ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA perf. by Phil Bates & Band

[janne]

Now this crap again... Are we to believe this is not intentionally misleading advertising?

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[tightrope]

Dec 19, 2015 15:57:46 GMT janne said:

Now this crap again... Are we to believe this is not intentionally misleading advertising?

 

I can't really express the displeasure I have with this, at least not here. Phil Bates is a parasite. 

[iopia]

Usually this is the job of the advertiser, not the artist. Obviously here the memo didn't get passed on from management to the promoter, don't just instantly jump down the guy's throat... Clearly he's not going to insist on using a name he has no legal claim over. Unfortunately things like this happen, promoters just want to sell as many tickets as possible and using the ELO brand is the best way to do just that.

[nickheynes]

I'm sorry. But this happens so often that I can't believe that the artist doesn't know about it . But then a lot of the public are ignorant. I had someone swear to me that they'd seen the " real" ELO in 2009!

[jackpunch]

It's all too convenient to claim its the promoters fault. Bloke is a fraud and as someone has already said a parasite. Hope JLs management throws the book at him. And some people question why its now called Jeff Lynne's ELO !

[unomusette]

I don't know if he has anything to do with the advertising, but he's not doing a lot to stop himself looking rather a lot like Jeff, who to most people is the face of ELO. At the very least it's misleading.

[tightrope]

Dec 19, 2015 19:55:49 GMT iopia said:

Usually this is the job of the advertiser, not the artist. Obviously here the memo didn't get passed on from management to the promoter, don't just instantly jump down the guy's throat... Clearly he's not going to insist on using a name he has no legal claim over. Unfortunately things like this happen, promoters just want to sell as many tickets as possible and using the ELO brand is the best way to do just that.

He has been doing this for years while claiming to have no knowledge the band is being promoted this way. He knows full well what's going on and uses the excuse of having a mortgage and kids. I have the same financial responsibilities but don't go out using someone else's good name and reputation to rip people off.

[skyclad1904]

I visited a concert by Phil Bates this year, it was billed as "electric light orchestra" featuring Phil Bates...It was like a very cheap cover band...But the problem was the audience, several people told me, this is the real ELO! And when I told them this has nothing to do with ELO, they said I don't know anything about that music and ELO...was really angry at that concert and had trouble with some people...
Phil Bates has damaged ELO in germany a lot...

[janne]

Of course Bates is aware of this happening. And I think he knows this is the only way he can sell tickets.
If ELO wasn't mentioned - in capital letters - in the ads, very few tickets would be sold.

[jackpunch]

Has the bloke not got a twitter account so we can abuse him mercilessly?

[Chippa]

I used to think "ok, let's give these guys the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it's a management thing". But now, it seems like he's in on the deception(for lack of a better term).

I mean, aside from being one of the lead vocalists from ELO Part II Former Members..etc...what connection does Bates have to ELO? None!

[LoserGoneWild]

He used to be in a band called Trickster who supported ELO in 1978. But that's the only other connection apart from a stint in ELO Part 2.

I wouldn't blame Jeff's management if they took him
to the cleaners.

[elophile]

I'm pretty sure Jeff has sued him already, right?

It really irritates me when I'm scrolling through "Jeff Lynne" Google image search results -- 'cause that's something TOTALLY normal that I do -- and this guys mug shows up. I've seen online articles about THE REAL ELO with a photo of this dude and a caption calling him Jeff Lynne. The sunglasses, the beard. It's a carefully cultivated deception in my opinion.

[tightrope]

Dec 20, 2015 21:38:25 GMT LoserGoneWild said:

He used to be in a band called Trickster who supported ELO in 1978. But that's the only other connection apart from a stint in ELO Part 2.

I wouldn't blame Jeff's management if they took him
to the cleaners.

Jeff has "lawyered" up several times and it seems mr trickster just goes to another country. The guys a bum, plain and simple.

[soonerorlater]

I have mixed feelings about this and I don't necessarily feel that Phil Bates deserves the unanimous scorn on offer here. There, I've said it now so please read on and don't forget.....it's the season of goodwill to all those who post!

For me, Jeff Lynne drew a line under ELO with the release of the Afterglow anthology back in 1990, a time when he was launching his own solo career (seemingly) and also found himself in the middle of a career defining run of high-profile production assignments. So, in stepped Bev Bevan and the whole ELO Part II story/saga (depending on your point of view) began. That first, wonderful show at the NEC with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra in 1991 was a true highlight for me and one of the best concerts that I was to see in that decade. We can argue the point ad infinitum but I believe that Bev/ELO Part II kept the ELO flame flickering throughout the nineties almost single handedly. Frankly, Jeff was no longer interested. While he was producing the remaining Beatles, his former bandmates were playing at places like The Grand Theatre in Blackpool and Butlins in Minehead. But the people were still interested, they still came along and sang their way through the whole thing.

Within a couple of years of that live NEC debut, the band were on a bit of a downward curve, playing the same old 'hits' in the same order to largely it seemed, the same people in the audience. Enter one Phil Bates. Believe it or not Phil gave the band the shot in the arm that they so desperately needed. Going to their shows took on a new dimension. I remember one show in Bristol where they played most of the Face The Music album, including blistering versions of Fire On High, Nightrider and Poker. They segued Standin' In The Rain into Mr Blue Sky including, for the first time ever, the full orchestral ending that Jeff Lynne's ELO now play. They introduced previously unheard (on stage) songs to the set such as All Over The World, Xanadu, Getting To The Point and Midnight Blue. Phil Bates was pivotal in making this happen and quite excellent in delivering it all on stage.

At the turn of the century it all changed. Bev decided to withdraw from the project and ELO Part II became Orchestra. Simultaneously, out came a new Jeff-backed ELO anthology (Flashback) and a year later came Zoom. As a fan for several decades I believe that at the very least, ELO Part II did no harm at all for Jeff's decision to resurrect the ELO brand. At the very best, it paved the way for it to happen but that might be a bit of a stretch for some of you to acknowledge! I have no doubt though that Phil Bates was pivotal in gaining and maintaining the late nineties momentum behind 'ELO' as a whole. Fans would attend an ELO Part II show, remember how much they liked the music and go out and buy one of the many compilations on offer at that time - all of which indirectly helped Jeff Lynne! I know that there has been litigation involving both Orchestra and the recent activities of Phil Bates but I can't help wondering if that's a way of Jeff (rightly) ensuring that he earns his own royalties from their shows, rather than stopping them from happening altogether.

Orchestra and the Phil Bates Band are tribute acts, albeit ones with some link to their original subject, however tenuous. If there are people out there dumb enough to believe that they are seeing the original article then there's nothing much that can be done about that and one glance at next year's ticket prices in comparison to the ones that they're currently paying should be enough to correct their thinking. There are many top-line tribute acts that somehow manage to incorporate the subject's name into their own act name. In recent years I've seen and thoroughly enjoyed 'The Bootleg Beatles', 'The Australian Pink Floyd Show' and 'The Queen Extravaganza' but at no point did I expect to see respectively, Paul McCartney, Dave Gilmour or Brian May. Ironically I saw the Queen Extravaganza last month and Brian May did turn up but you get my point! These acts fill a gap because the originals can't or rarely tour themselves and people just want to hear the music in a loud and live setting - that's all.

So - is Phil Bates right to trade on the ELO name? No. Is it really going to impact significantly on the rebirth of Jeff Lynne's ELO? No - not even remotely.

A couple of other things briefly, - there were more original members of the classic line up of ELO present in ELO Part II (Bevan, Groucutt, Clark, Kaminski, McDowell at that first show) than there will be in Jeff Lynne's ELO next year. And Phil Bates' facial appearance? Yes he's always tended towards a Jeff lookalike approach but these days I'm afraid it's more of an ironic/terrifying hybrid of Jeff, Roy Wood and Billy Connolly!