Unexpected Messages
by Patrik Guttenbacher, Marc Haines, & Alexander von Petersdorff

This book is a must-have for all Jeff Lynne and Electric Light Orchestra fans.

The cover of this book describes it as "The Story of The Electric Light Orchestra, The Move, Jeff Lynne, Roy Wood, Bev Bevan including all members and related artists' projects with the complete world discography." That's very true, but it's also so much more. It also lists tour setlists, video appearances, and so much more.  The knowledge and level of detail in this book is amazing.

If you're a Jeff Lynne and/or E.L.O. fan, do yourself a favor and get this book. You will not be disappointed. This book has been a tremendous guide to me for constructing the Jeff Lynne Song Database, as you can probably tell by the many quotes from the book in the song comments.  Many thanks to Patrik Guttenbacher for putting up with my many questions over the years. The guy is a scholar and a gentleman.

I can't recommend Unexpected Messages highly enough. Written from a fan perspective but with the cooperation of many band members, it melds together years of research from interviews and music collecting into the most complete picture of the band ever written. The book is a little out of date (published in 1996), has a few minor facts wrong (they were right at the time the book was published), and occasionally has editing problems (it was translated from a German language version), but don't let that detract from the fact that it's still an easy read and a virtual cornucopia of information for the E.L.O. fans.  It's full of many rare and unavailable-anywhere-else photos, including some Italian Tour pictures from the very first E.L.O. Tour which are exclusive to this book. This is THE best book ever published on all things Electric Light Orchestra.

Walk, don't run, to buy this book. 

How to order UNEXPECTED MESSAGES? Click below to learn more and order your copy.

http://www.face-the-music.de/book_e.html