"An English rock legend"
Jim Bessman - Billboard

Can anyone imagine what it must be like to look through the eyes of Roy Wood and see what he has seen over a rich and varied music career spanning 40 years? As a singer, songwriter, producer, engineer and multi-instrumentalist, he has looked on outstanding success as "the mastermind behind some of the most beguiling tunes of our time" (Time Out New York) with The Move, Electric Light Orchestra, Wizzard and as solo artist, yet his last original hit was over thirty years ago. Respected, admired and indeed worshipped by fellow songwriters, musicians, media and fans alike and a regular on our radios and TV screens every year with his classic 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday', that sobering statistic will still be the cause of wide eyed bafflement amongst many.

Back in 1977, two years after his final original hit 'Oh What A Shame' left the UK Top 20 and a succession of singles released either as Roy Wood or Wizzard failed to dent the charts, Roy himself commented: "I've written something like 30 hit songs, you know? It's not easy now to accept that I'm not a success anymore." Not the sort of you thing you expect to hear from someone recently described as "an English rock legend" by America's Billboard magazine. Add "management hassles that would give Henry Kissinger a coronary", as described at the time by journalist and long-time supporter Harry Doherty in Melody Maker and you begin to glimpse some of what Roy was going through at the time, prompting his statement.

Though some of the problems dogging Roy's career were born out of his own naivety and gentle nature, much was caused by a greedy business desperate for more and more hits despite recouping their investment on the singer-songwriter many times over. Things had got so out of control that at one point, Roy genuinely did not know to which record company he was contracted, having signed so many contracts as both Wizzard and as a solo artist. It was indeed a shame that during the period Roy was producing some of his most challenging, far-sighted yet still commercial work - and from which much of this collection is taken - he was besieged by management problems that took advantage of a hectic and punishing workload when it should have been nurturing his creativity while protecting him from the commercial considerations of the charts.

It was a wonder Roy was able see through the short-sightedness of others and be both prolific and creative, producing the brilliant but underrated solo album 'Mustard' and singles 'Are You Ready To Rock', 'Look Thru The Eyes Of A Fool', 'Indiana Rainbow' and 'Any Old Time Will Do'. Their absence from the charts was no reflection on quality and more to do with a lack of promotion and distribution, though it obviously added to the pressure felt by the singer. Punishing tours of America (from which a selection of rare live recordings are included) did not help and almost inevitably the stress took its toll on Roy's health, forcing the cancellation of concert tours and a retreat from music.

Preview extract from sleeve notes by Rob Caiger (ELO & Move archivist)