Orly Factor
From Blankclubencyclopedia
This article has some 'minor' embelishments. Most articles are written truthfully and accurately, however, some parts or most of this article has been made up, exaggerated, or is just plain wrong. |
The Orly Factor was a band founded by Chris O'Reily in the '80s. Currently they in a hiatus and are rumored to have broken up.
Contents |
Original Members
Christopher O'Riley
Chris O'Riley is the guy who started the band. Known for his rediculously supernatural piano talents, he has been known to play 13-not chords and two counter melodies at the same time. This fact leads many leading experts to beieve that Chris O'Reily has 4+ hands and it has recently been confirmed that he is not in fact the Orly owl. Before joining the band, his 1977 hit single Chris O'Riley plays Tarzan Boy by himself brought him international acclaim as it rose to the top of the Icelandic charts. He decided to form the band in 1988 because he realized that he in fact could not also play the harmonica, string ensemble 1+2, halo and cello. He reluctantly began to hire people. He was the leader of the band throughout its entire run, and had highly volatile relations with Yanni, the second most important member, during the experimental period from 1995-1999. Thankfully the tensions didn't explode and now they are best friends ^_^! Chris decided that it was time for the band to take some "time off" (aka break up) in 2002. Recently, he has been known to play some sweet insane radiohead songs with just his piano. He's soooo coool!
Yanni
Yanni was the first guy that Chris O'Riley hired. Arguably the second most important guy in the band, he has a lot of gravity in band decisions. He also has a sexy headshot featured on the right of this article. Chris O'Riley hired him after their sucessful combined effort with Young Link in the 1986 one-hit-wonder Yanni and Chris O'Reily play Popcorn with Young Link. Yanni is sooo smart and is known for his moody String Ensemble 1 and 2 parts. He also is rumored to play Synth String 1 and 2 sometimes. He took major front-seat leadership role during the recording of Chemical Wonderland and Nukl3@r Wint3r. During the time, during mounting tensions between him and O'Riely, it seemed that the band might split, with Yanni at the head of a new synth-driven group. The rumor, however, proved fruitless and Yanni stuck around until the group's final album in 2001, Aha Rly.
Yo Yo Ma
Yo Yo Ma plays the cello. Even when the part really doesn't make any sense at all for the cello. Chris just thought it would be cool if Yo Yo Ma was in the band. Yo Yo Ma joined the band in 1988 and left in 1995 during the early sessions for Chemical Wonderland due to growing tension between him and other members, including Yanni and the newly-hired Mozart. No one really noticed he was gone though, since Jean de Florette's harmonica can sound a lot like the Cello. Today, Yo Yo hosts and appears on various children's shows and makes guest appearances for countless low-budget talk shows. He unsuccesfully ran for president in 2000 under the American Anemocratic Party.
Master Chief
What can he say? Chris needed a Halo player, and who better than Master Chief himself? After joining in 1988 as one of the founding (but insignificant) member, he gradually got more and more parts in the music that the band played and eventually became a relatively legitimately important musician. During the tension in 1998 between Yanni and O'Riely, it appeared that the Chief would join Yanni's new band. However, when the tensions subsided, Master Chief stuck around for one more album (Nukl3@r Wint3r) before departing in 2000. These days, he stars in some kind of video game series for the Xbox that's relatively popular (although everyone agrees his true claim to fame was his 12-year stint with the Factor).
Jean de Florette
A self-proclaimed harmonicist known for his slow ballads and that annoying song that plays throught he whole movie. After more than a ten year stint with the band, he died in 1998 due to a combination of AIDS and drug overdose, and was replaced by fellow harmonicist Bob Dylan. After his death, he grew a cult following and remains an immortal legend in the underground nightclub/LCD traffiking scene. I'm pretty sure he was in some kind of foreign film, too.
Later Members
Mozart
Mozart originally was a guest soloist on Harpischord for a few tracks in the band's 1994 award-winning album Yahweh. He was asked by Chris to join in 1995 during the early sessions for his sweet awesome multi-instrumental skills. This caused tension with fellow classical artist Yo Yo Ma, who quit the band after a bad argument. He became a major part of the band's backbone during the experimental period and was loyal to Chris during the Yanni-O'Riely standoff.
Bob Dylan
Known for his harmonica...ing skills, he was contacted by Chris in 1998 after Jean de Florette's abrupt but non-notable death. He played with the band for two albums, until the band's "sabbatical" began in 2002.
Guest Soloists
Young Link
Young Link has played a number of solos for the Orly Factor on his Ocarina, most prominently when the group played Popcorn. He is notable since he has played at least one or two songs with the band for each of the 6 studio albums and even got a featured song on the psychadelic 1998 EP Video 1. Now he plays the ocarina of time mainly for Bar-Mitzvahs and charity drives. He does some telethons too.
Who is the drummer?
Who plays all of that mysterious percussion in the background of many of the Factor's songs? Many believe that it is in fact Larry Mullen of U2 in disguise. However, many also believe that it could be Scott Barksdale of Burlap to Cashmere and long-time 6th grade English teacher, as it is a percussionist, not nessicarily a drummer. Other theories include Tony Mcnaboe, Chuck Norris and Chris O'Reily with his feet (although it is unclear if Chris actually has feet or not).
Road to Formation
The Early 90's
To most fans, the early 90's was the Factor's Golden Age, and is the period of time in which they had their explosive and unexpected popularity surge. During this time, the Orly Factor performed many little known hits and rarities and brought them to the public eye. Examples of this include "Popcorn", "Moskau", lageklaus rarities, and the immortal "I Can't Be With You". Although many critics complained that the Orly Factor suffered from a lack of originality, the populace adored them, catapulting most members to idol status. Chris O' Reilly has said that this was his favorite age of the Factor, and calling it "a simpler time, when we could really be ourselves; untouched by the sinister urge that was experimentalism."
Experimental work
In a dramatic turn of events during the fall of 1996, Yanni announced to the music world in a much anticipated press release the the Orly Factor would be changing their style in a dramatic way, saying that "a popular band must experiment or die if they wish to achieve lasting fame". Days later, the band released information about a new album, Chemical Wonderland.
Later Days
"Sabbatical"
In 2002, after the end of the AHA! World Tour and the release of their compilation album Yea Verily: All the hits and rarities, the reamining band announced that they would be taking an indefinate sabbatical. In other words, the band broke up in 2003 and the members went their seperate ways. Chris lately has been playing Radiohead cover albums by himself and hosting a popular radio show on NPR. Yanni and Yo Yo Ma have also been seperately touring by themselves, meeting considerable success a soloists. Mozart dropped out of public view and rumors claim that he has died of AIDS (other less-based rumors also claim that he died in 1791, although this is obviously impossible as he wouldn't have been able to tour with the band. duh.) Master Chief has met enormous popularity with his hit gaming series Halo, and is despise by many old-school factor fans who claim that Master Chief turned out only as a "sellout" and that "Xbox is n00b." No one remembers that Bob Dylan was ever in the band and do not care where he is, what he's doing or if he's alive.
Re-formation?
Early Rumors
In late 2005, after the release of Chris' Live at 200 album, internet rumors beganto surface that he was looking to re-form the band. For a period of about 4 months the rumor remained unbased, but on January 23, 2006, Chris officialy revealed in an interview that he was in fact interested in reviving the band and was in the process of contacting former members and new candidates.
Schlieffen Plan
(Main Article: Schlieffen Plan) On June 12, 2006, Yanni, in a completely unprecedented move, called an inpromptu press conference and announced that he would be forming a new band, with a debut album slated for Winter 2006. The working name of the band is currently Schlieffen Plan, and members that are confirmed by Yanni are himself on synths, Darth Vader on vocals and the NEDM Cat on remixin'. Other rumored members include Master Chief from Orly Factor (although he has been unable to reprise his role as halo/ guitar player due to his tenure in his video game series, it seems more likely now due to the release of the third and final game), Rockin' harmonicist John De Florette in Ghola form and Islamic wrestling superstar Hassan (who with the decline of the YTMND fad has much more free time on his hands and has expressed interest in reprising his singing career).
Discography
Singles
- Chris O'Reily plays Tarzan Boy (1987)
- The Orly Factor plays Moskau (1988)
- Everyone plays 1000 Nacht (1988)
- The Story of Johhny (1997)
- Naztach (1999)
Albums
- Ya Rly (1989)
- No Wai (1991)
- Yahweh (1994)
- Chemical Wonderland (1997)
- Nukl3@r Wint3r (1999)
- Aha Rly (2001)
EPs
- Macgyver, Lol (1990)
- Those Raspberries (1993)
- Video 1 (1998)
- Remixes de la max (1999)
Compilations
- Yea Verily: All the hits and rarities (2002)