Episode 124 | The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO)

On Sunday April 16th, 1972 the Electric Light Orchestra made their debut at a small pub in Croydon London called The Fox Hounds. Formed in the autumn of 1970 in Birmingham, England their mission was to pick up where the Beatles song "I Am The Walrus" left off. They wanted to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones, combine rock and roll instruments like the electric guitar, bass, guitar and keyboards with classical instruments like the French horn, the the cello and the violin. They also wanted to accomplish what the Fab Four hadn't - take that same music created in the studio and effectively present it in a live setting as well.

Lofty dreams that proved to be much more difficult than anticipated. But with a lot of hard work, a bit of trial and error and a determination to make it work the Electric Light Orchestra, later to be known by most as simply ELO would go on to sell over 50 million records worldwide. From 1972 to 1986, the band accumulated 27 top 40 songs on the UK Singles Chart and 15 top 20 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100. They became Rock and Roll Hall of Famers in 2017.

In this episode you'll hear the story of how the band formed, their slow rise to success first in the US, eventually around the world, what led to the band's decline and disbanding in the mid 80s to their eventual return in the 2000s. Along the way the stories behind several of the band's biggest hits.

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