EASTON, Pa. – Ever since frontman Jeff Lynne disbanded chart-topping orchestral rock band Electric Light Orchestra in 1986, the only way to hear ELO hits such as “Evil Woman,” “Telephone Line” and “Don’t Bring Me Down” performed by original members of the band was with legacy group The Orchestra.
The Orchestra, which started as ELO II, over the years has included ELO co-founder and drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Kelly Groucutt, violinist Mik Kaminski, cellist Huey McDowell and keyboard player and conductor Lou Clark.
- The Orchestra, which plays the music of ELO, plays Easton's State Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Friday
- The group started as ELO II, with former members of ELO, when lead singer/songwriter Jeff Lynne disbanded that group in 1986
- ELO's blue violin player, Mik Kaminski remains a member of The Orchestra
But starting in 2015, Lynne, after having bought Bevan’s rights to the ELO name, returned with Jeff Lynne’s ELO, released two new albums, and even toured the United States in 2019.
That hasn’t had a negative effect on The Orchestra, which at 7:30 p.m. Friday will play Easton’s State Theatre, founding member Eric Troyer said.
In fact, Troyer said it has helped raise the legacy group’s profile, as did ELO’s 2017 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
“It was great,” Troyer said in a recent telephone call from his home near Clifton, N.J. “He [Lynne] was doing things that we couldn’t do, and we’re doing places that he wouldn’t do. So it didn’t affect us.
“It was really great to see him back on the road. I saw some of the videos of his performance and it was an amazing show. So it was really great to have him back.
“You know, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the successful touring really brought home how great this music is from 30, 40 years ago. Just, it’s living on. It’s got this great life. We’ve been keeping it alive for all these years and we’re just happy to continue playing it.”
In the 33 years since ELO II arose from the ashes of ELO, Bevan left in 2000 and sold his rights to the name to Lynne (hence the change to The Orchestra). Groucutt and McDowell both died (the former in 2009, the latter in 2018), as did Clark in 2021.
That leaves Kaminski as the only ELO member still playing in The Orchestra, though both Troyer and guitarist/vocalist Parthenon Huxley were founding members of ELO II. Bassist Glen Burtnik played in 1980s and ‘90s lineups of Styx, a contemporary of ELO.
Clark’s recent death was difficult, Troyer said.
“He was this sort of quiet, humorous musical authority – well-trained and his knowledge of music history and especially classical music was just endless; very astonishing to sit down and talk with him,” Troyer said. “His background was so extensive and his knowledge of music, his arranging abilities and just a funny guy.
“He really was an integral part – the things he did for Electric Light Orchestra and then Electric Light Orchestra Part II and the The Orchestra. Those arrangements are just incredible. So it’s a big loss. We’ll really miss Lou. We always miss him when we’re playing out and on tour.”
Clark has been replaced in The Orchestra by his son, Louis Clark Jr.
“Louie is incredibly talented, too,” Troyer says. “He’s a multi-instrumentalist and he’s a very capable arranger, too. I think in the future we’ll probably use him on some recordings.”
ELO was among the first bands to add classical overtones to its sound, with violin, cello and orchestral keyboards. It was a sound that stood out from other early 1970s radio music that was awash in acoustic guitars.
During its original run, 1971-86, ELO sold more than 50 million records worldwide, with seven gold or platinum albums in the United States (six in a row in seven years at one point) and more than a dozen Top 30 songs. A 1979 Greatest Hits album sold 4 million copies.
But as punk rock and new wave took over in the late 1970s and early '80s, ELO's fortunes faded. Its last gold album was "Time" in 1981, with its last U.S. Top 10 hit "Hold on Tight."
After folding the band in 1986, Lynne produced albums for Roy Orbison, George Harrison and others, and played in the supergroup Traveling Wilburys with Harrison, Orbison, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty.
Troyer, who was an in-demand session player who had worked with John Lennon, Billy Joel, Aerosmith, James Taylor, Barbra Streisand and Barry Manilow, said he was recruited for ELO II by Bevan, and stayed on when it became The Orchestra.
“We put our heart and soul in them, too. ‘Cause they’re great songs – just wonderful songs.”Eric Troyer of The Orchestra
For the past 35 years, the group has taken ELO’s music to audiences around the world, playing largely the same set of ELO’s hits, including “Can’t Get It Out of My Head,” “Strange Magic,” “Livin’ Thing,” “Do Ya,” “Shine a Little Love,” “Don’t Bring Me Down” and “Turned to Stone.”
Troyer said the group plays no songs from Lynne’s reformed ELO, nor from the two albums ELO II released.
“Sometimes we try to bring in something new – old new,” Troyer said. “But the people want to hear the hits, for the most part – familiar songs. So we try to give them what they came for. That’s what we do, is bang out the hits, and just try to present them in an honest representation of recordings as much as possible.
“We put our heart and soul in them, too. ‘Cause they’re great songs – just wonderful songs.”
While Troyer said he’s happy for the revival of Lynne’s ELO, he takes issue with the fact that, for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction, Lynne chose to include only himself, Bevan, pianist Richard Tandy and vocalist/multi instrumentalist Roy Wood, who played in ELO 1970-72.
Asked about Lynne’s exclusion of Clark and Kaminski, Troyer said, “Well it certainly seemed shortsighted to not include them, for sure.”
Asked whether he thought the two had deserving parts in ELO, Troyer said, “I certainly would agree with that, yeah.”
But “it really doesn’t seem to have much effect,” Troyer said. He said that, just as it was with the formation of ELO II, it’s all about letting the fans hear the music.
“We’ve been playing this, we’ve been out on tour since I joined the band ELO Part II back in ‘88,” he said. “So we’ve been touring around the world and pretty much we just continued.”
THE ORCHESTRA, 7:30 p.m. Friday, State Theatre, 453 Northampton St., Easton. Tickets, $42, $47, www.statetheatre.org, 800-999-7828.
