[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 #485 July 10, 2003 In this issue: * Song Of The Week (week of 6/30): "Ella James" * Wonder Stuff connection * Another "Mustard" review * Song Of The Week (week of 7/7): "Blackberry Way" * Multi-instrumentalist indeed! (NME interview) * Cult CD release * Twisted lyrics * Review: "Mustard" (cont.) * Move cover band (cont.) ============================================================== The contents of this digest are the copyright of The Move "Useless Information" Mailing List and may not be re-published or re-distributed elsewhere without permission and credit. 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 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: "Ella James" Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 13:49:07 -0700 From: "Tyler Sherman" One of my all time favorite Move tracks. Everything on it is superb. Roy's McCartney-esque melody & vocal, Bev's outstanding drumming, Jeff's piano fills & solo, Roy's rockin' oboe & crunchy guitar and, of course, the trademark thundering bass which I have always assumed was played by Roy. My only criticism is that it could have benefited from some background vocal harmonies. Would have made a great single A-side. In fact, it was covered by The Nashville Teens as an A-side but didn't chart. I'm willing to bet if it had been issued as a single by The Move here in the states it might have taken off. Can't wait to hear this one on the "MFTC" reissue. C'mon Roy, write them notes! Let's dispense with the foot dragging! Wizzards, Tyler PS. Great to be back, been off line & off list for about a month. Would appreciate being filled-in on any cool stuff I missed. Thank you, ta, thank you. ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Ella James" Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 23:33:15 -0700 From: Gmcorie This song could be about anything. Could it be about Rick. Where was he at the time? Was there any bad blood believe the guys? First thing is roy on the bass. get down. Great move song. It's Move all the way. louisiana george ********** Subject: Wonder Stuff connection Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 02:18:32 -0700 From: Toshiki Komeda My friend gave me a best album by The Wonder Stuff, If The Beatles Had Read Hunter. I didn't know much about them, but they were from Birmingham, and the leader of the band, Miles Hunt, is a nephew of Bill Hunt, who once produced the solo album by Miles Hunt. It was a surprise of me that Wilf Gibson played the violin on their songs from 1992. It was also interesting to find that they used the same sound effects (cash register) from I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday on Give Give Give Me More More More. Are there more stories? I would like to know. Toshiki Komeda Kyoto, Japan ********** Subject: Another "Mustard" review Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 01:36:27 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins This is a review of the "Mustard" reissue that came out in 2000. Record Collector reviewed it. (I pulled this from the list archives... Shawn Rush had scanned it and e-mailed it to me so I could transcribe it for the list.) By the way, why do people mistrust multi-instrumentalists? ROY WOOD Mustard ... Plus Edsel EDCD 625 (68:49) People always mistrust multi-instrumentalists, as Paul McCartney, Emitt Rhodes and Todd Rundgren could tell you. Or, for that matter, Roy Wood, whose remarkable range of talents was exposed on this, his second solo LP, back in 1975. In his typically eclectic way, he managed to pull together influences from hard rock to the wartime harmonies of the Andrew Sisters, besides rivalling Rundgren at his best with epics like "The Rain Came Down On Everything" and "Any Old Time Will Do." There's a Brian Wilson tribute ("Why Does A Pretty Girl Sing Those Sad Songs"), and the inevitable Spector soundalike ("Look Thru' The Eyes Of A Fool"), but not a hint of the deserved hit single. Fortunately, there are a couple of those in the 1975/1976 bonus tracks: "Oh What A Shame," complete with its bagpipes, and Wizzard's "Rattlesnake Shake" (sic), for some reason added to this Wood package rather than the band's own CD. It's all impressive stuff, with only the sheer diversity of Wood's skills to offer as an explanation for why he isn't regarded alongside McCartney as one of Britain's classic pop composers. - Peter Doggett / Record Collector ********** Subject: Re: Another "Mustard" review Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:17:13 -0700 From: kakman1 "People always mistrust multi-instrumentalists, as Paul McCartney, Emitt Rhodes and Todd Rundgren could tell you." Mistrust multi-instrumentalists? News to me. Must be a music critic thing. I thought You Sure Got It Now would make an ambitious single for the market in 1975. It's got a great toe tapping beat, nice shuffle boogie that segues into a great hard rock sound. Sorta like The Andrew Sisters meets Fabian meets Robert Plant/Led Zeppelin. Yet Queen (bless 'em, each and every one) gets to number one with "Bohemian Rhapsody". Imagine if Roy tried something like that. The record company would have turned white and the press darlings would have roasted Roy over an open fire. Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Song Of The Week: "Blackberry Way" Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 23:38:00 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins Song Of The Week: July 7, 2003 "Blackberry Way" 1969 Move single, #1 in the UK Possible discussion topics: Vocals Interpretation Instrumentation Arrangement/Production Strong or weak points *********************** "Blackberry Way" (R. Wood) Blackberry Way absolutely pouring down with rain It's a terrible day Up with the lark, silly girl I don't know what to say She was running away But now I'm standing on the corner Lost in the things that I said. What am I supposed to do now? CHORUS: Goodbye Blackberry Way I can't see you, I don't need you Goodbye Blackberry Way Sure to want me back another day Flowers in the park overgrowing but the trees are bare There's a memory there Boats on the lake, unattended now for all to drown I'm incredibly down Just like myself they are neglected Turn with my eyes to the wall What am I supposed to do now? CHORUS (repeat) Ooh-la, ooh-la, ooh, ahhhh Ooh-la, ooh-la, ooh, ahhhh Run for the train, look behind you for she may be there Said a thing in the air Blackberry Way, see the battlefield of careless sins Cast to the winds So full of emptiness without her Lost in the words that I said What am I supposed to do now? CHORUS (repeat) CHORUS (repeat) CHORUS (repeat) ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Blackberry Way" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 00:30:55 -0700 From: "Lynnette Cannell" Funnily enough, had this on in the car yesterday - and not to mention it being the ring tone on my phone, sad person that I am! I think that the words in verse two second line are "boats on a lake, unattended now, the laughter's drowned" Anyway, one of my favourite Roy songs, he writes beautiful ballads, and I can remember winning the fan club competition to draw the scene - boy, how I wish I still had that drawing, I can still see it now in my mind. I was not at all surprised that it made no 1. (the song, that is, not my drawing!!) But on some of the versions I have, (and no, Im not going to listen to them all to work out which ones,) I have noticed that the background melody seems reminiscent of the James Bond theme - funnily enough, couldnt hear it on the one I was listening to yesterday. My daughter, philistine that she is, however, refuses to see the beauty of this track, and refers to it as "that dirge".......sigh, my fault for bringing up a classical musician I guess! ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Blackberry Way" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 01:14:29 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins Lynnette said: >I have noticed that the background melody seems reminiscent of the James >Bond theme - Oh thanks a whole lot, Lynnette! Now I'll never be able to listen to this song the same again!! ;) Yep, I, too, hear the James Bond theme (the first four chords). Never heard it before. I guess Roy thought it was an idea worth expanding on as "Premium Bond Theme" came five years later, eh? Your philistine offspring isn't the only one to consider Blackberry Way to be "dirge." Trevor Burton classified it as "clown mode"..."a joke"..."comedy time." (Trevor, I think you're great, but you gotta know that Roy wore his clown suit all the way to the bank!) (Here's Trevor's interview w/Carl on Radio WM for anyone who hasn't read it: http://www.themoveonline.com/radiowm_trevor.html) Me, I love this song. It's a simple, beautiful pop tune that tells a sad story. I love the poignant imagery, especially "battlefield of careless sins" and "Lost in the things that I said." Roy's lyrics didn't always make sense, but these do. >"boats on a lake, unattended now, the laughter's drowned" Yes, I hear that now. Thank you! ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Blackberry Way" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:16:56 -0700 From: kakman1 Re: James Bond Theme I know what you mean by that, that little bit of Bond is played on the mellotron. It has been mentioned before that the 'oo-la, oo-la, oo-la, ooooo, aaah, aaahhh, aaahh' is lifted from a Harry Nilson song, the name of which escapes as of this moment. If I can be pardoned for a bit of sacrilege for a moment, every music columnist who praises this song always makes these Penny Lane/ Strawberry Fields allusions, which frankly , I've never ever heard. And it has been passed on and repeated ever since. I remember these same rock critics comparing The Stranglers "Golden Brown" to "Norwegian Wood" when it really is a little closer to a more hyperactive arrangement of "Greensleeves". Laziness and muddled thinking. I'm sorry but that just irks me. I can only explain their use of the Penny Laine/Strawberry Fields imagery to just plain laziness. Must have been spinning on their turntables at the time they were reviewing this single. There's a mellotron and a harpsichord and some great gloomy imagery set to a steady solid beat that the singer Tommy James (Mony Mony & Crimson And Clover fame) always likened to a German Marching Band (he said it, I didn't!). Blackberry Way does have borrowed elements from others (see above) but not The Beatles (who were never above nicking other people's ideas, BTW). Roy fashioned a great number that deserved to go to number one, but I always felt that homour should have happened to "Omnibus" which got relegated to B-side (no slur against Wild Tiger Woman, that's a really great loud lusty rock number, but obviously the powers that be didn't bother to promote the single and it never charted, thank you Tony Blackburn and the fine A&R at Regal Zonophone and the airheads at A&M). Circumstances being what they were, I don't think Roy had any choice but write the most outright pop song he could muster up. It would be fascinating to hear the demo that was recorded at Jeff Lynne parents' house in the middlle of the night on Jeff's sound on sound Bang and Olufsen tape deck, with Jeff and Jake smothering Roy's head with pillows while he was lying on the floor singing the vocal, so they wouldn't wake his parents who were in bed! Whew! (Any chance of that Rob?) Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Blackberry Way" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:46:53 -0700 From: "Lynnette Cannell" >If I can be pardoned for a bit of sacrilege for a moment, every music >columnist who praises this song always makes these Penny Lane/ >Strawberry Fields allusions, which frankly, I've never ever heard. The funny thing is, Kevin, that when my daughter heard it come on, whilst in the car yesterday, she also said "so what is this? The poor man's Strawberry Fields?" and I didnt even know she knew the Beatles song!! So she made the connection herself. Personally, like Lynne, I also love the lyrics - Roy often writes what sounds to me like complete nonsense. On the twisted lyrics theme, I have loads I cant work out - I often think that he just grabs for the next rhyming word he can. However, this one is touching and sad, you can really feel the desolation. Funnily enough, whilst listening to the cd (some sort of move hits compilation I just grabbed - I've got loads of different ones) I heard Wild Tiger Woman for the first time in ages - wow! What a brilliant rocking number. I still have a real love for Fire Brigade though - that one actually makes me have the same feelings as I did when I was fifteen - and I can see the video from TOTP playing in my head especially Roy widening his eyes at the camera for the line "My eyes have been a misty place since Saturday" although just WHERE he got that diamond decorated tabard that made him look like a playing card, I dont know!! Oops, sorry, getting into rambling mode... Lynnette ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Blackberry Way" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:17:26 -0700 From: "Tyler Sherman" This has been called the best Beatles song that the Beatles didn't write. Roy's admiration for Lennon/McCartney's songcraft really comes through on this one. Beautiful, lovelorn ballad, well crafted arrangement, wistful lyrics that actually make sense (a rarity for Roy!). The production is a bit muddy but that's forgivable. Many of Roy's recordings suffer from that but usually it doesn't detract from the brilliance of his work. Did Roy lift certain parts of other songs to create this little pop gem? Sure he did! But he put all together so well into a cohesive whole that it doesn't matter. It stands as one of Roy's best compositions and certainly deserved to be a #1 record....even if it did push Trevor Burton over the edge, causing him to quit The Move. Too bad for him, The Move's most creative/experimental period was yet to come. I wonder what direction their music would have taken if Trevor had gotten over his hissy fit and stayed with The Move? Perhaps some heavier, bluesier stuff, which is what Trevor wanted to do? If they had done that scheduled USA tour in February 1969 (cancelled due to Trevor's abrupt departure) I often wonder if they might have made a bigger impression here? "Things that make you go hmmm...." Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Blackberry Way" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 15:46:02 -0700 From: Richard Messum >It has been mentioned before that the 'oo-la, oo-la, >oo-la, ooooo, aaah, aaahhh, aaahh' is lifted from a Harry Nilson >song, the name of which escapes as of this moment. That was "Good old desk" from Nilsson's "Aerial Ballet" album (1968). I never fail to be impressed by the erudition of Kevin and Tyler, who are able to write at great length about each week's SOTW. Me, all i can say that this was the first Move song i ever heard, 'way back in 1969, and it was the beginning of a 33-year love affair with the band and its eccentric leader. All those influences and "borrowings" others have mentioned, Nilsson, James Bond, The Beatles (but Strawberry Fields / Penny Lane? surely not!) may well be there, but "Blackberry Way" is unlike anything else before or since. It is my favourite Move song, ever. ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Blackberry Way" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 17:38:06 -0700 From: Mike Gough Well, The Beatles influenced the entire pop world in the sixties. So, for Roy to create such a fine Beatles influenced pop classic is quite an accomplishment. This song is one of my favorite Roy compositions, and is probably my favorite pre-Shazam song of all. I only wish that here in the USA this song had gotten wider (wider! any at all!) airplay. It is sadly unknown to many here, just as much of Roy's wonderful songs are unknown to many here. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWW indeed. ********** Subject: Multi-instrumentalist indeed! (NME interview) Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 14:16:53 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins Back in '98 Terry Kroetsch sent me a xerox copy of a great NME interview with Roy Wood so I could transcribe it for the list. I'd almost forgotten that it's still up on the Web: http://www.eskimo.com/~noanswer/nme01.html The article is titled "Instrument Mania - A Case History" and it's quite a fun read. There's an accompanying photo that didn't scan half-badly (making it half-goodly.) Here's an excerpt: Roy: "I bought the sax towards the end of The Move days. Now I play tenor and baritone and a bit of soprano. I enjoy playing baritone, even though it's more difficult than the tenor -- I like the tone, especially in the upper register. "At first I didn't really take sax seriously, but I've suddenly developed a raving new interest since being involved with Wizzard -- because of the two sax players in the band." But guitar is still his main instrument? "I write most of my tunes on guitar. But when Wizzard first started I didn't play much lead. One reason was that with two drummers you needed an anchor to keep in time, so I played a lot of rhythm." But for the album he's currently engaged in making, he's back into guitar. "We've done a jazzy-type Hendrix, and a Django Reinhardt solo I am really pleased with. On stage I usually use a Stratocaster -- it's my favourite guitar. I also have a Gibson 335 which I prefer for blues but it's a bit awkward to leap about with." --- Judging by that last comment, the interview seems to have been done just prior to Wizzo. But I could be wrong. Enjoy! ********** Subject: Cult CD release Date: Tue, 1 Jul 2003 23:33:39 -0700 From: "Richard Kenworthy" Kevin wrote: >Rob should talk Roy into putting that to the test. Instead of an >album, how about three or four song CD. Simple packaging, no fancy >graphics, NO AUTOGRAPHS. Just a quick and easy release. >"Spektacular"b/w "Kiss Me Goodnight, Bodicea", "You And Me" and the >other number that he worked with Jeff about umpteen years ago. Make >it a legit release at an affordable price. Sell it at FTM for a >fiver. Make it available on iTunes on the Apple website, too. No >record company in the way, easy cash, satisfied customers. I second that motion let's go for it! No sleeve notes as they seem to be very labour intensive. By the way - Has any-one computed the number of CDs that were copied for list members of the BBC sessions using the Move list tree? It would be interesting to know the total. Perhaps Roy would be interested in knowing the total too. It might encourage him to release something else to the list and pick up some kind of royalty as well. Richard Lancaster UK ********** Subject: Twisted lyrics Date: Fri, 27 Jun 2003 16:45:22 -0700 From: "George Mackenzie" Since Mustard has been brought up a couple of times recently, I decided to give it a play and it is amazing what you hear when you have'nt played something for a long time (probally 3 years). As the song "Any old time will do" reaches into the first bridge (or is it the chorus, I could never tell) the lyrics are "now that I realise I've never seen 'Basil Brush' oh no". Well that what it sounds like, but has anyone else noticed any more twisted lyrics in any of Roy's other songs? ********** Subject: Re: Twisted lyrics Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 23:52:01 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins George Mackenzie wrote: >Since Mustard has been brought up a couple of times recently, I decided >to give it a play and it is amazing what you hear when you have'nt >played something for a long time (probally 3 years). As the song "Any >old time will do" reaches into the first bridge (or is it the chorus, I >could never tell) the lyrics are "now that I realise I've never seen >'Basil Brush' oh no". > >Well that what it sounds like, but has anyone else noticed any more >twisted lyrics in any of Roy's other songs? Oh dozens! As they come to mind, I'll post them. For instance... I was sitting here thoroughly enjoying my Roy Wood "Singles" CD when THAT LINE from "Brontosaurus" reared its ugly head. Well her sister used to hate it So I never thought she'd make it -->But she threw you all -->Supposing in a Spangle wrapper This can't be what he's really saying. (Can it??) Yes, I know that Spangles are wrapped candies. So there is such a thing as a Spangle wrapper. But why would she be "supposing" in a Spangle wrapper? I've tried to think "nasty" (as it's quite obvious that this song is about, um, sex) but still it makes no sense. Hopefully I'll have the opportunity to ask Roy about this sometime so I can live my life in peace. ********** Subject: Re: Twisted lyrics Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 00:10:35 -0700 From: "Lynnette Cannell" Lynn, is it not "posing in a spangled wrapper" - think of Klimt and his golden, pattern-rich ladies! ********** Subject: Re: Review: "Mustard" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 01:36:39 -0700 From: Neil Pickford >If anyone knows which publication Bob Edmands wrote/writes for, let >us know. I believe a Bob Edmonds (I think it was spelt) used to write for NME in the 1970s. Possibly also British magazine Cream - which was pretty damn good and once carried a superb write up about Wizzard and ELO concluding that, for once more equaled better (after the split). I firmly remember Roy on the cover of one NME surrounded by different instruments with a headline something like - "A Real rock-n-roll Jones" It was a reasonable article as well - don't suppose anyone's got a copy of it, have they? ********** Subject: Re: Review: "Mustard" Date: Mon, 7 Jul 2003 09:17:39 -0700 From: John DeSilva Neil Pickford wrote: >I believe a Bob Edmonds (I think it was spelt) used to write for NME >in the 1970s. Possibly also British magazine Cream - which was pretty >damn good and once carried a superb write up about Wizzard and ELO >concluding that, for once more equaled better (after the split). Neil: I believe the guy you're thinking of is Ben Edmonds. Editor of Creem, longtime contributor to Rolling Stone, and I believe currently works for Mojo. JD San Jose, CA ********** Subject: Re: Move cover band Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2003 13:48:43 -0700 From: kakman1 Tremelo7 wrote: >If you were going to start a Move (or a Roy Wood) cover/tribute band, >what would you call it?.........mike Oh, oh ... now you've done it. Here's twenty. 1) Fire Brigade, 2) Lightning Strikes, 3) Alice's Farm, 4) The Country Messengers, 5) The Californians, 6) Omnibus, 7) Stephanie Knows, 8) The Something Else, 9) The Lemon Tree Rounders, 10) After Hours Pie Stand, 11) Just Another Band On The Hill[JABOTH], 12) The Movers, 13) Ballpark Angels, 14) Sinners & Grinners, 15) Mustard's Brew, 16) Black Country Upstarts, 17) Yellow Rainbow, 18) The Rattlesnake Rollers, 19) Eddy's Rock, 20) Main Street. Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Re: Move cover band Date: Sun, 6 Jul 2003 18:51:33 -0700 From: Zabadak900 >Oh, oh ... now you've done it. Here's twenty. Alas, I still think the BEST name has already been taken: "The Shazam". R.K. End of Useless Information #485 ******************************* [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.]