Song history

The song, written by Jeff Lynne

Jeff Lynne

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...

, was intended to be a B-side on one of The Move

The Move

The Move, from Birmingham, England, were one of the leading British rock bands of the 1960s. They scored nine Top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any success in the United States....

's singles. Rick Price

Rick Price (bassist)

Rick Price is an English bassist, who has played with various Birmingham based rock bands, most notably Sight and Sound, The Move , Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard...

 of The Move played bass on the track originally but was never credited, apparently with all the overdubs and layers that were added to the track the bass line 'got lost' in the mix and Jeff Lynne laid down a new bass line. Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne shared vocal duties on the song much like their previous single "California Man

California Man (song)

California Man is a song by The Move.Released in 1972 as a maxi single with "Do Ya" and "Ella James" as a double B-side, this was The Move's last official single release. The Electric Light Orchestra, originally conceived as a side-project to The Move, issued its first single,10538 Overture, a...

," (as The Move). The song is about an escaped prisoner but Jeff Lynne

Jeff Lynne

Jeffrey "Jeff" Lynne is an English songwriter, composer, arranger, singer, multi-instrumentalist, and record producer who gained fame as the leader and sole constant member of Electric Light Orchestra and was a co-founder and member of The Traveling Wilburys together with George Harrison, Bob...

 wanted to give the character in the song a number as opposed to a name when he chanced upon the number 1053 (probably printed on a Neve 1053 mic preamp/EQ module) while looking around the mixing console. Roy Wood suggested adding number eight to fit the melody better. The song was still to be a new song by The Move, until Wood added some cello riffs and after many cello layers were added using overdubbing

Overdubbing

Overdubbing is a technique used by recording studios to add a supplementary recorded sound to a previously recorded performance....

, the 'Overture' and the Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

 were born. It was during the single's chart run that Roy Wood dramatically left the ELO line-up, emerging later in the year with yet another new band called Wizzard

Wizzard

Wizzard was a Birmingham-based band formed by Roy Wood, former member of The Move and co-founder of Electric Light Orchestra. The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings were Paul McCartney."-Biography:...

.

The song was covered by Bobby Sutcliff and Mitch Easter

Mitch Easter

Mitch Easter is a songwriter, musician, and producer. As a producer, he is probably best known for his work with R.E.M. from 1981 through 1984, though he has also worked with many other acts including The Hang Ups, Pavement, Suzanne Vega, Game Theory, Marshall Crenshaw, Velvet Crush, and...

 in 2001, by Parthenon Huxley

Parthenon Huxley

Parthenon Huxley is an American musician, singer, songwriter and producer who is known for his solo albums and for his involvement in ELO Part II and The Orchestra, both of which are latter-day offshoots of the 1970s-80s orchestral rock band Electric Light Orchestra...

 in 2005 and by Def Leppard

Def Leppard

Def Leppard are an English rock band formed in 1977 in Sheffield as part of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement. Since 1992, the band have consisted of Joe Elliott , Rick Savage , Rick Allen , Phil Collen , and Vivian Campbell...

 in 2006 on their cover album Yeah!. The song's main guitar riff was also used by Paul Weller

Paul Weller

Paul Weller is an English singer-songwriter. Starting with the band The Jam , Weller then went on to branch out musically to a more soulful style with The Style Council...

 on his 1995 single "The Changingman".

In March 2007 the song was used in the closing credits of the 5th episode from the 2nd series of Life on Mars

Life on Mars (TV series)

Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural....

.

Quotes

Chart positions

Chart (1972)	Peak Position
French SNEP Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry... Singles Chart	5
UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...	9

B-side

The B-side to 10538 Overture was First Movement (Jumping Biz), an instrumental by Roy Wood

Roy Wood

Roy Adrian Wood is an English singer-songwriter and musician. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the bands The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of these bands.-Career:Wood...

 and performed by Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra

Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

.

The song first appeared on the band's debut album The Electric Light Orchestra

The Electric Light Orchestra (album)

The Electric Light Orchestra is the debut studio album by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra, released in December 1971. In the US, the album was released in early 1972 as No Answer, after a misunderstood telephone message made by a United Artists Records executive asking about the album name...

 in 1971 and became the B-side to 10538 Overture and features Wood on classical guitar

Classical guitar

The classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...

 and cello

Roy Wood has apparently acknowledged that First Movement (Jumping Biz) was inspired by the 1968 song Classical Gas

Classical Gas

"Classical Gas" is an instrumental musical piece composed and originally performed by Mason Williams. Originally released in 1968 on the album The Mason Williams Phonograph Record, it has been re-recorded and re-released numerous times since by Williams...

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