Roy Wood | |
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![]() Wood in 2011 | |
Background information | |
Born | Birmingham, Warwickshire, England | 8 November 1946
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Instrument(s) |
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Years active | 1964–present |
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Formerly of | |
Political party | Reform UK (2019-present) |
Other political affiliations | UKIP (before 2019) |
Spouse(s) | Unknown (divorced) Maureen Holmes (divorced) [3] [4] |
Website | roywood |
Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) 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 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 was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Electric Light Orchestra. [5]
Roy Wood was born on 8 November 1946 [6] 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 a 'lifelines' feature for the press as a joke. [7] [8] 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. [9]
The Move was formed from other Birmingham-based groups, and quickly entered the UK Singles Chart. Their single "Night of Fear" climbed to No. 2 in early 1967. [10] 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. [9] 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 the track, "You Got Me Floatin'", on the Jimi Hendrix Experience's album Axis: Bold as Love . [11]
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" 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. [12] 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 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. [9] 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 the former finally broke up in June 1972. [9] [13]
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. [5]
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 the start of the second album sessions, following a trip to Italy. [14] He formed a new group, Wizzard, which assembled cellists, brass players and a bigger rhythm section, with several drummers and percussionists. [9] 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. [9] 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 the top of that chart. [15] 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. [9] A second solo album, Mustard , released in 1975 and including contributions by Phil Everly and Annie Haslam, was less successful.
By 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 the Beatles songs "Lovely Rita" and "Polythene Pam" for the ill-fated musical documentary All This and World War II . [16]
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 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 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 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. [7]
His most regularly broadcast song 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. [17] Over Christmas 2007, Wood appeared in 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. [18] He later performed with Wizzard on 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. [19] They were the support act for Status Quo at several UK dates in the weeks leading up to Christmas 2009 and 2011. [7] In December 2018, Wood and his band's touring equipment worth £100,000 was stolen following a ram-raid on a warehouse in Leeds. The police later recovered the van and equipment in East Ardsley. [20]
Wood currently lives in the former Howard Arms public house in Cubley, Derbyshire. [21] [22] He voted to leave the European Union in the 23 June 2016 referendum, and in May 2019 joined the Brexit Party. [23] 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. [24] Wood has one child.[ citation needed ]
The BBC described Wood in 2008 as being "responsible for some of the most memorable sounds of the Seventies" and "credited as playing a major role in the glam rock, psychedelic and prog rock movements". [1] In 2008, Wood was awarded an honorary doctorate for his contribution to rock and pop by the University of Derby. [1] In 2015, his long and eclectic career was recognised with the "Outer Limits" award at the Progressive Music Awards in London. [25]
Wood was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Electric Light Orchestra. [5]
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
Year | Title | UK | US Billboard 200 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1973 | Boulders | 15 | 176 | |
1975 | Mustard | – | – | |
1979 | On the Road Again | – | – | Not released in the UK |
1987 | Starting Up | – | – |
Year | Title | UK | US Billboard 200 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1973 | The London Bo Diddley Sessions | – | – | Wood played bass on this recording |
Source: [28]
Year | Title | UK | US Billboard 200 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1982 | The Singles | 37 | – |
Source: [17]
Year | Title | UK | AUS [29] | Credited to |
---|---|---|---|---|
1972 | "When Gran'ma Plays the Banjo" | – | – | |
1973 | "Dear Elaine" | 18 | – | |
1973 | "Forever" | 8 | 43 | |
1974 | "Goin' Down the Road" | 13 | – | |
1975 | "Oh What a Shame" | 13 | – | |
1975 | "Look Thru' the Eyes of a Fool" | – | – | |
1976 | "Any Old Time Will Do" | – | – | |
1979 | "(We're) On the Road Again" | – | – | |
1980 | "Rock City" | – | – | Roy Wood's Helicopters |
1980 | "Sing Out the Old... Bring in the New" | – | – | |
1981 | "Down to Zero" | – | – | |
1981 | "Green Glass Windows" | – | – | Roy Wood's Helicopters |
1982 | "It's Not Easy" | – | – | |
1982 | "O.T.T." | – | – | |
1983 | "We are the Boys (Who Make All the Noise)" | – | – | The Rockers |
1985 | "Under Fire" | – | – | |
1985 | "Sing Out the Old... Bring in the New" | – | – | (New recording) |
1986 | "Raining in the City" | – | – | |
1987 | "1–2–3" | – | – |
Source: [17]
Year | Title | UK | US Billboard Hot 100 | Credited to |
---|---|---|---|---|
1969 | "Dance Around the Maypole" | – | – | Acid Gallery |
1977 | "I Never Believed in Love" | – | – | Annie Haslam and Roy Wood |
1984 | "Hong Kong Swing" | – | – | Cruella de Ville |
1986 | "Waterloo" | No. 45 | – | Doctor and the Medics featuring Roy Wood |
1995 | "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" | No. 59 | – | Roy Wood Big Band |
2000 | "I Wish It Could Be A Wombling Merry Christmas Everyday" | No. 22 | – | The Wombles with Roy Wood |
2009 | "My Christmas Card To You" | – | – | The Shooting Stars |
Source: [17]
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. From this point until their first break-up in 1986, Lynne, Bevan, and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.
Jeffrey Lynne is an English musician, singer-songwriter and record producer. He is the co-founder and currently the sole member of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970, and as a songwriter has written most of the band's hits, including "Evil Woman", "Livin' Thing", "Telephone Line", "Mr. Blue Sky", "Don't Bring Me Down" and "Hold On Tight".
The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. 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 who divided amongst themselves the lead vocal duties.
Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of 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".
ELO 2 is the second studio album by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in 1973. In the US, the album was released as Electric Light Orchestra II. It was the band's last album to be released by the Harvest label, the last on which the band used the definite article The in their name, and the one that introduced their abbreviated name 'ELO'.
Jet Records was a British record label started by Don Arden in 1974, featuring musicians such as Lynsey de Paul, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Roy Wood, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Alan Price, Adrian Gurvitz, Riot and Magnum.
Wizzo Band were an English jazz rock band formed by Roy Wood after Wizzard split in 1975, fulfilling his ambitions to create an ensemble that was more jazz-orientated than rock or pop. The line-up included former Wizzard and Move member Rick Price, alongside Bob Wilson (trombone), Billy Paul, Paul Robbins, Graham Gallery (bass), and Dave Donovan (drums).
A lot of people had been doing jazz-rock stuff. There had been jazz musicians getting into the rock field, like Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke, but it's very rare that you find a band doing it the other way around a rock and roll band getting into jazz, and it's quite interesting. The rhythm section is very heavy, almost Zeppelinish, the horns are very jazzy and the songs are very commercial, so it makes for quite an interesting combination.
Wizzard Brew is the debut album by rock group Wizzard, released in 1973 on EMI's Harvest label. It reached a peak of No. 29 in the UK Albums Chart. In the United States, it was released by United Artists Records as Wizzard's Brew but failed to chart there.
Message from the Country is the fourth and final studio album by the Move, as well as the group's only album for EMI's Harvest label. It was recorded simultaneously with the first Electric Light Orchestra album, The Electric Light Orchestra.
Boulders is the debut solo album by English musician Roy Wood, recorded from 1969 to 1971 and released in July 1973 by Harvest Records. Wood began work on the album as a whimsical side-project away from his band the Move, and conceived it to explore numerous instruments he had collected in the 1960s but felt unable to use in the Move. Nonetheless, its release was delayed for several years due to his busy schedule with the Move, Wizzard and the Electric Light Orchestra. Apart from harmonium on one song played by John Kurlander, all the instruments on the album, including guitars, cello, saxophones, bouzouki, banjo and recorders, were played by Wood, who also wrote, arranged, and produced the whole record, in addition to providing all the vocals. The musician also painted the unfinished self-portrait on the cover.
"10538 Overture" is the debut single by Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in 1972.
"Do Ya" is a song written by Jeff Lynne, that was originally recorded by The Move, which became a hit for the Electric Light Orchestra in 1977.
"Showdown" is a 1973 song written by Jeff Lynne and recorded by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was the band's last contemporary recording to be released on the Harvest label. The song was released as a single and reached No 12 in the UK Singles Chart, in the week beginning 28 October, and No 9 on the Norwegian chart VG-lista.
"California Man" is a song by British rock and roll band The Move. It was written by the band's guitarist/vocalist Roy Wood, who has said he wrote it as a pastiche of Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis.
"Brontosaurus" is a song by rock group the Move, written, sung and produced by Move guitarist Roy Wood. It reached number 7 in the UK Singles Chart during April 1970, and number 36 in Canada.
"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day" is a Christmas song recorded by British glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was written and produced by the band's frontman Roy Wood—formerly of The Move and a founding member of Electric Light Orchestra. Despite the song's strong, long-lasting popularity, it has reached no higher than number four on the UK Singles Chart, a position it occupied for four consecutive weeks from December 1973 to January 1974. The song was beaten to the 1973 Christmas Number 1 spot by Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody", which remained at the top of the charts for five weeks, from December 1973 to January 1974.
The Electric Light Orchestra is the debut studio album by English rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), released in December 1971 in the United Kingdom by Harvest Records. In the United States, the album was released in March 1972 as No Answer, after a misunderstood telephone message made by a United Artists Records executive asking about the album name; the caller, having failed to reach the ELO contact, wrote down "no answer" in his notes, and this was misconstrued to be the name of the album.
"Wild Tiger Woman" is a song recorded by the Move, and as with all the other A-sides of their singles, written by Roy Wood. First issued as their fifth single, it failed to chart on the UK Singles Chart, despite all previous singles having reached the top-5 on that chart.
Richard Gordon Price was an English bassist who played with various Birmingham-based rock bands, most notably Sight and Sound, the Move (1969–1971), and Wizzard (1972–1975).
"Rock 'n' Roll Winter " was a song written by Roy Wood. It was released by the British rock band Wizzard, as their first single on the Warner Bros label in 1974. It was originally meant to be issued early in 1974 but the date was pushed back to 29 March 1974, before it was finally released on 19 April that year. Nevertheless, it sold well and reached number 6 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 13 on the Irish Singles Chart.