Jeff Lynne says he has ‘a few hundred tapes’ worth of recordings which may have some ‘great, forgotten’ songs

The veteran producer and frontman of Electric Light Orchestra, Jeff Lynne, says he has “hundreds” of tapes which may have some “forgotten” songs on them.

With the songwriter set to retire from performing with ELO later this year, bowing out on the Hyde Park stage, Lynne says he will be returning to the studio. In an interview preceding the release of ELO’s most recent album, From Out of Nowhere, Lynne confirmed there were many “great” songs he, Richard Tandy, and the rest of the band, had recorded but never finished. Whether these songs see the light of day is yet to be seen, but it could prove to be Lynne’s next project once he retires from live performance.

During a track breakdown of From Out of Nowhere, Lynne confirmed he had twenty years’ worth of material yet to get through. While he says there could be some great tracks on there, he does warn, however, there are some which could be “horrible”. In an interview with Louder Than War, Lynne confirmed the existence of these tapes.

He said: “I’ve got a box of a few hundred tapes that I’ve not had a chance to listen to for years and years – probably for 20 years or so – but I’m planning to actually listen to them, and see what the hell’s on there. There might be some great songs that I’ve forgotten, and there might be some horrible ones on that I wish I’d forgotten!”

Whether Lynne has listened to those tapes is yet to be seen, but the songwriter behind Mr. Blue Sky, Evil Woman, and Don’t Bring Me Down will likely be returning to the studio after his final-ever ELO show at Hyde Park. The band will perform across the UK on a sold-out tour, following on from their Over and Out US leg, which concluded in November.

Lynne recently shared: “I’m happy with what I’ve done, and the crowd reactions to the shows and the music have been amazing. This is not a farewell to music. I am excited to return to the studio full-time, which is what I love!”

It is not yet known if this means new material from ELO, a Lynne solo album, or production for other artists. Elsewhere in the interview, Lynne called the song Help Yourself one of his favourites on From Out of Nowhere.

He said: “I tried to make it a bit of a soul-type number. It’s actually one of my favourites, because I like the chords in it. There’s a little bit of three-part harmony in there, which I like. 

“I like it very much, and I know you’re not really supposed to say that about your own stuff. It’s simple, and yet there are quite a lot of chords in it. There’s some really nice chords in there.”