[This digest is the copyright of the Move "Useless Information" Mailing List. Re-publication or re-distribution of "Useless Information" content, in any form whatsoever, is expressly prohibited without prior written consent.] USELESS INFORMATION The Move Mailing List Digest Issue #397 October 7, 2002 In this issue: * The Dancing, Singing Trevor Burton! * Rick Price's "I Talk To Flowers" * Tea Tray In The Sky * Your mother should know whose pig is singing * Stop gap SHAZAM!!!!!? * "Tomato Joe" & "Hot Sauce Brian" meet the "Avenue D" graffiti kids! * Curly the pig * Little Steven plays The Move...again! * Defending Curly * Rick Price - Sound clips ============================================================== To POST TO THE LIST: Send an e-mail to: move-list@eskimo.com Move List Info & Archives: http://www.eskimo.com/~noanswer/movelist.html Join the ELO List: http://www.eskimo.com/~noanswer/showdown.html Other official websites: The Move: http://www.themoveonline.com Roy Wood: http://www.roywood.co.uk Face The Music (for all ELO & related news): http://www.ftmusic.com TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail to move-digest-request@eskimo.com with the word "unsubscribe" (no quotes) in the subject line ============================================================== [This is a really wacky digest! - Lynn] Subject: The Dancing, Singing Trevor Burton! Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 21:09:08 -0700 From: Joe Ramsey ...And speaking of that first Move album Just heard "Weekend" and am reminded of what a great singer Trevor Burton is. He evidently was the go-to guy for anything Eddie Cochran as he sings both this one and the wonderful "Something Else" on the live EP. It makes sense to me that he is doing blues now. ********** Subject: Rick Price's "I Talk To Flowers" Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 01:20:51 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins Someone was asking about Rick Price's solo albums, and I recalled a post from four years back that discussed "I Talk To Flowers." With Joe's permission, here it is again... Subject: Re: Rick Price's solo work Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1998 08:48:18 +0000 From: birdcage (Joe Ramsey) > Rick Price's solo work sounds like Engelbert Humperdick, only sappier, > schmalzier, and lacking even the campy magnificence of his role model. Back in the 70's, when I was at the height of my Move/Wizzard/ELO delerium, I was completely fascinated by the role that Rick Price played in all three of these bands and various offshoots. It was with incredible luck that I was actually able to meet him briefly and ask him about his and Woody's various projects/adventures. To say that he was a nice guy to a bunch of fawning teenagers would be an understatement - he answered all of my questions and even allowed us to sit in and watch on the Wizzard recording session that now appears on the bootleg CD, "Looking In." So it was only natural that I do a bit of detective work to find his solo album, "I Talk To The Flowers." The reason for my long preamble here is I am very loathe to say anything bad about Rick; on top of being one of my all-time heroes musically (just "Crazy Jeans" would have been enough to earn him that position), he was a great guy. But I hated the album. Believe me, if you go in wanting to hear "Lightning Never Strikes Twice," you will be sadly dissapointed. BUT.... I have recently acquired the album again. And rather than having HUGE expectations... I thought that I would have the same opinion of twenty four year ago. And guess what? I liked it. It definitely is NOT The Move. It is, however a very soft, pleasant kinda album that's very nice having on in the background. I know where David is coming from in his review. Probably the only recording that ever dissapointed me more at the time was J. Lynne's stupid "Doin That Crazy Thing" single (but hey, I plan to relisten to THAT, too). One thing that I love about The Move and all that came after: our band were not just one dimensional. There were so many different roads that led to Rome. I urge the list to give this album a chance (if you can find it). If you think about it, Rick Price is the guy that ties all of the elements of The Move together. It always appeared to me that he was Roy's right hand man - and, in my opinion, Roy did his best work with Rick there. Aside from the obvious Move and Wizzard stuff that Rick is credited with, the man told me personally that he also played on "Message From The Country" AND the first ELO album uncredited. Which leads me to a question that I have asked before (with no answer!): in the box set, there is a photo of "The Message From The Country" era Move but with Rick Price in it. On the UK release of "MFTC," this same photo appears with just the three members. Was Rick ADDED to the box set photo? Or was he SUBTRACTED from the original album shot? I gots to know. ********** Subject: Re: Rick Price's "I Talk To Flowers" Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 15:41:57 -0700 From: Richard Messum Joe Ramsey wrote: >It is, however a very soft, pleasant kinda album that's very nice having >on in the background. That's not exactly high praise, though, is it? I prefer music that draws me in and demands to be listened to, and i don't mean while i'm doing the dishes or reading the paper or whatever. If i want background music, i'll put on Enya. ********** Subject: Rick Price's "I Talk To Flowers" Or "Don't Get Any... Enya!" Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 17:31:42 -0700 From: Joe Ramsey Richard Messum wrote: > If i want background music, i'll put on Enya. Well... I'll have to invoke the "Diff'rent Strokes" rule here. You say "Tomato" and I say "Tomato" (you, gentle reader, will have to figure out who says it which way, but here's a clue for you all... whisper: I think Richard might be British). Hey, some folks like to have a nice album of softer songs that they can listen to in the background. I, myself would've wanted the whole album to be full of "Lightning Never Strikes Twice" - especially when I was 19 years old - but it wasn't. And that's where Rick Price was at. Good for him. The funny thing is, I think of myself with more of a mature taste these days (no cracks!), and I enjoyed the album a LOT more than I did when I originally heard it. What does it all mean? Absolutely nothing. On the ELO Chattie, people are falling all over themselves saying how wonderful the Alan Parsons Project is. I would rather have the entire Iggy & The Stooges entourage (band and roadies!) as weekend houseguests than to listen to one album of that stuff. But that's me... Just Joe. Tomato! ********** Subject: Tea Tray In The Sky Date: Fri, 4 Oct 2002 21:40:35 -0700 From: Joe Ramsey Please excuse me for writing so much, but I've just had two pieces of Albertson's Market fried chicken chased with a rum & coke and I SWEAR... I'm hallucinating! PLUS... I'm listening to The Move's first album that I save for only very special occasions... OR when I'm in the mood (NOW!). So not only was Roy Wood quite possibly the best songwriter of that era (quite a claim, eh?), but boy, could The Move pick great cover songs. Listening to The Moby Grape's "Hey Grandma" and thinking that Roy & Co. picked up on two of my favorite, tragically psychedelic west coast heroes, Moby's Alexander "Skip" Spence and Love's Arthur Lee ("Stephanie Knows Who" from the Something Else EP). Why no Roky Erickson? 13th Floor Elevators? Roky and Roy even looked a little alike in the seventies (giant hair/giant beard). Was there ever a connection? And Roy's possibly the only one in the known universe flanked in photo by Jimi Hendrix on one side and Syd Barrett on the other. Shine on you crazy diamond! PS Is it Trevor Burton singing The Girl Outside? Even after all these years, I hear something new on this album (!) ********** Subject: Re: Tea Tray In The Sky Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 11:09:33 -0700 From: "Andrew Footman" Joe wrote: >So not only was Roy Wood quite possibly the best songwriter of that >era (quite a claim, eh?), but boy, could The Move pick great cover >songs. Listening to The Moby Grape's "Hey Grandma" and thinking that >Roy & Co. picked up on two of my favorite, tragically psychedelic >west coast heroes, Moby's Alexander "Skip" Spence and Love's Arthur >Lee ("Stephanie Knows Who" from the Something Else EP). 'Moby Grape must have been America's best kept secret.They are well worth checking out, they were well ahead of thier time. 'Love ' another great band too!!!! A few people here in england found out about them but like the 'Move' in America they got lost at the bottom of the radio stations playlist's dusty pile!!!!! Tyler wrote about the' Darts', Dart Attack'album i must convert this to CD. They were a brittish band that covered a lot of 50's rock and roll. A 'Eddie And The Falcons' sort of thing. The album is pretty good they had a big hit over here with one track of the album which came out on single 'Duke Of Earl'. Roy stands out on the album you can't miss him. The 'Darts' were big fans of Roy Wood and ask Roy if he would produce a album for them. Roy liked the Dart's (They already had a few hit singles behind them) and said "yes." ********** Subject: Re: Tea Tray In The Sky Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 15:40:17 -0700 From: kakman1 Joe wrote: >Please excuse me for writing so much, but I've just had two pieces of >Albertson's Market fried chicken chased with a rum & coke and I >SWEAR... I'm hallucinating! Don't stop writing Joe you're on a roll Joe also wrote: >PS Is it Trevor Burton singing The Girl Outside? Even after all these >years, I hear something new on this album (!) I can never make out whether that is Carl or Trevor on that number. Too much studio gimmickry on the vocals. Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Your mother should know whose pig is singing Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 17:31:48 -0700 From: Plastic Ono Dream for years (1974-2000) i thought "carl wayne" was singing "the girl outside",until i got that groovalistic compilation disc from "ftm", autographed by "carl wayne" yet! then it clearly was "trevor burton". but wait...are there 2 versions? "curly" & "zing went the strings of my heart" seem to be the "battle of marston moor" to fans of "the move"! hey, i like "your mother should know"! it is what it is ,a '20's style movie musical type tune right? danced, bit out of synch, by those fabs from liverpool in the tv movie. the same guy wrote "helter skelter", you might try that one kevin! ********** Subject: Stop gap SHAZAM!!!!!? Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 18:51:40 -0700 From: "Andrew Footman" If 'SHAZAM' is a stop gap it must be the best stop gap album of all time!!! There is no way any band would put together an album of that quality just for a STOP GAP!!! I have been playing guitar over 25 years and i can tell you there is some great playing on that album. Work out what Roy is playing on both guitar parts on 'Hello Suzie' it is not has easy has you think. Get some cotten buds in yer ears chaps and get ya wax out. Only one stop gap by the 'MOVE' blasted Curly!!!! Mind you if it was only released in italian (Curly) i might of liked it better. You can only have heard the poor cd version of 'Shazam' it is a monster on the original regal lp. I have nearly finished converting the original copy of shazam and mono and stereo versions of their first album to CD, i will send LYNN and ROB copies when i have finished. Rob's standards are high and so are mine, i want the best quality 'MOVE' CD's OUT FOR SALE!!!! No 'Mickey Mouse' gear here!!!!! ********** Subject: "Tomato Joe" & "Hot Sauce Brian" meet the "Avenue D" graffiti kids! Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 18:32:08 -0700 From: Plastic Ono Dream so is "curly" really about a pig, or was that just a rumor? i thought the movie "babe" was gonna be really light & cute, but it had too much blood & death. now "kilroy was here" i really like, it bounces along nicely, & i like the story. but i'd have to say i like "curly" better. sometimes you have to be in the mood for a "precious" song..."tin soldier man" or "two sisters" by "the kinks" anyone? but i like pop & bubblegum, as well as the loudest, most abrasive death metal, & "the stooges" & "captain beefheart". when are "the archies" getting back together? (they ARE real, it's just a different dimension!) ********** Subject: Curly the pig Date: Sat, 5 Oct 2002 18:50:23 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins >so is "curly" really about a pig, or was that just a rumor? I went for a long time thinking that it was true, and them someone told me it wasn't. (But I still believed it was, seeing as Carl really did have a pig named "Curly.") And then this past summer Peter Manion posted that he had saved a clipping that had a photo of Carl in his local pub holding a piglet "supping a pint." I don't know who was enjoying the pint - Carl or the piglet. Anyway, the author of the article, Keith Altham, revealed that the song "Curly" is dedicated to a pig (named "Curly") that Carl used to own. However, the pig in the picture was named "Peter." If Peter (the man, not the piglet) is around, maybe he can poke his head in and add to the story. ********** Subject: Re: Curly the pig Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 02:41:13 -0700 From: Peter Manion >If Peter (the man, not the piglet) is around, maybe he can poke his >head in and add to the story. Glad to oblige, here is the full transcript from the Keith Altham article; Roy and I just don't get on, CARL WAYNE 'THE MOVE' are a sometimes thing. In the past three years the group have given us precisely one album and seven singles which can hardly accounted hard 'graft' but as lead singer Carl Wayne so rightly pointed out to me recently. 'The Move's' singles are so rare that when we do release one it is regarded as something of a 'goodie' by the collectors. We may not do a lot but what we do we make sure we do well.' Hence, the latest little gem to flow from the pen of that very underestimated young composer, Roy Wood, titled 'Curly' which is as certain to be a hit as anything released this year. 'The single is not dedicated to the pig I have at present' related Carl to put the record straight. 'Curly was a pig I used to keep but have farmed him out as he got rather old. Now he is a kind of father figure - producing litters of piglets in a village not far from where I live in Birmingham. My present pet is called 'Peter' and he lives in the garden as a resident. Hogs What we might well ask is this strange attraction Carl has for the hogs who are not considered among man's best friends at the best of times unless they happen to be shredded and curling at the ends next to a well fried egg at breakfast. I can almost see Carl wince at the infamous remark. 'The pig is a very much misunderstood animal' says Carl. 'He is not the villain which people have made him out - I feel very sorry for them. Really they are not at all dirty. They might wallow in some muck for a moment but when you turn round five minutes later they are clean.' How they clean themselves is apparently something of a mystery but Carl maintains that they snuffle themselves clean on the same principle as a Hoover. They are also, according to Carl, excellent drinking companions and just the previous afternoon he had taken 'Peter' to the local pub for a pint. He proved to be a lousy darts player but bought his round which is all that matters with drinking fraternity. Chosen Meanwhile back at the feature we might ask how 'Curly' became to be the latest single? How it was chosen. 'Ah well, you see we are now at the stage with Roy where we can say to him, 'We'd like a new single out next week and he goes away and writes it. We are however, working on our next album at present called 'SHAZAM' which will be all our own work. So far we have completed two tracks!' Underground Carl also revealed that he is starting to write songs himself and producing things for his own underground group 'Bertie Bird and the Concrete Biscuit' who he hopes to launch upon the Americans when they arrive for their first tour in September. 'It's a very short tour of only 17 days' said Carl, 'But we will be taking our two track album along to promote and playing places like the Fillmore East. I don't give a x?!x about the hippies. I'm just going to sing and we're playing what we play' There seems to be almost a contradiction in terms with Roy Wood's highly nom-conformist image and approach to life and his highly commercial music. Looking at Roy's mane and his beard it is hard to reconcile him as the composer of the 'Amen Corners' Hello Suzie for example unless one thinks of another writer like Ray Davies who writes songs with smiling ambiguity. 'It's impossible to work Roy out' agrees Carl. 'Most of the rumors you hear of arguments within the group are between Roy and I. We are just totally opposed characters and the only thing which keeps us together is respect for each other professionally. Basically the differences are caused because as a singer I am preoccupied with the visual thing and want to do live performances while Roy as a composer is much more concerned with recording and writing and not making appearances!' In the early days it might be remembered that The Move were launched on a violent platform which occasionally was emphasized by Mr Wayne taking his axe to attack and offending TV set or cracking a mike-stand in half but more recently their songs seem to have got softer 'Blackberry Way' and 'Curly' are almost nursery rhymes compared to 'Fire Brigade' 'I think the anger is still there but suppressed' agreed Carl. 'People are still a little scared of us especially in cabaret for example. Our reputation has gone before us and anyone planning to heckle us might think twice in case I hit them with a mike-stand' There was quite recently of course the case of a German gentleman who made the mistake of throwing things at the group on stage which proved very unfortunate for his face which came in collision with a chair. 'We were banned in Germany' reflected Carl sadly, 'But I think the misunderstanding is being sorted out' he added optimistically. Carl's philosophy very basically is that nasty rude people should be dealt with in a nasty rude manner. The Move in cabaret has moved one or two people to mild surprise to those who think they are something of a security risk in a fallout shelter but the boys are proving highly popular and have genuinely taken to the medium. It also provides them with the opportunity to work out new songs for recording purposes during the day and gives Roy more time to work on his songs. AND HAVING WRIT - THE IRON HAND IN THE VELVET GLOVE WRITES ON! PS, it was the pig supping the pint with Carl holding on to him. ********** Subject: Re: Curly the pig Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 11:03:15 -0700 From: JANES434 Peter interesting story on Curly the pig I also have a cutting from an article called Stars and their Pets from I think Disc and Music Echo. Apparently so the article goes "Somebody phoned me up and said that a friend of his had won this little pig in a fair at some village or other" explained Carl "They did'nt know what to do with him - they were going to take him away to some farm so I said I'd have him " Carl's mother took it very well on the whole the only person to suffer was the next door neighbour !! When he was a piglet Curly used to travel in style in the passenger seat of Carl's E-Type Jag. When Carl used to park the car outside the shops and walk off onlookers would be dumbfounded at the sight of a snout pressed to the window of the car accompanied by a loud squealing noise until his master returned. I too once heard that the story of Curly the pig was not true but as Carl is an animal lover no doubt he did own the pig Curly and probably a few more !! Going back to Trevor Burton re Girl Outside I say it is definitely not Carl on vocals for this one although I would like to hear him singing it but yes it is Trevor Burton at first I did think it maybe was Carl. I have just bought The Move BBC Sessions god this is a great CD excellent songs some I have not heard before and Trevor Burton does a wicked version of " Morning Dew " I love it !! Linda (UK) ********** Subject: Little Steven plays The Move...again! Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 15:22:45 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins I'm a week behind with this, but thought the list would like to know that Little Steven (Steven Van Zandt) played another Move track on his syndicated "Underground Garage" radio show in the U.S.: "...The MOOOOVE did 'Fire Brigade'...written by main man Roy Wood...produced by Denny Cordell..." Here's the playlist for Show 26, September 29: http://www.littlesteven.com/playlist020929.html Those who have Windows Media can click on "Audio Archives" to hear any of Little Steven's archived shows. Looks like this show is currently airing in close to 70 radio markets, so it's exciting to know that thousands of listeners are quite possibly hearing The Move for the very first time on Little Steven's show. (Rob, we gotta send Little Steven a copy of "Hits & Rarities - Singles A's & B's" so he can do some real Move exploring!) ********** Subject: Defending Curly Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 11:03:59 -0700 From: GeorMarin (George Mariner) the first time i heard "curly" was on the 2 record set here in the states called "the best of the move" .at first i have to admit that it seemed out of place on the last side of this double set as it sounded like an earlier recording. but no way would i say this is a bad song. roy's vocals are incredible. nice flute playing (i don't know by who?) and great accoustic guitar work. in fact i can't really think of anything roy has ever recorded that was bad. if there is such a song then bad roy is better is better than no roy. while on the subject of roy wood does anyone have an extra vinyl copy of "Mustard" they would like to sell? ********** Subject: Rick Price - Sound clips Date: Sun, 6 Oct 2002 11:02:03 -0700 From: "Martin Kinch" With Rick's permission, I've added a couple of sound clips of Rick's live versions of "Flowers in the rain" and Angel fingers" If you got to http://martinkinch.members.beeb.net/rickcd.html You'll find full details of the two CDs that he has for sale, and you can click on the titles of the songs to hear a short sample. I'll record a few of the other tracks in the next few days. Regards Martin End of Useless Information #397 ******************************* [This digest is the copyright of the Move "Useless Information" Mailing List. Re-publication or re-distribution of "Useless Information" content, in any form whatsoever, is expressly prohibited without prior written consent.]