Career Crossroads: Roy Wood & Jeff Lynne

#1,507: Perhaps the most fascinating period in the careers of Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne is the five year period between 1971-76 in which The Move morphed into the Electric Light Orchestra and Roy Wood excelled both with Wizzard and as a solo artist.

Yours Truly KJS has compiled the above matrix of twenty one (21) charting UK singles to highlight the amazing success that Roy Wood enjoyed during a time when Jeff Lynne had his first UK hit UK yet was very much in the shadow (commercially speaking) of his former band mate until the meteoric rise of ELO in their home country started in 1976. We can draw some interesting facts and conclusions from the aforementioned graphic produced for elobeatlesforever (elobf) thus:

• Roy Wood wrote an incredible 14 Top 40 hit singles between 1971-75 for The Move (3), Wizzard (7) and as a solo artist (4).
• While they were signed with Harvest Records, there were 13 consecutive Top 30 hit singles (including two chart toppers) for The Move, ELO, Wizzard and Roy Wood between 1971-74.
• Success was reduced when ELO and Wizzard switched to Warner Bros. Burbank label in 1974 with neither "Can't Get It Out Of My Head" or the albums "On The Third Day" and "Eldorado" album charting whilst Wizzard breached the Top 10 twice. 
• Although their "Face The Music" album didn't chart in the UK, ELO did see a return the charts following their move from Warner Bros. to Don Arden's Jet label in 1975.
• At the same time, Roy Wood was restricted to one Top 20 solo hit during his tenure on Jet.
• When "Livin' Thing" peaked at #4 in late 1976, it took over from "Roll Over Beethoven" as ELO's biggest hit single, a feat equalled by "Hold On Tight" (1981) and beaten only by "Don't Bring Me Down" (#3; 1979) and "Xanadu" (#1; 1980).
• Undoubtedly there was a decline in the chart fortunes for Roy Wood as the seventies progressed whilst Jeff Lynne and ELO enjoyed modest if not sporadic home success before "A New World Record" saw their popularity literally take off.
• In a February 2014 interview with Nick Owen at The Garrick Theatre in Lichfield, Roy made it clear that he felt Don Arden neglected him and did his career no favours at a time when ELO were touring America and becoming a commercial juggernaut. This is undoubtedly reflected in the above matrix.

Related elobf articles
ELO: The Burbank Years
ELO: The Jet/Polydor Years
An Appreciation of Roy Wood
Jet Records Discography
Chart Tragedy: ELO's UK Album Chart Famine
Another Chart Breaks: Early ELO in the UK & US
Caught Live: Nick Owen in Conversation with Roy Wood

*** Until next "Time" in the elobf universe ... KJS ... 12-Dec-2019 ***