# Electric Light Orchestra Cellist Killed by Bale of Hay **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752 "2010-09-06T02:32:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/1 "2010-09-06T02:32:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Mike Edwards, one of the founding members of the Electric Light Orchestra, was killed today when a bale of hay struck his van. Edwards, 62, was the cellist for ELO. > > Edwards was driving when a 700 lb bale entered the highway. According to the Telegraph, the bale of hay rolled down a hill from a nearby farm, and landed on the roof of his car. Police are currently investigating the incident. [http://www.indyposted.com/107936/elo-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hale/](http://www.indyposted.com/107936/elo-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hale/) ---
**Author:** ![Shawn1767](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Shawn1767](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shawn1767)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/2 "2010-09-06T02:40:09Z")
☹ ELO was my favorite group growing up in the 1970s. ---
**Author:** ![Kilmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@Kilmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kilmore)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/3 "2010-09-06T02:53:06Z")
And the news article has the video for “Roll Over Beethoven”. Was the bale of hay named “Beethoven”? Tragic, but awesome rock & roll death. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/4 "2010-09-06T03:24:53Z")
You can’t really dust for hay. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/5 "2010-09-06T03:27:00Z")
Hay Hay, My My Rock’nRoll will never die My My, Hay Hay Just don’t get in its way. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/6 "2010-09-06T03:44:46Z")
This part struck me as really odd: > [@](#): > > Police identified Edwards from photographs **and Youtube footage**. They are currently trying to contact Edwards family so that they can make a formal identification. Could this be the first deceased person to be ID’d with YouTube? ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Mondegreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/91b2a8/32.png) [@Lord\_Mondegreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Mondegreen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/7 "2010-09-06T04:14:59Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Hay Hay, My My > Rock’nRoll will never die > My My, Hay Hay > Just don’t get in its way. I feel bad that this made me smile. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/8 "2010-09-06T04:25:55Z")
I was picturing the thing rolling after him on the highway and feeling really bad for laughing at the mental image, and then I realized I was thinking about a tumbleweed, not a bale of hay. But in all seriousness, I still groove out to “Mr. Blue Sky”. That’s awful news. ☹ _sends out good thoughts to his family_ ---
**Author:** ![Tethered\_Kite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a5b964/32.png) [@Tethered\_Kite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tethered_Kite)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/9 "2010-09-06T04:37:48Z")
Sad thing to hear. Guess by now he’s turning to stone. ---
**Author:** ![BaneSidhe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c5a1d2/32.png) [@BaneSidhe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BaneSidhe)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/10 "2010-09-06T04:54:47Z")
☹ ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/11 "2010-09-06T05:31:03Z")
Bad reporting. The article first says that the bale rolled onto the highway, which implies that he would have either crashed into it, or swerved to avoid it and caused some other form of accident. But then it goes on to say that the bale landed on the roof. So which is it? What actually happened? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/12 "2010-09-06T05:33:08Z")
That bale of hay just came Out Of The Blue. Time to Face the Music. ---
**Author:** ![DooWahDiddy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e9bcb4/32.png) [@DooWahDiddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DooWahDiddy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/13 "2010-09-06T05:54:13Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > So which is it? What actually happened? I don’t know, but either way it’s gonna be tough to get that hay out of his head. Okay, seriously, this is really sad. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/14 "2010-09-06T05:59:25Z")
Oh, my. Rather tragic. I’m still a big ELO fan. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/15 "2010-09-06T06:13:36Z")
You got that Ma-Ma-Ma Bale, it will get you…TRM (possibly the world’s biggest ELO fan, but still can find the humor in it) ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/16 "2010-09-06T13:31:24Z")
I remember seeing him play several times. Always had on a tux-like outfit, but with a twist or two. Great stuff! Sorry to hear this. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Gagundathar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a183cd/32.png) [@Gagundathar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gagundathar)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/17 "2010-09-06T13:40:34Z")
The picture in the BBC article shows that the front part of the passenger compartment was crushed, and we can only hope he died quickly. ELO has always been one of my favorite bands. As I sit here writing code (on Labor Day), I have just started listening to Eldorado in Mike Edwards memory. It sounds like he was a really interesting guy. From the Wiki article on him: > [@](#): > > His eccentric cello playing (fingering the cello strings with an orange or grapefruit) and bizarre costumes were a major ingredient of the early ELO touring band. Edwards’ live “party piece” was The Dying Swan, where he would perform a cello solo and ultimately his cello would explode through the use of pyrotechnics. R.I.P. Mike Edwards ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/18 "2010-09-06T13:49:07Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > You can’t really dust for hay. ROFLMAO! Oh that’s perfect!😃 oops, sorry, that wasn’t very grave. I’m sorry to hear of his passing. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/19 "2010-09-06T14:05:47Z")
In terms of ways to die, this has to be near the top of the list for ‘Most Unexpected’. RIP. I need to go and find my ELO now. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752/20 "2010-09-06T14:20:23Z")
> [@DooWahDiddy](#): > > Okay, seriously, this is really sad. Just about the last straw. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/electric-light-orchestra-cellist-killed-by-bale-of-hay/552752.md?page=2)