Supersonic

 

Electric Light Orchestra on Supersonic

An in-depth look at the UK TV program performances


Comments and Observations

The TV Show: Supersonic was an ITV UK pop music program running for two seasons only, from September 4, 1975 to April 2, 1977. The show was produced and directed by Mike Mansfield, a well known music producer who would later produce ELO's Live At Wembley concert video in 1978. The show typically ran 30 minutes and was known for being more wild and over the top than it's BBC rival, Top Of The Pops, including bubble and fog machines and other such special effects.

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ELO's Performance:The Electric Light Orchestra actually had only one physical appearance on the show, performing Evil Woman on December 4, 1975. Not all ITV broadcasts were on the same day, so some sources list a date a few days later. The band mimed to a backing track of the single version, with a few simple edits: cutting the string interlude and quickly fading out the during chorus following the final verse. Over this backing track, Jeff performed live lead vocals and Richard supplied a live piano track on the instrumental bridge only. Richard's piano bridge was very different from the LP or single version, being a much more energetic, dancehall-type version. The rest of the band appears to be miming only or are not heard over the backing track.

The band performed on a multi-tiered stage with smoke machines blowing smoke about them, although these smoke machines mostly overwhelm cellists Melvyn Gale and Hugh McDowell. There was an amusing moment during the piano bridge when Jeff looked over at the nearly completely obscured Hugh, and visibly laughed out loud, momentarily breaking from the mimed performance.
The Light Shines On Vol 2 1979 Showdown reissue single
This one performance of Evil Woman, turned out to be seen by a wider audience as it was sold many times over to several other musical programs outside the UK, including a re-broadcast on the USA TV show, Twiggy's Jukebox in 1978. This performance was also shown on some as-yet-unidentified German TV shows. And it was used in part on a documentary on the Inside The Electric Light Orchestra (Music Reviews LTD CRP1811) and Total Rock Review (Storm Bird STB2179) DVDs in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Curiously, the performance was never rebroadcast on subsequent Supersonic episodes, which was typical of BBC's Top Of The Pops. A still image from the performance (with added artwork to extend the fog obscuring Hugh) was also used on a 1979 compilation entitled The Light Shines On Vol 2 (Harvest SHSM 2027) and a re-issue 12" single of Showdown/Roll Over Beethoven (Harvest 12-HAR 5179). Although this performance has never been officially released, it is commonly available on the bootleg market.

The full episode is available on the bootleg market, with other performers on this particular episode including The Sensational Alex Harvey Band (2 songs), Snafu (1 song) and David Essex (2 songs). Roy Wood, co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra, also appeared on two episodes: on October 31, 1975 with Wizzard performing Rattlesnake Roll and on November 28, 1975 as a solo artists performing Looking Thru' The Eyes of A Fool.

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The song Supersonic by ELO:Although the band only performed once on the program, they are rumored to have made another appearance of sorts. ELO archivist Rob Caiger stated that ELO recorded a song called Supersonic in 1977 for use on the show, but it was only used on the last two broadcasts-- on March 26 and April 2 of 1977 for 30 seconds over the show intro. However, these two episodes are now available in full as bootleg recordings and clearly no such song by ELO was used. The theme song used on these all all episodes are a song by Andy Bown of a completely different song. Was Rob in error or were alternate versions of the episodes created (perhaps for rebroadcasts)? Probably the former is true.

ELO did record a song called Supersonic, presumably for the TV show, however it has never been released. They also recorded a version with lead vocals by an unknown singer named Nathan James (alternately known by the Jeff Lynne provided nickname, Fred from Stoke). It is confirmed that a full song exists in the ELO archives, but there is strong doubt that it was ever used on the show. The Jeff Lynne lead vocal song has never been released and remains unheard by the general public, however Nathan James released his version via a YouTube video on November, 2014.

This page is intended to be a complete record of information on the Electric Light Orchestra's Supersonic performances (few though they may be). If you notice any errors or omissions, please contact me at jefflynnesongs@gmail.com and let me know. I strive for accuracy.

Robert Porter
February 2024