And boy did he take the Glam thing to heart, with face painting and make-up to complement the biggest hair ever seen. He was probably born to be eccentric, considering his real first name was Ulysses – an unusual monicker in post-war Birmingham, I imagine.

 

When Wood left the fledgling ELO after a row with manager Don Arden, he took with him cellist Hugh McDowell and keyboardist and French horn player Bill Hunt, who would both return to ELO after the first Wizzard album.

He also recruited former Move bassist Rick Price, two drummers – Charlie Grima and Keith Smart, both from a Birmingham band called Mongrel – and two sax players, Mike Burney and Nick Pentelow.

 

The difference between Wizzard and ELO is not just in the music – Wizzard channelling the same Fifties rock’n’roll that inspired their predecessors, The Move, while the more serious-minded Lynne drew inspiration from The Beatles – but their sheer joy and exuberance.

 

Wood was clearly having the time of his life, larking about in extravagant make-up and enough hair to fill a mattress, turning the band’s live appearances into one giant children’s party. Even though the song seemed to be about his girlfriend being found murdered and his brother being the chief suspect.

 

Prefiguring the stage shows of Flaming Lips by decades, they frequently brought friends onstage with them, dressed as pantomime horses, gorillas and rollerskating angels flinging custard pies, while Hunt left behind a trail of devastation wherever they played, due to his predeliction for smashing up pianos at the end of a performance.