If you haven’t heard of the 1970’s pop group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), please let us know and we’ll send you a mix-tape. Chances are you’d recognize at least one, if not more of the tracks we sent your way. ELO’s well mastered, mastery of the pop genre encapsulates the musical appeal of the 1970’s and the band’s uber success.
Word on the street is the success of this band is due in part to the skillful and unique production practices of one Jeff Lynne. The man has developed quite the cult following, which spawned in the 70’s and has carried on through to today. You can find many ELO tracks within the musical score for numerous hit movies (Boogie Nights, Billy Madison). Their music is also being sampled by some of today’s top selling artists (The Pussycat Dolls).
And now, lucky for us, one of Lynne’s admirers (who goes by the name of Bleu) decided to take this ELO love affair a step further by paying homage to this 70’s sensation, a labor of love he calls L.E.O. Along with an all star line-up including members of Jellyfish, Candy Butchers, Self, Chicago, the Black Crowes, and the Hanson Brothers, just to name a few, Bleu has incorporated the methods of Lynne and taken a stab at mimicking his musical stylings.
L.E.O.’s debut album, “Alpacas Orgling”, was created using Lynne’s production techniques, but with a modern twist (the tracks were sent back and forth via the internet, where whoever received them could add their own touch). The songs on the album are not covers. They are all, newly crafted tracks, but they are done so impeccably that if we threw a couple into our ELO mix-tape, you wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.
Obviously this story sparked our interest and we had to know more. So, we sat down with William James McCauley III, aka Bleu, to find out more about L.E.O.
To Read the interview with Bleu, CLICK HERE.