Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician, songwriter, and singer. He is widely-known for being the leader of English band The Move and Wizzard. Another characteristic of Wood is his wild stage makeup, featuring several colours and shapes within.
Early bands and years[]
Wood was born in 8 November 1946 on Kitts Green, a region of Birmingham in the West Midlands. Wood attended the Moseley School, though, got expelled in 1964. He initially played for The Falcons but joined Gerry Levene and The Avengers in 1963 and Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders in 1964.
Bands[]
The Move[]
In 1965, Christopher "Ace" Kefford and Trevor Burton formed a band after meeting David Bowie (then Davy Jones), who requested they form their own group. Wood, Carl Wayne, and Bev Bevan joined the group, thus completing the first lineup for The Move. Wood was appointed as songwriter despite never writing songs before.
They released their first single Night of Fear in 1966, which featured vocals from Burton, Kefford, Wayne, and Wood. The following year two singles released: I Can Hear The Grass Grow and Flowers In The Rain, which reached number 5 and 2 in the UK Singles Charts. Flowers In The Rain was the first song played in BBC Radio 1. Then the album Move is released in 1968, an album which contained 10 Wood-written songs and 9 songs with Wood in lead vocals (including joint lead). Kefford then left in 1968 and the band initially tried bringing Richard Tandy to replace him.
Around this time people thought Wood was on drugs due to his songwriting, which was debunked by Wood, claiming his music is actually based on tales he was told as a kid. 1968 sees three singles: Fire Brigade, Wild Tiger Woman, and Blackberry Way. Fire Brigade hit #3 in the UK Singles Charts and was a huge hit, but Wild Tiger Woman was a commercial failure and didn't chart due to the nature of the lyrics, at one point the band thinking about disbanding. All those thoughts would change with Blackberry Way, though, and hit the #1 spot in the charts, with Wood on lead vocals. Also, Burton, who had been Kefford's replacement on bass, was replaced by Rick Price.
They released a second album, Shazam, in early 1970. Wayne left shortly after the album's release due to Wood's increasing vocal role. He was replaced with another of Wood's friends, Jeff Lynne. The Move, by then, had started to crumble, with only two more albums in 1970 and 1971 respectively, Looking On, and Message From The Country.