[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 #340 April 10, 2002 In this issue: * Village Voice Review * New York press * Carl Wayne singing ELO songs * Roy in NYC * RW Army @ VU * Song Of The Week (week of 4/1): "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" * Roy NYC support bands (cont.) ============================================================== 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: Roy Wood in NYC online review Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 14:20:20 -0800 From: "JIM HOBAN." Hi folks, I was sent this link from a fellow Woody fan who attended a few of the shows... It is by The Voice (the major NYC arts weekly apparently) ....... here's the link: http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0214/sotc.php ********** Subject: Village Voice review Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 14:20:56 -0800 From: Lynn Hoskins Jim - thanks for the link. Here's the full text of the review... Weird Science The Village Voice Week of April 3 - 9, 2002 by Robert Christgau Once upon a time in England, Roy Wood cochaired a band called the Move that had many hit singles. The Move's sound was so idiosyncratic that such classificatory stabs as "in thrall to the Beatles," "classy bubblegum psychedelica," and "from soul covers to West Coast sound" are only misleading-they were heavier and progger than any of that. In 1971, they mutated into the Electric Light Orchestra, which Wood soon left to Jeff Lynne, splitting off to score many more hit singles under his own name and with a band called Wizzard. None of these hits made the slightest commercial dent in the U.S., and by the late '70s, Wood had sunk from view, recording rarely. So when he played his first New York shows in 28 years at the Village Underground March 14 through 17, it was hard to predict the response. But Sunday night, at least, he sure got one. Never at any gig have I encountered such a concentration of men over 40 with beards and long hair. Especially notable were a gaunt, hirsute Mutt and Jeff with great glowing eyes and no trace of gray who looked like they'd just taken the Leprechaun bus down from Sleepy Hollow. Was this a crowd chock-full of old Anglophiles? Old record collectors? Old hippies? Who knew? And when Wood mounted the stage in his long military coat, he fit right in. At 55, his dark hair highlighted with neon extensions, he looked around 40. His powerful voice had lost neither high end nor low, and although he played mostly guitar, he demonstrated his multi-instrumental renown by lugging out the bagpipes for "Are You Ready to Rock," one of many numbers no one sang along to despite repeated encouragement. After one such shortfall, he drank some amber-colored liquid: "For medicinal purposes-that's my specimen from last night." In Britain, clearly, Wood is proud to be an oldies act. In the U.S., he was what he'd always been-a complete weirdo. This effect was augmented by a band Wood called the Thunderbirds, consisting of Climax Blues bass and drums; "the Naylor Twins" on keybs, tambourine, vocals, illustrative jitterbug, and "Rescue Me" interlude; and eight count-'em eight horn players, seven count-'em seven of them female. Shifted for current purposes in the soul covers direction, the music was no better than the old and new songs, which never got better than the opening "California Man." But the event as a whole was one of those serendipitous, certain-to-be-forgotten miracles of pop culture, which has so many more nooks and crannies than any gatekeeper can imagine, keep up with, or, blessedly, control. [END] ********** Subject: Re: Village Voice review Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 16:16:11 -0800 From: John DeSilva The review was written by Robert Christgau, who has written for the Village Voice since at least 1970, if not earlier. He's a fairly big name in US "rock journalism", so the fact he did a review is good for Woody and the Army. I guess he liked the show Sunday, although it was kind of hard to tell - he seemed more enthralled in the number of 40+ year old men with beards (long live us!!). He also noted that the audience Sunday didn't sing along with any songs (I find that a bit hard to believe) - too bad he didn't attend Friday or Saturday - he'd have heard audience participation at those gigs!! JD San Jose, CA ********** Subject: Re: Village Voice review Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 16:15:51 -0800 From: "Bobby Sutliff" Christgau has made a career with the Village Voice making snide comments about every great band you can imagine. I'm surprised he let the Electric Light Orchestra moniker slide past without a derisive aside. I'm not sure he feels any passion for any sort of music at all these days and that must make his job as a reviewer fairly miserable. Remember, those who can create music, and those that can't write about it. ********** Subject: Re: Village Voice review Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2002 10:07:18 -0800 From: "Richard Shields" Very well put Robert. I have been over here in New York for 16 years and I have yet to read an article or review by Christgau which makes any sense at all. The Village Voice writing staff has degenerated into a bunch of bitter older, (mostly) men who think music began and ended with The Ramones. To put it bluntly Roy's music is waaaaay over their heads - did Christgau even mention any title other than California Man - which any 30+ American would recognise from the Cheap Trick cover. Any publicity is good publicity I suppose but WFMU's 'seal of approval' is, I feel, more useful and infinitely more hip than the Village Voice's snippy comments. Keep it up Woody! ********** Subject: Re: Village Voice review Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 18:58:50 -0800 From: cathy uselton Quoting the Village Voice review: > Never at any gig have I encountered such a concentration of men over > 40 with beards and long hair. Excuse me? I may have long hair but I don't have a beard! ;-) thanks! cu tornado alley, ok ********** Subject: Re: Village Voice review Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 18:58:54 -0800 From: "Tyler C.Sherman" He said the Sun. night crowd didn't sing along? He must be hearing impaired from attending and reviewing rock shows for 30+ years! There was plenty of singing going on, at leads on my side of the VU. Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: New York press Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 18:41:17 -0800 From: marmil Well, this is sorta a left-handed compliment, but it ain't that bad... but I have a question: The NY Time, Daily News and Village Voice all reviewed the show, but did anyone say anything about the show(s) BEFORE they happened? My guess is outside of internet lists, probably not. Which makes me wonder what would have happened if there were some advertisements before the shows so that people who aren't maniacs like us could have had the chance to see Roy...just thinking out loud... Marc ********** Subject: Re: New York press Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 18:40:58 -0800 From: Lynn Hoskins Hi Marc, Time Out New York ran a very nice concert preview (I posted it to the Move list a few days ago) and most if not all of the major publications (NY Post, Village Voice, Daily News, etc.) ran ads placed by the Village Underground, or listed the shows in their concert calendars, or both. Sure, the promotion could have been a lot more extensive. But, unfortunately, as Roy is not on a major label at present there was no promotion budget. Next time, perhaps. ********** Subject: Re: New York press Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 09:15:15 -0800 From: "Michael J. Cross" Hello Folks, Lynn wrote: >Sure, the promotion could have been a lot more extensive. But, >unfortunately, as Roy is not on a major label at present there was >no promotion budget. Next time, perhaps. I like hearing there'll be a "next time". I'm still warm in the glow of "last time". Dear Roy, Rochester is a veritable hotbed of Move and Wizzard fans...... And by the way, those of you still rankled by Christgau's comments should make it a point to read more rock critics more often, even in your local press. You'll quickly see that these guys make a living out of being cynical, semi-witty smart-asses. Nothing against them, since if they were soft on everyone or liked everything, they wouldn't sell copy. The band I used to be in (that Chris is still in, for those who met him in NYC) routinely gets snide comments or left-handed compliments from a local critic...who to my knowledge has never actually SEEN the band. At least Christgau got off his duff to come and see Roy. In a sense, having him write ANYTHING at all about Roy is a good thing. I think the folks who regularly read the Voice would agree that what Christgau wrote about Roy is, from him, a mostly positive review. Best to All, Mike Cross Rochester ********** Subject: Re: New York press Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 13:43:26 -0800 From: John DeSilva Michael Cross wrote: > In a sense, having him write ANYTHING at all about Roy is a good thing. > I think the folks who regularly read the Voice would agree that what > Christgau wrote about Roy is, from him, a mostly positive review. I totally agree with Mike - most "rock critics" have a cynical, elitist attitude with their writing. I too believe that having a reviewer of Christgau's tenure actually attend the show and write about it in a generally positive light is great for Roy. There was a time where rock criticism was done by people who had a true love for the music - some examples: Lester Bangs Lenny Kaye John Mendelsohn Ken Emerson Paul Williams Richard Cromelin John Swenson To name a few ... JD San Jose, CA ********** Subject: Re: New York press Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 13:44:06 -0800 From: Joe Ramsey Michael J. Cross wrote: > I think the folks who regularly read the Voice would agree that what > Christgau wrote about Roy is, from him, a mostly positive review. I think that Mike is exactly right. I mean, what can you write about Roy Wood, anyway? Probably everybody in the room already had their mind made up about him... and he was GREAT (if you like Roy Wood - which I think most of us on this list do). My favorite reviewer of all time used to write for a little freebie paper in the Los Angeles area called Phonograph Record Review, who ran some really nice articles about The Move/ELO, Mott The Hoople, Roxy Music, Alex Harvey etc back in the early seventies. He HATED EVERYTHING! He'd say things like, "Brain Salad Surgery is one salad that should be tossed... RIGHT OUT THE WINDOW!" Or run a big picture of Leon Russell at the piano with the caption: "Why is this man smiling? His album stinks!" Anyway... EVERY album got a bad review. So a bad review was *really* a good review, you know? And they were usually a really fun read... it's much easier to be clever saying bad things. The only album that he gave a "good review" to was "Ringo The Fourth." He absolutely gushed over that one. Draw your own conclusions. Did you know that Rolling Stone won't run a review unless one of their writers like the group or album? Maybe afraid that the dreaded record company (ies... is there more than one of them now?) would get mad and yank their advertising or endless string of promos that the artists pay for anyway. I was staring at my Roy Wood Army Tour T-shirt yesterday and realized that Roy's head is in a big bubble... what does it mean??? ********** Subject: Carl Wayne singing ELO songs Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 19:23:59 -0700 From: Mattbobatt Hi Move list -- I read the Face the Music website a lot (http://www.ftmusic.com) and just saw some very interesting information about Carl Wayne in the "news" section. It says he sang three ELO tracks, and it looks as if these tracks will be on the remastered version of "Electric Light Orchestra II" which will be out in July. I know I don't know everything there is to know about the Move, but this is the first I've read about Carl recording ELO songs!! Was Carl in ELO at any time? Was he auditioning with these songs? Or maybe he and Jeff were friends and so they got together in the studio? I would really like to know more about this. Can someone please fill me in? Since Carl's three ELO songs are on the ELO II remastered CD, is it possible he could have sang a version of "Roll Over Beethoven"??? That would be incredible... Later, Matt ********** Subject: Re: Carl Wayne singing ELO songs Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 01:10:43 -0700 From: Rob Caiger Carl recorded three tracks with ELO in 1973: a new version of Mama plus two unreleased Jeff Lynne original compositions, which will surprise everybody. Very much in the style of Ma Ma Ma Belle / Showdown / Joe Cocker / Leon Russell. Great performances all round. Jeff has written some nice words about Carl for the sleeve notes and these tracks will appear on the new remastered ELO 2, which will follow ELO / No Answer as a double CD limited edition release in July. Roy Wood will also be credited for his participation on the original album plus we have three tracks ELO recorded with Marc Bolan (including one previously unreleased Jeff Lynne track from 1973) - and more. A real treat. More soon - Rob ********** Subject: Roy in NYC Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 20:56:35 -0800 From: "Chris" Hello everyone, This is the first time I've posted, since it's the first time I've really had anything to talk about. I'm Mike Cross's pal Chris from Rochester. I met a bunch of you in NYC, HELLO! I would just like to say that it was great meeting everyone from all over. Being a cynical misanthrope, I was surprised that everybody I met was amazingly cool.I guess if you like Roy Wood you can't be half bad! It was great everybody was so giddy that it was impossible to have a bad time, I hope for similar situations soon. This will be a long one, but I might well do it all now and then I can lurk for another year....... THE SHOW What can I say...I was worried because it didn't seem like there would be an awful lot of spontinaity to the show and there really wasn't, and I'm always leery of horns and backup singers doing the backup singer dance (swaying, interpretive hand gestures) and that was going on, too. That being said, I was amazed and thoroughly entertained. I was seeing Roy Wood for crissake, IT HAD TO BE SURREAL! Those songs and album covers are no fluke! He is a STRANGE GUY! The most beautiful part was that I had absolutely no idea at all what I was going to see until I actually saw it, and then it was so much better than I thought it could be! It would have been great if we had taken Mike's set list from the night before and shouted requests! This band reflected everything that I love about his music and it was all in fun to boot! What was going through Iggy Pop's head during that show? CHRISTGAU One of my film teachers called critics "Eunichs at the orgy" Before I go, one thought..... It's not unheard of for musicians to travel to a city and have a backup band waiting to play with them, Chuck Berry style. It is a lot more profitable to travel as one or two or three, rather than as twelve to twenty people. Does anyone know who books his gigs? Who books The Shazam? A good band with a good demo tape of Roy stuff could be a temptation, even more if they work for free! He packed the place four nights in a row and probably could have done the same in a bigger room, it would probably do the same in San Fran or L.A. I just know that there are a lot of musicians reading this who probably already know a bunch of the songs. That's a show I would like to see! Thanks again to everyone I met and haven't met! ********** Subject: RW Army @ VU Date: Sat, 6 Apr 2002 10:07:31 -0800 From: Vince Hats off to all the folks who came from all over for long awaited "event" @ the VU. I enjoyed the (Sunday) as much as the "joint in the woods" gig in the 70's. Probably, many of the same folks were in attendance @ the VU, with different hairlines, but whats a few grey hairs/lbs amongst friends! Anyway, Roy & Co. blew me away to say the least. The "kids" (horns/reeds etc.) being so "into" the music they were playing, raised the energy level & participation level. I wanted to take the whole group home for hors d' ouvres/pastries. My brother went into the party room after I took some pix of him holding Roy's guitar, and I managed to congratulate my new "hearthrob" Jenna on a job well done. Well, looking forward to the next concert, and hope it doesn't take another 20 years. ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 18:35:21 -0800 From: marmil Joe Doyle wrote: >One of my favourite's live of Roy's, he's always done this song so well >and the addition of the horns just adds to its overall appeal for me. >Somebody at VU in NYC thought that the guitar that he uses for this >song was broke, that gave Roy a bit of a laugh. This one, at least, took the top of my head off on Friday! Absolutely brilliant! Marc ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" Date: Fri, 5 Apr 2002 20:56:40 -0800 From: "Tyler C.Sherman" Well, this was the one that started it all for me. As a 15 yr. old kid at the Jersey shore early in the "Summer of Love" with the airwaves awash with "Sgt. Pepper", I used to tune in to Scott Muni's "Things From England" show on WNEW-FM every Friday to find out what else was happening. He would play the latest hit records from the UK. I always had a portable, battery powered reel to reel tape recorder going in case something cool came on. And something did...this group that sounded sort of like the Who with Beach Boys harmony singing about grass growing or something. I listened to it over & over, fascinated by it. As the months went by, I taped other Move songs off the radio, such as "Flowers In The Rain", as the records were nearly impossible to find. I wasn't able to buy a Move record til "Shazam" came out. In many ways, this is the definative Move song, certainly among their best. All the members of the group get a shot at lead vocals, Roy's playing is incisive, the hook is infectious. And it's a mystery that it didn't make a dent in the US charts. It's inclusion at the VU is a testimony to it's enduring quality. It sounded really great with all the horns. The Blues Magoos attempted to get a hit with this, but their tepid treatment of it fared worse than than the original. A pattern that was all too often repeated. Still Moving on... Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 19:22:51 -0700 From: BigLarry tjesherm@bellatlantic.net writes: >In many ways, this is the definative Move song, certainly among their >best. All the members of the group get a shot at lead vocals, Roy's >playing is incisive, the hook is infectious. And it's a mystery that it >didn't make a dent in the US charts. Well, the folks at A&M Records could have put forth a lot more effort to make The Move "happen" in the U.S. Story is, when The Move visited the A&M offices (in L.A. i think), nobody there knew who the band was. Does that tell ya something? BigLarry Harris Dallas, TX PS. When the band played this song in New York, I was almost head-banging! Well, as close as I get, that is... ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 18:58:58 -0800 From: "stephen mulcahy" A classic of course. i've heard it a million times so there's no need to comment on it as i have nothing new to say except that the blues magoos version (on their electric comic book album of 1967) absolutely sucks! supposedly hendrix used to play this backstage during the big move/ hendrix/ pink floyd/ amen corner/ the nice/ outer limits package tour of late 67. As a totally unrelated aside, and as a chance for me to vent - that guy robert christgau, along with that fraud dave marsh, is perhaps the biggest dickhead in rock criticism. and he's one of these guys who gave albums that are considered great today, or that have aged well, awful reviews at the time and went back and changed the marks to make it look like he's super cool. when it comes to the 60s and 70s perhaps the only cool major rock critics/writers are david fricke and richie unterberger. the rest are self important and self congratulatory. ********** Subject: Re: Roy NYC support bands Date: Mon, 1 Apr 2002 18:54:18 -0800 From: "Tyler C.Sherman" The only night I attended was Sunday. The Flow was the warm up act and were quite interesting. As Leigh said, kinda quirky so a fitting intro for Roy. It seemed to me that they could function quite well with out the guy who did all the "mouth percussion" and the other guy who was hitting all the other things. Their drummer was more than adequate to handle the percussion and keep the beat. Their lead guitarist was superb, probably the best thing the band had going for it. The singer/acoustic guitarist had an good voice and interesting songs. Wish I could have heard the other opening acts! Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: Re: Roy NYC support bands Date: Tue, 2 Apr 2002 11:24:18 -0800 From: "Michael J. Cross" I thought the Johnny Society's first three tunes were reminiscent of Greenslade, but with much better vocals. I'm sure many people are thinking "who?". Greenslade was one of those avante-artrock bands who decided to eschew guitars for keyboards. I think they wanted to be Yes or ELP. In fact, they wanted to be Yes so bad that they actually contracted Roger Dean for two album covers. I thought Johnny Society were an excellent group. I'll have to get their CD sometime in the near future. Not only was it great to meet as many of you as I did, it was also mostly great to meet others there, such as Johnny and jason from DC, and on Anderson from Chicago. If any of you have since joined the list on my say-so, welcome aboard! I feel like part of me is still wandering the East Village waiting for the show to start! Mike Cross Rochester, NY End of Useless Information #340 ******************************* [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.]