Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of

the Move 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 car ...

Electric Light Orchestra 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, classical ...

and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of these bands. Altogether he had more than 20 singles in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

under various guises, including three UK No. 1 hits. The BBC has described Wood as being "responsible for some of the most memorable sounds of

the Seventies File:1970s decade montage.jpg, Clockwise from top left: U.S. President Richard Nixon doing the V for Victory sign after his resignation from office following the Watergate scandal in 1974; The United States was still involved in the Vietnam War ...

" and "credited as playing a major role in the

glam rock Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was performed by musicians who wore outrageous costumes, makeup, and hairstyles, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diver ...

psychedelic Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary states of consciousness (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips").Pollan, Michael (2018). ''How to Change Your Mind: What the New Science o ...

and

prog rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Initi ...

movements". In 2008, Wood was awarded an

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

for his contribution to rock and pop by the

University of Derby , mottoeng = Experience is the best teacher , established = 1851 – Teacher Training College1992 – gained university status , type = Public , chancellor = William Cavendish, E ...

. 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 the

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (RRHOF), sometimes simply referred to as the Rock Hall, is a museum and hall of fame located in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, on the shore of Lake Erie. The museum documents the history of rock music and ...

in 2017 as a member of Electric Light Orchestra.

Career

Early years

Roy Wood was born on 8 November 1946 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.Van der Kiste, John (2012). ''Roy Wood: The Move, Wizzard and beyond''. KDP. 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

From this and other Birmingham-based groups, was formed

The Move 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 car ...

, and they quickly entered the

. 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 Anthony Kenneth Blackburn (born 29 January 1943) is an English disc jockey, singer and TV presenter. He first achieved fame broadcasting on the pirate stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s, before joining the BBC, on the BBC ...

at the launch of

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance ...

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) supplied backing vocals on the track, "You Got Me Floatin'", on

the Jimi Hendrix Experience James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

's album '' Axis: Bold as Love''. Wood was keen on musical experimentation and was an early proponent of combining

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

and pop music with other styles, such as

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical music, as the term "classical music" al ...

, or the

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s ...

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 Sir Cliff Richard (born Harry Rodger Webb; 14 October 1940) is an Indian-born British musican, singer, producer, entrepreneur and philanthropist who holds both British and Barbadian citizenship. He has total sales of over 21.5 million ...

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 the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

of his 1973 single, " Dear Elaine".

Electric Light Orchestra

Whilst The Move were still together, Wood, along with his band colleagues

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, he has cont ...

and Bev Bevan, founded

(ELO), which was later to gain major commercial success. The original intention was to split 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. In 2017, the ELO line-up of Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Bev Bevan, and

Richard Tandy Richard Tandy (born 26 March 1948) is an English musician. He is best known as the keyboardist in the rock band Electric Light Orchestra ("ELO"). His palette of keyboards (including Minimoog, Clavinet, Mellotron, and piano) was an important in ...

were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Early ELO concerts and formation of Wizzard

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 and 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 The Wall of Sound (also called the Spector Sound) is a music production formula developed by American record producer Phil Spector at Gold Star Studios, in the 1960s, with assistance from engineer Larry Levine and the conglomerate of sessio ...

production style of

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

while successfully and affectionately pastiching the rock and roll style of the early 1960s. Wizzard scored seven

hits with different songs during this period including two consecutive singles, "

See My Baby Jive "See My Baby Jive" is a 1973 song by the British glam rock band Wizzard. Written and produced by Roy Wood, "See My Baby Jive" was the second single by Wood's band and their first to reach number one in the UK Singles Chart, spending four weeks ...

" and "

Angel Fingers "Angel Fingers (A Teen Ballad)" is a popular song by Wizzard. Written and produced by Roy Wood, it was Wizzard's second, and last, UK number one single, spending a week at the top of the UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently tit ...

" which reached 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 instrument A musical instrument is a device created or adapted to make musical sounds. In principle, any object that produces sound can be considered a musical instrument—it is through purpose that the object becomes a musical instrument. A person who pl ...

s. A second solo album, '' Mustard'', released in 1975 and including contributions by

Phil Everly The Everly Brothers were an American rock duo, known for steel-string acoustic guitar playing and close harmony singing. Consisting of Isaac Donald "Don" Everly (February 1, 1937 – August 21, 2021) and Phillip "Phil" Everly (January 19, 1939 ...

and

Annie Haslam Annie Haslam (born 8 June 1947) is an English vocalist, songwriter and painter. She is best known as the lead singer of progressive rock band Renaissance since 1971, and for her long and diverse solo singing career. She has a five-octave vocal r ...

, was less successful. Wizzard - TopPop 1974 5

Post-Wizzard

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 Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the " King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. His ener ...

, but never succeeded in getting him to adopt one of his compositions. However, he was untiring as a producer for other acts, most successfully

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

revivalists

Darts Darts or dart-throwing is a competitive sport in which two or more players bare-handedly throw small sharp-pointed missiles known as darts at a round target known as a dartboard. Points can be scored by hitting specific marked areas of the bo ...

. In 1976, Wood recorded the

Beatles The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...

songs " Lovely Rita" and " Polythene Pam" for the ill-fated musical documentary '' All This and World War II''.

The Wizzo Band and subsequent work

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 Medley or Medleys may refer to: Sports *Medley swimming, races requiring multiple swimming styles * Medley relay races at track meets Music * Medley (music), multiple pieces strung together People * Medley (surname), list of people with this n ...

single with

Phil Lynott Philip Parris Lynott (, ; 20 August 1949 – 4 January 1986) was an Irish singer, bassist, and songwriter. His most commercially successful group was Thin Lizzy, of which he was a founding member, the principal songwriter, lead vocalist and b ...

, 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 Moody may refer to: Places * Moody, Alabama, U.S. * Moody, Indiana, U.S. * Moody, Missouri, U.S. * Moody, Texas, U.S. * Moody County, South Dakota, U.S. * Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada * Hundred of Moody, a cadastral division in Sout ...

. After a hiatus following the release of the album '' Starting Up'' (1987), a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

of the Len Barry hit " 1–2–3", and a guest vocal appearance on one track on

Rick Wakeman Richard Christopher Wakeman (born 18 May 1949) is an English keyboardist best known as a former member of the progressive rock band Yes across five tenures between 1971 and 2004, and for his solo albums released in the 1970s. Born and raised ...

'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 is the seasonal Wizzard single " I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". 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 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 Benidorm is a town and municipality in the province of Alicante, Valencian Community, Valencia, on the Mediterranean coast of Spain. Benidorm has been a tourist destination within Spain since 1925, when its port was extended and the first hotel ...

'', Wood in a cameo role performed his Christmas hit at the Benidorm Palace cabaret theatre. 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. They were the support act for

Status Quo is a Latin phrase meaning the existing state of affairs, particularly with regard to social, political, religious or military issues. In the sociological sense, the ''status quo'' refers to the current state of social structure and/or values. ...

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 a warehouse in Leeds. The police later recovered the van and equipment in East Ardsley.

Personal life

Roy Wood currently lives in the former Howard Arms

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and wa ...

in Cubley,

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

. Wood voted to leave the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

in the 23 June 2016 referendum, and in May 2019 joined the Brexit Party. Wood has one child.

Discography

Chronological album discography

''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'' * ''

'' (1968) – The Move * '' Shazam'' (1970) – The Move * ''

Looking On ''Looking On'' is the third studio album by The Move, released in the UK in December 1970. The album is their first to feature Jeff Lynne, their first containing entirely original compositions, and the first on the Fly label, its catalogue num ...

'' (1970) – The Move * '' Message from the Country'' (1971) – The Move * ''

The Electric Light Orchestra 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, classical ...

'' (1971) – ELO * '' ELO 2'' (1973) – ELO (although uncredited at the time, Wood played cello and bass on "In Old England Town" and "From the Sun to the World"). * ''

Wizzard Brew ''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'' (with a ...

'' (1973) – Wizzard * '' Boulders'' (1973) – Solo * '' Introducing Eddy and the Falcons'' (1974) – Wizzard * '' Mustard'' (1975) – Solo * '' Super Active Wizzo'' (1977) – Wizzo Band * ''

On The Road Again On the Road Again may refer to: Albums * ''On the Road Again'', a 1976 D. J. Rogers album * ''On the Road Again'', a 1978 Rockets album * ''On the Road Again'', a 1979 Roy Wood album * ''On the Road Again'', a 1989 compilation album by Canned ...

'' (1979) – Solo * '' Starting Up'' (1987) – Solo * '' Main Street'' (2000) – Roy Wood & Wizzard

Solo albums

Sources:

Collaboration album

Source:

Charting compilation album

Source:

Solo singles

Source:

Collaboration singles

Source:

Songs recorded and released by other artists

References

External links

* – official site * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wood, Roy 1946 births Living people People from Birmingham, West Midlands English rock guitarists English male singer-songwriters 20th-century English painters English male painters 21st-century English painters English record producers British rock cellists The Move members English rock saxophonists British male saxophonists Rock oboists English oboists Male oboists English rock drummers English rock keyboardists Bagpipe players English horn players Sitar players English clarinetists British pop cellists English rock bass guitarists Male bass guitarists English double-bassists Male double-bassists Electric Light Orchestra members English multi-instrumentalists Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands Harvest Records artists Warner Records artists English cellists Lead guitarists Rhythm guitarists Slide guitarists Ivor Novello Award winners Art rock musicians Glam rock musicians British recorder players Renaissance (band) members The Idle Race members 21st-century saxophonists Alumni of the University of Derby 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century clarinetists Wizzard members 21st-century flautists