Watch Dhani Harrison’s Personal ELO Rock Hall Induction Speech
Dhani Harrison inducted the Electric Light Orchestra into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Friday night, led by his father’s former Traveling Wilburys bandmate Jeff Lynne. The group has had many members come and go over the years, but the Hall of Fame only inducted keyboardist Richard Tandy, drummer Bev Bevan and multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood alongside Lynne. (Bevan was unable to make it due to a prior commitment.)
Dhani grew up around Lynne, who produced his father’s 1987 comeback LP Cloud Nine and stayed close with him for years afterwards. The singer talked about going to see ELO, his first rock concert with his father and the surprise he had when his dad jumped onstage with Lynne and Co. to play “Johnny B Goode.” Read the full speech below.
I’m truly honored to induct one of my all-time favorite bands, Electric Light Orchestra, into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. I can’t imagine any of us being here tonight, least of all myself, without the tremendous life
and music of Chuck Berry and on behalf of my band, nice one, Chuck.
Now, if my father was still with us I would imagine he would be standing where I am right
now graciously inducting the original members of the ELO into the hall of fame. He loved
ELO. People loved ELO. I’d like to introduce the four original members who will be inducted tonight. The powerhouse
drummer, Bev Bevan. With his rocking solo on “Don’t Bring Me Down,” he oftentimes would
bring the house down. Even the keyboard player, Richard Tandy, still with him
today but unfortunately not with us today. The groundbreaking, multi-instrumentalist
Roy Wood.
He wrote many of ELO’s early songs. While Roy’s time in the band may be shorter than the
others he will always be an architect of ELO’s DNA.
Last and certainly least, just kidding,
my dear, dear pal, Jeff Lynne. A great songwriter, producer, musical [genius] of our time, a
rare genius, a real live legend, ELO’s mastermind for nearly 50 years. Jeff is one of my
father’s dearest friends and it was March of 1986 when I had my first close encounter of the
ELO.
My dad took me to a benefit concert in England. A massive arena packed to the roof for a headlining set by their hometown heroes.
Bev, Richard and Jeff were all there. I’m remember it just like it was yesterday.
This is my first big rock show. I was seven-and-a-half and from my distinction, ELO’s
performance that night was less like a regular rock band and more like what I think a 21st
century, extraterrestrial space man with bizarre instruments. Their songs sound like a symphony. I stood there in silent astonishment watching these guys offer up
incredible songs like, “Evil Woman,” “Telephone Line,” “Do Ya,” “Mr. Blue Sky.”
Right?
I thought, why do I need to see anyone in our house playing such strange looking
instruments. I mean we all had guitars in our house but that guy had a tiny blue guitar
jammed under his chin and that other guy has a massive big guitar on his side playing it.
Very strange.
Anyway, onstage, the band appeared to be having as much fun as we were. That’s when I
decided they reminded me of a Star Wars cantina band. Only with lots more hair. Smoke all
around in the air around them. The leader of the space band stood in the middle, singing
falsetto like an angel. He
seemed affable and occasionally he’d exchange pleasantries with us humans: we mean
your planet no harm.
I wanted to be transported, beamed up, probed, whatever, I just wanted to join their team and
never go back. So after a dozen or so songs my father gets up from his seat and tells me to
wait for him with this candy man who had taken us to our seats. He walked off and
moments after he disappeared from view suddenly he reappeared onstage
carrying a guitar. I began to panic because this was first time I had ever seen my dad play
an instrument, ever, onstage in my entire life.
Out of nowhere, in perfect unison, they all kicked into “Johnny B Goode.” I remember thinking “What is going on? My father is being abducted by an intergalactic
space orchestra.” ELO has taken my father and left me behind.
The candy man assured
that he would eventually be returned to us. So we made it back home together eventually
and to my joy and surprise with ELO extraterrestrial wizard captain, the man with it all, Jeff
Lynne.
He had come to live with us on Earth and Jeff was soon a permanent fixture at our house.
Him and my dad drove the same car. We
were a traveling family. I got to see Jeff work in his secretive ways often late night. This was
the dawn of an incredible blast of creativity for Jeff. He worked with dad on “Cloud Nine”
and he produced Roy’s “Mystery Girl.” Co-wrote, co-produced “Full Moon Fever.” I began to learn the Jeff Lynne studio lexicon you
know words like “trilby” and “model scum.” It’s a tremendous category of artists
that Jeff worked with – Paul McCartney, Tom Petty, Joe Walsh. They aren’t musicians who needed a lot of help, but they just needed Jeff.
During one of those sessions I began to realize that all of my dad’s friends were in fact from
outer space like Jeff. You could tell because of their eyes, right? Their eyes were far more
sensitive to Earth’s bright sun. They communicated with each other via jukeboxes [and] secret messages through records.
These UFO-esque machines
that I came to discover, were the albums of ELO. Starting from disc one, track one of the New
World record. It just starts so quietly that I had to turn it up and then the terrifying sound of
my roof caving in straight into the giant orchestral arrangement with a choir with big strums
and that laser guitar. You’re allowed to start a record like that?
Somebody actually wrote an album like that and my life was changed. And years later, on a
personal level, it hits back to home. [When] my father was lost we
were trying to find a record, it seemed we had run out of time, but he told me seek out once
again that space wizard, Jeff and that together we would know what to do.
Jeff knew exactly how to cross that bridge. And within the process, I finally learned
what “trilby” meant. Yes, I actually speak fluent Jeff now.
Working with Jeff
is one of the most amazing times I’ve ever had. Seeing those beautiful blue eyes peeking
over the top of those space lenses has carried me through some of the toughest musical
moments of my life and for that I thank you.
ELO is alive and well in the galaxy. There were ELO sightings last year at Glastonbury. They were seen by hundreds of thousands of people over a Hyde Park. I saw ELO two nights in a
row over the Hollywood Bowl. It was in November right after the election and trust me when
I tell you I was staring at their spaceship thinking, “take me with you.”
I saw some kids there that could have been seven-and-a-half and more of them that were
probably seventy-seven-and-a-half all wanting to get beamed up.
Jeff, thank you for bringing
the spaceship back with that “Mr. Blue Sky” laser guitar sound. Tonight is about celebrating
the beginning, the birth, that Big Bang in 1970 when we all welcomed ELO, right?
It’s to celebrate these four superbly talented musicians, Roy, Bev, Richard, and Jeff who
didn’t always get along, but who were there in the beginning, willing to throw down together
on these joyous rock, classical harmonies, these killer songs, that have lived longer than
any of us now, somewhere around in a musical galaxy right between Chuck Berry and
Beethoven.
And so it’s my great, great honor on behalf of all the humans that voted for this, because on
some other planet I’m sure they’ve already done this, to induct ELO into the Rock and Roll
Hall of Fame.