Roy Wood
In the ever changing world of popular music, there are certain characters who remain constant. Always present, though in many different guises, is a man whose appearance is as colourful as his music ... Roy Wood!
The Move
In 1966, Roy along with Carl Wayne, Bev Bevan, Ace Kefford, and Trevor Burton formed The Move, who were to become one of the most legendary, and indeed, notorious bands of the Sixties. Their first single, the Roy Wood song, "Night of Fear" immediately landed the band in the Top 5, which set a precedent for nine further Top 20 hits over the next five years, all written by Roy.
Roy's lyrics revealed an original and often curious view of the world (eg. second Move single "I Can Hear The Grass Grow") that raised many a disapproving eyebrow and the band had the dubious honour of being sued by Prime Minister Harold Wilson concerning the promotional postcard used to advertise "Flowers In The Rain", the first ever record to be played on Radio One.
The Move's No. 3 hit "Fire Brigade" was followed by chart topping masterpiece, "Blackberry Way" before personnel changes within the band led to the teaming up of Roy with Jeff Lynne. Whilst The Move continued to record four more hit singles and two albums, the Electric Light Orchestra was born to accommodate Roy's burning desire to create pop songs with heavily classical overtones.
The Electric Light Orchestra
ELO's first single, the spine-tingling "10538 Overture", entered the charts as The Move's final offering, "California Man" left the Top 10. The latter was one of rock's finest moments and made a fitting farewell for a truly great band.
After co-writing and co-producing the first ELO album and taking the adventurous unit on the road, Roy decided to look elsewhere for a fresh challenge and a new direction. Experimentation with a stage costume to represent The Move's hit "Brontosaurus" eventually evolved into the delightfully fearsome "accident in a paintshop" appearance of Wizzard.
Wizzard
Wizzard roared across the pop scene like Santa Claus on a Harley Davidson, scattering a well established musical sobriety in all directions. Debuting in the charts at No. 4 with "Ball Park Incident", Wizzard followed up with two No. 1's in "See My Baby Jive" and "Angel Fingers" and a Christmas classic that still sounds today as fresh as a snowflake!
By the end of 1975, Roy had almost single-handedly created a total of eleven band and solo hit singles, two Wizzard albums, and added a second solo album, "Mustard".
The Eighties began with a flurry of activity as Roy released two singles almost simultaneously and formed a powerful touring band by the name of Helicopters. Production work with a wide variety of artists followed, along with collaborations with Louis Clark and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Phil Lynott, Rick Wakeman, Carl Wayne and a wonderfully irreverent romp through Abba's "Waterloo" with Doctor and the Medics.
The decade played host to ten solo singles and a superb album, "Starting Up" which displayed all the originality and diversity for which Woody had become famed.
Mark Lamarr and Sean Hughes acclaimed Roy as an all time hero when he appeared with them on Never Mind The Buzzcocks! Recently, Radio 4 devoted a documentary programme to his life, whilst a further example of the wide reaching respect commanded by Roy is his inclusion in the exclusive group, the Society Of Distinguished Songwriters along with all time greats such as Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, Don Black and Graham Gouldman.
In May 2001, Roy achieved one of the music business's highest accolades when he was honoured with an Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Song Collection.
2005 saw the release of an expanded and remastered edition of The Move's 'Message From The Country', 'Harvest Showdown', a Harvest Records rarities and best of set featuring The Move, ELO and Roy's work as a solo artist and with Wizzard. Also scheduled, in memory of Carl Wayne who sadly died in August 2004, is an anthology of collaborations between Roy and Carl, for which Roy has remastered and acted as executive producer.
These CD's will be the first in a series of remastered releases and surprises that will continue into 2006 and will reinstate Roy Wood's catalogue and rightful position in music as "...the mastermind behind some of the most beguiling tunes of our time..." (Scott Schinder, Time Out New York, 2002).
Find out more at www.roywood.co.uk