ROCK HERO - CLASSIC INTERVIEWS - LOUIS CLARK - Tuesday 2nd April 1996.

Howard Dobson:- What did you do before working with ELO?

Louis Clark:- Well, basically I started playing with a guy called Raymond Froggitt in the 60’s. We used to play all round the Birmingham area and that’s how I got to know Jeff Lynne and the other guys. I left that band and went to the Leeds College of Music for three years because I was more interested in writing and arranging. I left college in the mid-70’s and that’s when Jeff asked me to do the Eldorado album. That was the band’s first record in America.

HD:- What’s your favourite ELO record?

LC:- Well. I’d say the Eldorado album to be honest. It was quite experimental at the time and it all worked and it had a great feel to it.

HD:- What other projects did you get involved with in the 70s and 80s?

LC:- During that period I was writing and arranging for all kinds of people. I did a couple of tracks for Ozzy Osbourne on “Diary Of Madman”, and at the other end of the scale I worked with people like Roger Whittaker. I worked with Ultravox, and I did an album with Kiki Dee, and there was loads of other things that never saw the light of day.

HD:- Weren’t you involved with the Hooked on Classics albums as well?

LC:- Yes, that was in 1981. That’s been really kind to me, it sold millions all over the world. It was really unexpected. It was just going to be a little novelty single, but it grew out of all proportion.

HD:- When were you asked to join ELO Part II?

LC:- The old band did it’s last gigs in 1986. We did Wembley Stadium and some TV shows in America and a couple of dates in Germany, and then it just came to a halt. Jeff didn’t want to know anymore but Bev Bevan and a few of the other guys always wanted to carry on. It was 1988, I think, when I got a call to see if I’d be interested in joining the new band, but nothing really happened until 1990. It took a lot of time to get the legalities sorted out, but when everything was in place, we recorded our first album.

HD:- Jeff Lynne wrote all the old hits. Who writes the new material for the band?

LC:- On our last album, we all had a go, we all contributed to it.

HD:- Are there any hard core ELO fans out there that won’t have anything to do with the new band?

LC:- I don’t know really. I suppose there are. There are plenty of people who didn’t follow the old band that come and see us play.

HD:- Do you tour abroad as well as in the UK?

LC:- Oh yer, we go all over the place. We did a fabulous tour of Australia about a year ago with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. We’ve been to America the last three summers, and we’ve performed in Argentina, Brazil, Equador, South Africa, Russia and Singapore. We’ve been just about everywhere.

HD:- How would you describe you stage show?

LC:- Well, I think the band we’ve got now is the best line-up the ELO’s ever had. In the old days they used to rely on theatrical things like lasers and all that kind of stuff. This show relies on the music. We do all the old stuff, obviously. We play all the hits, although we can’t do them all in their entirety or we’d be there all night, so we do a couple of medleys. We do a lot of the new stuff as well.

HD:- Do you think it’s ironic that Jeff Lynne was asked to produce the Beatles latest single, “Free A Bird” and “Real Love”, given that ELO vowed to carry on where The Beatles “I Am a Walrus” left off?

LC:- I think that would have been Jeff’s ambition all his life. I’m sure he’s fulfilled every ambition he ever had by producing the remaining Beatles. He got very friendly with George Harrison about ten years ago, and then he got to meet Ringo and I suppose Paul got involved in the end as well. I’ve not heard from Jeff for quite a few years to be honest.

HD:- Will there ever be an ELO reunion?

LC:- I very much doubt it. As far I know, Jeff doesn’t want to go on the road again. He never really liked doing live shows and much preferred to work in the studio, so I can’t see anything like that ever happening.