Roy Wood

On This Day 06/10/1972 Electric Light Orchestra

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On this day, 6 October 1972, rock band the Electric Light Orchestra played Cardiff University to promote the bands first album

Formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters-multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and 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. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.

It was during this tour that Roy and Jeff began to not get along. The problems were initially caused because of the attention Roy was getting over Jeff, especially with the press. Although Electric Light Orchestra was a completely joint venture with the two songwriters/producers/musicians equally splitting the tasks on the first album and during the tour, Jeff's songs were featured even more than Roy's songs.

However, at the time, Roy was the much bigger star, having had big chart success as a songwriter and more with The Move. Jeff, on the other hand, had experienced no chart success with the Idle Race and little to no chart success as a songwriter when he joined The Move. So at press events and many of the tour performances, it was Roy who was getting all the attention, with very little left over for Jeff.

According to many sources, they nearly came to blows at times and would stand at the edge of the stage on performance nights and argue who should be the last to go on to the stage. There are specific reports of this in Italy, so that "getaway" leg of the tour did little to allay the problem. Roy claims, and probably accurately, that manager Don Arden fomented the rivalry, with the goal of getting one to leave the band and then he would have two bands with talented musicians to manage, rather than one band with two talented musicians.




On The Day 08/02/1968 The Move

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On this day, 8 February 1968, rock band The Move played Cardiff’s Sophia Gardens.

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.

The final line-up of 1972 was a trio of Wood, Bevan and Jeff Lynne, all of whom had for two years been working in the parallel project the Electric Light Orchestra.

The band were just about to release their first album Move in April.

The album features ten Roy Wood compositions, along with three covers which had been a prominent part of the group's live act.

Although scheduled for an earlier release, the album was delayed by the theft of the master tapes, which led to the tracks needing to be re-recorded.

The album was sporadically recorded between January 1967 and February 1968 at Advision, De Lane Lea and Olympic Studios in London, during gaps in their tight recording schedule when the group were not booked for any performances.

Highly anticipated, the album featured two previously released singles: "Flowers in the Rain" and "Fire Brigade", both of which reached the top five in the UK Singles Chart.

It was the only album by the Move to feature original bassist Chris "Ace" Kefford, who left the band shortly after the record was released in spring 1968, as well as being the only one to fully feature rhythm guitarist Trevor Burton, who left during the early sessions for their follow-up Shazam.

Move was also the only album by the Move to chart in the UK, reaching number fifteen on the charts during the early summer of that year.

Tour Setlist

It'll Be Me

(Jerry Lee Lewis cover)

Too Much in Love

(Denny Laine & His Electric String Band cover)

Flowers in the Rain

Fire Brigade

Stephanie Knows Who

(Love cover)

Somethin' Else

(Eddie Cochran cover)

So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star

(The Byrds cover)

The Price of Love

(The Everly Brothers cover)

Piece of My Heart

(Erma Franklin cover)

(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher

(Jackie Wilson cover)

Sunshine Help Me

(Spooky Tooth cover)

On this day 06/10/1972 Electric Light Orchestra

Images may be subject to copyright

Images may be subject to copyright

On this day, 6 October 1972, rock band the Electric Light Orchestra played Cardiff University.

Formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters-multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of Beatlesque pop, classical arrangements and futuristic iconography.

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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. For their initial tenure, Lynne, Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy were the group's only consistent members.