Namesakes #90: Wizard

For a brief time in the last century, the word "wizard" was used to denote something that was truly excellent. How many of the Wizards below fit that description, I wonder. Let's find out...

WIZARD #1

Our first Wizard dates back to 1970. This Canadian band got together after working together on a kids TV show called Crackers. Discogs tells me they "only managed one single before self-destructing in 1972." Guitarist George Bowser would go on to achieve "international success" as part of the duo Bowser & Blue. In 1997, they had a big "hit" with Polka Dot Undies.

Wizard - Come Away

WIZARD #2

Florida-based psychedelic band from 1971 who got good reviews but sold very few records. Considering they named their sole LP "The Original Wizard", you get the feeling they knew they were using a pretty popular band name.

Wizard - What Do You Know About Mary?

WIZZARD #3

By far the most famous Wizzard of all, and the only one I could think of when I started this particular excavation, is the one led by Roy Wood, responsible for one of the biggest Christmas hits ever. After walking out of ELO because he couldn't get on with their manager, Wood formed Wizzard in 1972. They only lasted three years, possibly because keyboard player Bill Hunt kept smashing up the pianos at every venue they played at, and that proved rather costly. 

Yes, this Wizzard has 2 Zs. But they're not the only ones...

Wizzard - See My Baby Jive

WIZARD #4

An Iowan Wizard from 1975. Sadly, I can't find the A-Side, with its tempting title: Get Off Your Duff. One of the songwriters is called Stratt Flett, a true rock n roll name if ever I heard one. This lot may have changed their name to Bystander.

Wizard - Kozmick Dream

WIZARD #5

Californian 3-piece "power trio" who released one album, with a pressing of only 500 copies, in 1979. Through the wonders of the interweb though, we can still hear their music today...

Wizard - So Glad To See You

WIZARD #6

Also from 1979, though these guys appear lost to antiquity. Which is a shame, because discogs tells me they were power poppers, and I can never get enough power pop.

I'm equally disappointed to not be able to find Rockduster, the single by a 1984 Wizard from Cincinnati. I mean, come on, who doesn't need a Rockduster to help housework be more interesting?

WIZARD #7

More heavy rockers, this time from Pittsburgh in 1980. Clearly, they were Sabbath fans.

Wizard - Down From Under

WIZARD #8

Funky music from Gastonia in North Carolina, circa 1982, on Chocolate Cholly's record label. Kinda reminds me of early Prince.

Wizard - It's On

WIZZARD #9

More US "boogie funk" from 1982, led by one Kevin Moore. I need to have a word with his English teacher. And not about using Roy Wood's extra Z...

Wizzard - These Are The Eightys

WIZARD #10

Early hair-metallers, by the sound of it, from Hayward, California in 1983. They released one album, called Marlin, Grog, Madman & The Bomb, and this was the big single. I wouldn't have turned it off in 1983. When I hear a track like this, and I look at the band photo above, I imagine their dreams of stadium-conquering glory... and I feel a fleeting moment of terrible sadness. It's a cruel world.

Wizard - Dying By The Telephone

WIZARD #11

Italian synth-pop dude from 1985 who clearly didn't grasp the correct use of brackets. He released a double A-side single with Skizzo And The Incredible Samurai Gang, if you're interested.

Wizard - I Am Your (Wizard)

WIZZARD #12

Iron Maiden-esque metalheads from Sweden, circa 1986. They changed their name to Charity, but fame eluded them because they just weren't Chic.

Wizzard - Ninya Warrior

WIZARD #13

Just to keep George happy, here's some psychedelic rock from New York City Wizard aka Gandalf The Grey aka Chris Wilson. This was released in 1987, though the tube of you suggests it could have been recorded anytime between 1972 and then. I'm presuming this is a song about buying a comic because it says it has Free Transfers inside, and then being most disappointed when you get home...

Wizard - No Free Transfers

WIZARD #14

German "Melodic Power" band from Bocholt who formed 1989. They seem rather obsessed with Norse mythology, or maybe they just read too many Mighty Thor comics when they were kids.

Wizard - Midgard's Guardian

WIZARD #15

I was 19 in 1991. Probably the age that many of my peer group started going to nightclubs. I didn't, because I'd seen The Hitman & Her, so I was convinced that this was what all nightclubs sounded like, all the time. 

These guys were from Italy, but they could have been from anywhere.

Wizard - Wizard In The City

WIZZARD #16

Finnish metalheads who started making a right old racket in 1998...

Wizzard - Iron, Steel, Metal

WIZARD #17

Spanish Euro-Trance / Euro-House ensemble from 2003. Close your eyes and imagine what it sounds like... guess what: you're right! And you saved yourself 6 and half minutes.

Wizard - Music (Keeps My Faith)

WIZARD #18

Italian heavy rock band from 2014... although they don't sound (or look) too far removed the Wizards we heard at the beginning of this week's list. The more things change...

Wizard - Straight To The Unknown

There were dozens more Wizards listed in discogs - enough to fill Hogwarts, though many were just producers or musicians who've not released records under their own Wizardly name. And there were a few bands called The Wizards too, but none that made me want to run out and compile another post.

Which Wizard casts a spell on you... and which would you happily see turned into a toad?

Here's one final Wizard to close today... aka the old Fantastic Four & Spider-Man villain Bentley Wittman. His nefarious partner The Trapster was originally called Paste Pot Pete. Now there's a band name waiting to happen, if ever I heard one!