ELO Part II had split. Due to Bev Bevan selling his rights to the ELO name to Jeff Lynne, the band could not continue under the name ELO Part II.
The remaining members, however, recruited drummer Gordon Townsend and continued as The Orchestra, who continue to tour.{{cn|date=March 2022}}
Personnel
=Members=
- Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, backing vocals (1989–1999; ELO member 1970–1986)
- Louis Clark – orchestral keyboards (1991–2000; died 2021), string arranger, conductor (1989–2000; ELO associate 1974–1980, 1983, Non-member touring musician 1981–1982, 1986)
- Eric Troyer – keyboards, guitar, vocals (1994–2000)
- Pete Haycock – guitar, vocals (1989–1993; died 2013), bass (1989–1991)
- Neil Lockwood – guitar, keyboards (1991, 1992–1993; died 2025https://alanparsons.com/blogs/news/neil-lockwood-march-15-2025), bass (1991), vocals (1989–1993)
- Mik Kaminski – violin (1991, 1992–2000; ELO member 1973–1979, Non-member touring musician 1982, 1986)
- Kelly Groucutt – bass, vocals (1991, 1992–2000; died 2009; ELO member 1974–1983)
- Hugh McDowell – cello (1991; died 2018; ELO member 1972, 1973–1979)
- Phil Bates – guitar, vocals (1993–1999)
- Parthenon Huxley – guitar, vocals (1999–2000)
=Timeline=
{{#tag:timeline|
ImageSize = width:960 height:350
PlotArea = left:115 bottom:110 top:10 right:20
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy
Period = from:01/01/1989 till:01/01/2000
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:dd/mm/yyyy
Legend = orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:3
ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1990
ScaleMinor = increment:1 start:1991
Colors =
id:voc value:red legend:Vocals
id:viol value:drabgreen legend:Violin
id:cello value:darkblue legend:Cello
id:g value:green legend:Guitars
id:key value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:b value:blue legend:Bass
id:dr value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion,_backing_vocals
id:alb value:black legend:Studio_Album
id:live value:gray(0.65) legend:Live_Album
LineData =
layer:back
color:alb
at:11/06/1990
at:01/10/1994
color:live
at:14/07/1992
at:07/02/1996
PlotData =
width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,–4)
bar:Neil Lockwood from:start till:01/07/1991 color:voc
bar:Neil Lockwood from:01/07/1991 till:01/07/1993 color:voc width:3
bar:Neil Lockwood from:01/07/1991 till:01/10/1991 color:key width:7
bar:Neil Lockwood from:01/07/1991 till:01/10/1991 color:g
bar:Neil Lockwood from:01/10/1991 till:01/05/1992 color:b
bar:Neil Lockwood from:01/05/1992 till:01/07/1993 color:key width:7
bar:Neil Lockwood from:01/05/1992 till:01/07/1993 color:g
bar:Pete Haycock from:start till:01/07/1993 color:g
bar:Pete Haycock from:start till:01/07/1991 color:b width:7
bar:Pete Haycock from:start till:01/07/1993 color:voc width:3
bar:Phil Bates from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1999 color:g
bar:Phil Bates from:01/07/1993 till:01/07/1999 color:voc width:3
bar:Parthenon Huxley from:01/07/1999 till:end color:g
bar:Parthenon Huxley from:01/07/1999 till:end color:voc width:3
bar:Mik Kaminski from:01/07/1991 till:01/10/1991 color:viol
bar:Hugh McDowell from:01/07/1991 till:01/10/1991 color:cello
bar:Mik Kaminski from:01/05/1992 till:end color:viol
bar:Eric Troyer from:start till:end color:key
bar:Eric Troyer from:start till:end color:voc width:3
bar:Eric Troyer from:01/10/1994 till:end color:g width:7
bar:Louis Clark from:start till:end color:key
bar:Kelly Groucutt from:01/07/1991 till:01/10/1991 color:b
bar:Kelly Groucutt from:01/07/1991 till:01/10/1991 color:voc width:3
bar:Kelly Groucutt from:01/05/1992 till:end color:b
bar:Kelly Groucutt from:01/05/1992 till:end color:voc width:3
bar:Bev Bevan from:start till:end color:dr
}}
Discography
{{Infobox artist discography
| Artist = ELO Part II
| Image =
| Caption =
| Alt =
| Studio = 2
| Live = 2
| Compilation = 1
| Video = 3
| Music videos = 3
| Singles = 6
}}
=Studio albums=
=Compilation albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:19em;"| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:21em;"| Album details |
| style="text-align:left;"| Anthology – 20 Years And Counting...with Electric Light Orchestra Part II & The Orchestra (2 CD)
|
|
=Live albums=
| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" border="1"
! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:19em;"| Title ! scope="col" rowspan="1" style="width:21em;"| Album details |
| style="text-align:left;"| Performing ELO's Greatest Hits Live (featuring The Moscow Symphony Orchestra) |
|
| style="text-align:left;"| One Night – Live in Australia (2 CD)
|
|
=Singles=
| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center; | |
| rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Title ! rowspan="2"| Album ! colspan="2"| Chart positions | |
|---|---|
| style="font-size:smaller;"
! style="width:25px;"| UK ! style="width:25px;"| NLD | |
| rowspan="3"| 1991
| "Honest Men" | rowspan="3"| Electric Light Orchestra Part Two | 60 | 36 |
| "Thousand Eyes"
| 113 | – |
| "For the Love of a Woman"
| – | – |
| rowspan="2" | 1994
| "Power of a Million Lights" | rowspan="3" | Moment of Truth | – | – |
| "Breakin' Down the Walls"
| – | – |
| rowspan="1" | 1996
|"One More Tomorrow" |– |– |
=Music videos=
| class="wikitable" |
| Year
!Video !Director !Album |
|---|
| 1991
|"Honest Men" |Unknown |
| rowspan=2|1994
|"Power of a Million Lights" |Paul Spencer{{cite AV media|title="million lights"|date=15 June 1994|author=ELO PT II|publisher=TE Savage Inc.|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByNTWLBoWIc|access-date=16 October 2022|via=YouTube}} Credits seen during first frames of video. |rowspan=2|Moment of Truth |
| "Breakin' Down the Walls"
|Unknown |
=Videos=
- Performing ELO's Greatest Hits Live Featuring The Moscow Symphony Orchestra (VHS), (1992)
- Electric Light Orchestra – Part II – One Night Live in Australia '95 (DVD), (1995)
- Access All Areas (DVD/VHS), (1997): Produced and directed by George Reed. Running time 58 minutes. Feature includes interviews with band members, live performances, music videos for "All Fall Down" and "Ain't Necessarily So", and behind-the-scenes footage.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [http://www.elodiscovery.com/all-over-the-world.html http://www.elodiscovery.com] ELO & Jeff Lynne information page
{{ELO Part II}}
{{Electric Light Orchestra}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elo Part Ii}}
Category:1989 establishments in England
Category:2000 disestablishments in England
Category:Electric Light Orchestra
Category:Rock music groups from Birmingham, West Midlands
Category:Musical groups established in 1989