Roy Wood

Involved in the UK music business for over four decades, Roy Wood has produced 20 hit singles in his various guises, but will always be remembered for one classic anthem, I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day. His first prominent band The Move became a major part of the 1960s UK rock scene with hits like Night Of Fear and Flowers In The Rain (the first record played on Radio 1 in 1967) before developing into a more psychedelic pop outfit as the era embraced flower power. Wood went on to form Electric Light Orchestra in 1970 with the intention of creating progressive pop music with orchestras and classical overtones but left a couple of years later to join Wizzard. Jamming out big, booming glam rock, they scored the UK Number 1 singles See My Baby Jive and Angel Fingers (A Teen Ballad) before their 1973 hit I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day became a festive institution, annually dragged out by DJs and played until the tinsel comes down. Solo success under the moniker Roy Wood's Helicopters failed to materialise, but he did go on to work with Bo Diddley, Phil Lynott and Rick Wakeman during the 1980s. Still sporting the trademark beard and big mass of unruly hair, he was latterly touring with Status Quo under the name Roy Wood's Rock'n'Roll Band.

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