Carl Wayne

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Carl Wayne
Regal Zonophone, RCA, DJM, Jet Records
Websitecarlwayne.co.uk

Carl Wayne (born Colin David Tooley; 18 August 1943 – 31 August 2004) was an English singer and actor. He is best remembered as the lead singer of The Move in the 1960s.

Early days

Wayne was born in

Midlands. His change of name was inspired by the movie star John Wayne, with the Scandinavian 'Carl' to fit into the 'Vikings' theme. In 1963 they followed in the footsteps of the Beatles and other Liverpool bands by performing in the clubs of Frankfurt, Stuttgart, and Nuremberg. On returning to Birmingham, in the wake of the Beatles' success, record companies were keen to sign similar guitar bands. The Vikings signed with Pye Records
, but all three singles failed to chart.

Wayne represented England at the prestigious Golden Orpheus Song Festival in Bulgaria. In front of a live and televised audience of over 20 million, Wayne won first prize.[1]

The Move years

In December 1965 he joined the Move, a

fire engines
, and the group being banned for a while from every theatre venue in the UK.

But by the start of 1968, the group began fragmenting as a result of personal and musical differences. Wayne grew frustrated with the Move's management pushing Wood to the forefront of the band and himself to the background by encouraging Wood to write the Move's songs and allowing the Move to record songs which Wayne did not sing lead on. According to Wood, the management were indifferent to who sang lead, an indifference that proved justified after the Wood-sung "Fire Brigade" and "Blackberry Way" became two of the Move's biggest hits.

cover songs which appeared on it.[2] Wayne's increasingly MOR style, and aspirations towards cabaret, were at odds with Wood's desire to experiment in a more progressive and classical direction, which would lead to the foundation of the Electric Light Orchestra. Wayne left the band shortly after the band's sole tour of the United States.[2]

Solo performing and acting

He went solo and made several singles and record albums, some including songs written and produced by Roy Wood. Among his singles were "Way Back in the Fifties",

Song for Europe contest, hoping to represent the UK in the Eurovision Song Contest
. His song, "A Little Give, A Little Take" finished in 11th place out of twelve songs.

Wayne also made a few recordings with the Electric Light Orchestra as guest vocalist, though these remained unreleased until they appeared as

voiceovers and jingles. He sang backing vocals on Mike Oldfield's Earth Moving
, released in 1989.

In his acting career he had a small role in the Birmingham-based soap opera,

London marathons for charity. He also made an appearance on The Benny Hill Show in 1985, in which he played the "Face" character in a parody of The A-Team. From 1983 to 1988 he appeared in various Emu TV programmes, in the segment Boggles Kingdom alongside Susan Maughan and Rod Hull. The segment revolved around Rod's ancestor, King Boggle, his sister Princess Hortensia, and servant Odd Job John played by Wayne who were trapped in medieval times.[4] Wayne performed several songs during the show, including renditions of Puttin' On the Ritz and Greensleeves.[5][6]

Carl was also a guest singer with Spike Edney's SAS Band.

With the Hollies and death

In 2000, on the retirement of lead vocalist Allan Clarke, he joined the Hollies, touring Europe and Australasia with them, as well as playing venues all over the United Kingdom. They recorded a new song, "How Do I Survive", in February 2003, which appeared as the only previously unreleased item on a 46-track compilation CD of the Hollies' greatest hits later that year. In addition to most of the Hollies' songs, they included "Flowers in the Rain" and "Blackberry Way" in their live repertoire. Their drummer Bobby Elliott described him as "a fearless performer and powerhouse singer".

Wayne played what turned out to be his last concert with the group on 10 July 2004 at

oesophageal cancer and died a few weeks later, aged 61.[7] He left a widow (Susan Hanson
) and their son, Jack.

Because of poor sales, none of Wayne's solo releases remained on catalogue for long during his lifetime. In 2006 an album of his performances, remastered with the involvement of Wood and some previously unreleased, was issued under the title Songs From The Wood And Beyond 1973–2003. Two tracks by Wayne and Choral Union appear on the two-CD set Friends & Relatives, a compilation of tracks by Electric Light Orchestra and associated acts.

References

  1. ^ "Carl Wayne Biography". Carlwayne.co.uk. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  2. ^ a b c d Sharp, Ken (30 September 1994). "Roy Wood: The Wizzard of Rock". The Move Online. Archived from the original on 15 January 2008.
  3. ^ A song at first recorded by the Rubettes for their 1974 album "Wear It's 'At", written and for both artists, produced by Wayne Bickerton and Tony Waddington.
  4. ^ "Emu's World/Emu's Pink Windmill Show – Nostalgia Central". nostalgiacentral.com. 12 December 2015. Retrieved 13 August 2022.
  5. ^ Carl Wayne: Puttin' On the Ritz, retrieved 13 August 2022
  6. ^ Carl Wayne: Greensleeves, retrieved 13 August 2022
  7. ^ Laing, Dave (3 September 2004). "Obituary: Carl Wayne". Theguardian.com. Retrieved 4 December 2017.

External links