ELO Part II - History

History

In 1988 drummer Bev Bevan approached Jeff Lynne wanting to record another ELO album. Lynne declined to participate, so Bevan signalled that he intended to continue the band without him. Lynne, however, objected over use of the ELO name. The final legal agreement reached between the two resulted in Bevan forming a new band in 1989 called Electric Light Orchestra Part Two. Original ELO co-founder Roy Wood was approached about joining but he turned them down. Bevan recruited longtime ELO string conductor and co-arranger Louis Clark into his new band, along with Eric Troyer (keyboards and vocals), Peter Haycock (guitar and vocals) and Neil Lockwood (guitar and vocals).

ELO Part Two released a self-titled album in 1990 which featured former ELO violinist Mik Kaminski on one track. The album was intended to harken back to ELO's classic sound of the mid-to-late 1970s. The first tour featured the band performing live with The Moscow Symphony Orchestra, (MSO), and was well received in the UK. Approximately two-thirds of the songs performed were ELO hits. The concert in ELO's home town of Birmingham was captured on video and on the live album with the long-winded title Performing ELO's Greatest Hits Live Featuring The Moscow Symphony Orchestra. Kaminski, former ELO cellist Hugh McDowell, and former ELO bassist Kelly Groucutt were part of the live band, with Groucutt sharing lead and backing vocals with Troyer, Haycock and Lockwood. Kaminski and Groucutt were initially appearing as guest artists from another ELO offshoot band they had formed called OrKestra, but eventually ended their own band and joined ELO Part II full-time by 1993. McDowell's tenure with the band was short. Plans to tour the USA with the MSO were cancelled as costs became prohibitive.

The band continued to tour Germany and the UK in 1992 with Louis Clark playing keyboards to duplicate 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 who were one of the opening acts for ELO's 1978 world tour. A world tour was undertaken by ELO Part II in 1993, including dates in the USA and Eastern Europe.

Now a six-piece band with a slightly altered name, Electric Light Orchestra Part II recorded a second studio album, Moment Of Truth, which was released in 1994. 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 occasions they took only a small number of string players on the road and added local musicians to the orchestra at each venue to cut down costs. Another live album with orchestral backing was recorded in Sydney, Australia in 1995 and was released the following year in Germany as a double album One Night, 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.

Bates remained with the band until January 1999 and was replaced by Parthenon Huxley (guitar, vocals). In 1999 Bates studied for a History Degree with the University of Wales, and on graduation briefly taught Welsh history to undergraduates. By 2007 he had returned to the band(now renamed The Orchestra) taking over from the out-going Huxley.

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 were disbanded. The remaining members, however, recruited drummer Gordon Townsend and continued as The Orchestra who continued to tour up to the present day. With the death of Kelly Groucutt in February 2009, Glen Burtnik, of Styx and Beatlemania, joined the group. They toured the U.S. in 2009 billed as The Orchestra featuring former members of The Electric Light Orchestra and ELO Part II.