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Short History Of The Electric Light Orchestra Part II Band history by founder member BEV BEVAN |
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On May 26th 1991, the Electric Light Orchestra PART II made its debut. Along with the 85-piece Moscow Symphony Orchestra, an enormous sound and lights system, a laser show extraordinaire and a road crew the size of the orchestra, it was, to say the least, an impressive beginning. The six years since then have been a roller coaster ride, a diverse game of snakes and ladders. Plenty of highs and a few lows too. That dramatic first show at Wembley Arena was always going to be a hard one to follow. There have been a few changes since then with management, record companies, agents, road crew and changes too in the line-up of the band itself. It was not until May 4th 1993 that the six-piece group that now exists made its debut, in Cologne, Germany. This sextet has developed into what I believe is a great band, better than I could ever have envisaged when I undertook to re-form ELO into ELO PART II all those years ago. The questions I am most frequently asked during interviews are just how and why this came about. There are a number of answers really: pressure from management, agents, record companies, and most importantly, the huge number of dedicated ELO fans wishing the ELO tradition to continue. But the most important reasons to me were selfish ones really: I missed playing ELO music, I relished the challenge of forming a new band and I simply wanted to do it. There have been some memorable times during these last few years. We have written and recorded some good songs, some not-so-good and some that I think are excellent. The same can be said of the plethora of live shows we have performed during this time (over 400!). The majority of shows, particularly the Australia tour of '95 with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Orchestral shows we did in 1997, culminating at Carnegie Hall in New York, fill me with enormous pride. We enjoy playing, we are good friends, we have fun. We have recently taken on new and highly ambitious management and we look forward to some great times ahead. Enjoy the show: let the roller-coaster ride continue a while longer yet. Here's to more ladders than snakes! Bev Bevan. |
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copyright
Face The Music 1998
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