[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 #341 April 12, 2002 In this issue: * New Roy Wood's Army dates * Carl Wayne singing ELO songs (cont.) * Roy Wood article in April 13 Billboard * Trevor Burton website * The Hollies on tour in the USA * Village Voice Review (cont.) * Carl Wayne interview on Radio WM last month * "Thunderbirds Theme" * Goldmine interview with Roy Wood (Part 7) ============================================================== 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: New Roy Wood's Army dates Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 10:40:53 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins TUE. APRIL 23 - The Jam House, Birmingham No.1 St. Pauls Square Tel: 0121 200 3030 Website: http://www.thejamhouse.com/ This is Jools Holland's club. Tickets are £10 admission only or £40 restaurant dining - ticket includes 3 course meal + petit fours, glass of champagne and canapes on arrival. The doors open at 7pm. The opening act come on at 9 - this is still being decided, but it will be their resident boogie-woogie pianist with some extras. The main act will be on at approx. 10pm. Tickets are not available on-line, only through the Jam House itself. 21 and over only. FRI. JULY 12 - Newt Beer Festival, Somerset Info: 01278 663 059 Website: http://www.newtbeerfest.com/ Entry is £15 per person per day, £25 for a weekend ticket. Children up to and including the age of 13 free if accompanied by an adult. Camping will be £5 per pitch for one night or all of festival (which goes on both Friday and Saturday.) Friday's concert events are from 6.00pm to Midnight. There will be a fireworks display both nights. Advance tickets from: Virgin Megastore - Taunton, Strings 'n Things - Bridgwater, Somerset Tyre & Auto, The Cattle Market - Bath Road - Bridgwater, Taunton Library Or fill out the advance ticket order form on the website. FRI. JULY 19 - Oakhampton Festival (More info to come) ********** Subject: Re: Carl Wayne singing ELO songs Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 11:20:43 -0700 From: "Tyler C.Sherman" Exciting news! Can't wait for July! On the topic of unreleased stuff that may be forthcoming as it involves Jeff Lynne, I know there is in existence a considerable amount of material recorded by the "Looking On"-era Move for BBC broadcast. I recall many years ago seeing a BBC vinyl transcription disc of this material in a Goldmine auction list. I bid on it but lost. Any chance master tapes exist of these recordings and that they might eventually be released? And on the subject of unusual Carl Wayne lead vocals, there is also a version of "Hello Susie" with Carl singing lead that was done for the BBC. All this points to a potential treasure trove of unreleased stuff in BBC vaults. One can only hope the master tapes were not wiped out during routine BBC "housecleanings". Can anyone shed light on this? Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: Re: Carl Wayne singing ELO songs Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 22:10:31 -0700 From: Rob Caiger Tyler wrote: > ...I know there is in existence a considerable amount of material > recorded by the "Looking On"-era Move for BBC broadcast. Yes, there's an amount of material but it depends on what you define as considerable : ) At the moment, I'm grabbing anything I can gather and the long running trail through the various BBC archives is at last paying dividends. Any Move BBC collection will replace the original one that was released (some of which was sourced from the Black Country Rock bootleg) and will involve the band members, a small point constantly overlooked by those who own the rights to Move recordings pre-EMI. > Any chance master tapes exist of these recordings and that they might > eventually be released? All session and live recordings are wrapped up with our almost 3 year old renegotiation / arguement concerning Move catalogue. It progresses. We had a meeting earlier today with those that administer The Move 1966 - 1970, which was encouraging and there will be one more very soon to decide whether both sides are in agreement. We've got thirty years of neglect to overturn - not an easy task. > One can only hope the master tapes were not wiped out during routine > BBC "housecleanings". Can anyone shed light on this? What tapes / transcription discs / video / film the BBC have, had and admit to can change over the course of weeks, not years! Their appalling record in archiving during the late sixties and early seventies is well documented but recently, there have been some interesting changes which look very promising. The tape wiping policy instigated at the BBC during the period when they should have been archiving maybe the subject of a good book one day. As soon as the catalogue negotiations are complete, I'll be publishing a complete listing of which Move sessions have survived. All the best - Rob ********** Subject: Roy Wood article in April 13 Billboard Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 22:09:08 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins If you're collecting Roy Wood press, there's a nice piece in the April 13 issue of Billboard, just out. There's a color photo of Roy on the Table Of Contents page (4) with a teaser that reads, "Elusive cult figure Roy Wood is delving into the sounds of salsa." And then on page 48 there's a real nice piece written by Jim Bessman that talks a lot about Mega Dance Orqesta. I'll be posting the article to the Move list as soon as the next issue goes on sale. ********** Subject: Trevor Burton website Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 02:02:53 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins "What's Trevor Burton doing now?" you ask... It's all here on the official Trevor Burton website: http://i.am/trevor.burton On this site you'll find Trevor's Pedigree (?), Band Bios, Goodies for sale, and Trevor's guestbook (which he does read.) Below is the current Trevor Burton Band tour schedule, but you'll probably want to visit the Dynamic Gig Guide on the site as it's got much more info. Dynamic Gig Guide: http://trevor.burton.i.am/gigs.html Their new CD, "Blue Moons," is available via the Trevor Burton site. £10.00 at gigs, or £11.00 incl. p/p UK and Europe. Trevor's site does not accept credit card orders, but there are plans for the FTM Shop to carry the CD so fans worldwide will be able to get it. April Fri 12 The Old Mill - Northfield, Birmingham Mon 15 The Old Railway - Digbeth, Birmingham Thu 18 The Old Mill - Northfield, Birmingham Fri 19 Schofields - Great Barr, Birmingham Mon 22 The Old Railway - Digbeth, Birmingham Fri 26 The Old Mill - Northfield, Birmingham Mon 29 The Old Railway - Digbeth, Birmingham May Fri 3 The Old Mill - Northfield, Birmingham Sun 5 Fiddle and Bone - 4 Sheepcote Street, Birmingham Mon 6 The Old Railway - Digbeth, Birmingham Fri 10 The Old Mill - Northfield, Birmingham Mon 13 The Old Railway - Digbeth, Birmingham Fri 17 The Old Mill - Northfield, Birmingham Sat 18 Green Snooker Club - Wednesbury, West Midlands Mon 20 The Old Railway - Digbeth, Birmingham Fri 24 The Old Mill - Northfield, Birmingham Mon 27 The Old Railway - Digbeth, Birmingham It would be great if someone from the Move List would check out one of Trevor's shows and give us your review. ********** Subject: The Hollies on tour in the USA Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 11:11:23 -0700 From: Rick Cohen I just got a flyer from South Shore Music Circus, in Cohasset MA. http://www.musiccircus.com/ The Hollies are appearing on August 3rd. As far as I know, this is the first time that they have toured the US since the 80s. And this time around, Carl Wayne will be the lead singer! Tickets are already on sale 781-383-1400 or http://www.ticketmaster.com. - Rick (usually a lurker on this list) ********** Subject: Re: Village Voice Review Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 18:34:44 -0800 From: marmil >Weird Science >The Village Voice >Week of April 3 - 9, 2002 >by Robert Christgau Maybe an interview would have been nice, Bob... Marc ********** Subject: Re: Village Voice Review Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 22:08:34 -0700 From: BigLarry Marc writes: >Maybe an interview would have been nice, Bob... I have to agree. If anyone could have gotten an interview, it would be someone like Robert Christgau, with his long history. IF he was interested, that is. I have no idea of Christgau's personal tastes, but it could be that he was given the assignment to cover a gig (and that's what he covered, one gig). And I think his writing reflects it. His review does not engender a real feeling of excitement. Maybe it doesn't have to... I just wind up feeling he could have said more. Especially in the Village Voice! I mean, isn't this newspaper aimed at the musical/arty/bohemian folk of New York?? Larry Harris Dallas, TX ********** Subject: Carl Wayne interview on Radio WM last month Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 18:33:57 -0800 From: merrlynne Did any of you manage to record the Radio WM interview that Carl gave last month with Malcolm Boyden? I am after a copy please!!! If someone is willing to work a trade with me, I have plenty to offer! Please reply to me off-list thanks. ********** Subject: Re: Carl Wayne interview on Radio WM last month Date: Thu, 4 Apr 2002 18:36:00 -0800 From: Lynn Hoskins >Did any of you manage to record the Radio WM interview that Carl gave >last month with Malcolm Boyden? I am after a copy please!!! Hi Shaz, I doubt that anyone taped this. He didn't play music, or even talk about music. It was to promote an athletic charity event. ********** Subject: "Thunderbirds Theme" Date: Wed, 10 Apr 2002 23:33:05 -0700 From: "chris roberts" Leigh wrote: > Just so you know.... it is the theme tune to the Gerry & Sylvia > Anderson puppet TV series of the same name. It was original aired in > the 60's but is still being repeated on UK TV. (It was a successor to > 'Fireball XL5' and 'Stingray' and a predecessor to 'Captain Scarlet'. > > How sad am I? Not as 'sad' as me Leigh!! Not only can I add to your info by telling everyone that it was recorded by The Barry Gray Orchestra (as were most of the 'Anderson' Themes) but I actually own a rare copy of the original 45'. I also own a re-issued version which came out in the summer of 1981 and reached # 61 in the UK charts! I also have a 12" (no sniggering) of the same! I will be staggered if this theme can not be found for easy downloading by those interested in doing a small amount of surfing. I would suggest trying the following keywords for a start: ~ Gerry Anderson ~ Century 21 Productions ~ Supermarination ~ Barry Gray Orchestra ~ Thunderbirds Also, John DeSilva wrote: > I have a version of that song as done by the Shadows. Is that the > original version? No, the Barry Gray one is the original but the Shadows connection is interesting in its self (& this does get back 'on topic' in a minute, honest!). In one episode of 'Thunderbirds', Cliff Richard & The Shadows make an appearance on Tracey Island and are the only 'real life' characters to be featured in the entire series of the show (to those that don't know it's an action puppet show). Desperately trying to return to our 'topic' - the Shadows lead guitarist Hank B. Marvin was linked to the Move as a possible replacement for Ace (or was it Trevor?...) AND YOU THINK YOU'RE SAD Leigh !!!! :O) Chris (Cardiff, Wales, UK) ********** Subject: Re: "Thunderbirds Theme" Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 01:10:14 -0700 From: Joe Ramsey I have a version of this song by The Eliminators on a UK Instrumental compilation. Where does this version fit in? ********** Subject: Re: "Thunderbirds Theme" Date: Thu, 11 Apr 2002 11:20:10 -0700 From: "chris roberts" Joe wrote: > I have a version of this song by The Eliminators on a UK Instrumental > compilation. Where does this version fit in? I have no idea Joe. To be honest, I was surprised about the earlier mentioned Shadows version too. The theme is such an icon here in the UK and is so well known I'm surprised that there was any mileage in anyone doing a cover version. From the first rumble of the timpani it is instantly recognisable - Brilliant!! (or just nostalgic, I'm not sure). :oI I don't know the age of The Eliminators version but we can all probably remember the 60's - 70's fashion for producing 'sound alike' albums which presumably by-passed some performing rights payments to the original recording artists. The 'Top of the Pops' series was the best known in the UK (if only because they always featured a scantily dressed babe on the covers! - oh look, I was only in my teens then, it's the hormones you know..... ). I'm not so well informed as to know why this style of recording fell by the way side to be replaced by the now familiar 'By The Original Artists' compilations which are obviously preferable. Does anyone know what prompted the sea-change from the former style compilations to the latter ones we 'enjoy' today? I presume Roy has no control over the endless plundering of his old recordings for "Super Fab Wizzo Golden Glitter Best Of Chart Hits From The Good Old Days Of The 8th December 1973 At Half Past Three In The Afternoon - Volume 69" and the like. What royalties would he expect from say one self penned and performed track amongst an album of 20+ songs by others on such an un-original masterpiece? If he gets more than sixpence each time a track is used, he must be a rich man! Chris (Cardiff, Wales, UK) ********** Subject: Goldmine interview with Roy Wood (Part 7) Date: Fri, 12 Apr 2002 15:21:51 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins Roy Wood: The Wizzard of Rock Goldmine September 30, 1994 by Ken Sharp PART 7 Goldmine: At what point did you realize it was best for you to leave ELO and form Wizzard? Roy Wood: It's difficult to explain. We had a few problems within ELO, which I personally think were caused by the management. There was a lot of political stuff going on which caused myself and Jeff to have big differences of opinion about a lot of stuff. I swore that after playing in the early Move and going through all that stuff where we weren't speaking and not getting on very well, I didn't want to play in a band with that atmosphere anymore. I basically left ELO while we were still friends and before it went any further. Goldmine: Did you like ELO's music after you left the group? Roy Wood: Yeah, I did. It was different to what I would have done. I followed the band up until Jeff left, actually. I still followed what they were doing and bought their albums. Goldmine: Tell me about forming Wizzard. Roy Wood: I like a band with a lot of people, which is why I have that now. Wizzard, I think there was one day when I was playing on the second ELO album and I was playing bass on a song and something happened and we all had a bit of a difference of opinion so I walked out of the session. I knew that some friends of mine were playing at a studio down the road, Air Studios, which was Rick Price. He was in a band called Mongrel that was doing a session down there. I went down to visit them and said, "Would you be interested in getting a band together?" And they said yeah. So it all sort of went on from there. When people found out that I was getting a new band together they offered me (laughs) ... Our first gig ever was at Wembley Stadium. I accepted. Also on the bill was Little Richard, Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, Bill Haley. I mean, everyone who's anyone. It was a totally brilliant show to be on. I don't know why we were on it, to be perfectly honest. Of course, the rest of the guys in the band, the biggest gig that they had ever done was just local halls and that. Then to go to Wembley Stadium, it was real brown trousers time. It went over really well. The place was full of Hell's Angels and rockers and at least we didn't get any cans or bottles thrown at us. We went down really well. The two saxophone players in Wizzard had only joined a few days before so they were playing off the dots, reading the music. So it didn't look too obvious they put the music down on the stage and were playing off that. Of course, the wind sort of swept up and the music was flying around in mid air and they were trying to play off it. You had to be there. It was quite funny. Goldmine: Wizzard was a different band at times. You could be very commercial and then be very avant-garde and experimental. Was that your aim behind Wizzard, that the band could explore any musical style? Roy Wood: Yeah, I think so. I think I've always been a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde in that respect. I always feel that you should keep singles as commercial as possible so that the people can walk down the road and whistle a song. But on the other hand on albums I think you can afford to show people what you can do. Goldmine: Your singles with Wizzard took the Phil Spector Wall Of Sound another step. Was that your intention? Roy Wood: I wanted Wizzard, when we first started, to be a rock 'n' roll band because I didn't want to form another band like ELO because we would have always been in opposition to each other and people would have always been comparing the two. So that's why I consciously went for something different. When we first started the band we had two drummers, two saxophone players, two cellists and a rhythm section and I thought, what the hell can I do with this sound? I thought instantly of saxes and strings and whatever and I thought rock 'n' roll Spector, it's got to be Spector. What's what I based the first few songs on and then it branched out into other things after that. Goldmine: A lot of people described Wizzard as being like a traveling rock 'n' roll circus. Roy Wood: It was a bit, yeah. We had the roadies dressed as gorillas, that was pretty good (laughs). Goldmine: What are some of your favorite Wizzard hits? Roy Wood: Well, I think my favorite one of all was the Christmas song ("I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday") because I felt like I had succeeded in bringing a Disney image to sound, to a rock 'n' roll record, which is what I was after, and it worked really well. If you listen to that record now you can hear that we really were having fun doing it. Great fun, that record. Unfortunately, I found it difficult to get EMI to re-release it. It's played to death on the radio every year but it's not in the shops. They re-released it twice and it got in the Top 20 both times. Goldmine: Wizzard's Brew was perhaps your most experimental album. Roy Wood: It was probably a bit too experimental. I think the record company wanted us to get in the studio too soon. We should have had more experience on stage. Goldmine: How do you rate the Mustard album? Roy Wood: It was all right. In fact, I haven't heard it for years. I do know that I enjoyed doing that record. Goldmine: At what point did you record your solo album Boulders? Roy Wood: Actually, it was recorded in '69 and it was ready for release in 1970. The other members, mainly Jeff and Bev, didn't want it to be released because the Move were bringing out an album as well. They didn't want the two to clash so it had to wait and was put on the shelf. Goldmine: I love "Song Of Praise." It that you doing the kids' voices with a varispeed? Roy Wood: Yeah (laughs). Mister cheat of the year. Goldmine: Do you like Boulders? Roy Wood: By the time it was released, I was bored with it, to be honest. It felt really old to me...I wanted to do some new stuff then. Goldmine: Can you understand why people cite it as one of your best records? Roy Wood: No (laughs). Some of it's all right. Obviously, when you've completed something there's always something that you wish you changed. There was quite a lot on there that I would have wanted to change. I got it more right with Mustard, I think. Goldmine: Was it difficult maintaining your objectivity for an album like Boulders, where you wrote all the songs, played all the instruments and produced? Roy Wood: Yes, I suppose so. In retrospect it probably was difficult to be objective. Even though I was working on my own I had some good engineers. Alan Parsons did quite a lot of engineering on that and he's a really good guy to work with. You need to work with an engineer who's not afraid to say what he thinks. If it's a load of rubbish he should say that. You get more ideas that way. Goldmine: Were you happy with your front cover self-portrait on Boulders? Roy Wood: I didn't get a chance to finish it. Goldmine: The hair's finished. Roy Wood: (laughs) The rest of it is still in pencil. I didn't even get a chance to do it in ink (laughs). The photos inside were taken at Abbey Road Studios. Goldmine: You were asked to write songs for Elvis Presley, right? Roy Wood: Yeah, that's right. Elvis was with the same publishing company that I was with, called Carlin Music. I had a message come through a guy called Freddie Bienstock, who was the head of Carlin Music in London, and he had actually met up with Elvis and Elvis had heard some of my songs. I think I must have been in Wizzard at the time and he said, "Well, does he want to submit a couple of songs, is he interested?" I spoke to this guy about it and said, "Before I do I would really like to see him live onstage now, so I don't write another 'Hound Dog,'" which is something he didn't want. The stuff that I loved of Elvis was his early stuff. At the time Wizzard was working a lot and recording a lot and it was set up that I was supposed to go see him in Lake Tahoe and he became ill after that and that was the end of it, really. Goldmine: Did you ever write any songs for Elvis? Roy Wood: I had a load of ideas with him in mind. (To be continued...) ----- Coming up in Part 8: How "Eddy And The Falcons" came out as a rocker, the one and only American Wizzard tour, when Roy met Brian Wilson, working with John Bonham on "On The Road Again," Roy's obsession with cars ("Starting Up"), Helicopters, and the Wizzo Band. End of Useless Information #341 ******************************* [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.]