It was the VH1 Storytellers taping in New York City in 2001. Excitement filled the air of the Altman Building. So much excitement in fact, that as soon as we got into the studio, I had to ‘nervous pee’ before the performance started. After wandering through this dark unfamiliar place for a few moments, I finally find the restroom. And as I’m practically barging through the door, I almost collide with a man on his way out. That man was Richard Tandy. My first real interaction with any member of ELO and it happens at a restroom door. Go figure. Anyway, he smiled, I said ‘hello - sorry about that…’, he said ‘hello’ back, I smile in embarrassment, then finally we part ways. He went and did his thing, and I did mine.
His ‘thing’. My God, what an enormous talent. When you’re 8 years old and you’re playing these records and you’re really listening to these sounds, mesmerized by it all, you start to wonder even at that age ‘how does someone do all that?’ It was guys like Richard Tandy. He played, he arranged, he sang, the whole nine yards.
Now, we’re all grown adults watching as our legends fade one at a time. Believe me, I’ve recently gotten my ‘reminder’ my life is short too. I’m not thrilled about it at all, but I’ll deal with it like I always do, spin an ELO record.
RIP Richard Tandy. Thank you for sharing your amazing talent with us. You were amazing.
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