Originally Posted By AutoPost This topic is for Discussion of <a href="http://www.LaughingPlace.com/Latest-ID-76560.asp" target="_blank"><b>Latest: The Orchestra ~ Featuring Former Members of ELO at Epcot Feb 25</b></a> <p> <p class="MsoNormal"><i>THE ORCHESTRA ~ featuring former members of ELO</i> is coming to Epcot Feb. 25 for an evening of performances at America Gardens Theatre. Shows will be at 5:15; 6:30 and 7:45 p.m. and are included with Epcot admission. The Orchestra brings with it a heritage of symphonic rock hit-making dating to the early 1970s. Among the six-member group are two who performed with ELO – Mik Kaminski, the famous “Blue Violin,” and keyboardist Louis Clark. The other four members of The Orchestra, along with Kaminski and Clark, were members of ELO Part II. They are Eric Troyer, Phil Bates, Gordon Townsend and Glen Burtnik.</p> </p>
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA So, ELO, it's come to this. For a band, is playing at Epcot a step up from, or below playing the State Fair circuit. *sigh*
Originally Posted By alexbook I'm not sure I'd count Louis Clark as an ex-ELO member. He played with them, but I don't think he was ever in the group. Basically, The Orchestra is an ELO cover band, made up of people who have some vague connection to the original band. Eric Troyer looks and sounds a little like Jeff Lynne, but not much.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA You're so right, alexbook. It's an off-shoot group of an off-shoot of the original ELO. I think Clark did some arrangements for ELO -- strings and vocal background choirs. Mik Kaminski did play with them, but left the group years ago. weird...
Originally Posted By SeventyOne Meanwhile, on Saturday, you can see REO Speedwagon with a line-up that more or less matches their 80s heyday at Sea World, or Pitbull, an artist who still puts out Top 10 songs, at Universal.
Originally Posted By alexbook Did REO Speedwagon actually have a heyday? All I can remember is one song.
Originally Posted By SeventyOne From Wikipedia... <In the fall of 1980, REO Speedwagon released Hi Infidelity, which represented a change in the music from hard rock to more pop-oriented material. Hi Infidelity spawned four hit singles written by Richrath and Cronin, including the #1 "Keep On Loving You", the #5 "Take It on the Run", "In Your Letter" (#20), and "Don't Let Him Go" (#24), and remained on the charts for 65 weeks, 32 of which were spent in the top ten, including 15 weeks atop the Billboard 200. Good Trouble (1982) and Wheels Are Turnin' (1984) were follow-up albums which also did well commercially, the former containing the hit singles "Keep the Fire Burnin'" (U.S. #7) and "Sweet Time" (U.S. #26) and the latter containing the #1 hit single "Can't Fight This Feeling" plus three more hits: "I Do' Wanna Know" (U.S. #29), "One Lonely Night" (U.S. #19) and "Live Every Moment" (U.S. #34). On July 13, 1985, the band made a stop in Philadelphia (en route to a show in Milwaukee) to play at the US Leg of Live Aid. They performed "Can't Fight this Feeling" and "Roll With The Changes", which featured members of the Beach Boys, the REO Speedwagon band members families, and Paul Shaffer on stage for backing vocals. 1987's Life as We Know It saw a decline in sales, but still managed to provide the band with the hits "That Ain't Love" (U.S. #16) and "In My Dreams" (U.S. #19)> Being a child of the 80s, I will say it's strange how much what I and friends remember of the era is shaped by the "classic rock" stations that play essentially the same 80 or so songs in rotation. Last year, when Rick Springfield played F&W, I saw him referred to as a "one-hit wonder" for Jessie's Girl. Couldn't be further from the truth, but that's the only one that gets played on Friday Night 80s or what-have-you.
Originally Posted By Jim in Merced CA ^^^Yep. And their biggest hit 'Love Shack' is what, 25 years old?
