In The 1970s Wizzard

The ex-member of the sixties group The Move was Roy Wood who went on to form one of the most popular glam groups of the 1970s. Wizzard was formed by some members of ELO and the Move, and was inspired by writing disagreements between Roy and the ELO’s Jeff Lynne.

Roy Wood was born in Birmingham in 1946 and in the 1970s even wrote a song for the UK entry to the Eurovision Song Contest, but the song came last in the national selection process. Roy went out on the road with Wizard playing at Wembley area no less; Roy had a solo hit called Dear Elaine in 1973 which reached No. 18 in the UK. A slower song called Forever was released afterwards and got to No. 8.

70s Music Christmas 1973

The 70s music Christmas charts were so important in the 1970s, with not only the prestige of getting a Christmas hit, but a NUMBER One Christmas hit was the icing on the cake, the Christmas Cake.

During this 70s music Christmas Season we look at the music of Christmas Day 1971 and highlight those Christmas records to stir the memory of the 70s music.

Having to use a bit of editorial control here to decide what was a Christmas hit, so if it does not match your criteria, apologies.

This chart comes from the 22nd December 1973.

No.4
Wizzard and I wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday

Roy Wood from the 1960s group The Move , was the glam rock front man of this Christmas Classic record, a long way from his time with the ELO too.
The song was in a battle with Slade to see who would get to the highest position of that year, and this then became the start of the battle for No.1 at Christmas. Wizzard lost the battle, but this record remains a huge favourite at festive time for British audiences.

Wizzard were not alone , as they were joined on this record by by backing group called The Suedettes and The Stockland Green Bilateral School (First Year), and it works well, just listen.

 

The record that got to No.1 is the daddy of them all really, it is played EVERY year and heralds Christmas time in the UK.

 Slade and Merry Xmas Everybody

More Glam rock now with the fun group Slade from Wolverhampton, who in the 70s were the original FUN band that it was great to like, despite being eight or eighty, they were led by Noddy Holder, who's pension is huge because of this record.

The single was written by Noddy and another band member Jim Lea, and was loosely based on some old writings from many years before they originally discarded.

In The 1970s Wizzard

In the 1960s Roy was in The Move before creating this fun glam rock group in the 1970s. Before Wizzard he was a key member of ELO, but he and Jeff Lynne fell out too many times.Roy Wood was born in Birmingham in 1946 and in 1972 Wizzard made their first live debut at Wembley Area.

He had a very famous girlfriend at the time called Aneshya Brough who fronted a TV pop show called Lift Off which Roy would often appear on. But the groups appearances on Top Of The Pops were the most remembered.

The groups first big hit was in 1972 with Ball Park Incident getting as high as No. 6 in that year.

It was 1973 when the group became a massive pop band with the  No. 1 See My Baby Jive written and produced by Roy and even more important it inspired Abba the next year to write the song Waterloo.

If one No. 1 was fantastic and second was even better. The very next single also got to No.1 and that was Angel Fingers A Teen Ballad with backing vocals from the Bleach boys and the Sudettes.

But two No.1 were followed by a single that would be part of the British Christmas for decades to come. A single that did not make No.1 in 1973, but was such a powerful hit that it has been released dozens of times since and most British will sing this once a year over the Christmas dinner. 

I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday is that song.

Moving on to 1974 the group managed another top ten hit with Rock N Roll Winter and then the next single only managed to get to No.34. The Wizzard was not showing the magic now. The last hit in the top twenty in the 1970s was Are You Ready To Rock.

The band went on tours in the U.S. and the UK but the costs mounted and the band members left one by one.

Roy Wood went on to manage and produce the group Darts in 1976.