[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 #488 July 22, 2003 In this issue: * "Ace The Face" News * Song Of The Week (week of 7/14): "Ball Park Incident" * Roy vs Jeff - What Happened? * Jeff Lynne video clip (cont.) * Instrumentals * Blackberry Way (Beatles comparisons and lyric mystery) * "Grab a glam" ============================================================== 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: Ace the Face Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 19:14:49 -0700 From: Keith Fletcher I have just had Key Mail Order's latest list of new releases and it mentions Ace Kefford 1st lost album giving a release date of 29/09/2003. Is this firmed up yet Rob? I am also intrigued to know what the bonus tracks could be on a lost album which this is the first issue of? ********** Subject: "Ace The Face" News Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 19:16:15 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins That release date (29 September) has just been confirmed but the album hasn't been mixed yet. That should happen over the next two weeks. Rob met with Ace yesterday to go over songs and booklet artwork. The booklet will contain some very rare photos from Ace's personal collection. Rob sounded quite sad when he told me that all of Ace's memories from the last 30-odd years, from The Move, Carl Wayne & The Vikings, and The Ace Kefford Stand, can all fit in one shoebox... Ace will be co-producer for Ace The Face. They're using the tapes as found, there will be no over-dubbing. On some tracks, we'll hear just Ace and his guitar, as he feels that certain Take 1 performances are stronger than when the band joined in. On "Oh Girl," for instance, Ace was the only one playing in key...the rest of the band were too stoned! Rob is in the process of trying to track down the master tapes for The Ace Kefford Stand. "For Your Love" has been tracked across three countries. "William Chalker's Time Machine" by the Lemon Tree (written by Ace and produced by Trevor) will be on the album. Rob is searching for a good quality recording of The Move's version from one of their BBC sessions. Some cover ideas will go up on The Move Online soon. There will be pre-ordering for signed copies through the FTM Shop. In addition, Rob is discussing the idea of a vinyl single. Rob says that Ace looks well, stronger every day, and is very excited about this release. He hopes it will be well received because he'd like to record some new material. He hasn't felt confident enough to do so until now. ********** Subject: Re: "Ace The Face" News Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 01:18:58 -0700 From: kakman1 I'd like to get my nomination in early, Chris "Ace" Kefford for Comeback of The Year. Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Re: "Ace The Face" News Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 11:33:57 -0700 From: "Andrew Footman" Good news indeed, let's all hope Ace records some more in the future. ********** Subject: Song Of The Week: "Ball Park Incident" Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 18:46:59 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins Song Of The Week: July 14, 2003 "Ball Park Incident" First Wizzard single (1972) b/w The Carlsberg Special Possible discussion topics: Vocals Lyrics Interpretation Instrumentation Arrangement/Production Live performance Strong or weak points *********************** [Most of these lyrics are from the sheet music. Are they close?] "Ball Park Incident" (R. Wood) Well I'm sitting in the back porch On the northwest side of town Picturing last night way up in the city Where they shot my baby down CHORUS: She could be dying Oh, oh, no Well it can't much matter to you I found her lying Yea, yea, yea Near the ball park down at school The sheriff came up to question my brother I could have dropped down through the floor Before I could turn round he was running for cover Like a billy goat through the door CHORUS (repeat) (This verse isn't on the sheet music) Hold on baby I need your money Won't you bring yourself around You gotta help me, help me mama I gotta rid this crazy town CHORUS (repeat) The sheriff came up to question my brother I could have dropped down through the floor Before I could turn round he was running for cover Like a billy goat through the door CHORUS (repeat) Well I'm sitting in the back porch On the northwest side of town Picturing last night way up in the city Where they shot my baby down CHORUS (repeat) ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Ball Park Incident" Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 20:48:12 -0700 From: kakman1 Great piece of rock and roll pop pastiche. Why didn't this go to number one? Love the middle bit with the guitar break and then the sax. Listen to it on headphones or blast it on stereo speakers. There's so many layers to music. BTW, Lynne which sheet music do you have? Is it the blue one with the group photo around this tree? I must have original 'cos it does have middle verse, but Roy is singing, "I need you honey" not "I need your money". On first listen, it sounds like a great tossed off in one night pop song, like Fire Brigade, but closer listening, one hear's all the intricasies in the production and the arrangement. Can't wait to hear this remastered, stereo, 5.1 , SACD who cares, as long as it is done right. Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Ball Park Incident" Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 20:48:37 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins >...but Roy is singing, "I need you honey" not "I need your money". Ha! I thought for sure it was "I need your money," especially since the sheriff was nosing around and he needed help getting out of town. Who has time for love...bring money! Oh never mind... ;) ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Ball Park Incident" Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 20:48:22 -0700 From: "Lynnette Cannell" Blimey! So it WAS a billy goat after all!! Thanks for putting the lyrics up, Lynn. I have always loved this song, but been frustrated not to be able to make them out. I make no secret of the fact that over the years, much as I loved the Move, it has always been the music Roy did with Wizzard that I prefer. Guess Im just an old rockn'roller at heart! ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Ball Park Incident" Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 12:08:54 -0700 From: "Tyler Sherman" This first Wizzard single really shows Roy's desire to do something completely the opposite of what he was doing in ELO, which he obviously was having a problem with or he wouldn't have left. It is raw and raucous with sinister lyrical imagery, the antithesis of ELO's art-rock leanings. I have fond memories of getting ahold of this single when it finally came out here in the states on UA and playing it till the grooves started to go gray. A shame it never took off here...the curse begun with The Move continued with Wizzard. Again we have a difference of opinion about the lyrics. To my ears, I hear the following: Verse 2, line 2: "I should have dropped down to the floor" Verse 2, line 4: "I should really go thru the door" Verse 3 line 4: "I gotta rip this crazy town" Let the debate begin... Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Ball Park Incident" Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 02:54:40 -0700 From: "Andrew Footman" Wrong, i love all the debates on Roy's lyrics. You have to live in the Midlands to stand a chance of working them out. I may post them but i want to see if someone gets them all right first! ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Ball Park Incident" Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 19:10:11 -0700 From: Lisa Naysmith I've not heard BPI that many times coz Wizzard don't really rattle my tree, but... > Well I'm sitting in the "back porch" Really???????? Is it not just "ball park"? ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "Ball Park Incident" Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 13:42:38 -0700 From: "garybytheway" It's not very often that we get a Roy Wood / Wizzard song mentioned in the papers, but this classic track was mentioned in the "Daily Star" not so long ago as one of the top 10 singles that don't contain the title of the song in the lyrics. Has anybody counted how many times this occurs in our hero's catalogue of hits, not including the instrumentals! Best Wishes to all, Gary. ********** Subject: Re: Roy vs Jeff - What Happened? Date: Mon, 14 Jul 2003 20:48:30 -0700 From: Jeff R. Lonto Mike Gough wrote: >Could someone please shed some light on some truths concerning the >Roy Wood Jeff Lynne relationship/falling out? > >What was the big disagreement that led to the breakup? > >Have they seen or talked to each other over these ensuing years? > >Have they ever refered to each other or these matters in the press? I really have always wondered about these things. Especially during Jeff Lynne's Wilbury days. How nice it would have been to have Roy's input into that rock & Roll stew. I don't know what the current status of the relationship is, I am aware that Jeff and Bev Bevan speak "only through their lawyers." I do have in my radio collection a tape of the Flo & Eddie Show from KMET-FM in LA in 1974, where Flo & Eddie (Mark Volman and Howard Kaylan, formerly of the Turtles) reunite Jeff and Roy sometime after Roy's split from ELO and the formation of Wizzard, and they're quite friendly with each other there. Don't know if there's been a falling out since that time. ********** Subject: Re: Roy vs Jeff - What Happened? Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 12:08:49 -0700 From: "Tyler Sherman" Hi Mike, As far as I know, Roy & Jeff are friendly again. It is Jeff and Bev who have a problem now due to Bev's putting ELO Pt.2 on the road against Jeff's wishes. In fact, Bev asked Roy to come on board when he was looking for players and Roy declined, for obvious reasons. For Roy it was "Been there, done that" and, like I said, he & Jeff were friendly again and probably Roy didn't want to do anything to spoil the relationship again. In fact, they collaborated on some songs in the early 90's that, unfortunately for us , have never been released. Maybe they will appear on that proposed Woody CD box set we're all salivating for. The "feud" back then no doubt revolved around Roy leaving Jeff in a lurch when he abruptly quit ELO and took some key players with him. I'm glad they seem to have patched up their differences. Hopefully the same will happen with Jeff & Bev someday. Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: Re: Roy vs Jeff - What Happened? Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 12:09:06 -0700 From: "Andrew Footman" Roy and Jeff are fine, they have recorded some stuff together in the 90's. They also i believe have a natter on the phone to each other from time to time. ********** Subject: Re: Roy vs Jeff - What Happened? Date: Tue, 15 Jul 2003 19:10:18 -0700 From: Bob Hughes >I really have always wondered about these things. Especially during Jeff >Lynne's Wilbury days. How nice it would have been to have Roy's input >into that rock & Roll stew. I think George had enough trouble getting Jeff in there. ********** Subject: Re: Roy vs Jeff - What Happened? Date: Wed, 16 Jul 2003 02:54:52 -0700 From: Bob Coulter Bob Hughes wrote about the Wilburys: >I think George had enough trouble getting Jeff in there. No, my fellow Bob, George and Jeff were the two who started the Wilburys, and they picked the other three. Jeff in fact picked Roy for the Wilburys. Roy Orbison, that is. I think if Jeff had wanted to pick Roy Wood to join, that would have been like George picking McCartney. It would have been more like reforming an old band than starting a new one. "Get What You Want" by Roy and Jeff sounds very much like a Wilburys song to me, so Roy would probably have fit in if he had been asked to join. Bob Coulter Bobcaygeon, Ont. ********** Subject: Re: Jeff Lynne video clip Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 02:15:56 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins Mike F. posted this about a month ago: >There is a video clip of Jeff Lynne talking about writing "Living >Thing" here: > >http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/soldonsong/artandcraft/home/writingmusic.shtml > >He sings and plays guitar to demonstrate the songwriting process. >(This is more ELO than Move related but I'm sure some folks here will >be interested.) The clip itself is more ELO related, but if you read about it on the Face The Music website, you'll get some new Move related news as well. http://www.ftmusic.com Follow the "Here Is The News" link, and then click on "Jeff Lynne Interview." ********** Subject: Instrumentals Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:21:53 -0700 From: Gmcorie How d everyone I was sitting around the house listen to Eddy and The Falcons, when a bird flew up and kicked me in the back of me head. Then it came to me that it would be great if Roy would release a CD of all his instrumentals. I would buy in. Maybe for us list members or all his die hard fans. Just a thought. louisiana george ********** Subject: Re: Instrumentals Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 19:15:23 -0700 From: Keith Fletcher What a great idea, the 'Instrumental Roy Wood' ********** Subject: Blackberry Way (Beatles comparisons and lyric mystery) Date: Thu, 17 Jul 2003 15:42:38 -0700 From: "Martin Nielsen" Kevin K. wrote: (in digest #485) >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. Well, I suppose you could say that "Penny Lane" and "Blackberry Way" are both examples of some certain tendencies of 1967 British pop, such as a slightly swing-like beat, and the reliance on classic standard popular song writing traits from the first half of the century rather than rock'n'roll / blues-based chords and melody. They both combine a kind of "jauntiness" with an underlying melancholy. It doesn't have much in common with "Strawberry Fields...", I agree, and it's also true what you say about the "laziness and muddled thinking" of music columnists. What both Lynne and Wood has in common with Lennon/McCartney, however, to talk about it in musicologist / harmonic analysis terms, is the extended use of the minor subdominant chord, whích is what really makes the songs "ache". In "Blackberry Way" this chord is inserted in "all the right places", the most perfect moment probably being the minor subdominant C-m chord in the chorus (which is in G-major), following right after an A-m chord, which is the subdominant of the verse's E-m key. You could write a book about what goes on harmonically in this song - it truly is one of the great "popular song" constructions of the 20th century. As for the lyric, the best suggestion so far has definitely been Ken Greenwell's "... they're off to drown". It is DEFINITELY NOT "... the laughter's drowned", at least not on the standard studio version! Martin, Denmark ********** Subject: "Grab a glam" Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 00:21:03 -0700 From: Lynn Hoskins Roy must have known that Glam would be back - that's why he's kept his red and yellow extensions, no doubt. A fun piece about the glam era, with a great paragraph about Wizzard toward the end. ---- SEVENTIES STYLE: Grab a glam; Some people would prefer to write off the early seventies as a nadir in style and music. But, says Andrew Cowen, maybe its time to appreciate what the decade did for us Birmingham Post (UK) July 9, 2003 by Andrew Cowen The glam era was ace but we didn't know it at the time. Only in retrospect can it be seen in its gaudy glory. What began as a reaction against the po-faced pondering of the serious rock establishment quickly, and for a short time, consumed the UK, wrapping the charts in Bacofoil and glitter. [David Bowie as one of his glam rock alter egos] It's commonly referred to as the decade that taste forgot but slowly and by stealth, the glam rock seventies are coming round again. If you caught the Polyphonic Spree at Glastonbury or Birmingham's Carling Academy, you'll know what I mean. The 23 piece American band are pure seventies - a cross between Hair evangelism and New Seekers' I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing, but the Polyphonic Spree are just the thick end of a wedge that's trying to put a little stardust in your life. The glam era was ace but we didn't know it at the time. Only in retrospect can it be seen in its gaudy glory. What began as a reaction against the po-faced pondering of the serious rock establishment quickly, and for a short time, consumed the UK, wrapping the charts in Bacofoil and glitter. Never again has pop been so brash, vulgar and exhilarating. With its calling card primitive boo-bap boo-bap tribal tom tom beat and primitive power chords, the signature glam rock sound is instantly recognised, as individual as reggae and disco - the other potent forces in seventies music. Quite who started the glam explosion is open to debate. Some cite David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust, others blame Marc Bolan's Get It On. Slade were there at the beginning too but they were glam by default, more through the fashion than the music. Glam rock only got its name long after the phenomenon had abated. At the time it was known as teenybopper pop and was sniffed at by the serious rock bores. Like today's production line pop stars, glam was seen as second rate, risible and disposable. Essentially a reaction to the then current political climate, it can now be seen as the daddy of punk rock. Like punk, glam was a working class movement, an antidote to the grim and grimy days of three day weeks, power cuts and binmen strikes. The whole glam fashion which looks so dated now was a cathartic blast of escapism in a time when colour was a relatively new thing: colour TV was still in its infancy and the tie-dyed paisley of the previous decade had given way to a blue cloak of denim. The glam bands are a funny bunch. If you see Bowie, T Rex and Slade as the premier league - credible artists in their own right - then division one contains the ephemeral in the guise of Mud, Sweet, Suzi Quatro, Gary Glitter and the Rubettes. Below this was a whole raft of chancers who history has forgotten. Fortunately, an excellent compilation from RPM Records called Velvet Tinmine rescues some of these bands from obscurity. Iron Virgin, Hello, Arrows, Stavely Makepiece and a horde of other bands had the glam attitude screwed down tight but failed to attract an audience. The compilers of Velvet Tinmine see the common denominators as follows: Glammy sounding band names suggesting power or space or aggro. Love orientated or rocky, bovver sounding song titles Untamed rock moments, fresh melodies, plus killer period vocals Last but not least a bizarre image. To dismiss glam as a blip on rock's radar is to ignore many classic pop records. Slade had almost 40 hits in a 20 year career. For five of those years they were the singles band to beat. T Rex peaked quickly but at their height managed a marriage of rock, glam and whiffy hippy philosophy that still sounds fresh. And in Marc Bolan they had glam's ultimate poster boy, all cascading perm and cheeky grin. Sweet, the ultimate example of the hod-carriers in Bacofoil wing of glam still sound gloriously weird: Blockbuster, Hell Raiser and Ballroom Blitz are probably the greatest three-piece in glam's chart assault. Wizzard, led by local boy Roy Wood, were glam more through their fashion than their music. With a Phil Spector obsession and a large dose of oldtime rock'n'roll, they still managed to brighten up the decade. Their Top of the Pops slots were masterful, the best being all the band dressed as the hairy Wood and skating around to their ace Xmas hit I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. Unlike rock, glam was definitely a singles thing. Only Bowie and, to a lesser extent, T Rex making the leap into the lucrative albums market. Young cinema audiences proved susceptible to glam's charms though with films by Slade (Flame), Gary Glitter (Remember Me this Way) and David Essex (Stardust) all making a decent job of projecting on the big screen. Being a defiantly British and essentially ephemeral phenomena, glam rock was never going to last. Its core audience grew up and moved on. Punk's scorched earth policy was kind to glam but killed it all the same. Its influence has never really gone away and has popped up explicitly over the intervening years. The Human League, Duran Duran's Wild Boys, Depeche Mode and a new generation of so-called electroclash artists have all drawn inspiration from the glam racket. But while imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, nothing has come close to the original stars and their legacy to capturing the spirit of that peculiar age. [Illustration] Caption: Clockwise from top left, Wizzard, Marc Bolan, David Bowie, Mud, Brian Connolly from The Sweet and Gene Simmons from Kiss © 2003 Birmingham Post and Mail Ltd. ********** Subject: Re: "Grab a glam" Date: Fri, 18 Jul 2003 19:14:57 -0700 From: Zabadak900 (Rick) Though "guilty" by reason of being a contemporary, i'd hardly have thought KISS a glam band. Might early MC-5 be proto-glam? Can someone out there gimme an "oy vey"? Alas, the article omitted my personal fave..... Alvin Stardust!!!!!!!! ********** Subject: Re: "Grab a glam" Date: Sat, 19 Jul 2003 01:18:35 -0700 From: kakman1 >Though "guilty" by reason of being a contemporary, i'd hardly have >thought KISS a glam band. KISS did get lumped with glam for about five minutes, then graduated to cartoon rock. Of course, so did Elton John Band and Queen. Lest someone think I just took a knock at these bands, may I remind you that aforementioned bands' music still gets played incessantly on hit contemporary, modern rock and classic/oldies radio, used as adverts on TV and radio, and as the basis for current or upcoming Broadway and West End musicals. So I believe "the clowns" are laughing all the way to the bank. Kevin Kunreuther Dallas TX End of Useless Information #488 ******************************* [This digest is the copyright of the Move "Useless Information" Mailing List. 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