28. "No Rewind" by The Orchestra [Video: nope.]
You know, one of these days I've really got to write that "Brief (Ha!) History of the Electric Light Orchestra and the ELO Family Tree of Musical Acts."
But, for now, here's a brief recap of where we are. ELO drummer Bev Bevan wanted to keep recording music as ELO, but Jeff Lynne didn't. And so, Electric Light Orchestra Part Two was born. Eventually, several other former members of ELO joined Bevan, including bassist Kelly Groucutt, violinist Mik Kaminski, and orchestral arranger Louis Clark. (Along with them was session singer and songwriter Eric Troyer.)
Eventually, Bev Bevan decided to retire, and when he did, he sold the "ELO" portion of the group's name back to Jeff Lynne. The other guys, now joined by guitarist/singer Parthenon Huxley, wanted to forge ahead. Unable to legally use the name "Electric Light Orchestra" in any form, they decided to call themselves "The Orchestra."
It sounds like a decent name for an ELO-ish band. Until you think about how it works for an internet search. (It doesn't. It's about the least Google-friendly band name this side of 90s group "Live.")
Anyway, The Orchestra put together and released an album in 2001. The album's name: "No Rewind." It is an abso-freakin-lutely excellent album!!! It is far better than Jeff Lynne's ELO album "Zoom" that was released about the same time. In fact, "No Rewind" is better than all but three or four of the original Electric Light Orchestra albums! It is, without a doubt my favorite album released this century!
The Orchestra is still together (minus Kelly Groucutt, who has passed away), and they still tour occasionally, performing the hits of ELO. Last July they made an appearance at the Deer Valley ski area in Park City, Utah. My brother John and I were able to attend the concert. It was fantastic! They performed almost all of ELO's hit songs, and did so in fine fashion. It was a great concert! But, I was probably the only one in the crowd who was a bit disappointed that they didn't play any of their own original songs from the "No Rewind" album.
The song "No Rewind" was written and sung by our old friend, Eric Troyer. It's a hidden gem of a song that hardly anyone knows about. "I'd do it all so different, but there's no rewind."
COMING UP NEXT: Comfortably floating.
No comments:
Post a Comment