Showing posts with label Hugh McDowell. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Hugh McDowell. Show all posts
April 24, 2026
April 16, 2026
ELO ~ Out Of The Blue Tour (The Big Night Tour)
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Electric Light Orchestra - 1978
Net links:
YouTube links:
On Sunday, April 16, 1972, The Electric Light Orchestra played their first live show at the Greyhound Pub in Croydon, Surrey, England. The line-up was Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan, Bill Hunt on keyboards and French horn, Andy Craig, Hugh McDowell and Mike Edwards on cello, Wilfred Gibson on violin and cello and Richard Tandy on bass.
Their seventh studio album and most commercially successful, was the double album, Out of the Blue released on the 24th of October, 1977, in the United States and four days later in the UK on the 28th of October. It sold about 10 million copies worldwide by 2007. Jeff Lynne
wrote the entire album in three and a half weeks after a sudden burst
of creativity while hidden away in his rented chalet in the Swiss Alps. It took a further two months to record in Munich. It was one of the first pop albums to have an extensive use of the vocoder. The opening song on the album, Turn To Stone, is one of my favorite cuts on the album.
In 1978 the band set out on a nine-month, 92-date world tour, with an enormous set and a hugely expensive spaceship stage with fog machines and a laser display.
Out of the Blue stage set
photographer unknown
I attended the August 24 concert of that year, at the Oakland Arena during this tour; it was a truly amazing experience as shown in the images of the souvenir program I got that night (link below).
In the United States the concerts were billed as The Big Night and were their largest to date, with 62,000 people seeing them at Cleveland Stadium. The Big Night became the highest-grossing live concert tour in music history up to that point (1978).
Viewfinder links:
A New World Record reel to reel tape
Out Of The Blue Tour (The Big Night Tour) 1978 program
Net links:
May 1, 2014
Electric Light Orchestra ~ Out Of The Blue Tour (The Big Night Tour), 1978
photos by Styrous®
One of the great experiences of my life was
the concert by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which I attended on August
24, 1978. It was during their "Out of the Blue" tour; in the United States it was called, "The Big Night" tour.
I have the souvenir program from that concert, "The Big Night" tour for sale on eBay. I also have the reel-to-reel tape, A New World Record, for sale on eBay (link below), so, I thought I'd put some shots I got of the program as a remembrance of that concert. The photographs in the program were taken by Gary Register and Phillippe Megani.
I have also written an article here on the Viewfinder about the group's album, A New World Record (link below).
The Event
To quote , "ELO’s 1978 tour design was inspired by the jukebox-style flying saucer used on the cover of the band’s Out of the Blue album—vinyl, naturally. The tour featured an enormous mockup of a spaceship housing the lighting rig that started the show sitting on stage and raised—took off—to a position suspended above. What designer Stephen Bickford achieved in his concept was groundbreaking, with lighting, fog, and lasers rigged on the underside of the ship, emulating 1977’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind, an intentional homage. The nine-month, 92-date world tour, became the highest-grossing live concert tour in history at that point, selling out an incredible eight consecutive dates at England’s Wembley Stadium."
Thanks for your great description, Marian. It was an incredible concert to witness and hear and one that could never be forgotten.
back cover with close up of date
ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA – The Big Night Tours Book; (Concert Tour Program Book) 11” x 14”; 32 pages including covers; CB-203-1;
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ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) ~ A New world Record
ELO program on eBay
A New World Record reel-to-reel tape on eBay
reel-to-reel tapes on eBay
Styrous® ~ Thursday, May 1, 2014
ELO program on eBay
A New World Record reel-to-reel tape on eBay
reel-to-reel tapes on eBay
Styrous® ~ Thursday, May 1, 2014
April 30, 2014
101 Reel-to-Reel Tapes 63: ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) ~ A New World Record
ELO (Electric Light Orchestra) ~
A New World Record
In addition to my 20,000 Vinyl LP collection I'm selling, I have reel-to-reel, pre-recorded tapes for sale as well (see link below). If interested, contact me by email please, not by a comment.
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The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) was a once in a lifetime experience to see and hear in concert. I remember seeing the group at the Oakland Arena (this was before Oaklnnd started naming it after various corporations) during The Big Night tour in 1978. I bought the souvenir program from the concert.
I have A New World Record, the reel-to-reel tape, as well as the program up for sale on eBay. Links to the eBay postings and the program below.
I have A New World Record, the reel-to-reel tape, as well as the program up for sale on eBay. Links to the eBay postings and the program below.
A New World Record is the sixth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO); it was released in 1976. The intro to the album, Tightrope, snags you and the album keeps you locked into the journey it takes and doesn't let go until the final song, Shangri-La, has finished.
Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
The tour, dubbed "A New World Record Tour Of America" toured North America only, running from October 1976 to April of 1977 with a break in December. The reason the tour was only in North America can probably be attributed to the band's high success rate in the USA. If so, it's somewhat ironic given that late in 1976 Livin' Thing was ELO's breakout hit in England. The book, Unexpected Messages, states that it was a 40 city tour, but as the book only mentions the second leg of the tour (January to April 1977), it is unclear if the 40 cities was for the entire tour or the second leg only.
reel-to-reel tape box cover
photo by Styrous®
From the book, Unexpected Messages
The tour, dubbed "A New World Record Tour Of America" toured North America only, running from October 1976 to April of 1977 with a break in December. The reason the tour was only in North America can probably be attributed to the band's high success rate in the USA. If so, it's somewhat ironic given that late in 1976 Livin' Thing was ELO's breakout hit in England. The book, Unexpected Messages, states that it was a 40 city tour, but as the book only mentions the second leg of the tour (January to April 1977), it is unclear if the 40 cities was for the entire tour or the second leg only.
Another explanation for the tour being only in North America (and brief
compared to previous tours) could be simply due to scheduling issues.
The band may have had the tour booked without consideration for when an
album was to be released, thus the timing was that the A New World Record tour only happened in North America.
Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
reel-to-reel tape box cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
As in previous shows, Mik Kaminski and Hugh McDowell performed solo
violin and cello performances during the show. Mik performed a
self-written and unnamed solo piece which merged with the drums, bass
and keyboards joining in on a modern arrangement of the traditional
Jewish folk song Hava Nagila. Hugh performed his own self-written
and unnamed solo piece which similarly merged with bass, drums and
guitar joining in for a modern arrangement of the traditional Hungarian
folk song Csárdás and more of Hugh's self-written piece. This
information is drawn from the one an only bootleg recording of a
performance from the A New World Record tour, so it is also possible that the performance varied from show to show.
Beyond
these small bits and one bootlegged performance from New York City's
Madison Square Garden on February 11, 1977, very little else is known
about this tour.
Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
reel-to-reel tape box cover detail
detail photo by Styrous®
The band's frontman Jeff Lynne regards his own songwriting at this point to have reached a new high.
"The songs started to flow and most of them came quickly to me. To have all those hits, it was just ...I mean amazing really. Going from doing okay for probably three or four years to suddenly being in the big time, it was a strange but great thing."
- – Jeff Lynne 2006; A New World Record remaster
ELO spent a staggering 225 weeks in the singles charts and 393 weeks in
the album charts, worldwide sales were in excess of 100million records,
in the UK they had 27 top 20 hits and 11 top 10 albums, including two
number ones – Discovery and Time.
The band and crew on the tour were:
Jeff Lynne: vocals, guitar
Bev Bevan: drums
Richard Tandy: keyboards
Kelly Groucutt: bass, vocals
Mik Kaminski: violin
Hugh McDowell: cello
Melvyn Gale: cello
Don Arden: Business and personal management
Dave Arden: Business and personal management
Sharon Arden: Tour manager
Other crew is uncertain, although probably Jake Commander, Brian Jones
and Phil Copestake were involved as engineers or technician as they were
known to be good friends with the band and involved in most of their
tours.
Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Tightrope, recorded in 1976 at Musicland, Munich, West Germany), has a dramatic and spacey but reverent feeling intro with its orchestral (real strings, not synthesizers) sound and chorus. It goes into a bouncy but delightful and grand tune that is truly wonderful.
Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
reel-to-reel tape box back detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Telephone Line became their "biggest single success in the US and was their first UK
gold award for a single. With ELO's continuing success in America it
seemed obvious to Lynne to use an American ring tone during the song.
Writer/guitarist, Lynne explained:
The song charted in the Top Ten in both the UK and the US, peaking at number 8 in the UK and number 7 in the US. The tune was on the Hot 100 for 23 weeks, nearly a full month longer on that chart than any other ELO tune. In 1977, the song would reach number 1 in New Zealand and Canada. As was the norm, many ELO singles were issued in different colors, but the US version of this single was the only green single ELO issued. It became the band's first single to achieve Gold sales figures.
It opens with the typical telephone sounds of the day with vocoder processed vocal at the start by Lynn. It goes into a slow, dreamy ballad about loneliness and and possibly lost love.
Writer/guitarist, Lynne explained:
| "To get the sound on the beginning, you know, the American telephone sound, we phoned from England to America to a number that we know nobody would be at, to just listen to it for a while. On the Moog we recreated the sound exactly by tuning the oscillators to the same notes as the ringing of the phone." |
The song charted in the Top Ten in both the UK and the US, peaking at number 8 in the UK and number 7 in the US. The tune was on the Hot 100 for 23 weeks, nearly a full month longer on that chart than any other ELO tune. In 1977, the song would reach number 1 in New Zealand and Canada. As was the norm, many ELO singles were issued in different colors, but the US version of this single was the only green single ELO issued. It became the band's first single to achieve Gold sales figures.
It opens with the typical telephone sounds of the day with vocoder processed vocal at the start by Lynn. It goes into a slow, dreamy ballad about loneliness and and possibly lost love.
Rockaria!
opens with a short but beautiful soprano (Mary Thomas) intro that is glorious, then
the song bursts into a delightfully ambitious romp with the soprano
making an appearance throughout the song. To me, it has a sort of Little Richard feeling to the rhythm.
Thomas flubbed the first take of the introduction by starting the vocal too early. However, Lynne elected to use the take (complete with her interjection, "Oops!") anyway (later pressings of the album are missing this part). During live performances, the 'aria' was provided by the band's bassist Kelly Groucutt, illustrating his wide-ranging vocal talents.
Thomas flubbed the first take of the introduction by starting the vocal too early. However, Lynne elected to use the take (complete with her interjection, "Oops!") anyway (later pressings of the album are missing this part). During live performances, the 'aria' was provided by the band's bassist Kelly Groucutt, illustrating his wide-ranging vocal talents.
Mission (A World Record) is about an alien who has been charged to watch over us poor earthlings; he watches and does nothing other than observe. A slow, dreamy melody that strolls along wondering about life in general.
Livin' Thing has a great, gypsy-sounding violin intro that is beautiful. The gypsy violin returns from time to time.
Livin' Thing has a great, gypsy-sounding violin intro that is beautiful. The gypsy violin returns from time to time.
Above the Clouds
opens with a male vocal with a blues feeling and goes into a moderate tempo, syncopated,
staccato tune that is fascinating. It has a theremin which adds a very nice touch.
Shangri-La, the final
track from the abum, is a slow, dreamy and lovely melody and the longest
on the album. Once again, the voice of the soprano (Mary Thomas) makes its appearance. The steel guitar intro is reminisant of the 1959 song, Sleep Walk by Santo & Johnny Farina.
Rockaria! and Shangri-La are my favorite songs from A New World Record.
Rockaria! and Shangri-La are my favorite songs from A New World Record.
Electric Light Orchestra ~ A New World Record
reel-to-reel tape label detail
detail photo by Styrous®
Track listing
All songs written by Jeff Lynne.
Side one:
"Tightrope" – 5:03
"Telephone Line" – 4:38
"Rockaria!" – 3:12
"Mission (A World Record)" – 4:25
Side two:
"So Fine" – 3:54
"Livin' Thing" – 3:31
"Above the Clouds" – 2:16
"Do Ya" – 3:43
"Shangri-La" – 5:32
Personnel:
- Jeff Lynne – vocals, lead, rhythm and slide guitars, percussion, piano, producer
- Bev Bevan – drums, Minimoog drum, percussion, vocals
- Richard Tandy – piano, Minimoog, Micromoog, polyphonic keyboard, electric guitars, clavinet, grand piano, Mellotron, percussion, vocals
- Kelly Groucutt – vocals, bass guitar, percussion, backing vocals
- Mik Kaminski – violin
- Hugh McDowell – cello
- Melvyn Gale – cello
- Orchestra conducted by Louis Clark
Additional personnel:
- Mary Thomas – operatic vocals
- Patti Quatro – uncredited vocals
- Brie Brandt – uncredited vocals
- Addie Lee – uncredited vocals
- Mack – engineer
- Orchestra and choral arrangements – Jeff Lynne, Richard Tandy, Louis Clark
- Duane Scott – Engineer for USA edit
Recorded on July 1976 at Musicland Studios, Munich
Released on 11 September 1976 (UK)
Released on 12 September 1976 (US)
Label: Jet, United Artists- 1R1 6588
Producer: Jeff Lynne
Music videos on YouTube: Tightrope Telephone Line (live) Rockaria! Rockaria! (original recording with "Oops!" mistake} Mission (A World Record) So Fine Livin' Thing (live 1977) Above the Clouds Do Ya (live) Shangri-La |
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ELO program on eBay
reel-to-reel tapes on eBay
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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