| ELO Part II | |
| Background: | group_or_band |
| Origin: | Birmingham, England |
| Genre: | Rock, pop |
| Years Active: | 1989–2000 |
| Label: | Scotti Brothers, Telstar, Volcano, Zomba Label Group, Sony BMG, Curb, Edel Music |
| Spinoffs: | The Orchestra |
| 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.[1]
In 1988 drummer Bev Bevan approached Jeff Lynne, wanting to record another ELO album.[2] Lynne declined to participate, so Bevan signaled that he intended to continue the band without him.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] [6]
ELO Part Two released a self-titled album in 1991, which featured former ELO violinist Mik Kaminski on one track. The album was intended to hark back to the orchestral pop aesthetic that had defined ELO in the mid-to-late 1970s, but compared to the original ELO being under the creative control initially of both Wood and Lynne and then Lynne after Wood's departure, ELO Part II were a more creatively-democratic unit, with the majority of songwriting duties divided between Troyer and Haycock and Bevan the only member of the founding quartet of members to contribute no lead vocals on the album.
The first tour featured the band performing live with the 80-piece Moscow Symphony Orchestra (MSO) conducted by Konstantin Krimets,[7] [8] and was well received in the UK. The band chose the MSO so they could have a western band playing with an eastern orchestra.[2] 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, Kaminski, McDowell and Groucutt were initially billed as guest artists from a band they had formed called OrKestra,[9] 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.[10] But the tour was cancelled as costs became prohibitive.[2]
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.
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[11] 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.
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.[1]
The remaining members, however, recruited drummer Gordon Townsend and continued as The Orchestra, who continue to tour to the present day.
| Artist: | ELO Part II |
| Studio: | 2 |
| Live: | 2 |
| Compilation: | 1 |
| Video: | 3 |
| Music Videos: | 3 |
| Singles: | 6 |
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [12] | NLD [13] | SWI [14] | ||
| Electric Light Orchestra Part Two |
| 34 | 39 | 22 |
| Moment of Truth |
| — | — | — |
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Performing ELO's Greatest Hits Live (featuring The Moscow Symphony Orchestra) |
|
| One Night – Live in Australia (2 CD) |
|
| Year | Title | Album | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK [17] | NLD | |||
| 1991 | "Honest Men" | Electric Light Orchestra Part Two | 60 | 36 |
| "Thousand Eyes" | 113 | – | ||
| "For the Love of a Woman" | – | – | ||
| 1994 | "Power of a Million Lights" | Moment of Truth | – | – |
| "Breakin' Down the Walls" | – | – | ||
| 1996 | "One More Tomorrow" | – | – | |
| Year | Video | Director | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1991 | "Honest Men" | Unknown | Electric Light Orchestra Part Two |
| 1994 | "Power of a Million Lights" | Paul Spencer[18] | Moment of Truth |
| "Breakin' Down the Walls" | Unknown |