Wizzard and Move pop legend Roy Wood reveals his secret shyness

Apr 5 2009 by Paul Cole, Sunday Mercury

HE has one of the most recognisable faces in popular music, his heavily made-up face and wild hair as iconic as the poster boy image of Che Guevara that adorned every 60s schoolkid’s bedroom wall.

Madcap appearances on Top Of The Pops helped build his reputation as the wild man of rock, while memorable songs earned him a mantelpiece crammed with awards that glittered more than glam.

But the colourful, carefree image hid a secret. The real Roy Wood is, to this day, an intensely private person not given to small talk, and surprisingly self-conscious at social soirees.

Currently rebuilding his life after a traumatic relationship breakdown, the 61 year-old chooses his words carefully, admitting that this is one of just a handful of interviews he has given in recent years.

“I am reserved,” he says as we meet at Birmingham’s equally iconic Fort Dunlop, home of the Sunday Mercury. “I’m not good at meeting new people unless it’s part of my job. Interviews and such.

“In a public place people will come up and talk to me and I’m not very good at that, although I’ll do my best. You have a responsibility to talk to the fans because they’ve given you the career you love.

“I’m not great at conversation. Small talk doesn’t come easy. If you look at the old photos of me in the early days, I’m always the one hanging back with my head down, more the musician than the frontman.

“It’s a weird thing when you get up on the stage – a bit Jekyll & Hyde. You have to put on a persona, which is what I did when I was leaping about in Wizzard. I was this different person to who I really am.”