Carl Wayne (vocals)
Roy Wood (vocals, guitar)
Jeffery Lynne (vocals, guitar)
Trevor Burton (lead guitar)
Ace Kefford (bass)
Bev Bevan (drums)
(* items in red are live concerts or shows.)
|
1966
Feb - Group is formed in Birmingham, W.Midlands, by members of
three of the city's best existing beat groups: Wood (b. Ulysses Adrian
Wood, Nov.8,1946, Birmingham) ex-Mike Sheridan & The Nightriders;
Wayne (b. Aug.18,1944, Moseley, W.Midiands), Kefford (b. Christopher Kefford,
Dec.10, 1946, Moseley, Bevan (b. Nov.24,1944, Birmingham) ex-Carl Wayne
& The Vikings and Burton (b. Mar.9,1944, Aston, W.Midiands) ex-Danny
King & The Mayfair Set. Stabilizing as a quintet after initial jams
at Birmingham's Cedar club, group builds strong local reputation, links
with manager Tony Secunda and moves to London.
Jun [2] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [23] - Performs live in London
(UK)
July [30] -
Group performs at the 6th annual National jazz & Blues Festival, Windsor,
Berks. (They set off distress flares during their act.)
Aug [4] - Performs live in London (UK)
Aug [11] - Performs live in London
(UK) |
1967
Jan - Night Of Fear, a Roy Wood song with a riff based
on the 1812 Overture, hits UK #2.
Apr - Band offers a 200 UK pound reward for information leading
to the recovery of tapes stolen from their agent's car in London's Tin
Pan Alley. (The tapes will subsequently be found on a building site in
North London. The laborer who finds them receives the 200 UK pound reward.)
Apr [29] -
Group plays on a 14-hour 'Technicolour Dream' concert in the Great Hall
of the Alexandra Palace, London, with Pink Floyd, Tomorrow and John's
Children (featuring Marc Bolan).
May - I Can Hear The Grass Grow developing Wood's flirtation
with psychedelia, hits UK #5. Group begins to gain a reputation for Who-type
destruction (usually smashing TV sets or obliterating effigies of people
like Adolf Hitler) on its stage act and on TV appearances.
Aug [11] - Performs live in Windsor
(UK)
Sept [30] - BBC Radio 1 is launched in UK, with The Move's Flowers
In The Rain as the first disk played.
Oct - Flowers In The Rain hits UK #2. Group has switched,
with other Cordell-produced acts, to Regal Zonophone Records (a label
previously reserved for Salvation Army music).
Nov - The Move is successfully sued by UK Prime Minister Harold
Wilson over a nude caricature of him on promotional postcard for Flowers
In The Rain. All the royalties earned by the record go to charity
as part of the settlement. Cherry Blossom Clinic, scheduled as
the next single, is dropped since its lyric (concerning a mental asylum)
is considered likely to create more unfavorable publicity. (The track
will appear on the group's first album.)
Nov [14] - Performs live in London (UK)
Dec [22] - Performs live in London
(UK) |
1968
Mar - Fire Brigade climbs to UK #3.
Apr - Debut album Move makes UK #15. Kefford leaves group due
to illness. He does not return and will subsequently pursue a solo career.
(He will record a single as The Ace Kefford Stand for Atlantic, reviving
The Yardbirds' For Your Love. Burton switches to bass and the group
continues as a quartet. Richard Tandy (who will later play with Burton
in Balls and with Wood and Bevan in ELO) occasionally joins on keyboards
and bass.
July - Wild Tiger Woman does not chart.
Aug [23] - Performs live in Bilzen
Jazz Festival (B)
Sept - Live Something Else is released. It is an unusual
5-track 33rpm 7" EP, later to become an expensive collector's item,
but it fails to chart.
|
1969
Feb - Blackberry Way tops UK chart for a week, The Move's
only #1 hit. Burton, tired of the group's commercial material, quits on
the eve of a US tour, which has to be cancelled. (Burton will join The
Uglys and then form Balls with ex-Moody Blues' vocalist Denny Laine.)
Feb [12] - Performs live in Granadas Discotheque
(UK) (TV Show)
Feb [13] - Performs live in Stafford
(UK)
Feb [15] - Performs live in Cambridge
(UK)
Feb [16] - Performs live in Bishops Storford
(UK)
Feb [18] - Performs live in Tunstall
(UK)
Feb [20] - Performs live in London (UK)
Feb [21] - Performs live in Hinckley
(UK)
Feb [22] - Performs live in Chester (UK)
Feb [26] - Performs live in Stockton
(UK)
Feb [28] - Performs live in Woolwich
(UK)
Mar - Jeff Lynne (b. Dec.30,1947, Birmingham, W.Midlands) of The
Idle Race and Rick Price (b. June 10, 1944, Birmingham) of Sight And Sound
are invited to join The Move. Lynne decides against it but Price comes
in as bassist.
Aug - Curly reaches UK #12.
Aug [5] - Performs live in London
(UK)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in Detroit,
MI (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in Detroit,
MI (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in Los
Angeles, CA (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in Los
Angeles, CA (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in Los
Angeles, CA (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in Los
Angeles, CA (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in Los
Angeles, CA (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in San
Fransisco , CA (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in San
Fransisco , CA (USA)
Oct [ ] -
Performs live in San
Fransisco , CA (USA)
Oct - The Move's only US tour is unsuccessful and the Northern
UK cabaret gigs which follow cause a rift between Wayne and the others.
|
1970
Jan - Wayne leaves for a solo cabaret and TV career which will see moderate
success (but not on disk) during the 70s. Lynne agrees to join in his place,
admitting to being more interested in the 'Electric Light Orchestra' project
currently being mooted by Wood.
Feb - Shazam fails to chart but Wood's track Hello Susie is covered
by Amen Corner and hits UK #4.
Apr [24] - Performs live in Hereford
(UK)
Apr [25] - Performs live in Norwich
(UK)
May - Brontosaurus, an uncharactaristically heavy rocker, hits UK #6.
May [9] - Performs live in Lille (F)
May [17] - Performs live in Dusseldorf
(D)
June [1] - Rick Price signs solo and production deal with President
Records.
Oct - Looking On fails to chart, as does When Alice Comes
Back To The Farm, taken from it.
|
1971
July - The band moves to EMI's Harvest label, with Wood and Lynne jointly
producing. Tonight reaches UK #11 but Message From The Country fails
to chart.
Oct [13] -
The Move makes its final live appearances, after which Price leaves. (He will
form Sheridan/Price and then Mongrel, but will later rejoin Wood in Wizzard.
The only Move performances will be on UK TV, promoting its final 2 singles.)
Nov - Chinatown peaks at UK #23. Plans are made for transforming
The Move into The Electric Light Orchestra (later known as ELO), with the recruitment
of 5 (mostly strings) players, including ex-Move part-timer Richard Tandy.
|
1972
Feb - Wood releases solo When Grandma Plays The Banjo,
it fails to chart. (Later sideline solo efforts in Wizzard will net him 4
UK Top 20 hits.)
Apr [16] - First
live appearance of ELO, in Croydon, London, signifies the end of The Move.
June - Final Move single Califonia Man hits UK #7.
Aug - Wood leaves ELO to form Wizzard.
Nov - Do Ya, by Lynne on UK B-side of California Man, is
issued as an A-side in US and gives The Move its only US chart entry, reaching
#93. (The song will later be a bigger US hit for ELO.)
|
The Electric Light Orchestra
Jeff Lynne (vocals, guitar)
Bev Bevan (drums)
Richard Tandy (keyboards)
Kelly Groucutt (bass)
Mik Kaminski (violin)
Hugh McDowell (cello)
Melvin Gale (cello)
Michael DeAlbuquerque (bass)
Wilf Gibson (violin)
Mike Edwards (cello)
Colin Walker (cello)
Steve Woolam (violin)
Roy Wood (vocals, cello)
Bill Hunt (keyboards)
Andy Craig (cello)
(* items in red are live concerts or shows.)
|
1967
Wood (b. Nov.8,1946, Birmingham, W.Midlands), ex-local band Mike Sheridan &
The Nightriders (now called Idle Race) is guitarist with The Move, currently
Birmingham's biggest band enjoying Top 10 success.
|
1969
Wood offers friend Jeff Lynne (b. Dec.30,1947, Birmingham), who joined Idle
Race after Wood's departure and is leading the group, a place in The Move, but
Lynne elects to stay with Idle Race.
|
1970
Oct - When Move singer Carl Wayne leaves for a solo cabaret career,
Lynne agrees to join, providing he can also be involved in Wood's separate group
within The Move, playing "jazz and classically-influenced free-form music' with
instrumentation aligned more to an orchestra than a rock band. The whole idea
is financed by manager Don Arden, who secures them a contract with Harvest.
|
1971
Plans for the first Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) release are delayed as The
Move has hits with Tonight and Chinatown and Message From The
Country. After a US tour The Move retires from live performance (but will
still nominally exist). Drummer Bevan (b. Beverley Bevan, Nov.24, 1946, Birmingham)
opens a Birmingham record shop.
|
1972
Feb [4] - Performs in London (UK) (Radio
Show)
Apr [16] - ELO makes its live debut at the Greyhound
pub in Croydon, London. Its innovative style is not well received.
May - The Move's California Man hits UK #7.
May [2] - Performs live in Bristol (UK)
May [3] -
Performs on "Top of the Pops" TV-Show (UK)
May [3] - Performs live in Brighton
(UK)
May [7] - Performs live in Guildford
(UK)
May [8] - Performs live in Leicester
(UK)
May [10] - Performs live in Sheffield
(UK)
May [11] - Performs live in Portsmouth
(UK)
May [12] - Performs live in Plymouth
(UK)
May [14] - Performs live in Croydon
(UK)
May [17] - Performs live in Aberdeen
(UK)
May [18] - Performs live in Newcastle
(UK)
May [19] - Performs live in Glasgow
(UK)
May [20] - Performs live in Edinburgh
(UK)
May [22] - Performs live in Solihull
(UK)
May [23] - Performs live in Bournemouth
(UK)
May [26] - Performs live in Preston
(UK)
May [27] - Performs live in Rome (I)
Jun [1] - Performs live in Milan (I)
Jun [11] - Performs live in Cavallermaggiore (I)
Aug - ELO's first single, Lynne's 10538 Overture, hits UK #9-
Debut album Electric Light Orchestra, featuring Lynne and Wood and released
on Harvest, reaches UK #32. United Artists in US, having rung Arden to discover
the album title and being left a message "No Answer" by a secretary who
could not reach him, releases it as No Answer. It makes US #196
Having planned ELO for several years, Wood surprises everyone by leaving the
group to form his own more pop-oriented group Wizzard. He takes Hunt and McDowell
with him while Craig leaves altogether. Lynne recruits cellists Mike Edwards
and Colin Walker and bassist Richard Tandy. (Tandy, who later switches to keyboards
and Micheal D'Albuquerque will be brought in as bassist)
Aug [12] - The
new line-up debuts at Reading Festival, Berks, in
Reading (UK)
Aug [25] - Performs live in Dunstable
(UK)
Sep [1] - Performs live in Guildford
(UK)
Sep [29] - Performs live in London (UK)
Nov [1] - Performs in London (UK) (Radio
show)
|
1973
??? - Performs Roll
Over Beethoven on "American Banstand" TV-Show (USA)
??? - Performs Roll Over
Beethoven and Showdown on "Top of the Pops" TV-Show (UK)
Feb - First post-Wood release, a version of Chuck Berry's Roll Over
Beethoven, with quasi-classical intro, hits UK #6.
Mar - ELO II is released, making UK #35 and US #62.
Mar [2] - Performs live in Bristol (UK)
Mar [3] - Performs live in Cambridge
(UK)
Mar [9] - Performs live in Chelmsford
(UK)
Mar [10] - Performs live in Norwich
(UK)
Mar [11] - Performs live in Stevenage
(UK)
Mar [13] - Performs live in Liverpool
(UK)
Mar [14] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
Mar [17] - Performs live in Malvern
(UK)
Mar [19] - Performs live in Manchester
(UK)
Mar [23] - Performs live in London (UK)
Mar [24] - Performs live in Dagenham
(UK)
Mar [30] - Performs live in Leeds (UK)
Mar [31] - Performs live in Boston (UK)
Apr [7] - Performs live in Folkestone
(UK)
Apr [8] - Performs live in Croydon (UK)
Apr [10] - Performs live in Watford
(UK)
Apr [19] - Performs live in London (UK)
Apr [21] - Performs live in Douglas,
Isle of Man (UK)
Apr [25] - Performs live in London (UK)
(Radio Show)
Apr [26] - Performs live in Hastings
(UK)
May [4] - Performs live in New York,
NY (USA)
May [20] - Performs live in Aston (UK)
May [25] - Performs live in Cirencester
(UK)
June - Group begins Large US tour
in Santa Barbera, CA.
Jun [1] - Performs live in Santa Barbara,
CA (USA)
Jun [2] - Performs live in San Bernhardino,
CA (USA)
Jun [3] - Performs live in Berkeley, CA
(USA)
Jun [4] - Performs live in Tucson, AZ
(USA)
Jun [5] - Performs live in Phoenix,
AZ (USA)
Jun [7] - Performs live in Los Angeles,
CA (USA)
Jun [8] - Performs live in Fresno, CA
(USA)
Jun [9] - Performs live in Los Angeles,
CA (USA)
Jun [11] - Performs live in Minneapolis,
MN (USA)
Jun [12] - Performs live in Omaha, NE
(USA)
Jun [14] - Performs live in Chicago,
IL (USA)
Jun [15] - Performs live in Indianapolis,
IN (USA) (Afternoon Perf )
Jun [15] - Performs live in St Louis,
MO (USA) (Evening Perf )
Jun [16] - Performs live in Toronto
(CN)
Jun [17] - Performs live in Buffalo,
NY (USA)
Jun [18] - Performs live in New Orleans,
LA (USA)
Jun [19] - Performs live in Houston,
TX (USA)
Jun [20] - Performs live in Philadelphia,
PA (USA)
Jun [22] - Performs live in New York,
NY (USA)
Jun [23] - Performs live in New York,
NY (USA)
Jun [25] - Performs live in Columbia,
MD (USA)
Jun [27] - Performs live in Detroit,
MI (USA)
Jun [30] - Performs live in Cleveland,
OH (USA)
Jul [1] - Performs live in Cincinnati,
OH (USA)
Jul [4] - Performs live in Virginia
City, NV (USA)
Jul [13] - Performs live in New Westminster,
British Columbia (CA)
Jul [14] - Performs live in Salem, OR
(USA)
July [28] - Roll Over Beethoven makes US
#42.
Sept - McDowell returns from Wizzard. Gibson and Walker leave
and Mik Kaminski joins on violin.
Nov - Showdown, later an R&B hit for Candi Staton, reaches
UK #12.
Dec - Lushly orchestrated concept album On The Third Day is released
through Warner Bros. in UK but fails to chart. United Artists releases the album
in US where it makes #52.
Dec [8] - Performs live in Copenhagen
(DK)
Dec [9] - Performs live in Stockholm
(S)
|
1974
Jan [25] - Performs live in London (UK)
Feb [1] - Performs live in Uxbridge
(UK)
Feb [2] - Showdown peaks at US #53.
Feb [2] - Performs live in Sheffield
(UK)
Feb [3] - Performs live in Coventry
(UK)
Feb [9] - Performs live in Canterbury
(UK)
Feb [16] - Performs live in London (UK)
Feb [17] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
Feb [18] - Performs live in Manchester
(UK)
Feb [21] - Performs live in Middlesbrough
(UK)
Feb [22] - Performs live in Newcastle
(UK)
Feb [23] - Performs live in Southport
(UK)
Feb [24] - Performs live in Glasgow
(UK)
Feb [26] - Performs live in Bristol
(UK)
Mar [2] - Performs live in Chatham (UK)
Mar [4] - Performs live in Barcelona
(E)
Mar [5] - Performs live in Madrid (E)
Mar [7] - Performs live in Folkestone
(UK)
Mar [9] - Performs live in Leeds (UK)
Mar [12] - Performs live in Southend
(UK)
Mar [13] - Performs live in Aberystwyth
(UK)
Mar [15] - Performs live in London (UK)
Mar [19] - Performs live in Portsmouth
(UK)
Apr [6] - Ma-Ma-Ma Belle reaches UK #22.
Apr [20] - Performs live in Portchester,
NY (USA)
Apr [27?] - Performs live in London, Ontario, Canada
May [3] - Performs live in Santa Barbara,
CA (USA)
May [12 ] - Performs live in Long Beach,
CA (USA) This was the recorder concert for the LP "The
Night the Lights went on in Long Beach"
May [25] - Daybreaker stalls at US #87.
Aug [30] - Performs live in Aarau (CH)
Sep [25] - Performs live in Offenbach
(D)
Sep [27] - Performs live in Heidelberg
(D)
Oct - Eldorado, billed as 'A Symphony By The Electric Light Orchestra'
released, makes US #16 and earns a gold disk.
Oct [4] - Performs in Cologne (D)
(TV show)
Nov - Live The Night The Light Went On In Long Beach, is
released worldwide, excluding UK and US. Harvest issues Showdown, a compilation
of singles and tracks from the first 2 albums. Edwards and D'Albuquerque leave
to be replaced by bassist Kelly Groucutt, ex-Barefoot, and cellest Melvyn Gale,
ex-London Palladium orchestra.
Nov [21] - Performs live in Fresno, CA
(USA)
Dec [5] - Performs live in Chicago,
IL (USA)
Dec [6] - Performs live in Cleveland,
OH (USA)
Dec [17] - Performs live in Roanoak,
VI (USA)
|
1975
??? - Performs
on "Midnight Special" TV-Show (USA)
Feb [14] - Performs live in Newcastle
(UK)
Feb [15] - Performs live in York (UK)
Feb [16] - Performs live in London (UK)
Feb [17] - Performs live in Bristol
(UK)
Feb [18] - Performs live in Brighton
(UK)
Feb [20] - Performs live in Sheffield
(UK)
Feb [21] - Performs live in Salford
(UK)
Feb [22] - Performs live in Leeds (UK)
Feb [24] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
Feb [25] - Performs live in Wolverhampton
(UK)
Mar [7] - Performs live in Tubingen (D)
Mar [8] - Performs live in Erlangen
(D)
Mar [9] - Performs live in Stuttgart
(D)
Mar [12] - Performs live in Hannover
(D)
Mar [15] - Using a 30-piece string section for the first time, ballad
Can't Get It Out Of My Head, from Eldorado, becomes group's first
US Top 10 hit at #9. (Band will spend most of the year touring.)
Oct - Face The Music, much of it recorded at Musicland studios
in Munich, Germany (where the group will record most of its future work), hits
US #8.
Jul [17] - Performs live
in Houston, TX (USA)
Nov [27] - Performs live
in Glasgow (UK)
Nov [28] - Performs live in Edinburgh
(UK)
Dec [6] - Performs live in London (UK)
Dec [8] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
|
1976
??? - Performs
on "Midnight Special" TV-Show (USA)
Jan [31] - Evil Woman hits UK #10.
Feb [3] - Performs live (USA)
Feb [14] - Evil Woman hits US #10, as a successful US tour begins.
Feb [16] - Performs live (USA)
Mar [4] - Performs live in Detroit,
MI (USA)
Apr [ ]- Performs live in San Fransisco,
CA (USA)
Apr [ ] - Performs live in Kansas City,
KS (USA)
Apr [ ] - Performs live in New York, NY
(USA)
Apr [ ] - Performs live in New York, NY
(USA)
Apr [ ] - Performs live in Allentown,
PA (USA)
Apr [ ] - Performs live in Philadelphia,
PA (USA)
Apr [18] - Performs live (USA)
May [22] - Strange Magic reaches US #14.
Jun [15] - Performs live in Bristol (UK)
Jun [17] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
Jun [18] - Performs live in Oxford (UK)
Jun [19] - Performs live in Manchester
(UUK)
Jun [20] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [22] - Performs live in Portsmouth
(UK)
Jun [24] - Performs live in Hanley (UK)
Jun [26] - Performs live in Glasgow
(UK)
Jun [27] - Performs live in Newcastle
(UK)
Jun [28] - Performs live in Liverpool
(UK)
July - Strange Magic makes UK #38.
Aug [28] - Reissued Showdown peaks at US #59.
Sept - ELO, signed to Arden's JET label, releases US-only greatest hits
album Ole ELO, which reaches US #32.
Dec [4] - A New World Record, written, arranged and produced
by Lynne, now the main focus in the group, gains immediate radio interest and
hits UK #6. It sells 5 million copies worldwide. Livin' Thing hits UK
#4.
|
1977
Jan [8] - Livin' Thing reaches US #13, as parent album A New
World Record hits US #5.
Jan [17] - ELO begins a major US and Canadian
tour at the Veterans' Memorial Auditorium, Phoenix, AZ- (It will end three months
later on Apr. 6 at Place de Nationale, Montreal, Canada.)
Jan [17] - Performs live in Phoenix, AZ (USA)
Feb [11] - Performs
live at Madison Square Garden, New York City USA.
Feb [23] - Performs
live in Flint Mich., USA.
Feb [25] - Performs live in Milwaukee, Wisc.,
USA.
Feb [25-26] - Performs live in Chicago Ill., USA.
Mar [10] - Performs live in Atlanta Ga., USA.
Mar [25] - Performs live at Notre Dame, South
Bend, Ind., USA.
Mar - Dramatic Rockaria! hits UK #9.
Apr [2] - ELO's version of The Move's only US hit, Do Ya, reaches
US #24, after Todd Rundgren has used it in his live show. Harvest releases compilation
The Light Shines On, as Lynne, locked away in a chalet in Bassins, Switzerland,
writes songs for a new album.
Apr [ ] - Performs live in Ottawa,
(CA).
Apr [6] - Performs live at Place
de Nationale, Montreal, Canada.
Apr [11] - A New World Record peaks at UK #6, 8
months after its release. An extensive world tour begins, which, with the year's
record sales, will gross the band more than $10 million.
Apr [22] - Performs live in Los Angeles, CA (USA)
June - Telephone Line, from A New World Record, hits UK
#8.
Sept [24] - Telephone Line hits US #7, Giving the band its first
gold single.
Nov [12] - With worldwide advance orders of 4 million, double album
Out Of The Blue, again written and produced by Lynne, hits UK #4.
Dec [10] - Turn To Stone reaches UK #18.
|
1978
Jan [8] - Out Of The Blue hits US #4. (During its chart run,
US distribution for JET switches to CBS/Columbia and the band sues United Artists
for allegedly allowing millions of defective copies to reach the market.)
Feb [4] - Turn To Stone reaches US #13.
Feb - ELO begins it's largest and most extravagent world tour ever, billed
as "THE BIG NIGHT" in the USA. They played eigth successive sold-out shows at the Wembley
Empire Pool in London. This was the tour with the giant laser-lit space ship that opened
up with the band playing inside. At the time, this tour was the biggest grossing tour
of any live concert ever!
Feb [ ] - Performs live in Hawaii, New Zeland, and Australia
Feb [22] - Performs live in Tokyo (J)
Feb [23] - Performs live in Osaka (J)
Feb [24] - Performs live in Osaka (J)
Feb [25] - Performs live in Kioto (J)
Feb [25] - Mr. Blue Sky hits UK #6.
Feb [26] - Performs live in Fukuoka (J)
Feb [28] - Performs live in Nagoja (J)
Mar [2] - Performs live in Shizuoka
(J)
Apr [23] - Performs live in Gothenburg
(SW)
Apr [29] - Performs live in Kiel (D)
Apr [29] - Sweet Talkin'Woman reaches US #17.
Apr [30] - Performs live in Dortmund (D)
May [2] - Performs live in Bremen (D)
May [3] - Performs live in Hannover
(D)
May [4] - Performs live in Hamburg (D)
May [6] - Performs live in Ludwigshafen/Rhein
(D)
May [8] - Performs live in Cologne (D)
May [10] - Performs live in Berlin (D)
May [11] - Performs live in Nurnberg
(D)
May [12] - Performs live in Munich (D)
May [15] - Performs live in Paris (F)
May [18] - Performs live in Brussles
(B)
Jun [2] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [6] - Performs live in Stafford
(UK)
Jun [9] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [10] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [11] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [12] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [14] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [15] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jun [16] - Performs live in London (UK)
June [24] - Wild West Hero hits UK #6.
Jun [30] - Performs live in Omaha, NE
(USA)
Jul [2] - Performs live in Kansas City,
MO (USA)
Jul [3] - Performs live in Oklahoma
City, OK (USA)
Jul [5] - Performs live in Memphis,
TN (USA)
Jul [6] - Performs live in Atlanta,
GA (USA)
Jul [7] - Performs live in Birmingham,
AL (USA)
Jul [9] - Performs live in Lexington,
KY (USA)
Jul [11] - Performs live in Greensboro,
NC (USA)
Jul [12] - Performs live in Roanoke,
VA (USA)
Jul [15] - Performs live in Cleveland,
OH (USA)
Jul [19] - Performs live in Toronto
(CN)
Aug [10] - Performs live in Chicago,
IL (USA)
Aug [12] - Performs live in Pontiac,
MI (USA)
Aug [12] - Mr. Blue Sky makes US #35. Group continues a tour featuring
an elaborate set, with lasers and a huge illuminated 'spaceship'.
Aug [13] - Performs live in Pontiac, MI
(USA)
Aug [14] - Performs live in Indianapolis,
IN (USA)
Aug [15] - Performs live in Milwaukee,
WI (USA)
Aug [16] - Performs live in Madison,
WI (USA)
Aug [17] - Performs live in St. Paul,
MN (USA)
Aug [19] - Performs live in Denver,
CO (USA)
Aug [22] - Performs live in Las Vegas,
NV (USA)
Aug [23] - Performs live in San Francisco,
CA (USA)
Aug [26] - Performs live in Anaheim,
CA (USA) "The most famous of the Big Night concerts"
Sep [1] - Performs live in Fort Worth,
TX (USA)
Sep [2] - Performs live in Shreveport,
LA (USA)
Sep [3] - Performs live in Houston,
TX (USA)
Sep [4] - Performs live in Baton Rouge,
LA (USA)
Sep [5] - Performs live in Biluxi, MS
(USA)
Sep [7] - Performs live in Knoxville,
TN (USA)
Sep [8] - Performs live in Dayton, OH
(USA)
Sep [9] - Performs live in Murphysboro
TN (USA)
Sep [11] - Performs live in Buffalo,
NY (USA)
Sep [12] - Performs live in New Haven,
CT (USA)
Sep [14] - Performs live in New York,
NY (USA)
Sep [15] - Performs live in New York,
NY (USA)
Sep [18] - Performs live in Philadelphia,
PA (USA)
Sep [19] - Performs live in Philadelphia,
PA (USA)
Sep [22] - Performs live in Hampton,
VA (USA)
Sep [23] - Performs live in Largo, MD
(USA)
Sep [25] - Performs live in Pittsburgh,
PA (USA)
Sep [27] - Performs live in Boston,
MA (USA)
Sep [28] - Performs live in Providence,
RI (USA)
Sep [29] - Performs live in Portland,
ME (USA)
Sep [30] - Performs live in Montreal
(CN) End of the BIG Night 1978 World Tour!
Oct [21] - Sweet Talkin' Woman hits UK #6, becoming the
fourth UK hit from Out Of The Blue.
Nov [18] - It's Over peaks at US #75.
Dec [16] - EP ELO makes UK #34. (Tracks are Can't Get It Out Ofmy
Head, Strange Magic, Ma-Ma-Ma Belle and Evil Woman.) Lynne's first solo
Doin' That Crazy Thing is released but, like Bevan's solo Let There
Be Drums, fails to chart.
|
1979
Concentrating on recording and less on live performance
(band has toured every year since l972), Lynne pares full-time band to
a core of himself, Bevan, Tandy and Groucutt, calling on Mik Kaminski
when required.
Jan [6] - Jet box set Three Light Years, comprising On The
Third Day, Eldorado and Face The Music, makes UK #38. Kaminski's
solo Violinski: Clog Dance makes UK #17.
Mar - Harvest issues The Light Shines On Vol. 2, with little
success.
May - Shine A Little Love hits UK #6.
May [4] - ELO are honored with the Outstanding Contribution To British
Music award at the annual Ivor Novello Awards lunch.
June [2] - Discovery hits UK #1, group's first UK chart-topper
album.
July - The Diary Of Horace Wimp hits UK #8,
July [5] - Discovery hits US #5.
July [20] - ELO advertises in music press dedicating forthcoming single
Don't Bring Me Down to 'Skylab'.
July [21] - Shine A Little Love hits US #8.
Sept - Don't Bring Me Down hits UK #3.
Sept [8] - Don't Bring Me Down hits US #8, band's biggest US
single success.
Nov - Confusion hits UK #8.
Sept [17] - Confusion makes US #37.
Dec [18] - ELO's Greatest Hits hits UK #7.
Dec [22] - ELO's Greatest Hits makes US #30.
|
1980
Feb [2] - Last Train To London makes US #39.
May - ELO is commisioned to write songs for film "Xanadu".
First release from the film I'm Alive, makes UK #20.
June - Title track Xanadu teams ELO with Olivia Newton-John and
hits UK #1 (band's first UK chart-topper single).
July - Soundtrack album Xanadu, with one side featuring ELO and the
other Olivia Newton-John, hits UK #2 and US #4. The film. however. Is a box-office
disaster.
July [12] - I'm Alive reaches US #16.
Aug - All Over The World, from Xanadu, reaches UK #11.
Oct [4] - All Over The World reaches US #13.
Oct [11] - Xanadu hits US #8.
Dec [6] - Don't Walk Away reaches UK #21,
|
1981
May [19] - Xanadu wins Best Film Song, Theme Or Score at the annual
Ivor Novello Awards lunch.
Aug [29] - Time released, tops UK chart and reaches
US #16.
Sept [5] - Hold On Tight hits UK #4. (It is the first disk credited
to the ELO acronym. They will revert to full name m 1986, when signed to CBS/Epic.)
Oct [3] - Hold On Tight hits US #10.
Group begins a major tour, but for the first
time since the early 70s plays to less than capacity audiences.
Oct [1] - Performs live in Largo, MD (USA)
Oct [2] - Performs live in Philadelphia,
PA (USA)
Oct [3] - Performs live in Boston, MA
(USA)
Oct [4] - Performs live in Rochester,
NY (USA)
Oct [6] - Performs live in Hempstead,
NY (USA)
Oct [7] - Performs live in Hartford,
CT (USA)
Oct [8] - Performs live in East Rutherford,
NJ (USA)
Oct [10] - Performs live in Buffalo,
NY (USA)
Oct [11] - Performs live in cleveland,
OH (USA)
Oct [12] - Performs live in Charleston,
WV (USA)
Oct [14] - Performs live in Roanoke,
VA (USA)
Oct [15] - Performs live in Williamsburg,
VA (USA)
Oct [16] - Performs live in Pittsburgh,
PA (USA)
Oct [17] - Performs live in Greensboro,
NC (USA)
Oct [19] - Performs live in Lexington,
KY (USA)
Oct [20] - Performs live in Nashville,
TN (USA)
Oct [21] - Performs live in Atlanta,
GA (USA)
Oct [23] - Performs live in Baton Rouge,
LA (USA)
Oct [24] - Performs live in Mobile,
AL (USA)
Oct [25] - Performs live in Jackson,
MS (USA)
Oct [26] - Performs live in Norman,
OK (USA)
Oct [28] - Performs live in Kansas City,
MO (USA)
Oct [29] - Performs live in St. Louis,
MO (USA)
Oct [30] - Performs live in Omaha, NE
(USA)
Oct [31] - Performs live in St. Paul,
MN (USA)
Nov [2] - Performs live in Milwaukee,
WI (USA)
Nov [4] - Performs live in Detroit,
MI (USA)
Nov [5] - Performs live in Chicago,
IL (USA)
Nov [6] - Performs live in Cincinnati,
OH (USA)
Nov [7] - Performs live in Bloomington,
IN (USA)
Nov [7] - Twilight, their poorest chart showing for years,
makes UK #30.
Nov [28] - Twilight reaches US #38.
Dec [1] - Performs live in London (UK)
Dec [2] - Performs live in London (UK)
Dec [4] - Performs live in London (UK)
Dec [5] - Performs live in London (UK)
Dec [9] - Performs live in London (UK)
Dec [10] - Performs live in London (UK)
Dec [12] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
Dec [13] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
Dec [14] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
Dec [15] - Performs live in Birmingham
(UK)
Dec [16] - Performs live in Edinburgh
(UK)
|
1982
Jan [30] - Ticket To The MoonIHere Is The News makes UK #24.
Feb [4] - Performs live in Oslo (N)
Feb [6] - Performs live in Stockholm
(SW)
Feb [7] - Performs live in Copenhagen
(DK)
Feb [10] - Performs live in Rotterdam
(NL)
Feb [11] - Performs live in Bruseels
(B)
Feb [13] - Performs live in Frankfurt/Main
(D)
Feb [14] - Performs live in Frankfurt/Main
(D)
Feb [15] - Performs live in Strasbourg
(F)
Feb [16] - Performs live in Paris (F)
Feb [18] - Performs live in Lyon (F)
Feb [19] - Performs live in Zrich (CH)
Feb [20] - Performs live in Dortmund
(D)
Feb [21] - Performs live in Dortmund
(D)
Feb [23] - Performs live in Guthenburg
(SW)
Feb [25] - Performs live in Bremen (D)
Feb [26] - Performs live in Wurstburge
(D)
Feb [27] - Performs live in Kassel (D)
Mar - For the first time since Nightrider 6 years earlier,
an ELO single (The Way Life's Meant To Be) fails to chart in UK
and US.
Mar [2] - Performs live in Cologne (D)
Mar [3] - Performs live in Cologne (D)
Mar [4] - Performs live in Saarbrucken
(D)
Mar [5] - Performs live in Munich (D)
|
1983
Apr - Dave Edmunds' Information, produced bv Lynne, is released.
June - ELO's Rock N' Roll Is King makes UK #13.
July - ELO releases "Secret Messages" LP it hits
UK #4, but makes only US #36.
Aug [20] - Rock N' Roll Is King reaches US #19.
Sept - Secret Messages the single makes UK #48.
Oct [8] - Four Little Diamonds stalls at US #86. (It will be
the group's last hit for 2 years.) Bevan leaves to join Black Sabbath (but will
rejoin in time for the next album).
|
1984
??? - Jeff Lynne's second solo single, "Video,"
is released from the ELECTRIC DREAMS soundtrack
Sept - Lynne produces 6 tracks for Dave Edmunds' Riff Raff.
|
1986
Mar - ELO Releases their last LP as ELO called "Balance
of Power"
Mar - Signed to CBS/Epic, ELO, now reduced to 3-piece Lynne,
Bevan and Tandy, to US charts with Calling America, at UK #28.
Mar [15] - Group makes its first concert appearance
in 4 years, in its home town Birmingham for the "Heartbeat"
'86 TV charity show. George Harrison joins them
on stage.
??? -
Performs on "Solid Gold" TV-Show (USA)
??? -
Performs on "Montreux Pop Festival" TV-Show (CH)
??? -
Performs on "American Bandstand" TV-Show (USA)
??? -
Performs at "Disneyland" for TV broadcast (USA)
Apr [5] - Calling America single reaches US #18. Balance Of
Power LP hits UK #9 and US #49, but So Serious and Getting To The Point
taken from it, fail to chart.
Jul [5] - Performs live in London (UK)
Jul [12] - Performs live in Dortmund
(D)
Jul [13] - Performs live in Stuttgart
(D) This will be ELO's last live apperance, as Jeff Lynne disbands the
group shortly after.
|
1987
Lynne produces a track on Duane Eddy, Eddy's comeback album on Capitol.
Long-time Beatles fan Lynne works with ex-Beatle, George on his album Cloud
Nine (featuring Lynne's US #1 and UK #2 produced Got My Mind Set On You).
June [5-6] - Lynne
takes part in the fifth annual Prince's Trust Rock Gala at London's Wembley
Arena.
|
1988
July - Lynne co-writes and co-produces Let It Shine with Brian
Wilson for his debut solo album Brian Wilson.
Oct - Concentrating more on production, Lynne teams with Randy Newman
for tracks on Land Of Dreams and helps successfully re-launch Roy Orbison's
recording career with what proves to be his final album Mystery Girl, and
worldwide hit You Got It. Lynne also combines with Orbison as part of
The Traveling Wilburvs with Bob 'Lucky' Dylin, George 'Nelson' Harrison and
Tom 'Charlie T. Jr.' Petty. Debut single Handle With Care is released
with the album from which it is taken, Traveling Wilburys. 'Nelson' Harrison
and 'Otis" Lynne co-produce the project.
Nov - ELO was officially disbanded by Jeff Lynne, Jet Records
however put out a statement on 22nd November that The Electric Light Orchestra
was not disbanded and that Jeff alone had left the group.
|
1989
Lynne co-writes and co-produces Tom Petty's Full Moon Fever and records
comback, and subsequently final, tracks for Del Shannon.
Dec [23] - ELO's The Greatest Hits, on TV-advertised Telstar
Records, reaches UK #23. (Relaunched in Oct.1990 as The Very
Best Of The Electric Light Orchestra it makes UK #28.)
|
1990
May - Lynne produces 2 tracks for Roy Wood for later release.
July - Having successfully written and produced for a number of
colleagues over the past decade, Lynne turns the spotlight on himself via
solo deal with Reprise. First fruit Every Little Thing makes UK
#59,
July [21] - Lynne's solo album Armchair Theatre
makes US #92 and will reach UK #24. (ELO retrospective Afterglow
is released.)
|
1991
Mar - Lynne considers his legal position as Bevan gathers a
number of musicians and begins a world tour under the banner ELO
Part Two.
|
2000
Nov. - After 15 years since the last ELO LP Jeff Lynne
resurects ELO with a 30th anniversay release called FLASHBACK. This 3 CD boxed set
included many remastered, new and never released ELO songs.
After years of waiting for Lynne's second solo LP, news of an upcomming
LP called Zoom is slated for April of 2001 and will carry the ELO banner
once again. This will be the first totally new Album to carry the ELO
name since 1986.
|
2001
April 20 - ELO performed
live for the first time in 17 years for the VH1 Storytellers taping in New York
City. About 40 ELO fans are invited to the taping. (It was so cool!) The new
line up is Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy of the original ELO lineup, as well
as new members: Rosie Vela, Marc Mann, Gregg Bissonette, Matt Bissonette, Peggy
Baldwin, Sarah O'Brien and "Nika" Nancy.
May 23/24 - ELO
performed live at the CBS studios in Hollwood for a taping to air on PBS
during their pledge drive later this year. The taping will also be used
for a 90 minute DVD to be released later as well. Nancy, The Cellist at
the VH1 taping is replaced with cellist Sarah O'Brian.
June 8 - ELO's VH1 Storytellers Show is played across the USA.
June 12 - ELO releases ZOOM. An album billed as ELO 15 years after the
last ELO release Balance of Power. Sales are sharp right away but become slugish
across the world.
June - Jeff Lynne and Rosie Vela are on Rockline. Jeff does a show 'Off
the Record' with Joe Benson. Other ELO related radio shows play worldwide to
promote the new album.
July - ELO Schedules the biggest USA tour, to begin September 7 in Albany
New York, USA, since Out Of the Blue in 1978. The tour is to include a new spacship
and laser show along with a new ELO lineup. Only Jeff Lynne and Richard Tandy
are from the original lineup.
August/September - ELO's Zoom Show taped in May plays across the USA
on PBS. Since it was pledge week, many PBS station opted not to show it and
played it at a later date.
August 15 - A few weeks before the first live ELO show, ELO's management
shocks the ELO community by cancelling the first few dates, and then, a few
days later, the entire concert is scrapped. Reasons stated for the cancelation
were economic factors. Life in the USA gets worse as the largest terrorist attack
on the USA Destroys the World Trade Center and all who were in it on Spetember
11. Many major events are cancelled or delayed as a stunned USA tries to deal
with a new reality on terror.
November 13 - ELO's Zoom Tour Live DVD is released with 90 minutes
of video from the CBS taping in May.
|
2002
February - ELO's Remasters series is delayed once again and possibly cancelled.
Strangely Nothing has been heard from the ELO management on any rescheduled tour or ELO release.
Nov [29] - Exactly one Year to the day after Gerorge Harrison
Died, most of the great musical artists of the Rock era join together
in a tribute "A Concert for George" at the Royal Albert Hall in London
England. Jeff Lynne plays on stage with names such as Ravi and Anoushka
Shankar, Tom Petty, Eric Clapton, Ringo Star, Paul McCartney, Monty Pythons
Flying Circus, and may others.
|
2003
Nov [18] - Almost one Year to the day after "A Concert for George",
the DVD Box set of the concert is released. Jeff Lynne is credited as
producing the audio of the DVD set. |
2004
Mar - Jeff Lynne and Tom Petty induct the late George
Harrison into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York City, NY at the
Waldorf Historia Hotel. Jeff and Tom play two Harrison songs "Handle
With Care" and "As My Guitar Gently Weeps". Prince, the
artist formerly know only by a symbol (also inducted that night) joins
them on stage.
|
Roy Wood (vocals, guitar)
Rick Price (bass)
Hugh McDowell (cello)
Nick Pentelow (saxophone)
Mike Burney (saxophone)
Bill Hunt (keyboards, French hom)
Keith Smart (drums)
Charlie Grima (drums)
|
1972
July - Wood (b.Ulysses Adrian Wood, Nov.8,1946, Birmingham, W.
Midlands), having embarked on a new venture with guitarist Jeff Lynne
(b. Dec.30,1947, Birmingham), after their Birmingham group The Move has
had its last hit (UK #7 in May) with California Man, originally
the Wood-Lynne project but now called the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO),
which hits UK #9 with its first single, 10538 Overture, loses
interest m the concept and announces the formation of his new group,
Wizzard.
Aug - Wizzard debuts at London's Wembley Rock 'N' Roll
Festival, on a mismatched bill with Chuck Berry and Bill Haley.
|
1973
Jan - Debut single Ball Park Incident hits UK #6. The
Move's contract with EMI/ Harvest officially has 2 years to run, but the
company continues with both splinter groups.
Apr - Wood writes, produces and plays on Farewll, a
single by UK children's TV presenter Ayshea.
May - See My Baby Jive tops UK chart, as Wood's
multi-colored hair and clothes become part of Wizzard's image.
June - Wizzard Brew reaches UK #29.
Aug - Wood solo Dear Elaine reaches UK #18. (B-side
Songs Of Praise was shortlisted for previous year's UK Eurovision
Song Contest entry.)
Sept - Angel Fingers tops UK chart. Wood's solo album
Boulders reaches UK #15.
Nov - Boulders makes US #173. (Wizzard will never
achieve US chart success.)
Dec - Harvest celebrates Christmas with Wizzard's I Wish It
Could Be Christmas Every Day, which hits UK #4, and Wood's
Forever, which hits UK #8. (I Wish It Could Be Christmas
Everyday will re-chart at Christmas 1981 (#41) and 1984 (#23).
|
1974
Wood begins year in poor health. The demands of touring and recording
lead to ulcers and he is advised to slow down.
May - Wizzard signs to Warner Bros. and first single
Rock'N'Roll Winter (Looney's Tune) hits UK #6.
July - Wood's solo Going Dourn The Road reaches UK #13.
Aug - This Is The Story Of My Love (Baby) makes
UK #34. Introducing Eddy And The Falcons reaches UK #19. Each
track on the album is in the style of a 50s rock'n'roll hero: Gene
Vincent, Duane Eddy, Cliff Richard, Del Shannon, etc.
Nov - Wizzard begins unsuccessful US tour.
|
1975
Jan - Featuring Wood's favorite new instrument, the bagpipes,
Are You Ready To Rock hits UK #8.
May - Wood's solo Oh What A Shame, on JET label,
reaches UK #13.
Oct - Wizzard's management refuses to finance second US tour;
band splits.
Nov - Wood's second album, Mustard, is released.
Despite vocal contributions from Phil Everly and girlfriend Annie Haslam,
it flops. It is subsequently repackaged as Roy Wood 7he Wizzard.
|
1976
Wood signs to EMl/Harvest, Warner and JET at the same time, with
little idea which he is most bound to. He also has managerial
difficulties.
Mar - On JET, Indiana Rainbow, credited to Roy Wood's
Wizzard, is drawn from planned Wizzo (which will never be released). The
Beach Boys release It's OK, on which Wood and 2 other members of
Wizzard had played during their 1974 US tour.
|
1977
Apr - Wood re-emerges with The Wizzo Band. Its On The Road
Again featuring contributions from Led Zeppelin's John Bonhani, Andy
Fairweather-Low and original Move vocalist Carl Wayne. Album is deleted
soon after release and band ceases. Wood will write and produce for
other acts, including Darts, and forms a live band, The Helicopters, as
well as releasing several unsuccessful singles.
Sept - Wamer Bros. releases Roy Wood's Wizzo Band's Super
Active Wizzo, featuring Wood with new line-up of Bob Wilson (guitar),
Rick Price (pedal steel, guitars), Paul Robbms (vocals, keyboards), Graham
Gallery (bass), Billy Paul (saxes) and Dave Donovan (drums).
|
1979
On The Road Again is released in US and Germany as a Wood solo.
|
1982
July Speed Records r-eleases a compilation album of Wood's work with
The Move and beyond, The Singles, which reaches UK #37.
|
1983
Wood sings Message In A Bottle on Arrested, a collection of The
Police songs performed by various rock musicians and the Royal
Philharmonic Orchestra.
|
1985
He signs to Legacy Records.
|
1986
Mar - Wood joins other Birmingham musicians including Robert
Plant, ELO and The Moody Blues for 'Heartbeat '86' benefit gig.
Nov - He helps out Doctor & The Medics with their version
of Abba's first hit, Waterloo, which reaches UK #45.
|