"10538 Overture" is the debut single by

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

(ELO), released in 1972.

History

The song, written by

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock music, rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, h ...

, was first recorded as an intended

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

for a single by

the Move The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their caree ...

, Lynne's previous group. Both

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a n ...

and Lynne sang on it, as happened later with The Move's " California Man". The song is about an escaped prisoner; Lynne wanted to give the character in the song a number, as opposed to a name, and he chanced upon the number 1053 while looking at the mixing console. Wood suggested adding an "8" to fit the melody better. Although intended to be a song for The Move, after

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

parts were added it became the Electric Light Orchestra's first release. It was during the single's chart run that Wood left ELO, emerging later in the year with a new band called

Wizzard Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of the Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra. ''The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits'' states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartne ...

Quotes

B-side

The

to "10538 Overture" was "First Movement (Jumping Biz)", an instrumental by Wood. The song first appeared on the band's debut album ''

The Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

'' in 1971 and features Wood on

classical guitar The classical guitar (also known as the nylon-string guitar or Spanish guitar) is a member of the guitar family used in classical music and other styles. An acoustic wooden string instrument with strings made of gut or nylon, it is a precursor o ...

oboe The oboe ( ) is a type of double reed woodwind instrument. Oboes are usually made of wood, but may also be made of synthetic materials, such as plastic, resin, or hybrid composites. The most common oboe plays in the treble or soprano range. A ...

and cello. Wood has apparently acknowledged that "First Movement (Jumping Biz)" was inspired by the 1968 song "

Classical Gas "Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by American guitarist Mason Williams with instrumental backing by members of the Wrecking Crew. Originally released in 1968 on the album ''The Mason Williams Ph ...

". "10538 Overture" became a B-side itself when a live version was released as the flip side of " Evil Woman" in 1975; containing elements of " Do Ya" ''

'', later to become a track in its own right on "

A New World Record ''A New World Record'' is the sixth studio album by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released in October 1976 on United Artists Records in the U.S., and on 19 November 1976 on Jet Records in the United Kingdom. ''A New World Record'' mar ...

Chart history

Jeff Lynne version

Jeff Lynne re-recorded the song in his own home studio. It was released on a compilation album with other re-recorded ELO songs, under the ELO name.

Covers and other uses

The song was covered by Bobby Sutliff and

Mitch Easter Mitchell Blake Easter (born November 15, 1954) is a musician, songwriter, and record producer. Frequently associated with the jangle pop style of guitar music, he is known as producer of R.E.M.'s early albums from 1981 through 1984, and as frontm ...

in 2001 for the Jeff Lynne tribute album ''

Lynne Me Your Ears ''Lynne Me Your Ears – A Tribute to the Music of Jeff Lynne'' is a compilation of compositions written by songwriter Jeff Lynne. Most tracks on the album are cover versions of Lynne's longest-running and most successful group, Electric Light ...

'', by

Parthenon Huxley Parthenon Huxley (born January 19, 1956) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer who is known for his solo albums and for his involvement in ELO Part II and The Orchestra, both of which are latter-day offshoots of the 1970s-80s ...

in 2005, and by

Def Leppard Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Since 1992, the band has consisted of Rick Savage (bass, backing vocals), Joe Elliott (lead vocals), Rick Allen (drums, backing vocals), Phil Collen (guitar, backing vocals), a ...

in 2006 on their cover album '' Yeah!'' The song's main guitar riff was also 'sampled' by

Paul Weller Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul m ...

for his 1995 song "

The Changingman "The Changingman" is a song released in the spring of 1995 by British singer-songwriter Paul Weller as the lead single from his album, '' Stanley Road''. It charted at number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. The song featuring backgrounds loop from EL ...

". The song was also featured in the 2013 film ''

American Hustle ''American Hustle'' is a 2013 American historical black comedy crime film directed by David O. Russell. It was written by Eric Warren Singer and Russell, inspired by the FBI Abscam operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. It stars Christia ...

''.

References

{{authority control Electric Light Orchestra songs Song recordings produced by Roy Wood Song recordings produced by Jeff Lynne 1972 debut singles 1972 songs Songs written by Jeff Lynne Harvest Records singles