News Archive 2005

22 December 2005

The Roy Wood Rock & Roll Band...
Very first gig at The Frontier, Batley, 14 Dec 2005.
A full house saw Roy's first gig with his new band & were rockin' in the aisles & dancin' on the table (or was it under the table?)! Without giving too much away, it really is a fine line up with the 4 sax players really swingin' & very tight. Danny is the best keyboard player in Roy's band for years, with a true rock & roll piano style that seems to lift the whole band. Shell has now moved up front & takes more vocal responsibilities & of course, handles it perfectly whilst Roy Adams & Neil are as spot on as ever.
Roy has introduced new material & has reworked some of the older stuff absolutely brilliantly. Go & see 'em. You will not be disappointed!

Pictured below: the Batley Boys...and girl

10 December 2005

More Roy's Rumours...
Had another phone call from that bloke who started a rumour about his own new band! This time he's spreading tales about the line up!
Allegedly, the band is a ten piece unit entitled "Roy Wood Rock & Roll Band" including (to be announced in true Bonzo Dog stylee) "In the rhythm section, setting a swing on drums... Roy Adams & on bass... Neil Simpson, the one & only Shell Naylortwin on backing vocals, on piano "Ivory Dan" himself, Mr. Danny McCormack... and in the horn section, we have on alto saxophone, John "Boysey" Battrum and on tenors Messrs. James Russell and Paul Corry whilst bigging it up on baritone, Paul's bro', Jim Corry... that's nine people then... oh, and over there we have, on the phone, the one & only... Mr. Roy Wood!"
Well, that's quite a rumour as rumours go!
The bloke on the phone describes the sound as "hot, rockin' & swingin' " & the band as "the best musicians I've ever had!".
The Web Wizzards are highly impressed & a bit delirious with excitement! Woohoo!

And... there's more!
Roy will be appearing with his fab new band on The Jonathan Ross Show at 8pm on 22nd December (other guests include Ricky Gervais & Katie Melua with The Pogues (hmmm!). The following day at 5pm, our man & his band will be blowing the socks off the fabulous Paul O'Grady. So... what a start to a new phase in the amazing career of Woody. The top two chat shows in the UK fighting over him and more grand adventures on the cards for 2006.
Blimey! We'll have to go and have a nice sit down & a cup of tea now!

20 November 2005

Roy's Rumours Roy phoned to say that there's a rumour going round that, after 12 fantastic years, he has despatched The Army with love, thanks and an Honourable Discharge & gathered together a brand new band! The new band retains the services of Roy Adams on drums, Neil Simpson on bass & Shell Naylortwin on backing vocals. Added to this line up are keyboards plus four (that's 4!) amazing sax players (none of which are girls!). They will be performing Roy's songs both new and old at forthcoming gigs & possible Christmas TV shows. Please remember that this is only a rumour. When asked who started the rumour, the phone went quiet, then there was dodgy cough and a little chuckle...

More names, details & even photos to follow! If the rumour is true, of course...

Finally Getting The Message!
Wayhay! Message From The Country is finally being released on the EMI Harvest label. Beautifully remastered by Peter Mew at Abbey Road Studios, lovingly and artistically repackaged by 'someone' at EMI, with all the attendant singles and B sides plus 3 previously unreleased versions of session tracks and... the most important of all, Roy's sleeve notes!
The working project had previously included notes from Jeff and Bev... until yesterday when the Main Man sent his very own 'message' to the fax machine (the one in the corner just by the door) at EMI's design department, to cheers and applause from all present! The notes were rushed to the computer, dropped into the little space left hopefully in the lavishly illustrated 20 page CD booklet and whoosh - off it went to the printing press! Scheduled for release 5th September and well worth the wait.
Also ready for release on the same day - a sampler CD entitled Showdown, featuring tracks from the Harvest era of The Move, ELO, Wizzard and Roy's solo stuff.

Click on the images below for more details

7 August 2005

ST. PAUL'S GALLERY

Bev, Roy, Mike Sheridan and Rick Price with The Move and Shazam album artwork.

The St. Paul's Gallery launch of The Move album artwork turned into one of the most enjoyable Brummie events held in years. The event was dedicated to Carl Wayne and proceeds from the sale of The Move and Shazam album cover prints are being donated to Carl's chosen cancer charity.
Gallery directors Neil Robinson and Symon Bland were delighted with the outcome. Said Neil,
"Its fantastic! Everyone we invited has turned up and I can't believe we managed to gather together such legendary musicians. We were especially pleased to welcome Carl Wayne's wife Sue and his son, Jack."
Roy, Bev and Rick made it, along with Mike Sheridan and dozens of Birmingham's stars from the illustrious music scene. The fine array of guests also included Danny King, Dave Pritchard & Roger Spencer (Idle Race), Dave Morgan, Jim Onslow, Gerry Levine, Roger Bromley, Griff (original Roy Wood Big Band drummer), Keith Smart (original Wizzard drummer), soul diva Ruby Turner and actress Stephanie De Sykes. The gathering of old friends created the most wonderful atmosphere with much love and warmth extended in memory of Carl.
The event was covered by Radio WM who interviewed Roy and the whole party moved en masse to the nearby Jam House for an evening of entertainment from Bev's band. The set consisted mainly of Roy's Move era songs including
Flowers In The Rain, Fire Brigade, I Can Hear The Grass Grow, Brontosaurus, California Man, Blackberry Way, Night Of Fear and the live debut of a latter day Move number, Curly.

For more pic's click here

14 July 2005

THE MOVE IN PRINT (snappy title huh?)
St. Paul's Gallery in Birmingham has published a fine art limited edition print run of two Move album covers: 'Move,' and 'Shazam'. There are only 265 of each print in the world. The gallery produced them with Roy Wood and Bev Bevan in memory of Carl Wayne, with a portion of each sale going to Carl's cancer research charity.

The 'Move' cover was designed by Simon Posthuma (aka 'The Fool') and prints have been signed in pencil by Roy Wood, Bev Bevan, and Trevor Burton.

Prints of 'Shazam,' designed by Mike Sheridan (of The Nightriders), have been signed in pencil by Roy Wood, Bev Bevan, Rick Price, and Mike Sheridan.

The Gallery's official launch party for the Move art prints is 4th August at the gallery (address below). Roy Wood, Bev Bevan, Rick Price, and other Brumbeat celebs will be there from 5 - 7:30pm. The launch is open to the public. Then, it's over to the Jam House where Bev Bevan's Move (plus special guests!) is performing, for another more public "launch." The prints will be on display at the venue.

The sale of the prints is an ongoing procedure and the opportunity to buy is open for as long as the special limited run is available. However, don't hang around... 265 copies of each print will not last long.

To find out more about the Move prints, and to purchase online, visit the St. Paul's Gallery website The prints will be on permanent show at the gallery, open Tuesday through Saturday, 10am - 6pm

St. Paul's Gallery
94-108 Northwood Street
Birmingham
Tel: +44 (0)121 236 5800
Sales: http://www.stpaulsgallery.biz

Gallery: http://www.stpaulsgallery.com

The Jam House
No.1 St. Paul's Square
Jewellery Quarter
Birmingham
Tel: +44 (0)121-200 3030
http://www.thejamhouse.com

Roy To Guest With Bev Bevan Band

Roy will be the special guest with Bev's band in a concert performed for The Dougie Brown Benefit Ball on Saturday 12th February at The Hilton Birmingham Metropole Hotel. Roy will be leading the band on several Move songs.
Check out www.bevbevanband.com