The Electric Light Orchestra never rocked harder than they did on “Do Ya,” released this week in 1976 as part of ‘A New World Record.’

The Move, a band that dates back to 1966 and served as a precursor to the Electric Light Orchestra, is calling it quits, according to stalwart drummer Bev Bevan.

Jeff Lynne discusses the prospect of a new tour, and ruminates both on reforming the Traveling Wilburys and reuniting with other original members of the Electric Light Orchestra in advance of a hometown honor tonight in Birmingham.

Bev Bevan, later a founding member of the Move and the Electric Light Orchestra, says a chance meeting with the Beatles years earlier provided a huge ego boost when Paul McCartney praised his drumming.

Here’s another British band that attained superstardom in their native land, but struggled to attract attention in the U.S. If Americans are aware of the Move at all, it’s probably because they morphed into Electric Light Orchestra.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwoT9_StEfY&w=500&h=305] The narrator for the audio version of Black Sabbath co-founder Tony Iommi’s autobiography will be familiar to longtime fans: It’s by old friend and former bandmate Bev Bevan, who rose to fame with the Move and Electric Light Orchestra.

Huge in England for a time, but utterly ignored in America, the Move are typically thought of in the states — if they are thought of at all — as nothing more than an antecedent to Jeff Lynne’s Electric Light Orchestra.