Roy Wood makes the RRHOF!!!!

The RRHOF inductees were announced today, and ELO was among them. And even though he didn't stick around long, Roy Wood is included in the inductees as a founder of the band.

So that more than makes this year's induction worthwhile, in my book. Roy Wood!!!!!

Some other people who I have varying degrees of interest in also got inducted, but I don't care. All I wanted was for Roy Wood to be officially enshrined in an institution where most voting members probably have no clue who he is or why he's so motherfucking awesome.

> Some other people who I have varying degrees of interest in also got inducted, but I don't
> care. All I wanted was for Roy Wood to be officially enshrined in an institution where most
> voting members probably have no clue who he is or why he's so motherfucking awesome.

Heck, most ELO fans probably don't know who Roy Wood is!

ELO's induction will involve only four members: Wood, Lynne, drummer Bev Bevan and keyboardist Richard Tandy. No mention of bassist Kelly Groucutt or any of the string players. (I certainly remember thsoe guys being vital to the show, when I saw ELO on the Out of the Blue tour.) Wonder what guided that selection of individuals to be honored. Then again, most ELO fans probably couldn't name those guys either.

My views on at least one group of those "other people" are well-known. I'll leave it at that.

Who makes the decision about which members get in? Weren't there like 15 members of Parliament-Funkadelic that got in? I'm sure many of them had less tenure in that band than Groucutt did in ELO.

Guitarist Josh Klinghoffer was inducted as a member of The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and he'd been with the band for about three years. (This made Klinghoffer, at 32, the youngest RRHoF inductee to date. It's who you know.)

Other MIAs from the latest slate of inductees ...

From Pearl Jam: previous drummers Matt Chamberlain, Dave Abbruzzese and Jack Irons. (This would've made Irons a two-time inductee.)

From Yes: several musicians, including Patrick Moraz, Peter Banks, Trevor Horn, Geoff Downes, and indeed, any musician who joined the band after the album 90125.

From Journey: original singer Robert Fleischman, post-Perry vocalist Steve Augeri, current drummer Deen Castronovo and current singer Arnel Pineda.

That last one suggests that those musicians have/had more of a hired arrangement with Journey than a full partnership. Though the Hall's never addressed it, I think that's why the induction of Kiss was limited to the four original members. Everyone whom Gene and Paul has brought on board since 1980 has been a hired hand -- including Peter Criss and Ace Frehley, when those two both came back for the reunion in the '90s. Most of the other musicians have put in more years with Kiss than Peter or Ace did, but without full proprietary interest in the band.

I never cared a whit for ELO, and know next to nuthin' about Mr. Wood. From Wizzard, right? The guys who did the Xmas song? That's all I got. So hip me to Roy Wood, daddy. What should I know about/listen to by this cat?



Post Edited (12-21-16 16:18)

>>I never cared a whit for ELO, and know next to nuthin' about Mr. Wood. From Wizzard, right? The guys who did the Xmas song? That's all I got. So hip me to Roy Wood, daddy. What should I know about/listen to by this cat?<<

Try the recordings of The Move, featuring a pre-ELO Roy Wood (as well as Bev and that Lynne guy).

Yep, The Move is where Wood's greatness is most concentrated - one of the best mid-late sixties UK psychedelic pop bands. They're revered by everyone from Cheap Trick to The Fall. I know they had a few hits in England, but not sure how many. Never made any impact on this side of the Atlantic - maybe they were the prototypical great UK band that just didn't translate to the US at all.

Once Jeff Lynne joined The Move (having previously been in the Idle Race, another great UK Nuggets type band but nowhere near as good as The Move), the band morphed into ELO. Wood was only in the band for the first album, then split to form Wizzard.

Wood's solo album Boulders is maybe THE great overlooked album of the 70s. People either think it's a five-star masterpiece, or they've never heard it. It was entirely self-recorded and produced, with Wood playing every instrument from drums to bagpipes to banjo, and playing them all well.

He was married (or maybe just engaged) to Annie Haslam from Renaissance for several years.

Well since they are never going to induct The Move into the RNR HOF this is as close as I am going to get so I'll take it.

McFab, here is the deal with The Move. They started as a Who inspired Pop Art band in London in 1966 similar to The Creation. They quickly developed their own style centered around the songwriting genius of Roy Wood. Their sound starts with The Beatles "I am the Walrus" or "Strawberry Fields" and adds in elements of Love, Moby Grape, Spooky Tooth and The Byrds. If any of that sounds appealing then dive in. The 1969 album "Shazam" is their most consistent album but it is all good, especially their non-LP singles run from 1967-1970.

Here is a 30 minute concert that aired on the BBC in 1969 that will give you a good flavor of the band:

[www.youtube.com]

Their original lead singer, Carl Wayne, left in 1970 and Jeff Lynn joined and they developed a more hard rock sound. ELO was supposed to co-exist alongside of The Move and Roy Wood and Jeff Lynn share the songwriting on ELO's first album. Roy Wood then left that band to do his own thing with Wizzard which was much more inspired by the Glam Rock in 1970s England.

Roy Wood's two 70s solo albums "Boulders" and "Mustard" are also excellent and are much more quieter affairs than the Wizzard stuff which I must admit I have never ever been able to get into. Wizzard always seemed to gimmicky and unsubstantial (and not in a good way).

Heh, this makes Jeff Lynne the final Wilbury to be inducted.

I just read that Abbruzzese is pissed off about his non-inclusion due to 275+ live shows and "38%" of their record revenue. He referred to it as the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fucktardia.



Post Edited (12-21-16 17:39)

> Who makes the decision about which members get in?

From what I've read, both the Hall itself and the band that's being inducted will get involved in that decision. In Pearl Jam's case, the other band members chose not to extend the honor to Irons or Abbruzzese. No comment from Irons on his exclusion.

Matt Chamberlain, PJ's first drummer, left to join Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, before PJ signed its Epic contract. I guess it seemed like a good move at the time.

Apparently Marc Bolan was in ELO for a day. He recorded some demos with them for the On the Third Day album and performed one show with them.

Too bad they didn't include him amongst the inductees. It'll probably be the only way he would ever get in, unless there's an influx of UK voters someday.