Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
On this day, August 18, 1943, Carl Wayne of The Move was born.
Carl Wayne
Birth name: Colin David Tooley
Born: 18 August 1943; Dudley Road Hospital, Winson Green
Origin: Birmingham, England
Died: 31 August 2004 (aged 61); Pyrford, Surrey, England
Website Official website
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.
{snip}
Early days
Born in Winson Green, Birmingham, England, Colin David Tooley grew up in the Hodge Hill district of the city. Inspired by the American rock'n'roll of Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, he formed the G-Men in the late 1950s, and joined local band the Vikings, where his powerful baritone and pink stage suit helped make them one of the leading rock groups in the 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 went 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.
The Move years
In December 1965 he joined the Move, a Birmingham beat supergroup drawn from top local bands. They included three members of the Vikings (bass guitarist Chris 'Ace' Kefford, drummer Bev Bevan and Wayne himself), Trevor Burton (lead guitarist with Danny King and the Mayfair Set), and Roy Wood (lead guitarist with Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders). They enjoyed three years of hits with singles such as "Night of Fear", "I Can Hear The Grass Grow", "Flowers in the Rain", "Fire Brigade", and their number one success "Blackberry Way". In their early years the Move had a stage act which occasionally saw Wayne taking an axe to television sets, or chainsawing a Cadillac to pieces at the Roundhouse, London, during "Fire Brigade", an escapade which resulted in the Soho area being jammed with 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. When the management decided that Wood would be the producer for the band's second album, Shazam, Wayne pushed back, becoming a co-producer on Shazam and choosing many of the cover songs which appeared on it. 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 U.S.
{snip}
Birth name: Colin David Tooley
Born: 18 August 1943; Dudley Road Hospital, Winson Green
Origin: Birmingham, England
Died: 31 August 2004 (aged 61); Pyrford, Surrey, England
Website Official website
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.
{snip}
Early days
Born in Winson Green, Birmingham, England, Colin David Tooley grew up in the Hodge Hill district of the city. Inspired by the American rock'n'roll of Elvis Presley, Eddie Cochran and Gene Vincent, he formed the G-Men in the late 1950s, and joined local band the Vikings, where his powerful baritone and pink stage suit helped make them one of the leading rock groups in the 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 went 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.
The Move years
In December 1965 he joined the Move, a Birmingham beat supergroup drawn from top local bands. They included three members of the Vikings (bass guitarist Chris 'Ace' Kefford, drummer Bev Bevan and Wayne himself), Trevor Burton (lead guitarist with Danny King and the Mayfair Set), and Roy Wood (lead guitarist with Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders). They enjoyed three years of hits with singles such as "Night of Fear", "I Can Hear The Grass Grow", "Flowers in the Rain", "Fire Brigade", and their number one success "Blackberry Way". In their early years the Move had a stage act which occasionally saw Wayne taking an axe to television sets, or chainsawing a Cadillac to pieces at the Roundhouse, London, during "Fire Brigade", an escapade which resulted in the Soho area being jammed with 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. When the management decided that Wood would be the producer for the band's second album, Shazam, Wayne pushed back, becoming a co-producer on Shazam and choosing many of the cover songs which appeared on it. 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 U.S.
{snip}
Carl Wayne & Roy Wood - Flowers In The Rain
125,221 views Aug 28, 2009
HearTheGrassGrow
278 subscribers
Carl Wayne 'Flowers In The Rain'
41,299 views Feb 19, 2009
David Jones
2.85K subscribers
Carl Wayne performing 'Flowers In The Rain' on Wogan (BBC) on Radio 1's 20th anniversary.
The Move - Fire Brigade - "Top Of The Pops" Show (1968)
577,369 views Oct 2, 2008
vinylsolution
54.3K subscribers
"Top Of The Pops" Show (1968)
The Move - Fire Brigade
68,850 views Aug 28, 2009
HearTheGrassGrow
278 subscribers
Colour Me Pop 1969
