Wizzard - Canley College June 1973

Wizzard - Canley College June 1973

by Pete Clemons

Now absorbed into Warwick University the city of Coventry Teacher Training College was based at, what is now, the universities Westwood Campus on Kirby Corner Road.

But for several years, during the late 1960s through to the mid 1970s, this college had its own incredibly vibrant entertainments scene. A great deal of local, along with more nationally known bands, played the venue.

The teaching college wasn't on the regular gig circuit as such, this venue was stand alone from its near neighbour the Warwick University. And these events were normally organised at end of term balls and dances.

One such gig happened during 1973 and here is how it was reported at the time:

'Foresight, or good fortune, on the part of the Coventry College of Education Entertainments Committee provided them with one of the most talked about groups of the moment for their going down ball last Friday.

Wizzard were booked last year, long before they shot to prominence thanks to the genius of Roy Wood.

Despite appearing without the colourful make up Wizzard were nevertheless an entertaining sight with Roy Wood's antics very much to the forefront.

Wizzard included 'See My Baby Jive' and 'Ball Park Incident' in their set but the inclusion of some of the heavy, and more experimental, tracks from the band debut album, 'Wizzards Brew', might have been more appropriate at a concert rather than an end of term ball'.

In addition to the bands regular line up, that included former Move bass player Rick Price, Wizzard also introduced the audience to the talents of Ayshea who spent most of the evening watching Wood's performance from behind her keyboard'.

At the time of this gig Wizzard had only been in existence for eighteen months. Roy Wood had formed the band soon after he left the Electric Light Orchestra during late 1971.The band had made their live debut during August 1972. And, of course, this gig would have happened before the band had recorded their now infamous Xmas hit recorded later that year.

Desmond Dekker and Joe Brown's Home Brew were the supporting acts. Dekker gave a very lively programme, that included a string of familiar tunes, his career having been recently revived due to the film 'The Harder They Come' which featured his '007 Shanty Town'. The film also included the acting talents and music of Jimmy Cliff.

Next up were Home Brew who, to be honest, was more one for the ear than the dance floor. The band included Joe Brown's wife, Vicki, and singer songwriter Joe Fagin. They performed an eclectic set of songs and styles. The set also, which including new formats of Joe's past hits, set the scene as the basis of Joe brown's live performance ever since.