83-548: Roy Wood (born 8 November 1947) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move , Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard . Wood formed the Move in 1965, and had hits including " Flowers in the Rain ". While the Move were still together, Wood, along with his band colleagues Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan , founded Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which
166-601: A catalogue advertisement for Argos , where he played the part of a rowdy neighbour playing guitar along to Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", and the song once again entered the UK Singles Chart, peaking at No. 16. In the 2010 Christmas special of the ITV comedy Benidorm , Wood in a cameo role performed his Christmas hit at the Benidorm Palace cabaret theatre. He later performed with Wizzard on
249-486: A double , with one disc a set of rock and roll pastiches and the other disc jazz-rock. The label heard the rock and roll set and decided to release that as a single album, which appeared in 1974 as Introducing Eddy & The Falcons . Main Street , the jazz-rock set, languished in the vaults and was for some time presumed lost, but was finally released in 2000. Following the band's split in 1975, Wood and Price formed
332-545: A woodwind and string arrangement by Cordell's assistant Tony Visconti . The track was released on the re-launched Regal Zonophone label . Without consulting the band, Secunda produced a cartoon postcard to promote the single "Flowers in the Rain"; this showed the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom , Harold Wilson , in bed with his secretary, Marcia Williams . Wilson sued The Move for libel and
415-825: A 'lifelines' feature for the press as a joke. His first group in Birmingham in the early 1960s was the Falcons, which he left in 1963 to join Gerry Levene and the Avengers. He then moved to Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders (the band later became the Idle Race ). He attended the Moseley College of Art , but was expelled in 1964. The Move was formed from other Birmingham-based groups, and quickly entered
498-592: A Bevan lead vocal that was modelled on Johnny Cash , while Bevan's "Don't Mess Me Up" (sung by Wood) paid homage to Elvis Presley , complete with fake Jordanaires . Although Wood and music critics continue to hold Message from the Country in high regard, in 2005 Bevan referred to that album as his least favourite from The Move. The album was followed by two more Wood-penned hit singles, " Tonight " and " Chinatown ". For several television appearances behind those songs, The Move added two musicians who became members of
581-626: A British rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their career The Move were led by guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood . He wrote all the group's UK singles and, from 1968, also sang lead vocals on many songs. Initially, the band had four main vocalists (Wood, Carl Wayne , Trevor Burton , and Chris "Ace" Kefford ) who divided
664-570: A No. 7 UK hit —featuring baritone saxophones , a double bass , and a riff borrowed from George Gershwin —was an affectionate tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis (the double bass had Lewis's nickname, "Killer", written on it) and Little Richard , with Lynne and Wood trading verses and lines. Meanwhile, Lynne's "Do Ya" became The Move's best-known song in the US; it was the only Move song to reach the US Billboard Hot 100 chart at No. 93. (However,
747-461: A band comprising Robin George (guitar), Terry Rowley (keyboards), Jon Camp (bass) and Tom Farnell (drums). The release of what would have been the last of these singles, "Aerial Pictures", backed with "Airborne", was cancelled owing to the lack of chart success for its predecessors, but both sides appeared for the first time in 2006 on a compilation CD, Roy Wood – The Wizzard! . "Aerial Pictures", using
830-401: A fallout between Wood and co-founder/leader Jeff Lynne , Wood denies that he and Lynne ever had a real row, blaming it on press fabrication and insisting that "We never had a real row and we're still mates now." In fact, Wood claimed that he left the group because he foresaw a fallout between him and Lynne due to their increasing differences of opinion (which he felt were caused, indirectly, by
913-454: A line-up consisting of Bevan, Burton, Tree, and Kelsey; however, it was later revealed that the band performing would no longer be billed as 'The Move', but as 'Bev Bevan's Zing Band', and would not feature Burton; with the line-up consisting of Bevan, Tree, and Kelsey, along with a returning Abby Brant, and Geoff Turton on lead vocals. Final lineup Wizzard Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood , former member of
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#1732802457284996-567: A lineup consisting of Wayne, Burton, and Kefford; however, his suggestion was rejected by Wood, Bevan and Price, so after getting angry and embarrassed witnessing a fight between Wood and a drunken audience member in Sheffield, Wayne quit the group in January 1970, a month before the release of Shazam . He subsequently worked in a variety of musical ventures and appeared on television and radio. In 2000, he replaced Allan Clarke as lead singer of
1079-424: A pop group, reintroducing them as a hard-edged underground band. Burton played bass on a couple of tracks as they had been recorded before he left, although this was not credited at the time. Well aware that Wood was intent on setting up his new, orchestral rock project, Wayne suggested that Wood concentrate on performing with his new band while continuing to write songs for The Move, which would be reorganized with
1162-579: A publicity stunt; however, Marvin himself, in an article in Melody Maker in 1973 and elsewhere, has maintained that he was approached by Wood and invited to join The Move, but declined because their schedule was too hectic for him. Bevan confirmed in a 2014 interview that the band invited Marvin, but they never expected him to accept. Burton was ultimately replaced in 1969 by Rick Price , another veteran of several Birmingham rock groups, who joined on
1245-513: A set on tour composed mostly of classics by The Move. Wood expressed extreme displeasure at that development. Former Move guitarist Burton joined the band on occasion during 2006, and joined permanently in 2007 (Wayne had tried to broker a reunion between Bevan and Burton before his death, and was to be involved with the new band). Bates departed in July 2007 to re-join ELO Part II (now renamed
1328-556: A spring 1974 tour of the UK. One highlight of 1974 was a return to the Top 10 with " Rock 'n' Roll Winter (Loony's Tune) ". Release was delayed for several weeks until the end of March, so the words 'Sorry, the word 'Spring' wouldn't fit. R.W.' were added on the label after the title. Unusually for the time, this song and the B-side, "Dream of Unwin", were both recorded and released in mono. The song
1411-608: A temporary, non-contractual basis. Thus, the group in spring 1969 consisted of Wayne (vocals), Wood (guitar, vocals), Bevan (drums), and Price (bass, vocals). Both Ace Kefford and Trevor Burton struggled commercially after leaving The Move. Kefford formed his own short-lived group, the Ace Kefford Stand, with Cozy Powell on drums. After this, he pursued a solo career and recorded a solo album in 1968, but it remained un-released until 2003 when it appeared as Ace The Face . Burton played bass with yet another Birmingham group,
1494-507: A trio consisting of Wood, Bevan and Jeff Lynne , formerly of the Idle Race . The band's later years saw this lineup develop a side project called Electric Light Orchestra , which would go on to achieve major international success after The Move disbanded. Between 2007 and 2014, Burton and Bevan performed intermittently as "The Move featuring Bev Bevan and Trevor Burton". The Move were formed in December 1965, and played their debut show at
1577-930: A warehouse in Leeds. The police later recovered the van and equipment in East Ardsley . Wood currently lives in South Derbyshire . He voted to leave the European Union in the 23 June 2016 referendum, and in May 2019 joined the Brexit Party . Beforehand, he was a longtime member of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), and expressed interest in standing as a candidate for the party in 2004. Wood has one daughter, named Holly. The BBC described Wood in 2008 as being "responsible for some of
1660-542: Is the seasonal Wizzard single " I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday ", which remains one of the most played Christmas songs in the UK. In 1995, Wood released a new live version as the 'Roy Wood Big Band', which charted at No. 59, and in 2000 he joined forces with Mike Batt and the Wombles , for a re-working of "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" and the Wombles' hit "Wombling Merry Christmas", together in one song which reached No. 22. Over Christmas 2007, Wood appeared in
1743-458: The B-side of his 1973 single, " Dear Elaine ". While the Move were still together, Wood, along with his band colleagues Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan , founded Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was later to gain major commercial success. The original intention was to split up the Move at the end of 1970, but contractual obligations meant that both they and ELO existed together for a year, until
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#17328024572841826-471: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Electric Light Orchestra. For the complete Move discography see The Move Discography For the complete ELO discography see Electric Light Orchestra discography For the complete Wizzard discography see Wizzard Discography List of songs written by Roy Wood Sources: Source: Source: Source: Source: The Move The Move were
1909-517: The UK Singles Chart . Their single "Night of Fear" climbed to No. 2 in early 1967. Their third hit, " Flowers in the Rain ", was the first song played by Tony Blackburn at the launch of BBC Radio 1 on September 30, 1967, and the band evolved over a three-year period. After the departure of the Move's lead singer Carl Wayne , Wood's influence became more prominent. In 1967, Wood (and fellow Move member Trevor Burton ) sang backing vocals on
1992-520: The 1975 recording of the band's final album, Main Street (released 2000), drummer Keith Smart departed the band and was not replaced. The band made their live debut at The London Rock and Roll Show at Wembley Stadium on 5 August 1972. Wizzard's second appearance was at the Reading Festival later that month. With Wood's distinctive warpaint make-up and colourful costume, not to mention regular appearances on BBC Television 's Top of
2075-515: The B-side of that single, " 10538 Overture ", was ultimately held by the band for its new Electric Light Orchestra project, and Price's bass line was deleted and re-recorded by Wood, since Price was not part of the new group. Price in fact was unaware that The Move were working without him, until he heard about new material being made in early 1971. He then pursued other projects, including the band Mongrel, although he later rejoined Wood in Wizzard and
2158-824: The BBC. As well as designing the logo, Wood performed in a line-up which also included the Electric Light Orchestra and the Moody Blues . After a hiatus following the release of the album Starting Up (1987), a cover version of the Len Barry hit " 1–2–3 ", and a guest vocal appearance on one track on Rick Wakeman 's The Time Machine , he went on the road with a band billed as Roy Wood's Army. He also wrote and recorded two tracks with Lynne in 1989 ("If You Can't Get What You Want" and "Me and You"), which were never released. His most regularly broadcast song
2241-571: The Beatles songs " Lovely Rita " and " Polythene Pam " for the ill-fated musical documentary All This and World War II . In 1977, he formed Wizzo Band , a jazz-rock ensemble, whose only live performance was a BBC simultaneous television and radio broadcast in stereo. The Wizzo Band split early the following year after cancelling a nationwide tour. Between 1980 and 1982, Wood released a few singles under his own name and also as Roy Wood's Helicopters, and played some live dates under this name, with
2324-659: The Belfry, Wishaw, on 23 January 1966. The original intentions of Trevor Burton , Ace Kefford and Roy Wood were to start a group from among Birmingham's best musicians—along similar lines to the Who . The three played together at jam sessions at Birmingham's Cedar Club, and invited Carl Wayne and Bev Bevan to join their new group. After a debut at the Bell Hotel in Stourbridge in January 1966, and further bookings around
2407-539: The Bev Bevan Band completed their "Stand Up And Rock" tour, which lasted for almost 50 dates, in conjunction with Bevan's childhood friend Jasper Carrott . Guests on the tour included Trevor Burton, Geoff Turton and Joy Strachan-Brain, alongside Bevan, Kelsey, Tree and Brant. In 2016 the band announced that they had reformed again, and were due to perform at The Core Theatre in Solihull , West Midlands , with
2490-468: The Birmingham area, Moody Blues manager Tony Secunda offered to manage them. At the time, The Move mainly played covers of American west coast groups such as the Byrds together with Motown and rock 'n' roll songs. Many of the band's selections for their songs came from the extensive record collection of Danny King, a former bandmate of Burton. Although Carl Wayne handled most of the lead vocals, all
2573-522: The Christmas edition of Pointless Celebrities in December 2013. Wood formed the Roy Wood Rock & Roll Band for occasional live dates and television performances in the UK. They were the support act for Status Quo at several UK dates in the weeks leading up to Christmas 2009 and 2011. In December 2018, Wood and his band's touring equipment worth £100,000 was stolen following a ram-raid on
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2656-403: The Electric Light Orchestra's remake of "Do Ya", recorded after Wood's departure, was a significant US hit in 1977.) With the release of the album The Electric Light Orchestra , within weeks of the last single being released, they appeared on television promoting both The Move's last single and ELO's debut single (the long-delayed "10538 Overture") at the same time. Wood and Hunt quit ELO during
2739-497: The Hollies and performed with them as lead singer until his death from cancer in 2004. Upon Wayne's departure, The Move jettisoned Walsh as manager and returned to Arden. Lynne agreed to join the band as a second guitarist and pianist, enthused by Wood's ELO idea. Wood also wanted a second songwriter in the band to relieve the pressure on himself. The band's first recording with Lynne was a single, " Brontosaurus ". Feeling nervous as
2822-579: The Jimi Hendrix Experience's second album, Axis: Bold as Love ), sold poorly and failed to make the UK chart. The Move responded with their most commercially successful song to date, " Blackberry Way " (co-produced by Jimmy Miller ), which topped the UK chart in February 1969. Wayne refused to sing the song, so it was recorded as a trio with Wood again handling lead vocal. Richard Tandy played keyboards on "Blackberry Way" and joined
2905-477: The Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra . The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartney ." They are most famous for their 1973 Christmas single " I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday ". Not long after the release of Electric Light Orchestra's first album , Wood found himself in political disagreements with
2988-589: The Nice , Eire Apparent , the Outer Limits , Amen Corner , along with then- BBC Radio 1 DJ Pete Drummond . In March 1968, The Move returned to the charts with " Fire Brigade ", another UK Top 3 hit, and the first on which Wood sang lead vocal. A few weeks later, around the time of the LP's release, Kefford was let go from the band because of increasing personal problems escalated by drug usage. Wood stated that from
3071-643: The Orchestra ) and was replaced with Gordon Healer. The Autumn 2007 tour was billed as "the Move featuring Trevor Burton and Bev Bevan". In 2014, the band toured as The Move with a lineup consisting of Bevan, Burton, Tree, keyboardist/vocalist Abby Brant, and guitarist/vocalist Tony Kelsey. On 2 May 2014, Bev Bevan announced through a Facebook post that The Move had broken up, and that he and Burton would tour separately with groups called "the Bev Bevan Band" and "the Trevor Burton Band". In December 2014
3154-557: The Pops in which members and friends, including Wood's girl friend, singer Ayshea Brough , variously appeared in pantomime horses, gorilla costumes or as roller-skating angels, often wielding custard pies for good measure, Wizzard were one of the most picturesque groups of the British glam rock era. In 1973 they scored their first Top 10 hit with " Ball Park Incident ", which made No. 6 for three weeks from 13 January. Their biggest hit
3237-1003: The Steve Gibbons Band , was one-third of the short-lived band Balls (with Denny Laine and Alan White ), and later fronted his own blues group as lead guitarist. In October 1969, The Move made their only concert appearances in the US, opening two shows for the Stooges in Detroit , and playing dates in Los Angeles and at the Fillmore West in San Francisco. When neither their US record company nor promoters showed any more interest—the band even had to make their own accommodation & travel arrangements—the remaining proposed tour dates in New York were cancelled and
3320-455: The UK and one tour of the US were not enough to ensure regular wages for the band. One by one the band members found other, more lucrative, things to occupy their time. By autumn 1975 they had split, leaving a farewell single, "Rattlesnake Roll", which failed to chart , and a third album, Main Street , which their record label did not release as they deemed it insufficiently commercial. Wizzard had initially intended their second album to be
3403-456: The band for a time, playing keyboards live, and switching to bass when Burton was briefly sidelined with a shoulder injury. Upon Burton's recovery, Tandy departed to join the Uglys. The new, more pop -oriented musical direction, and the single hitting number one was the last straw for the increasingly disenchanted Burton, who wanted to work in a more hard rock / blues -oriented style, and he left
Roy Wood - Misplaced Pages Continue
3486-503: The band had seen so far, despite its success). As a result, by the time Looking On was released in December 1970, with five songs composed by Wood and two by Lynne, Fly Records had lost interest in it, despite the fact that the album included a No. 7 hit, "Brontosaurus", which was the band's last recording for Regal Zonophone. The second single from the album, " When Alice Comes Back to the Farm ", failed to chart on Fly. The song intended as
3569-463: The band members shared harmonies, and each was allowed at least one lead vocal per show (and often traded lead vocals within specific songs). Secunda got them a weekly residency at London's Marquee Club in 1966, where they appeared dressed as gangsters. Their early career was marked by a series of publicity stunts, high-profile media events and outrageous stage antics masterminded by Secunda; these included Wayne taking an axe to television sets. Wood
3652-424: The band were about to go on stage for a television spot for the song, Wood spontaneously combed his hair out to make it look wild and applied black-and-white makeup with a star in the middle of his forehead, thus birthing the "Wizzard" image he would use extensively in his post-Move career and helping define The Move's image for the rest of their run. Soon afterward, the band toured Ireland and Germany. In August 1970,
3735-546: The band's finances. According to Price in a radio interview, "When we finished recording 'Angel Fingers' it was rumoured that we had spent more time in the studio than Paul McCartney had with the whole of the Band on the Run album." Whether it was true or not, this meant that most of the record company's money was spent in studio time and that the members of the band had to rely on live touring work for their income. A couple of tours in
3818-432: The band's management) and wanted to avoid it. Also in the line-up were saxophone players Mike Burney and Nick Pentelow (the son of actor Arthur Pentelow ). Prior to the recording of the band's second album, Introducing Eddy and the Falcons , McDowell left and was not replaced (he returned to ELO), and during the recording of the album Bill Hunt also departed and was replaced by Bob Brady (also from Mongrel). Prior to
3901-607: The band's manager Don Arden . Following a difference of opinion during recording of the band's second album, ELO 2 , Wood walked out of the session, went down the road to a studio where the Birmingham group Mongrel (which included his former Move bandmate Rick Price , as well as drummers Charlie Grima and Keith Smart) were recording, and asked them if they would be interested in putting a band together. Wood left ELO, taking band members Bill Hunt (keyboards and french horn ) and Hugh McDowell ( cello ) with him, as well as ELO's sound engineer , Trevor Smith. Despite press reporting
3984-467: The day the band was founded, Kefford had not got along well with any of the other band members. The Move then became a four-piece, in which Burton and (occasionally) Wayne took turns on bass on stage. The Move were on the bill at the inaugural Isle of Wight Festival on 31 August 1968. In mid-1968, their fifth single " Wild Tiger Woman ", a song acknowledging the group's love of Jimi Hendrix (Wood and Burton sang backing vocals on "You Got Me Floatin'" on
4067-455: The delayed album only being released in March 1968 instead of the original plan of autumn 1967. Their third single " Flowers in the Rain " was the first chart single played on BBC Radio 1 when it began broadcasting at 7 am on 30 September 1967, introduced by Tony Blackburn . The single, which reached No. 2 in the UK, was less guitar-orientated than their previous two singles, and featured
4150-412: The early recording sessions of ELO's second album, ELO 2 , which was the group's final album under their Harvest Records contract. Wood went on to front the glam rock band Wizzard , as well as releasing a solo album in 1973, Boulders , while Lynne, Bevan and Tandy kept touring as ELO and finally achieved international success. Boulders was recorded during Wood's time with The Move, but its release
4233-649: The former finally broke up in June 1972. In 2017, the ELO line-up of Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan, and Richard Tandy were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. ELO's early live performances were chaotic, due to both poor sound quality of the string instruments competing against the guitars and drums, as well as Wood's constant moving from instrument to instrument during the shows (playing bass, guitar, cello and saxophone). After increasing tensions, Wood left in July 1972 at
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#17328024572844316-501: The group had planned to release " Cherry Blossom Clinic ", a lighthearted song about the fantasies of a patient in a mental institution, backed by the satirical "Vote For Me". However, The Move had been unnerved by their court experiences; they and the record label felt it unwise to pursue such a potentially controversial idea, so the single was shelved. "Vote For Me" remained unreleased until it appeared on retrospective collections from 1997 onwards, while "Cherry Blossom Clinic" became one of
4399-518: The group in February 1969 after an altercation on stage with Bevan in Sweden. At this time the band invited Jeff Lynne , a friend of Wood, to join. He turned down the offer down because he was still working toward success in the Idle Race , another Birmingham-based group. It was rumoured in the music press that Hank Marvin of the recently disbanded Shadows had been invited to join The Move. Some years later, Wayne recalled that to be nothing more than
4482-477: The group lost the law suit; they had to pay all costs, and all royalties earned by the song were awarded to charities of Wilson's choice. The ruling remained in force even after Wilson's death in 1995. In the Family Trees documentary special on the Birmingham music scene, Wood says that while the band as a whole lost their royalties, it affected him the most, as he wrote the song. For their fourth single
4565-478: The group returned home. During that period, Arden sold The Move's management contract to impresario Peter Walsh, who was at the time also managing the Marmalade . Walsh, who specialised in cabaret acts, began booking the band into cabaret-style venues, which further increased the tension between Wayne and Wood. Bevan later said the others felt "old before their time" when playing cabaret dates. By this point, Wood
4648-579: The group was the lead act at the Knighton Rock Festival, staged in the small Radnorshire town of Knighton . In a radio interview, Bevan stated that The Move had ceased playing all of their prior songs except for "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" and were now playing mostly originals except for a few re-arranged covers (such as " She's a Woman "), as the band transitioned from mainstream pop toward progressive rock with its new alignment. For
4731-446: The late 1970s, Wood was appearing less in public; commercial success faded away, and his musical experiments did not always match popular taste, but he remained productive in the studio as musician, producer and songwriter. He was a fan of Elvis Presley , but never succeeded in getting him to adopt one of his compositions. He was untiring as a producer for other acts, most successfully doo-wop revivalists Darts . In 1976, Wood recorded
4814-588: The lead-vocal duties among themselves. The Move evolved from several mid-1960s Birmingham -based groups, including Carl Wayne & the Vikings , the Nightriders, and the Mayfair Set. Their name referred to the move various members of these bands made to form the group. Besides Wood, The Move's original five-piece line-up in 1965 was drummer Bev Bevan , bassist Ace Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne, and guitarist Trevor Burton. By 1972, The Move had been reduced to
4897-659: The most memorable sounds of the Seventies " and "credited as playing a major role in the glam rock , psychedelic and prog rock movements". In 2008, Wood was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to rock and pop by the University of Derby . In 2015, his long and eclectic career was recognised with the "Outer Limits" award at the Progressive Music Awards in London. Wood was inducted into
4980-488: The original ELO: Bill Hunt (horns, woodwinds, piano) and a returning Richard Tandy (guitar, bass). In 1972, after the release of the first Electric Light Orchestra album, The Move released what turned out to be a farewell record, a maxi single consisting of " California Man ", " Ella James " (from Message , but a track originally planned by EMI to be their first single on the Harvest label) and " Do Ya ". "California Man",
5063-494: The original backing track, subsequently became a solo single for Carl Wayne, the Move's former vocalist. Wood also made a one-off rock and roll medley single with Phil Lynott , Chas Hodges and John Coghlan , credited to The Rockers, "We Are The Boys" (1983), and played a leading role in the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 , on 15 March 1986, which was later partly televised by
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#17328024572845146-435: The other two albums to be credited to the new group, in order to recoup the advance given to the band. As a result, the band recorded the last Move album and the first Electric Light Orchestra album at the same time—even during the same lengthy recording sessions (due to all the overdubbing by Wood and Lynne). The final Move LP, Message from the Country , was released in summer 1971. Wood's "Ben Crawley Steel Company" featured
5229-415: The record label neglected to make a substantial push to make Wizzard a success in the U.S., preferring to focus promotion on England since the band were already very popular there. Wizzard was an expensive band to maintain, both because of the large line-up, in terms of recording costs, and Bill Hunt's propensity to smash the pianos of the venues they were playing at. Studio time was an even greater drain on
5312-425: The rest of the year, The Move concentrated on studio work, because they still owed one more album under their existing contract with Essex Music ( David Platz ) – which Essex Music was planning to use to set up its own record label, Fly Records . To prepare for their new direction, Wood and Lynne overdubbed multiple instruments, including piano, woodwinds, sitar, and a Chinese cello that Wood had bought. However, before
5395-409: The short-lived Wizzo Band . He went on to work in musical management, and also formed the duo Price and Lee with his wife Dianne Lee, formerly of the duo Peters and Lee . Although Wood, Lynne and Bevan had intended Looking On to be the final Move album, Harvest requested that the new group first release a new Move album, in the same vein as Looking On , as the first album under its new deal, with
5478-440: The stage act. I think Roy would obviously qualify this himself, but I believe he was slightly embarrassed by the image and the stunts—but the rest of us weren't ... We were always willing to be Secunda puppets." During November and December 1967 the group took part in another package tour around the UK, playing two shows a night over sixteen days, as part of an all-star bill that included the Jimi Hendrix Experience , Pink Floyd ,
5561-548: The start of the second album sessions, following a trip to Italy. He formed a new group, Wizzard , which assembled cellists, brass players and a bigger rhythm section, with several drummers and percussionists. Wood emulated the wall of sound production style of Phil Spector while successfully and affectionately pastiching the rock and roll style of the early 1960s. Wizzard had seven UK Singles Chart hits with different songs during this period including two consecutive singles, " See My Baby Jive " and " Angel Fingers " which reached
5644-489: The third album Looking On was completed, Arden signed the new Wood-Lynne-Bevan band (without Price, who was not under contract with The Move) to a three-album deal with the Harvest Records division of EMI that included a £25,000 (equivalent to £488,400 in 2024). advance (announced at the time as £100,000 (equivalent to £1,953,800 in 2024). , but still more money (£8,333 each) (equivalent to £162,800 in 2024) than
5727-411: The top of that chart. Meanwhile, he released several solo albums, exploring further musical directions. His 1973 album Boulders was an almost entirely genuine solo effort, right down to the sleeve artwork, with Wood playing a wide variety of musical instruments . A second solo album, Mustard , released in 1975 and including contributions by Phil Everly and Annie Haslam , was less successful. By
5810-417: The track "You Got Me Floatin ' ", on the Jimi Hendrix Experience 's album Axis: Bold as Love . Wood was keen on musical experimentation, and was an early proponent of combining rock and roll and pop music with other styles, such as classical music , or the big band sound, and introduced classically styled string and brass sections into the pop record. In early 1972, Wood's composition "Songs of Praise"
5893-536: The tracks on their first LP , called Move . As a direct consequence of the lawsuit, The Move fired Secunda and hired Don Arden , who had himself recently been fired as manager of the Small Faces . In a 2000 interview, Wayne noted that there had always been a major split within the group about Secunda's tactics: "[Secunda] had the animals who would do what he wanted to do in Trevor, Ace, and me—the fiery part of
5976-425: Was a Top 5 hit for Amen Corner in 1969, quoted Booker T. Jones ' and Eddie Floyd 's "Big Bird". The album also featured a slightly slower re-recording of "Cherry Blossom Clinic", an instrumental medley of public domain works, and a cover of a Tom Paxton song, " The Last Thing on My Mind ". Despite such superficial similarities with their past, however, the album represented a clear break from The Move's identity as
6059-554: Was another major hit, reaching No. 5 in the UK. In April 1967, NME reported that The Move had offered a £200 reward (equivalent to £4,600 in 2024) for the recovery of the master tapes of ten songs intended for their debut album. The tapes were stolen from their agent's car when it was parked in Denmark Street , London. The tapes were found in a skip (dumpster) shortly afterward, but the damage caused to them meant that new mixes and masters would have to be made, resulting in
6142-430: Was dedicated to Wood's girlfriend at the time, Lynsey de Paul , who repaid the honour by recording a Wizzard-style song, " Ooh I Do ", a few months later. A tour of the US later that year failed to bring them any commercial success there, but after meeting Brian Wilson some members guested on a Beach Boys session, which resulted in the eventual release of the latter group's single "It's OK" in 1976. According to Wood,
6225-775: Was held off because Lynne and Bevan wished it not to compete with The Move's albums. A one-off reunion occurred on 28 April 1981, at the Locarno in Birmingham, involving Wood, Bevan, and Kefford. Several other Birmingham bands of the era also reunited for the event, which was a charity fundraiser. After Wayne's death in 2004, Bevan formed the Bev Bevan Band—shortly to be renamed 'Bev Bevan's Move' (with no other past members), in order to capitalise on The Move's continuing reputation and belated success. Bevan recruited former ELO Part II colleagues guitarist Phil Bates and keyboard player Neil Lockwood, plus bassist Phil Tree, to play
6308-459: Was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Electric Light Orchestra. Roy Wood was born on 8 November 1947 in Kitts Green , a suburb of Birmingham, England. For some years the legend persisted that his real name was Ulysses Adrian Wood, until it was revealed that this was probably the result of somebody close to the Move in their early days filling in such names on
6391-464: Was later to gain major commercial success. After increasing tensions, Wood left ELO in 1972 and formed a new group, Wizzard , who had seven hits, including Wood's most regularly broadcast song, " I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day ". As a songwriter, Wood contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of the Move, ELO and Wizzard. Altogether, he had more than 20 singles in the UK Singles Chart under various guises, including three UK No. 1 hits. Wood
6474-400: Was openly discussing his desire to form a band playing more eclectic music, including both harder rock and classical instruments, which he tentatively dubbed " The Electric Light Orchestra ". The Move's second album, 1970's Shazam , continued The Move's practice of musical quotation, and of elaborately re-arranged versions of other performers' songs. "Hello Susie" (a Wood composition), which
6557-555: Was reissued in 1981, and a 12" re-recording appeared in 1984. During 1973 Harvest Records released the Roy Wood solo album Boulders , which he had recorded and mixed years before forming Wizzard, and which produced a Top 20 hit in " Dear Elaine ". Wood said he was bored with Boulders by the time of its release and he wanted to focus on his new music with Wizzard. The subsequent heavy working schedule and strain led to health problems, and several cancelled or postponed live dates on
6640-706: Was shortlisted by the BBC as one of six possible choices for the UK entry in the Eurovision Song Contest 1972 . When performed by the New Seekers on the Cliff Richard vehicle It's Cliff Richard! , the song finished in last place with 3,842 votes. The group included the track on their album We'd Like to Teach the World to Sing . Wood recorded his own version of "Songs of Praise", releasing it on
6723-412: Was turned into a media event by Secunda, who arranged for the band to sign their contracts on the back of Liz Wilson, a topless female model. Wood wrote their first single, " Night of Fear ", a No. 2 hit on the UK Singles Chart in January 1967, which began The Move's practice of musical quotation (in this case, the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky ). Their second single, " I Can Hear the Grass Grow ",
6806-415: Was uncomfortable with this sensationalism, and many concert promoters responded by banning The Move from live performances, but the stunts succeeded in drawing media attention and concert audiences to the group. Eventually, Secunda also managed to persuade Wood to begin writing songs for the band during his time off. They secured a production contract with independent record producer Denny Cordell , but that
6889-628: Was with their second single. " See My Baby Jive ", Wood's faithful and affectionate tribute to the Phil Spector -generated ' Wall of Sound ', made No. 1 in the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. It sold over one million copies globally, and was awarded gold disc status. The follow-up, " Angel Fingers ", also topped the charts for one week. Wizzard's songs often included lengthy instrumental improvisations. The band's 1973 Christmas single " I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday " became an annual fixture on British (and Irish) radio and television. It
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