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Wizzard
Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of the Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra. ''The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits'' states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartney." They are most famous for their 1973 Christmas single " I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". History Beginnings Not long after the release of Electric Light Orchestra's first album, Wood found himself in political disagreements with the band's manager Don Arden. Following a difference of opinion during recording of the band's second album, '' ELO 2'', Wood walked out of the session, went down the road to a studio where the Birmingham group Mongrel (which included his former Move bandmate Rick Price, as well as drummers Charlie Grima and Keith Smart) were recording, and asked them if they would be interested in putting a band together. Wood left ELO, taking band members Bill Hunt (keyboards and french horn) and Hugh McDowell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roy Wood
Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. Wood formed the Move in 1965, and had hits including " Flowers in the Rain". While the Move were still together, Wood, along with his band colleagues Jeff Lynne and Bev Bevan, founded Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was later to gain major commercial success. After increasing tensions, Wood left ELO in 1972 and formed a new group, Wizzard, who had seven hits, including Wood's most regularly broadcast song, " I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day". As a songwriter, Wood contributed a number of hits to the repertoire of the Move, ELO and Wizzard. Altogether, he had more than 20 singles in the UK Singles Chart under various guises, including three UK No. 1 hits. Wood was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2017 as a member of Electric Light Orchestra. C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday", sometimes written as "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day", is a Christmas song recorded by English glam rock band Wizzard. It was first released in December 1973 and, as with most Wizzard songs, was written and produced by the band's frontman Roy Wood—formerly of The Move and a founding member of Electric Light Orchestra. Despite the song's strong, long-lasting popularity, it has reached no higher than number four on the UK singles chart, a position it occupied for four consecutive weeks from December 1973 to January 1974. The song was beaten to the 1973 Christmas Number 1 spot by Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody", which remained at the top of the charts for five weeks, from December 1973 to January 1974. Wood sings lead vocals. The original backing vocals for the single were by the Suedettes, augmented by the choir of Stockland Green School First Year but because the master tapes were lost, the 1981 version featuring pupils from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bill Hunt (musician)
Bill Hunt (born 23 May 1947) is an English multi-instrumentalist notable for playing for the Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard in the early 1970's. Early life Born in 23 May 1947 in Birmingham to a working class family of musicians, Hunt attended the Birmingham School of Music and Wingwood Brothers Comprehensive School learning instruments such as harpsichord, tuba, hunting horn, and piano alongside others, learning the last instrument at the age of 8. Career Early career Early in his career, Bill played electric organ and french horn in a quartet called "Hannibal", formed in 1969, which released a self-titled album in 1970. He joined Breakthru in 1969, replacing Geoff Garratley, and playing hammond organ and vocals. Electric Light Orchestra and The Move In 1970, Hunt joined the Electric Light Orchestra on horns and keyboards, joining Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne. He also played on a Beat-Club appearance for The Move, which was Wood and Lynne's other band. Around that p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Burney
Michael Burney (7 October 1938 – 13 November 2014) was an English jazz saxophonist, most notable for his tenure in Roy Wood's Wizzard. Early life Burney was born in the Great Barr area of Birmingham, and educated at Bromsgrove College of Further Education. Career Between 1968 and 1970, Burney was in Billy Fury's backing band. Following this, he was a member of Wizzard, playing on records such as "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". He also wrote its b-side, "Rob Roy's Nightmare (A Bit More H.A.)". More recently, he worked with the Million-Airs Big Band & Concert Orchestra and spent eight years with the Syd Lawrence Orchestra. He also worked on a joint project with other Wizzard members called The Old Horns Band. He had a residency at Miller & Carter in Sutton Coldfield. He died on 13 November 2014 at the age of 76. Session and live work Burney toured, accompanied and sessioned with Chaka Khan, The Beach Boys, Sammy Davis Jr., Petula Clark, Memphis Slim, Steve Winwood ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rick Price (bassist)
Richard Gordon Price (10 June 1944 – 17 May 2022) was an English bassist and singer who played with various Birmingham-based rock bands, most notably Sight and Sound, the Move (1969–1971), and Wizzard (1972–1975). Career He first picked up the guitar in 1957 for a school play at Colmers Farm Secondary School. He soon stopped playing the instrument, but saw interest in music again by 1960 when he realised that "girls liked boys in groups". His first band were the Cimarrons, who were inspired by the Shadows. He then moved on to the Sombreros, who later changed their name to Sight & Sound and moved in a more psychedelic direction. He began collaborating with Mike Sheridan (under his real name Michael Tyler) as a songwriting partnership. His influences in his earlier career in the 1950s included rock and roll artists such as Bill Haley, Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran, Buddy Holly, Cliff Richard and Lonnie Donegan. Price joined The Move in 1969, replacing Trevor Burton, stay ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hugh McDowell
Hugh Alexander McDowell (31 July 1953 – 6 November 2018) was an English cellist and member of the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and related acts. Career McDowell started playing the cello at the age of four-and-a-half; by the age of 10, he had won a scholarship to the Yehudi Menuhin School. Only one year later he made his first professional appearance in Benjamin Britten's ''The Turn of the Screw'', in which he sang. Later he attended Kingsway College of Further Education, the Royal College of Music and the Guildhall School of Music and Drama. He played with the London Youth Symphony Orchestra, the London Schools Symphony Orchestra, National Youth Orchestra and London Youth Chamber Orchestra, until he was persuaded by Wilf Gibson to join The Electric Light Orchestra. Electric Light Orchestra career McDowell performed with the first live line-up of ELO in 1972 while only 19 years old, but left with founding member Roy Wood and horn player/keyboardist Bill Hunt to perform ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Move
The Move were a British Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine Top 40, top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their career The Move were led by guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood. He wrote all the group's UK singles and, from 1968, also sang lead vocals on many songs. Initially, the band had four main vocalists (Wood, Carl Wayne, Trevor Burton, and Ace Kefford, Chris "Ace" Kefford) who divided the lead-vocal duties among themselves. The Move evolved from several mid-1960s Birmingham-based groups, including Carl Wayne & the Vikings, the Nightriders, and the Mayfair Set. Their name referred to the move various members of these bands made to form the group. Besides Wood, The Move's original five-piece line-up in 1965 was drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Ace Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne, and guitarist Trevor Burton. By 1972, The Move had been reduced ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jet Records
Jet Records was a British record label started by Don Arden in 1974, featuring musicians such as Lynsey de Paul, Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), Roy Wood, Gary Moore, Ozzy Osbourne, Alan Price, Adrian Gurvitz, Riot (band), Riot, Magnum (band), Magnum and Trickster. History The first release on the Jet Records label was the single "No, Honestly (song), No, Honestly" which was a UK top 10 for its singer and writer Lynsey de Paul in November 1974. It was followed by the de Paul album, ''Taste Me... Don't Waste Me''. De Paul wrote the second single on the Jet label, a song called "My One and Only (Bones song), My One and Only" recorded by the British female vocal group 'Bones'. The fourth single released on the label, "My Man and Me", was written and performed by de Paul and it was the second UK hit single released on Jet Records. De Paul released a second album entitled ''Love Bomb (Lynsey de Paul album), Love Bomb'', before leaving the label in 1976 after an acrimonious split ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electric Light Orchestra
The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood and drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop and classical arrangements with futuristic iconography. After Wood's departure in 1972, Lynne became the band's sole leader, arranging and producing every album while writing nearly all of their original material. During their first run from 1970 to 1986, Lynne and Bevan were the group's only consistent members. The group's name is a pun that references both electric light and "light orchestral music", a popular style featured in places such as the BBC Light Programme between the 1940s and 1960s. ELO was formed out of Lynne's and Wood's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical influences. It derived as an offshoot of Wood's previous band, the Move, of which Lynne and Bevan were also members. During the 1970s and 1980s, ELO released a string of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wizzo Band
Wizzo Band were an English jazz rock band formed by Roy Wood after Wizzard split in 1975, fulfilling his ambitions to create an ensemble that was more jazz-orientated than rock or pop. The line-up included former Wizzard and Move member Rick Price (pedal steel guitar), alongside Bob Wilson (trombone), Billy Paul (alto and baritone saxes), Paul Robbins (keyboards, backing vocals), Graham Gallery (bass), and Dave Donovan (drums). A lot of people had been doing jazz-rock stuff. There had been jazz musicians getting into the rock field, like Chick Corea and Stanley Clarke, but it's very rare that you find a band doing it the other way around a rock and roll band getting into jazz, and it's quite interesting. The rhythm section is very heavy, almost Zeppelinish, the horns are very jazzy and the songs are very commercial, so it makes for quite an interesting combination. : - Roy Wood, ''Melody Maker'', 3 September 1977 They played one show, broadcast live by BBC Television and BBC ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glam Rock
Glam rock is a style of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom in the early 1970s and was primarily defined by the flamboyant clothing, makeup, and hairstyles of its musicians, particularly platform shoes and glitter. Glam artists drew on diverse sources, ranging from bubblegum pop and 1950s rock and roll to cabaret, science fiction, and complex art rock.P. Auslander, ''Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music'' (Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2006), , pp. 57, 63, 87 and 141. The flamboyant clothing and visual styles of performers were often camp or androgynous, and have been described as playing with other gender roles. Glitter rock was a more extreme version of glam rock. The UK charts were inundated with glam rock acts from 1971 to 1975. The March 1971 appearance of T. Rex frontman Marc Bolan on the BBC's music show ''Top of the Pops''—performing " Hot Love"—wearing glitter and satins, is often cited as the beginning of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
