Richard Tandy, the keyboardist and multi-instrumentalist whose tenure with the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) spanned more than 50 years, has died, according to a statement from Jeff Lynne, the group’s frontman and co-founder. No cause of death was given, although sources said he had been ill for several years; he was 76.
“It is with great sadness that I share the news of the passing of my long-time collaborator and dear friend Richard Tandy,” Lynne wrote on social media. “He was a remarkable musician & friend and I’ll cherish the lifetime of memories we had together. Sending all my love to Sheila & the Tandy family.”
While a quiet visual presence in the group, Tandy — who joined in 1973, after the release of the group’s debut album — made a mighty contribution to ELO’s trademark sound, his soaring synthesizers, regal piano and funk-influenced clavinet bringing alternately classical and soulful touches to hits from “Evil Woman” and “Strange Magic” to “Livin’ Thing” and “Telephone Line.” And that’s his vocoder-altered voice saying “Mr. Blue Sky” on the group’s 1977 hit.
A multi-instrumentalist and veteran of Birmingham’s fertile rock scene of the 1960s, Tandy actually first came into the orbit of what would become ELO through drummer Bev Bevan, when he played harpsichord on the Move’s chart-topping 1968 single “Blackberry Way” and played bass with the band when founding member Trevor Burton was ill. Although he left to join a group called the Uglies after Burton’s return, in 1970 Jeff Lynne joined Bevan and singer-songwriter Roy Wood in the Move, with the intention of creating a group that would merge rock and classical music in the fashion of the Beatles, the Moody Blues and other groups who dabbled in that formula in the late ‘60s. For several months the Move and ELO were pursued as parallel projects, two different bands with the same lineup, and Tandy was an auxiliary member of both, playing bass before moving over to keyboards after Wood’s departure in 1973.
While ELO was very much Lynne’s vehicle — he was its lead singer, only guitarist, primary songwriter and producer — Tandy was his right-hand man through every iteration of the group, from its more progressive-leaning early albums through its R&B and pop phases; he also played on such Lynne solo projects and productions (like Dave Edmunds’ “Information” album) and the “Electric Dreams” soundtrack. ELO’s commercial peak struck with the “Out of the Blue” and “Discovery” albums of the late ‘70s, but it continued moving into more electronic areas, along with much of the rest of pop music, in the early ‘80s, with Tandy taking on an even greater role as the primary keyboardist. The group fell from commercial favor as the ‘80s progressed and released the final album of its initial run, “Balance of Power,” in 1986. Lynne subsequently relocated to California and worked closely as a producer-musician with George Harrison, Tom Petty and the Traveling Wilburys.
When Lynne reformed ELO in 2001 for the “Zoom” album, Tandy played on it and joined for the ensuing tour; when the group was reformed as Jeff Lynne’s ELO in 2015, he did not play on the album but was behind his keyboards center stage, with a vocal microphone that he used only to say the words “Mr. Blue Sky.” He was introduced to the audience affectionately by Lynne as “a guy who’s been playing with me for 44 years.”
Lynne announced dates for what was described as the group’s “final” tour, “Over and Out,” earlier this month.
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