Richard Tandy (born on the 26th of March, England, Birmingham) is an English musician. During his rich musical career, Richard Tandy played such instruments as piano, guitar, keyboards, synthesizer, organ and bass. He is also famous as the keyboard player in Electric Light Orchestra. If one is to judge by the highest standards, Richard Tandy is the musician who plays a number of different instruments. The musical palette of his keyboards (piano, mellotron, clavinet, Mini Moog) represents a significant component in the band’s sound, especially on the following albums: A New World Record, Discovery, Time, and Out of the Blue. Tandy is also the old friend of Jeff Lynne- the ELO leader.
Richard Tandy went to Moseley School where he got acquainted with Bev Bevan, who later on became a famous drummer. On Bev Bevan’s invitation, Tandy played harpsichord during the recording of the first hit “Blackberry Way” of the band The Move. Afterwards he joined the band Electric Light Orchestra where he played till the breakup of the band. During ELO concerts, Richard Tandy often played the stereotyped 1970s progressive rock stack of keyboards. He also accompanied Jeff Lynne in his solo projects such as sound track for the film “Electric Dreams” (1984), the album “Armchair Theatre” (1990), and Dave Edmunds’ album “Information” produced by Jeff Lynne. Before becoming a member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra Richard Tandy played with the bands “The Uglys” and “Balls”. Immediately after the breakup of the band Electric Light Orchestra, Tandy created trio together with the drummer Dave Morgan and Martin Smith. These musicians had worked with Electric Light Orchestra in live performances.
In 2000-2001, Tandy participated in a short-term revival of the band ELO. It should be noted that a number of ELO album titles belong to Richard Tandy, Multi-Platinum album “Discovery” included.
Tags: Bev Bevan, Discovery ELO album, Electric Light Orchestra, Richard Tandy, The Move