[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 #330 February 20, 2002 In this issue: * Song Of The Week (week of 2/18): "The Minister" * New Roy Wood compilations - your input is needed! (cont.) * Open My Eyes (cont.) * Carl Wayne interview in Strange Days (translation pending) * Carl Wayne CD (Review) * How to get Carl's CD / FTM back issues * Tenuous connection to the Move * Goldmine interview with Roy Wood (Part 3) ============================================================== 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: Song Of The Week: "The Minister" Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 19:07:35 -0800 From: Lynn Hoskins Song Of The Week - February 18, 2002 "The Minister" from the album "Message From The Country" Ideas for discussion: Songwriting/lyrics Vocals Arrangement & instrumentation Overall production What/who is this song about? Strengths/weaknesses *********************** "The Minister" (J. Lynne) Played too hard and he died too young To be certain of earning his burnt out love He won a place in history And his name will live eternally Lived the life of a movie star And he waved to the people from a big black car Down in a book with the greatest names Was a lonely man growing tired of pain Tell me a story mister There ain't no time left to lose Ten men tried in the dead of night For the great man's final words to write In a room that was soft and red The great man spoke outside your head Tell me a story mister There ain't no time left to lose ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "The Minister" Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 13:04:42 -0800 From: John DeSilva One of my all time favorite Move tracks. I'm sure there are others out there who can interpret the lyrics much better than I can, so I'll concentrate on the music. According to the liner notes of the 'Split Ends' album, one would surmise that Roy plays the guitar riff - Richard Cromelin: "When you hear that vibrato-laden lead line you'll have no questions about why the guitar is rock 'n' roll's A-Number-One instrument, nor about the contention that Roy Wood is one of that instrument's worthiest exponents." The bass is equally outstanding, especially on the places where the bass matches the guitar riff. Is this Roy playing both parts? Is it Jeff playing the guitar and Roy playing the bass? Vice versa? I'm sure one of you know the answer ... Nevertheless this song is so powerful, especially toward the end where everyone is going balls out as if it were a race to the end of the song (Bev's drumming, while a bit buried in the mix, is [again] awesome). Finally, only the Move and Woody would be playing the oboe on the solo (another nod to the work being done simultaneously on "ELO"). Although the aforementioned Mr. Cromelin mentions that this song has "Shades of 'Paperback Writer'", I've always felt that the main riff compares better to a sped-up version of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)". In any event, this is one of the highest points on an album full of high points. JD San Jose, CA ********** Subject: Re: Song Of The Week: "The Minister" Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 13:04:51 -0800 From: "stephen mulcahy" like 90% of the stuff done by wood and lynne with the move- a great song, a favorite move tune of some of my friends. and of course the obligatory "it sounds like paperback writer" must be noted. it's hard to imagine jeff lynne not being aware of this similarity. it's too bad elo was created, i wish lynne and wood had stayed together as the move- i really think they'd have broke big in the u.s. by no later than , say, '74. i think the band was at its peak from 1970-72, the looking on lineup probably being its zenith... ********** Subject: Re: New Roy Wood compilations - your input is needed! Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 10:02:08 -0800 From: "Michael J. Cross" Hello Movers, I would like to see anything from Boulders. I really enjoyed the "She's Too Good for Me" instrumental demo, and would love to see that pop up somewhere again. How about the acoustic version of "10538 Overture" with Roy and Jeff that we were treated to on 4/20/01 at H2K? I also enjoy the quirky entirety of "Super Active Wizzo"...any tracks from that gem would be a surprise bonus for me. Oh, and how about "Me and You"? Are there any extant recordings of Roy performing any Todd Rundgren tunes live? I remember reading that Roy did either "Open My Eyes" (the Nazz) or "Hello It's Me" live, and Todd used that as pretext to cover Do Ya on a live album (with the added comment 'Touché'). That would be great to hear! Hey, if I'm gonna dream, I might as well dream big. Best to You All, Mike Cross Rochester, NY ********** Subject: Re: New Roy Wood compilations - your input is needed! Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 16:31:05 -0800 From: "Simon Ladd" Hello everyone! As a new boy to the list I'd just like to say how good it is to meet with like minded folk who enjoy Roy's and The Move's music. On the matter of suitable tracks for the definitive compilations, that's a difficult one. I've numerous shoddy and/or inconsequential CDs that purport to represent the 'Best' of both the Move and Roy yet most fail miserably. All I would ask is that whatever tracks are included they are remastered with the same loving care that was evident on the ELO First Light 2CD. (thanks Rob). The final track listing pales into insignificance if the quality isn't there! Just give us the Real McCoy and we'll buy it, and whatever the final track selection there will always be dissenters but that's called democracy! Simon W. Ladd Enfield Middlesex United Kingdom ********** Subject: Re: New Roy Wood compilations - your input is needed! Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2002 19:17:44 -0800 From: "Tyler C.Sherman" What is sorely needed is proper multi-disc box set, perhaps 4 CD's with a comprehensive booklet, which would cover Roy's entire career including hits, misses, unreleased tracks such as the 90s stuff we've heard portions of, and perhaps a bonus disc with alternate mixes, studio banter and the like. It could be done much like The Beach Boys box set, which was nicely done in this manner and included liberal doses of the unreleased "Smile" sessions. This would be for us die hard fans willing to shell out the major bucks for it. Then for the casual fan, it could subsequently be whittled down to a pair of single CD's, perhaps split between solo and group efforts, each with a smattering of rarities just to keep them interesting. Any comments? Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: Re: Open My Eyes Date: Sat, 16 Feb 2002 23:32:16 -0800 From: "Duncan Kimball" Just to add to the previous info - yes 'Open My Eyes' comes from the first Nazz LP from 1967, I think, maybe '68. I first came across the song on Lenny Kaye's original "Nuggets" collection - it was the opening track, and it fair blew my sox off. The Nazz albums were as scarce as hen's teeth in those days (ca. 1980) but of course its all on CD now. There's also a very groovy colour film clip for it, featuring Todd & co. gambolling in a field in suitably trippy style (although ironically Todd himself did not get into the psychotropics from some years after that -- not 'til well into the 70s I believe) I've yet to hear the Move version, although clearly Todd was aware of it, since he refers to it on the back cover of his 1975 Utopia album "Another Live", which contains a stonking cover of "Do Ya". Dunks in Oz ********** Subject: Re: Open My Eyes Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 08:44:13 -0800 From: "Tyler C.Sherman" Dunks, Hopefully we'll ALL get to hear The Move's version of "Eyes" very soon when the Fillmore show is finally released. If this show is half as good as the poor quality boot cassette suggests then we're all in for a real treat! Please hurry, whoever is in charge of negotiating that deal! Wizzards, Tyler ********** Subject: Carl Wayne interview in Strange Days Date: Sun, 17 Feb 2002 21:25:06 -0800 From: Toshiki Komeda PaulMDH wrote: >Is there anyone out there who can provide a translation of the sleeve notes? The sleeve notes were written by a Japanese music writer and a musician. Carl's career was reviewed, but no 'novel' information for us. >My Japanese isn't too good ;-) My English isn't too good. We have more interesting article in Japanese. Japanese music magazine, Strange Days, has a special articles about Birmingham Rock around 1970. Among them, 4 pages interview from Carl is very good. I cannot promise you to provide it fully translated, although I shall pick up some nice words from him. Later, Toshiki Komeda Kyoto, Japan ********** Subject: Carl Wayne CD (Review) Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 16:16:45 -0800 From: "Richard Pasquini" Just got my autographed Carl Wayne CD. That's the second Carl Wayne autograph I got. (It would be real nice to get Roy's autograph...but, we'll see) Anyway, I will give a quick review (or my humble opinion) of what I think of the Carl Wayne CD. This isn't the first time I heard it. I first heard it when it came out way back when. My friend purchased an import (Cause it wasn't released in the U.S.A.). Actually, he owned a record store...and he had a few copies for sale...and I had an oportunity to buy it way back when. But when I first heard it, I was disappointed and didn't buy it. It was around 1973, and my tastes were alot different. I was 21 and playing in a rock band (mostly we played English rock, lots of Kinks and Move) and the album wasn't to my tastes, so I past it up. I wanted to hear something more on The Move-ish side. But now I am 50 (51, next month) And, it still isn't to my taste...but, now I can appreciate it...as a matter of fact...I like it quite alot. The whole album is based on his voice...his vocal performance. And he gets an A+. His voice is incredible, simply superb. He definately has one of the greatest voices in Rock. Most of the voices I like (to my taste)...are like character voices. The likes of Ray Davies, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Roy Wood, Jeff Lynne, Ian Anderson, Bob Dylan, Steve Harley, Flo & Eddie, Bryan Ferry, Eric Burdon, Jack Bruce, Gary Brooker, Matthew Fisher, Keith Relf, Brian Eno, Colin Blumstone, Donovan, Syd Barrett, Robert Plant, Arthur Lee and even Jim Morrison..well anyway, you get the picture. But Carl's voice has a unique quality like all thoses guys...but, he also has an exceptional voice. HIS VOICE IS GREAT. That's what made the Move so special. Carl's voice...and The genius of Roy Wood, his songwriting and unexpected wierdness that he added, besides his musical abilities. They were a special band. This album has the VOICE, but lacks the rest. Carl is just a singer (and one of the best)...but he doesn't write songs, so the originality can not come from a musically fertile mind. (Like, take 'Boulders' for instance)..he must display it with his interpretation and vocal delivery...which he does just fine. But, again, what lacks in this album is the material. The voice is there...the same voice that's on "Shazam", and The Move's first album...but what we miss is the originality of the material...and the creativness of the material. The Voice, the delivery, the interpretation, is all there...(Am I trying to say that all he needs is Roy Wood???...kind of, but not exactly). Anyway, the stand out songs on this album (to me anyway) are the first two songs..."Sunday Kind Of Love"....and "I Heard The Voice Of Jesus" ..."Sunday", we get a taste of Carl's bluesy voice...superb... Like on "Don't Make My Baby Blue"...on "Voice Of Jesus" Carl's voice is at it's finest...absolutely unbelievable...to bad Carl couldn't have been on "Songs Of Praise". I also like "On Broadway"...cause it's a great classic song...and it is just great to hear Carl's voice singing it. I also, always liked the song "Spirit In The Sky"...but I am a little dissapointed with this arrangement...I think, that if they kept it closer to the original version...with those heavy fuzzy guitars...that it would have sounded very Move-ish....maybe that's why they changed it, I don't know. Otherwise, it's a very pleasant album...and because of that VOICE... is worth having...I also, kind of like "Rosanna", "Jubilee Cloud", "Magic Day"...alot of it is kind of B.J. Englebert Thomas Humperdink or whatever...but for what it is...I think that it's a great album. It doesn't sound anything like the Move, though...so, if that's what you want...stay away. But for the sake of Carl Wayne, one of Rock's greatest voices...GET IT...I can't see why any true Move fan would not want to own it. Now, that that's over with...How can I get an autograph from Roy Wood? and one more question for now...How can one get Rick Price's solo album "Talking To The Flowers" on CD?????....I only have it on vinyl...you see, I didn't pass that one up, way back when. Well, t hanks for listening...(Sorry, it really wasn't that short, was it?) .............B.J. ********** Subject: Re: Carl Wayne CD (Review) Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 16:58:13 -0800 From: "Jim Howell" Richard, your review of Carl's CD is right on; I would say almost exactly the same things you did, except that I did buy the vinyl version in the early 80s, I wasn't in a rock group, and I'm not 51 until the month after next. The whole focus of the CD is Carl's voice and the fantastic job that was done with the digital remastering makes it sound much better than the vinyl version. Dusty Springfield's voice comes out much better on the CD. I like most of your favourite rock voices but the one that Carl reminds me of most on this CD is Scott Walker. It was nice to get Carl's dedicated autograph. Like you, I want to know how to get Roy's now. ********** Subject: How to get Carl's CD / FTM back issues Date: Wed, 20 Feb 2002 16:18:05 -0800 From: Lynn Hoskins I'll answer several private e-mails with one on-list post... Carl's CD will soon be available via the FTM Shop. You'll be able to pay by credit card, PayPal, postal money order or check, so you should be able to get it no matter what country you're in. I'll let the list know when it's been added to the Shop. (Along with some other things...) And to answer another question, the FTM Shop has 5 back issues available. For instance... Issue 19 features Roy on the cover. He's on a motorcycle, surrounded by biker chicks. (Oh wait, that's his band. ;) It's got a 4-page piece on the Roy Wood Big Band including lots of photos. That's followed by an 8-page interview with Bev, done by Ken Sharp. It's all about the Move - he talks about everyone in the band, and there are quite a few photos. There's a review of "Great Move!" by John Van der Kiste, and several more pages featuring Roy. Issues 20 and 22 have lots of Roy and/or Move stuff as well. (The FTM Web site is at http://www.ftmusic.com) ********** Subject: Tenuous connection to the Move Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2002 21:59:47 -0800 From: Greg Weatherby An interesting fact that I forgot to mention on my earlier ponderings on the Acid Gallery was that Jeff Christie was the lead singer for the AG. He formed Christie out of the ashes of the Acid Gallery, and went on to world wide acclaim, fame and fortune, with "Yellow River", and made some noise with the follow up, "San Bernardino". For anyone interested what this lot looks like, I posted up a pic of the picture sleeve to the aforementioned SB. http://www.newwavesales.com/christie60.jpg ********** Subject: Goldmine interview with Roy Wood (Part 3) Date: Tue, 19 Feb 2002 13:04:57 -0800 From: Lynn Hoskins Roy Wood: The Wizzard of Rock Goldmine September 30, 1994 by Ken Sharp PART 3 Goldmine: The Move had quite an eclectic taste in cover songs, from "Stop! Get A Hold Of Myself!" to "California Girls." How did you come to cover those songs? Roy Wood: We used to get a lot of our ideas from a guy in Birmingham who's a singer called Danny King. In fact one of the guys that was in the Move, Trevor Burton, was in his band. Danny King was notorious for having the best record collection in Birmingham. Occasionally we used to go around to his house and say, "What unusual records have you got?" And he used to play us all this stuff. I think we got a lot of ideas from him. When we were doing songs like "Sounds Of Silence," this is when myself and Carl Wayne were having a few problems. He didn't want to sing my songs (laughs). So I let him choose songs that he'd like to sing and he came up with some of those. I didn't always agree with that because to me it sounded too cabaret. Goldmine: When you formed the Move did you have a good idea of the musical direction for the band? Roy Wood: Well, obviously I wanted it to sound as original as possible. I suppose the influences that we had were probably from the actual power point of view we wanted to be like the Who. Vocally we wanted to be like the Beach Boys, whatever was good at the time. Goldmine: How did the Move's weekly residency at the Marquee shape your sound? Roy Wood: At the time all the action was in London and we felt it was a big time thing to do and we tried our best when we did the Marquee and it did make us a better band. It hellped to get us a recording deal. Goldmine: How did Tony Secunda come to manage the band? Roy Wood: Tony Secunda got involved because the first gig we did was the Belfry in Birmingham and the guy that used to promote that he did quite a lot of gigs around. He knew Tony Secunda very well because Tony used to manage the Moody Blues before us. He rang him up one day to say "come along and watch the band and see what you think." He wanted to manage us straight away. He obviously had all the contacts. Goldmine: How long after getting involved with Secunda did you get signed to Deram Records? Roy Wood: I think we were probably playing live for about 12 months before we got a recording deal. Goldmine: It must have been an amazingly exciting time for you. Roy Wood: That's a difficult one. Even though we didn't actually record it as the Move I had already written a song called "Dear Elaine," which I subsequently put on the Boulders album. I thought at the time that was probably the best song I'd written. Goldmine: Didn't that song also win an award? Roy Wood: Yeah, I was quite pleased about that. Goldmine: "Night Of Fear" was the Move's first single and was quite innovative with the Tchaikovsky riff. Roy Wood: I've always been influenced by all music. My parents were classical music fans. They always had classical music on when I went 'round to the house. It was probably just in the back of my mind somewhere. I knew it was a Tchaikovsky riff and I thought, well, everybody knows it. Maybe if the record starts off with that we might be sort of halfway there (laughs). The song's all right, it was never my favorite song. If I could have chosen it I would have picked another song to be the single. I wanted to use "Disturbance" as the single because I thought that was probably more representative of the band. Goldmine: Did "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" present any problems with people thinking it was about drugs? Roy Wood: In those days the media were looking for things like that anyway. I think whatever we had recorded I think they would have tried to find a loophole somewhere. I think they had that sort of feeling about that and "Flowers In The Rain," really. But really, I got the ideas for the lyrics from those things that I had written at school. Goldmine: Did you know that Jellyfish covers "I Can Hear The Grass Grow in concert? Roy Wood: No, I didn't know that. The best thing I ever heard was in the '60s. I heard Jimi Hendrix play "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" after a rehearsal, and it was brilliant (laughs). Goldmine: That song really showcased the vocal ability of each band member. Roy Wood: That's the thing we'd been doing onstage ever since we started. When we did a lot of that Motown stuff there were four of us on the front line. When we started the evening we'd start from one end of the band and just go along. The lead singer would change all the time. That's the first time that I actually managed to put it into a record. Goldmine: "Flowers In The Rain" was very controversial due to the Harold Wilson postcard. Whose idea was it? Roy Wood: That was Tony Secunda (laughs). That's why we ended up breaking away from him. In fact, a friend of his had a postcard printed with Harold Wilson, who was the prime minister, on it. It was a libelous thing. He showed it around to a few people. In fact, Carl Wayne was the only person that saw it and he showed it to a lawyer who said, "Stay away from it." But when Secunda heard that he had the band's name printed at the bottom of this postcard. One of his friends posted one to No. 10 Downing Street (laughs) in the days you could get down there. The game was up, really. We had the big black limousine waiting for us after a gig. It was quite scary at the time. I was only 17. Goldmine: What actually was on the cover of the postcard? Roy Wood: It was a card that was sent out to press people and things. I can't say too much about it. It intimated that Harold Wilson was having an affair with his secretary, which everyone knew was the truth (laughs). Obviously, you can't put that sort of thing into print. You probably could get away with it now but not in those days, it was really libelous. We've never received a penny from it. I lost more than everybody else because I wrote it. Goldmine: What are your recollections of recording the first Move album with producer Denny Cordell? Roy Wood: Denny was a friend of Tony Secunda's and he was also involved with the publishing side of it. To be perfectly honest, I used to get on well with Denny but I never thought he was a very good producer. He relied very heavily on the engineer. I think we recorded the songs fairly quickly. Goldmine: Tell me about recording "Fire Brigade," a classic to this day. Roy Wood: Tony Secunda was always full of surprises. We'd played a gig in London and we went back to the hotel and Carl Wayne came up to me and said we've just been told that we're in the studio tomorrow and we've got to record a single, have you got one? (laughs). I said, "Well not on me. Not at the moment." He produced a bottle of scotch out of his pocket and gave me the key to one of the hotel rooms because in those days we used to double up. We used to share because we couldn't really afford single rooms in those days. It was the first time I ever had my own room in a hotel. He produced this key and a bottle of scotch and said, "Get on with it." (laughs) The other guys went out for a drink before the pubs closed. It must have been about 11 o'clock at night and I just wrote all the way through the night. Then at about 8:30 in the morning the band came in and I played it to them and they just sang along with it and said, "Great, let's go and do it." (laughs) They had to sort of hold me up to do the session. Goldmine: Does it stand up for you today? Roy Wood: Yeah. In actual fact I went through a stage where I didn't really want to play my old material because I'd been doing it for years and it gets on your nerves. Since having the new band I've rearranged some of the new stuff with the horns in mind and "Fire Brigade" is one of them and it works really well. Part of it is reggae. (To be continued...) ----- Coming up in Part 4: Careful with that ax Carl, "Walk On The Water," why Ace Kefford left the band, the band's Jekyll and Hyde personality, jammin' with Jimi, and the Move's lone U.S. tour. End of Useless Information #330 ******************************* [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.]