Around the same time the Beatles were exploding on the American scene during the 1970s, another British pop/rock band was following in their shoes. The now-recognizable Electric Light Orchestra started from the inner workings of the Move, a well-known progressive rock band in England that never quite made it over to the U.S. Electric Light Orchestra, an artier and more orchestral rock-sounding version of the Move, became one of the defining Brit rock bands of the ‘70s, not only in England but in the U.S. as well.

ELO was a product of Birmingham, England, a more extreme version of their previous band that reunited Movers Roy Wood (vocals), Jeff Lynne (guitar), Rick Price (bass) and Bev Bevan (drums). Working on the new ELO project while still active members of the Move, all four members doubled up to work on Electric Light Orchestra while still performing on the farewell tour for the Move in the early ‘70s. ELO's debut album was an automatic hit in the U.K. with the Top Ten hit "10538 Overture," and as band members trickled in and out of the group, Electric Light Orchestra gained momentum, starting by turning out a Top Ten hit with the Chuck Berry cover "Roll Over Beethoven," off their 1973 release ELO II. The group crossed over into international fame in 1974 with the hit song "Can't Get It Out of My Head," an instant Top Ten in the U.S.

After 1974, Electric Light Orchestra had established a name for themselves in the U.S., pumping out hit albums one after another. ELO released hit albums like Face the Music (1975), Out of the Blue (1977) and Discovery (1979) before Lynne gained the band even more fame by writing songs for the soundtrack of the Olivia Newton-John film Xanadu. The band eventually broke up in the 1980s, however, distributing each band member's skills in other projects.