(Credits: Far Out / AVRO / Netherlands Institute for Sound and Vision)
Mon 9 March 2026 16:00, UK
While he hasn’t stood the test of time as many of his glam rock peers, Roy Wood was the face of 1970s rock in the UK’s Top of the Pops land.
Whether you like it or not, you’ll be subjected to one bona fide hit every wintertime once the fake snow and tinsel adorn your local Tesco Express, the annual tradition of Wood’s Wizzard bunch blasting ‘I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday’ like a jingle-belled whirlwind against Slade’s unkillable ‘Merry Xmas Everybody’ festive pummeller.
Even his most committed fans would confess that Wood sits somewhere in the middle of glam’s spectrum between sophisticated and silly. On one end was Ziggy Stardust’s exotic, alien allure or Roxy Music’s retro-futurist shimmer, on the other, Mud and The Sweet’s dreary camp larkabout.
Wizzard sat in touching distance of both sides, possessing wild hair and silver star make-up that looked like Wood had raided the fancy-dress box last-minute before his Top of the Pops mime.
The fact was, glam was only the latest chapter of Wood’s brief but prolific career in pop. At just 17 years old, he formed Birmingham band The Move in 1965 after jumping around various local groups, captaining the psychedelic beat outfit as lead guitarist and principal songwriter with Carl Wayne on vocals. At such a young age, Wood was displaying seriously ambitious popcraft, slathering their numbers with hefty layers of orchestral washes and string arrangements.
Sharing bills with The Jimi Hendrix Experience – Wood and fellow Move member Trevor Burton singing backing vocals on Axis: Bold as Love’s You Got Me Floatin’ – The Move would enjoy a string of hits during their initial tenure, ‘Night of Fear’, ‘I Can Hear the Grass Grow’, and ‘Fire Brigade’ all breaking the UK Top five, and 1968’s ‘Blackberry Way’ topping the charts. Soon enough, one Jeff Lynne would be invited into the band’s fold for 1970’s Looking On, sowing the seeds for the pair’s next rock venture.
Big orchestral dollops and sci-fi sheen would animate Lynne and Wood’s Electric Light Orchestra. Launched while the duo were still in The Move, along with Bev Bevan, ELO would grow as one of the defining British bands of the decade after Wood’s departure, but he’d lend an instrumental hand on shaping 1971’s eponymous debut LP, writing and singing on half the record and co-pioneering their ‘baroque-and-roll’ bluster.
Wood could already sense the glitter in the air. Leaving ELO after their first album, Wood kickstarted the Wizzard’s glam-stomp theatre, aping his beloved Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound technique for a whirlwind pop sound replete with multiple cellos and percussion. Both ‘See My Baby Jive’ and ‘Angel Fingers’ would see Wizzard top the UK Singles Charts.
After the glam party died a death, all went a little quiet for Wood, maintaining a fairly low profile, trying his hand at experimental music and jazz, as well as enjoying the tidy revenues his Christmas monster generates every year. Wood can rest on his laurels, however, boasting an impressive 15 Top Ten hits with The Move and Wizzard before even turning 30.