705 Goodbye Electric Light Orchestra* - Honest Men

(* Electric  Light  Orchestra  Part  2 )

Chart  entered  :  11  May  1991

Chart  peak  : 60

This  is  somewhat  ironically  titled  as  the  single  features  only  one  person  who'd  featured  on  any  of  their  other  hits.

It's  hard  to  work  out  who  exactly  counted  as a  member  of   the  band  in  the  early  days. At  the  time  they  recorded  the  first  hit  "10538  Overture"  they  were  a  quintet  of   Jeff  Lynne  ( vocals/ multiple  instruments ) , Roy  Wood  ( vocals / multiple  instruments ),  Bev  Bevan  ( drums ), Bill  Hunt  ( horns )  and  Steve  Woolam  ( violin ).  By  the  time  of  the  second  hit  "Roll  Over  Beethoven "  in  1973,  Steve  , Roy  and  Bill  had  departed  ( the  latter  two  into  Wizzard )  and  in  had  come  latter-day  Move  man  Richard  Tandy ( keyboards ), Mike  de  Alberqueque  ( bass), Mike  Edwards  ( cello ),  Colin  Walker  ( cello )  and  Wilfred  Gibson ( violin ) . Just  after  that , Wilf  quit  after  a  dispute  over  money  and  was  replaced  by  Mik  Kaminski    and  during  the  sessions  for  the  third  album  Colin  left  due  to  family  pressures. He  was  shortly  replaced  by  Hugh  McDowell, a  refugee  from  Wizzard. During  the  sessions  for  the  next  album  Mike  A  departed  for  much  the  same  reason  and  was  replaced  for  the  subsequent  tour  by  Kelly  Groucutt. Mike  E  completed  the  album  then  handed  over  to  Melvyn  Gale. This  established  the  line  up  for  the  band's  golden  era  of  success  with  a  run  of  platinum  albums  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  in  the  late  seventies. The  latter  two  barely  featured  the  string  players  and  in  1979  Jeff  decided  they  were  surplus  to  requirements  and  dispensed  with  their  services  although  Mik  returned  as  a  hired  hand  for  two  tours  in  the  eighties. In  1980,  they  scored  their  only  number  one  hit  in  tandem  with  Olivia  Newton-John  on  "Xanadu"  although  you  could  count  the  number  of  ELO  fans  who  think  it's  their  best  song  on  one  hand.   In  1983  Kelly  was  sacked  on  completion  of  the  "Secret  Messages "  album. After  its  performance  in  the  charts  indicated  that  their  popularity  was  waning,  Jeff  lost  interest  in  continuing  the  band  but  was  contractually  obliged  to  make  a  final  ELO  album  "Balance  of  Power"  in  1986  which  reinforced  their  commercial  decline.

Bev  approached  Jeff  about  making  another   LP  in  1988. With  The  Travelling  Wilburys, about  to  launch , Jeff  declined  but  agreed  to  let  Bev  put  together  a  new  line  up  as  Electric  Light  Orchestra  Part  Two.  Reportedly  Bev  invited  Roy  back  but   his  invitation  was  declined. Instead  Bev  recruited  Eric  Troyer , an  American  keyboardist  and  vocalist  with  a  long  list  of  session  credits, Peter  Haycock , former  guitarist  and  vocalist  with  the  Climax  Blues  Band  and  Neil  Lockwood  , also  a  guitarist  and  vocalist. Louis  Clark  was  also  on  board  as  co-arranger  without  joining  the  band.

Their   debut  album  "Electric  Light  Orchestra  Part  Two"  was  first  released  in  1990. The  band  seem  to  have  taken  a  two-pronged  approach  with  half  the  tracks  aiming  to  replicate  the  sound  of  their  late-seventies  hey-day  as  closely  as  possible  and  the  other  half   locked into  an  AOR  present  at  least  as  envisaged  by  the  likes  of  Mike  and  the  Mechanics. The  former  are  the  more  appealing.

"Honest  Men"  was  released  as  a  trailer  single  for  the  album's  UK  release. By  that  time  Kelly, Mik  and  Hugh , who  had  been  trading  as  OrKestra , had  been  recruited  to  give  the  band  more  authenticity  and  appeared  in  the  video. "Honest  Men "  is  a  plea  for  someone  to  save  the  world  composed  by  Eric  and  packed   with  as  many  string  flourishes, high  harmonies  and  earworm  hooks  to  please  anybody  who  enjoyed  "Out  of  the  Blue"  and  "A  New  World  Record". You'd  think  Jeff  must  have  been  flattered. A  single  week  at  number  60  indicated  how  much  interest  there  was  in  this  incarnation  of  the  band. The  album  hung  about  for  four  weeks  but  never  got  past  its  entry  position  of  34.  The  follow  up  single  "Thousand  Eyes", also  written  by  Eric  was  even  catchier  but  didn't  chart.

The  band  toured  in  1992  after  which  Hugh, Peter  and  Neil  left  the  band. They  toured  again  in  1993  then  released  a  second  LP  "Moment  of  Truth"  which  repeated  the  same  formula   as  the  first  but  with  even  less  success.  The  band  continued  to  tour  in  the  later  nineties. In  2000  Bev  decided  to  quit  and  sell  his  rights to  the  name  to  Jeff  forcing  the  remaining  members  to  change  the  name  to  The  Orchestra.

The  Orchestra  released  an  LP  in  2001  called  "No  Rewind"  although  it's  even  more  retro  than  the  LPs  released  with  Bev, every  track  looking  to  resurrect  the  ELO  sound  or  more  directly  the  Beatles. It's  all  at  least  listenable  but  was  only  released  as  a  limited  edition. It's  the  last  new  material  they  put  out  and  the  band  has  seemed  to  content  to  play  the  hits  since  then. In  2009,  Kelly  suffered  a  heart  attack  just  after  returning  from  a  show  in  Berlin  and  died  the  following  day,  leaving  just  Mik  from  the  classic  line  up  and  Eric  from  ELO  Part  2 in  the  band.

Bev  took  it  easy  until  2004  when  he  formed  Bev  Bevan's  Move  which  included  Neil  and, from  2007  to   2014  original  Move  man  Trevor  Burton. In  the  latter  year  the  band  was  wound  up. He  also  had  The  Bev  Bevan  Band  as  a  backstop. He  played  on  Paul  Weller's  Wake  Up  The  Nation  album  in  2010. He  now  has  a  radio  show  in  the  West  Midlands  and  a  reviewing  spot  in  the  Sunday  Mercury. 

Neil  now  gigs  with  his  own  band.

Pete  went  into  soundtrack  work  with  Hans  Zimmer. He  toured  as  Pete  Haycock's  True  Blues  in  2008  then  five  years  later  went  out  as  Pete  Haycock's  Climax  Blues  Band. They  had  just  completed  an  album  "Broke  Heart  Blues"  when  he  died  of  a  heart  attack  aged  62  in  October  2013.

Hugh  has  had  a  finger  in  many  pies, including  designing  music  software, lecturing  and  playing  as a  session  cellist  for  many  artists  including  Saint  Etienne, Simon  Apple   and  John  Wetton.

Always  a diffident  performer,  Jeff  went  behind  the  mixing  desk  and  established  himself  as  a  top  producer  by  masterminding  George  Harrison's  return  to  the  big  time  with  the  album  "Cloud  Nine"  in  1987  although  some  Beatles  fans  were  aghast  that  George  had  turned  to  the  number  one  wannabe  Beatle  for  help. It  was  while  recording  a  B-side  for  one  of  the  singles  that  first  Roy  Orbison, then  Bob  Dylan  and  finally  Tom  Petty  offered  to  help  out  and  from  that  the  supergroup  Travelling  Wilburys  was  formed  though  only as  a  one-off  studio  project. Jeff  wrote  two  of  the  ten  songs  on  their   first   album, the  undistinguished  rockabilly  number  "Rattled " ( the  only  one  on  which  he  does  a  full  lead  vocal )  and  the  Roy  Orbison  showcase  "Not  Alone  Anymore ". The  album  was  released  in  October  1988  and  was  a  much  bigger  success  than  anyone  anticipated  particularly  in  the  US  where  it  went  triple  platinum. The  singles  "Handle  With  Care"  and  "End  of  the  Line"  were  UK  hits  ( 21  and  52  respectively ). This  success  was  tempered   by  the  death  of  Orbison  from  a  heart  attack  just  six  weeks  after  the  album's  release.  Jeff  also  produced  three  tracks  on  Orbison's  final  album Mystery  Girl   ,all  of  which  he  had  a  hand  in  writing  including  the  biggest  hit  You  Got  It .

He  then  moved  on  to working  with  Del  Shannon  and  co-wrote  his  comeback  song  "Walk  Away". This  led  to  much  speculation  that  Shannon  would  be  asked  to  replace  Orbison  on  the  planned  second  Wilburys  album  but  his  suicide  in  February  1990  put  paid  to  that. Jeff  would  later  finish  off  songs   they  had  been  working  on  for  Shannon's  final  posthumous  album , Rock  On.

Before  the  second  Wilburys  album,  Jeff  released  his  first  solo  album  "Armchair  Theatre "  which  featured  Richard  on  over  half  the  tracks. The  first  single  "Every  Little  Thing" , an  ordinary  amalgamation  of  ELO  tropes  incorporating  a  snatch  of  Going  To  A  Go  Go was  a  minor  hit  in  1990  reaching  number  59. The  follow  up  "Lift  Me  Up"  is  cut  from  the  same  cloth  and  didn't  chart.  The  album  does contain  one  or  two  tracks   that  are  better  than  those  two   including  "Now  You're  Gone" ,  a  rumination  on  the  death  of  his  mother  with  striking  classical  Indian  vocals ,  but  generally  it's  a  mellow  ramble  through  familiar  territory. With  Jeff  having  no  intention  of  touring  to  support  the  album , it  was  only  a  moderate  success  , reaching  24  in  the  UK  and   83  in  the  US.

The  remaining  Wilburys   reconvened  in  the  spring  of  1990, letting  out  a  cover  of  "Nobody's  Child"  for  release  on  a  charity  album  for  Romanian  orphans. It  became  their  third  and  final  hit  in  the  UK  reaching  number  44.  The  album,  jokingly  titled  "Travelling  Wilburys  Volume  3",  came  out  in  October  1990. Who  wrote  what  was  carefully  obscured  but  Jeff's  most  substantial  vocal  contribution was  a  shared  lead ( with  Petty ) on  one  track  "Poor  House ".  The  album  fared  less  well  than  its  predecessor,  not  making  the  Top  10  or  yielding  a  hit  single  on  either  side  of  the  Atlantic. The  band  never  reconvened  although  a  box  set  of  both  albums  went  to  number  one  in  the  UK  when  released  in  2007.

In  1991  Jeff  had  a  big  hand  in  Petty's  album  Into  The  Great  Wide  Open  as  both  producer  and  writer  . In  1992 he  pulled  together  another  Orbison  album  King  of  Hearts . Two  years  later,  he  realised  the  ambition  of  a  lifetime  when  Harrison  brought  him  in  to  produce  the  "new"  Beatles  singles   from  unused  Lennon  demos  Free  As  A  Bird  and  Real  Love. McCartney  gracelessly  accepted  him  because  George  Martin  was  suffering  impaired  hearing   though  his  reluctance  was  probably  because  Jeff  was  so  thick  with  Harrison  rather  than  lack  of  respect  for  his  abilities. In  any  case  he  invited  Jeff  to  work  on  his  next  LP  Flaming  Pie  afterwards.

Perhaps  not  surprisingly  Jeff  took  things  a  bit  easier  after  that  though  he  made  either  writing  or  production  contributions  to  records  by  Ringo, Roger  McGuinn, Tom  Jones, Aerosmith, Joe  Cocker  and  Hank  Marvin. When  Bev  sold  his  rights  to  the  ELO  name, Jeff  responded  by  releasing  a  new  ELO  album  although  it's  more  of  a  solo  record  than  "Armchair  Theatre"  since  Richard's  only  on  one  track. In  fact  none  of  the  guest  musicians  appear  on  more  than  three  tracks. However,  it  is  a  more  conscious  attempt  to  recapture  the  old  ELO  sound. It's  a  solid  set  with  the  ballads  like  "It Really  Doesn't  Matter"  and  "A  Long  Time  Gone", pregnant  with  the  passage  of  time, carrying  more  conviction  than  the  rockers. The  opening  tracks  "Alright"  and  "Moment  in  Paradise", both  serviceable  facsimiles  of  classic  ELO, were  both  released  as  singles  in  Europe  and  were  Top  40  hits  in  Poland. The  album  got  to  number  34  in  the  UK  and  number  94  in  the  US, prompting  Jeff  to  cancel  the  planned  tour.

Six  months  later, George  Harrison  died  and  Jeff  concentrated  on  finishing  off  the  album  on  which  they'd  been  working. He  also  organised  the  Concert  for  George   at  the  Royal  Albert  Hall  in  November  2002.  He  then  had  a  pretty  quiet  decade  watching  as  ELO's  critical  stock   began  to  rise  as  the  Roy  Wood-Genius  lobby  shrivelled  away.  He  re-emerged  in  2012  with  two  albums  released  on  the  same  day, a   brief  covers  album  of  songs  from  his  childhood  called  "Long  Wave"   - a  strange  move  from  a  guy  whose  voice  has  never  been  very  distinctive  -  recorded  under  his  own  name  and  "Mr  Blue  Sky"  an  album  of  re-recorded hits  under  the  ELO  moniker. They  charted  at  7  and  8  respectively. He  and  Richard  played  a  set  of   ELO  songs  which  was  broadcast  on  TV  that  year  prompting  widespread  comment  on how  well-preserved  he  is. At  the  time , I  was  working  with  a  guy  who  was  a  minor  player  in  the  Brum  music  scene  and  had  a  slight  acquaintance  with  him  and  he  said  it  was  down  to  Jeff's  total  abstention  from  any  drugs. The  following  year  Jeff  and  Richard  played  a  couple  of  songs  at  a  Children  in  Need  concert  in  London.

In  September  2014,  he  played  his  first  full  concert  for  over  25  years  as  Jeff  Lynne's  ELO    at  Hyde  Park  in  London. Richard  was  part  of  the  line  up. "Jeff'  Lynne's  ELO"  released  a  new  album "Alone  in  the  Universe"  in  2015. It's  actually  the  most  solo  of  all  Jeff's  recordings   with  no  involvement  from  Richard  and  just  engineer  Steve  Jay  credited  with  some  percussion  and  Jeff's  daughter  Laura  doing  backing  vocals  on  a  couple  of  tracks. Although  it  got  generally  good  reviews  I'm  not  all  that  impressed  with  it; I  think  it's  a   bit  bland  compared  to  "Zoom"  and  the  fact  that  it  did  so  much  better  ( 4  in  the  UK , 23  in  the  US )  is  more  an  indication  of  how  far  Jeff's  rehabilitation  has  progressed  rather  than  the  relative  quality  of  the  albums. Jeff  did  a  proper  tour  in  2016   including  an  appearance  at  Glastonbury  and  has  played  further  shows  this  year.

In  1985 , Richard  had  released  a  concept  album  with  his  friend  Dave  Morgan,  "Earthrise",   which  was  similar  to  ELO's  1981  album  "Time",  but  since  ELO   split,  he's  been  largely  happy  to  wait  on  calls  from  Jeff  before  venturing  into  the  studio. He  briefly  worked  with  a  Russian  singer  Nadina  Stravonina  in  the  mid-nineties  but  nothing  was  ever  released. He  then  played  with  the  Trevor  Burton  Band  for  a  while. He  has  suffered  from  tinitus. He  now  lives  in  Wales.

Melvyn  formed  a  partnership  with  vocalist  Frank  Wilson  as  "Wilson, Gale  & Co" . They  released  a  single  "I  Wanna  Stay"  in  1979 a  dated  soft  rock  number  that  sunk  without  trace. It  featured  on  their  only  album  "Gift  Wrapped"  the  following  year  which  I  haven't  heard. Since  then  Melvyn  has  taught  piano  and  cello  in  Kent.

Mike  E  joined  the  controversial  Osho   religious  sect  and   changed  his  name  to  Swami  Deva  Pravada.  He  lived  in  a  number  of  communes  and  for  many  years  his  musical  output  was  connected  to  the  sect. He  later  moved  to  Devon  and  established  a  conventional  cello  and  viol  teaching  practice. He  was  instrumental  in  founding  the  Devon  Baroque  Orchestra. In  2010  he  was  killed  in  a  road  accident  when  his  van  collided  with  a  rogue  hay  bale.

Mike  A  released  a  solo  album  "Stalking  The  Sleeper"  in  a  soft  rock  vein akin  to  the  likes  of  John  Miles  or  Boz  Scaggs  but  it  didn't  sell,  not  helped  by  his  not  very  attractive  singing  voice. He then  joined   Mik's  spin-off  band  Violinski  which  operated  between  1979  and  1984  and  released  two  albums.

In  1981  he  joined  with  former   Springfield  Mike  Hurst  and  the  sixties'  most  elusive  star  Mary  Hopkin  in  the  supergroup  Sundance . They  released  one  single  "What's  Love"  an  uncomfortable  marriage  of  sixties  folk  and  synth  pop  which  reached  the  Top  10  in  South  Africa. They  did  a  few  gigs  supporting  Dr Hook  which  only  served  to  remind  Hopkin  how much  she  disliked  touring  and  the  group  foundered. Since  then  Mike  has  been  very  quiet; he  played  in  a  functions  group  The  Rubber  Band  in  the  nineties  and  recently  popped  up  on  an  album  by  Reichenbach  Falls  but  that's  all  I  can  find.

Like  fellow  cellists   Melvyn  and  Mike  E,  Colin  became  a  music  teacher.

Wilfred  became  a  session  violinist , appearing  on  albums  by  Hothouse  Flowers  and  The  Beloved  and  on  Oasis's  single  Whatever.  In  the  late  nineties  he  played  in  Alan  Gout's  Berkeley  Square  Society  Band  playing  the  music  of  the  rwenties  and  thirties. He  died  in  2014  after  a  short  illness.

We've  already  covered  Roy. Bill  left  Wizzard  during  the  sessions  for  the  group's  second  album  "Introducing  Eddy  and  the  Falcons"  but  some  of  his  piano  work  was  included.  He  remained  a  face  on  the  Midlands  music  scene   and  joined  the  short-lived  band  Blessings  in  Disguise  with  Slade  guitarist  Dave  Hill . He  was  on  their  cover  of  "Crying  In  The  Rain"  in  1989. He  appeared  on  Slade's  last  album  proper   ( we'll  be  talking  about  that  soon  enough )  and  then  a  couple  of  Slade  II's  album. He's  also  played  on  an  album  by  his  nephew, Wonder  Stuff  singer  Miles  Hunt.    

Steve  committed  suicide  not  long  after  leaving  the group  by  jumping  off   a  building. He  had  financial  problems  and  had  got  into  drugs.