[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 #336 March 26, 2002 In this issue: * Song Of The Week (week of 3/11): "Something Else" * Roy Wood on NYC Radio! * Spectakular / Christmas in March * Evening Mail article: Roy's getting in the groove * Roy's first night in NYC * Roy Wood's Army has New York City under siege! * Woody in NYC - The Lost Weekend (not really!) * New NYC Show webpage * The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce ============================================================== To POST TO THE LIST: Send an e-mail to: move-list@eskimo.com Useful Web addresses: TheMoveOnline: http://www.themoveonline.com Official Roy Wood site: http://www.roywood.co.uk Face The Music Online: http://www.ftmusic.com Join the ELO List: http://www.eskimo.com/~noanswer/showdown.html Move List Info & Archives: http://www.eskimo.com/~noanswer/movelist.html TO UNSUBSCRIBE: Send an e-mail to move-digest-request@eskimo.com with the word "unsubscribe" (no quotes) in the subject line ============================================================== Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Something Else" Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 06:03:32 -0800 From: Kevin A Kunreuther I got the French "Something Else" LP when I was a young teen. I absolutely dug all the songs on there. I remember trying to figure out who sang vocal on what song (Bev's liner notes on the A&M Best Of Move helped!) Also at the time, I had just got some black lights and kaleidoscope light display from Radio Shack (wish they still had 'em, they were kinda' cheesy but awfully fun!). I would then put some phosphorescent detergent on the shag carpet in the bedroom (the black light made it look like you had stars on the carpet)(how effin' seventies!) turn off the regular light and turn the other stuff on and put on the Something Else record and then I imagined I was at the Marquee hearing the Move. I was considerate of the parents, so I would wait til they were out of the house. I thought the Move's version of Something Else was more powerful than the Who's Summertime Blues. What a great heavy band they must have been, I kept imagining. Years later, having read Bev's book and other people's postings about The Move's concert experience, I know I really did miss out on something. Maybe I would have given the cabaret months a miss (or not) but for now, I've got a couple a CDs a live stuff, one from BBC performances and the other, the expanded Something Else, live from the Marquee, edition and a blurry video tape of some color and B&W German and BBC performances. Everyone enjoy the New York Shows Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Roy Wood on NYC Radio! Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 23:01:19 -0800 From: "Drew Jacobs" Monday afternoon about 5:15pm, I was listening to WFMU on the internet (college radio out of nyc/jersey) and the female dj says "Roy Wood is playing this week at the VU, here's some various Roy Wood tunes!" She played "Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited" "Battle of Marston Moor", The Rain Came Down on Everything", "Why Does Such A Pretty Girl Sing Those Sad Songs", and "Whisper in the Night". I was in shock. I haven't heard that much Roy Wood on the radio in one sitting since I was a college dj! I think the dj's name is Eileen Trudeau, so if you run into her at the show, buy her a drink! Drew Jacobs Latham, NY ********** Subject: Re: Roy Wood on NYC Radio! Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 06:45:13 -0600 From: Kevin A Kunreuther Good ol' WFMU, Hurray Eileen! I remember hearing Roy Wood's "Road Rocket" on WNEW back in 1979! That blew me away and made me search for the album it was from. Found it at some record store at the Woodbridge Mall (is that place still standing?) Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Spectakular / Christmas in March Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 17:39:36 EST From: John Collins Just a couple of things that have popped up. Firstly Roy stated in the Birmingham Evening Mail on Friday 8th March, that he would not be playing Spectakular at Bilston as the band had not had time to rehearse it. Secondly, for Lynn, Roy felt that IWICBCE would go over New Yorkers heads. It was huge hit in the UK and continues to be, and it gets sung every month of the year by Woody fans in the UK, including the Summer! So he is probably more reluctant to do it in the States. But make sure he does it, as you are not a Woody fan until you have sung it in March, April, June, July.......... Hope this helps. ********** Subject: Evening Mail article: Roy's getting in the groove Date: Sun, 17 Mar 2002 15:23:24 -0800 From: Lynn Hoskins [John - thanks for posting about this. Here's the article in full.] Roy's getting in the groove Birmingham Evening Mail March 8, 2002 by Andy Coleman Roy Wood reckons the next big thing in music will be salsa - so he plans to present a whole show of Latin grooves. He's got one big problem, though. He hasn't yet got enough songs. 'I've given myself a tall order,' laughs the Brummie superstar. 'I've said I want to take my band in the salsa direction but now I've got to write the songs. 'We've recorded one so far, called Spektacular, which I'm sending to radio stations under the band name of M.D.O. - 'Mega Dance Orquesta'. 'I'm not putting my name on the label because I think radio is ageist and you're struggling to be heard if you're over 35.' So fans at Roy's gig at the Robin 2 on Wednesday 13 March 2002 will be getting the tunes they know and love, with just a couple of new numbers thrown in. 'It's actually a warm-up show for a short American tour,' reveals Roy. 'We're going to play fourx shows on the east coast later this month, my first concerts in the States since the Wizzard days.' But Roy is looking forward, not back. 'The American shows won't be retro. When we return we'll be sitting down and assessing what went well and the direction we want to take.' Not one to do things by halves, Roy is taking his 12 'Army' band members with him to the States plus three crew. 'Things would be a lot simpler if it was just me, a guitar and a drum on my back,' he jokes. 'Gigging can be a nightmare because all the band members play with other groups so it's difficult getting them all in one place at the same time. It's like pulling teeth. 'For example, we won't be playing Spektacular at the Robin 2 because not all the band has rehearsed it. The drummer and bass player are with the Climax Blues Band in Europe and won't be back until the day before my show.' And what about the much rumoured reunion with his former Move colleagues? 'It will never ever happen,' asserts Roy. 'It would never get beyond the rehearsal stage. It's boring going back doing something all over again.' (c)2002 Mirror Regional Newspapers ********** Subject: Roy's first night in NYC Date: Fri, 22 Mar 2002 08:28:12 -0800 From: John DeSilva Fellow Movers: Still basking in the glow of Woody's show last night at the Village Underground. I never thought I'd ever see the man perform live in the US, so last night was a special treat. I also never thought I'd see 8 horn players crammed up on such a small stage as they have at the VU, but they handled it with great aplomb. I'll do a more detailed review of the show later, but suffice it to say that Woody and the Army rocked last night, and I can't wait for tonight's performance! I'm taking a lot of pictures as well, and will probably put the best of them up on the web soon, so I'll let you know when that happens. JD San Jose, CA ********** Subject: Re: Roy's first night in NYC Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 09:31:26 -0500 (EST) From: Marston Moor SPEECHLESS! "Hey look, there's Eddy! He looks GREAT! Hey look, he's got a shirt like mine!" We totally freaked him out with that greet! We had dinner at Thai Village across the street, Roy and Neil sat next table over! More later! Notes and pics galore, I promise! Life is worth living again, R. Stevie Moore Forever ********** Subject: Re: Roy's first night in NYC Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 07:57:53 -0800 From: John DeSilva "sk" asked off-list: > Setlist? Actually Mike Cross wrote down the set list the first night, so he'll have the definitive answer to that question - for those of you who have seen the Army in the UK my understanding is that it is essentially the same set that they perform over there. They did do "Big Girl Blues" both nights as the only really "new" song in the set. Roy and the Army were absolutely brilliant Friday night - their sound problems (especially the monitor problems) had been fixed, and they were feeding off of the crowd's enthusiasm (which was in high gear the entire show) - Roy was on top of his game, and the rest of the band cooked. Aside from Jenna (one of the trumpet players) taking a tumble on stage during the solo bits of "Are You Ready To Rock" the band didn't miss a beat or cue (she recovered quite admirably however - great solo as well). The last three numbers of the night were most memorable to me - Blackberry Way, I Can Hear The Grass Grow, and I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday. The whole crowd was singing along, and the band was peaking in top form - it was dare I say it, magical. JD San Jose, CA (currently NYC!!!) ********** Subject: Roy Wood's Army has New York City under siege! Date: Sat, 23 Mar 2002 14:03:25 -0800 (PST) From: Plastic Ono Dream much more to come, but from behind the battle lines this correspondent will tell ya this... the band R O C K S ! a sound so loud and pure and proficient! my god! roy looks fit and trim, his voice sounds strong and powerful ! his guitar playing is scorching! the bass player and drummer(on loan from "the climax blues band") are a powerhouse rhythym section! deep fat bass lines and loud hard clear drumming kick the old material into a contemporary sound arena, along with the 8 piece horn section augmenting older material that had no horns. wait a minute, i think i'm so excited i'm not making sense! anyway, the band is unstoppable! what a sound! and those "naylor twins" ! smooth strong female backing vocals and keyboards as well. and the horn players sing also! and so does the bass player! and so does the audience! and i even got "doctor bob" to dance! i saw thursday's and friday's show, i have to work tonight, but i'll be there for the battle royale sunday! it's also great meeting "lynn 'her majesty' hoskins" & fun filled list members "jpjo" "tim 'my ears are cold' emerich" & "liverpool joe doyle"! friday also saw the new york debut of that new band "the plastic ono birdcage" at "smash" studios here in manhattan! resistance is futile. new york city has surrendered to "roy wood's army"! ********** Subject: Woody in NYC - The Lost Weekend (not really!) Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 15:24:52 -0800 From: John DeSilva Movers: Well, my amazing journey is almost at a close - I'm writing this from the plane back to San Jose, CA. It really doesn't seem real that we actually saw Woody and the Army these last three days (and for those fortunate folks that didn't have to leave today, tonight as well!). As with the ELO PBS tapings last year, this has been the adventure of a lifetime for me. Without venturing into a "War and Peace" length post, here's my impressions of all I heard, saw, and drank (ugh!): - Roy Wood's Army. Thursday's show was good, but a bit tentative. Sound problems ruled the day in a lot of places, and it seemed that Woody was a bit apprehensive on how the set would be accepted in the "Big Apple". He needn't have worried - the band caught fire in the last part of the set, and the audience were right there with 'em. Friday night was the jewel in the crown as far as I'm concerned. Woody was on, the band was right with him for the ride, and the audience (bigger than Thursday night) was in pure joy throughout. I reached and maintained a state of bliss from "Are You Ready To Rock" on to the end of "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". It was magical, as I said before. Saturday night ... Ah, Saturday ... The band was in top form - at this point I have to mention the Thunderbirds, the almost all-female horn section. They were all exceptional, but I've got to give special mention to Alison (the alto sax, flute, and soprano sax player) - clearly she's the most talented player in the 'Birds; I also found her air of quiet confidence mixed with playful fun mesmerizing (not to mention sexy - oops I did!); Carol and Beca the trombone players (the newest members of the Army) were technically excellent, but more importantly were reveling in the joy of being onstage - they were cracking each other up during their backing vocal turns on "Forever", and "See My Baby Jive" - sheer joy; and finally Jenna, one of the trumpet players, was the most energetic player, both while playing, and especially when not playing - dancing and singing backing vocals into her trumpet mike. Anyway, getting back to Saturday night's performance - the band was great, but Roy was ill, and not as into the performance or audience reaction (which was considerable) as on Friday night. He cut out IWICBCE at the end, and essentially stopped singing halfway through "Grass Grow" (the audience did its best to cover with their own vocals). Still a very good show, but Roy's repeated references to "having to vomit" made it clear that he was interested in getting on, getting off, and getting to the loo to take care of business. Hopefully he'll be back feeling better tonight for the last show - you lucky devils who get to be there will let us know I'm sure. - The "Plastic Ono Birdcage" sessions. Friday afternoon I had the great privilege to be invited (thanks again Lynn!) to Smash Recording studios on 36th St. to be a part of the "Brian Carter Experience", or as Brian put it in his earlier post, the "Plastic Ono Birdcage band". Brian was gracious enough to book 3 hours of studio time for an impromptu jam, starring Tim Emerich on guitar and bass, Joe Ramsey on guitar, bass, and drums, and Brian "Ginger" Carter on drums, assisted by yours truly on vocals, bass, and drums (more like sloppy bashing), and guitar during the "sound check". You just don't get many opportunities to have this much fun - it was great to be a part of it. An audience was also present: Joe Doyle and family, Rob, Lynn, Kelly (Tim's wife), and Marilyn (Joe's girlfriend). The songs! Tim's encyclopedic knowledge of Move, ELO, and Idle Race songs on the guitar is beyond impressive; Joe's backlog of "Nuggets" like "Signed DC" by Love, "Sometimes Good Guys Don't Wear White" by the Standells, and "I Got A Line On You" by Spirit was incredible - he even threw in a bit of "Raw Power" by Iggy and the Stooges. Brian Carter behind the drum stool was solid throughout, doing some syncopated rhythms during a couple of numbers that blew me away. The most memorable quotes during the session were from Brian, who attempted to slow the pace down by saying "how 'bout a slow one like 'The Song'?" "How 'bout 'The Rain Came Down on Everything'?" ;-D My faves - "The Birthday Party", "When Alice Comes Back To The Farm", "Signed DC", "Can't Get It Out Of My Head", "California Man", "I Got A Line On You", .... I could go on and on (and already have). - Friends. It was really great to finally meet in person the members of the list - I just wish I had been able to meet and hang out with more of you. Here's thanks to those I did get to hang with: Mike Cross and his friend and musical collaborator Chris Joe R and Marilyn Tim and Kelly E Joe Doyle and family Brian Carter Greg Weatherby Terry Hoknes The inimitable Dr. Bob Coulter (his devotion to both Woody and the Toronto Maple Leaves is most admirable) Henry Laura Marc Miller Rich and Lynn from Boston Beth Gatlin Bruce Markow Larry Harris (great to finally meet BigLarry - didn't get to talk to you much unfortunately!) And of course last but not least Rob Caiger and Lynn Hoskins - thanks to you guys as always for making this all possible for us. I can't begin to express my appreciation and gratitude, so I won't! ;-) Seriously, thanks very much, and I look forward to meeting up with you again soon! Pictures on a web page to follow!! JD San Jose, CA ********** Subject: New NYC Show webpage Date: Sun, 24 Mar 2002 21:46:47 -0500 (EST) From: Marston Moor http://www.rsteviemoore.com/RWANYC.html ********** Subject: Re: New NYC Show webpage Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 11:11:03 -0500 From: "Michael J. Cross" As John mentioned, I did keep tabs on the setlist and will be posting it tomorrow unless someone else beats me to it. I left the damn thing on my desk at home this a.m. , meaning to bring it in to work and post it up. I'm not the sharpest tack in the bulletin board in the wee hours. Grinning, Mike ********** Subject: New NYC Show webpage Date: Mon, 25 Mar 2002 12:33:42 -0800 From: John DeSilva As promised, here's some pictures from the concert on Thursday - please click on the link below to go to the web page: http://home.earthlink.net/~desilvaj/woody/woodynyc.html If this isn't a link in your e-mail client, please copy the address above to your web browser's address line. Hope you enjoy, JD San Jose, CA ********** Subject: The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 23:02:01 -0800 From: Robert Porter Hi Move-ers and shakers! I'm hoping one of you can help me solve the mystery of "The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce". In my research, I ran across a few references to this song. Long story short, I think it's referring to the little doo-wop/ragtime/vaudeville bit at the end of "Feel Too Good" on the "Looking On" album, which is also one of the hidden tracks on the "Great Move! The Best of the Move" collection. I just always assumed this was part of "Feel Too Good", but references seem to indicate it's a seperate song called "The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce". So I'm asking the experts: is it or is it not a part of "Feel Too Good"? If not, what's the story behind the song? Was the Move doing hidden bonus tracks all the way back in 1970 before it was in fashion? And while we're at it, can anybody make out the spoken part at the end? Care to enlighten me? Many thanks. Robert Porter ********** Subject: Re: The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 03:44:00 -0600 From: Kevin A Kunreuther The spoken part over the tinkly piano bit is, "c'mon now now get it out, show us your knickers, oh, it's big, innit? like a great big swash", then it repeats into oblivion. I think Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce wasn't really a hidden track but something that got tagged on and was included as part of Feel Too Good. (originally when I heard it on vinyl on cheap speakers, I though they were singing, "Can You believe we're almost finished?") My guess is that the boys needed about two or three minutes more to close the album, have some fun (very reflective of Roy's and Jeff's humour) and be naughty. Perhaps Rob C. will have cleared up some of these mysteries when the Looking On re-issue comes out :0) I'm a little concerned about the fate of ELO II and MFTC re-issues later this year, since EMI PLC did a clean house and halved divideends to make profits this year. I'm hoping they won't delay, put on permanent uncertain hiatus any of these projects pertaining to Roy Wood, ELO and The Move because the shareholders are grumbly. Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Re: The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 12:10:03 +0000 (GMT) From: Boz Mdcn We spoke about this a few months back. I never had a copy of Looking On until very recently. The first time that I heard Feel Too Good (great song btw - how about it as SOTW soon?) was on a vinyl compilation released by MFP which did not feature 'lettuce' so I've always thought of them as separate tracks Hidden album tracks have had a new lease of life with the arrival of CD. The Beatles put them on several of their albums and I heard somewhere that it wasn't a new idea even then. I believe that the idea was to have the track grooved as close to the label as possible so that it could only be heard by people that didn't have 'auto-change' turntables Does anyone know for certain who wrote 'Lettuce' (I've always assumed that it was Jeff) ********** Subject: Re: The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 17:58:50 +0000 From: "troy brookman" Any one who hasn't heard the song yet can also get it on the "Boogie Nights" sound track CD, Feel To Good, plus the "long" duke version, theres 2 boogie cds, so look at the song list. ********** Subject: Re: The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce Date: Wed, 20 Mar 2002 23:52:33 -0000 From: "chris roberts" We did have a discussion on this topic around the time of that sad day in September. Traffic on the list was understandably 'thin' at that time as our thoughts were on higher things. At that time, I did post the following observation which raised the odd 'titter'. and for the benefit of those that missed it first time round, here is a repeat: I hear the lyrics rather differently and I know of at least one other fan who agrees with me. Now, this is a delicate subject about which there is no easy way round. Please be warned the next passage includes a RUDE WORD. Right - I hear the lyrics as: "C'mon now show us yer lettuce. Cor! It's big innit! Like a big green twat" Now I don't know if the word 'twat' crosses the Atlantic with the same meaning as here in Blighty. Un-polite folks here use this word in two quite different circumstances: 1 - As a derogatory term for an idiot - as in "You silly twat!" and... 2 - As an alternative term for female genitalia - and I don't think I really need to give you an example 'in context'! I think the latter described use is the most likely in this case and seems to fit in with Roy and Jeff's naughty sense of humour, as does the mock cockney accent mimicked by a 'Brummy'. In closing I would like to say that I am grateful that thus far in my 42 years, I have been fortunate to have avoided any twats looking like a lettuce!!! :O) Chris (Cardiff, Wales) End of Useless Information #336 ******************************* [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.]