Stuart John Wolstenholme (15 April 1947 – 13 December 2010), usually known as Woolly Wolstenholme, was vocalist and keyboard player with the British progressive rock band Barclay James Harvest. His first instrument was a tenor banjo, which he took up at the age of twelve, and he also played tenor horn for the Delph band. He met John Lees at Oldham School Of Art and Woolly played tambourine and sang with John in The Sorcerers, then The Keepers, where Woolly played whatever instrument was required, such as harmonica and twelve-string guitar.
The album that essentially kick-started the U.K. glam rock craze, Electric Warrior completes T. Rex's transformation from hippie folk-rockers into flamboyant avatars of trashy rock & roll. There are a few vestiges of those early days remaining in the acoustic-driven ballads, but Electric Warrior spends most of its time in a swinging, hip-shaking groove powered by Marc Bolan's warm electric guitar…
Having played with The Servants in the late 1980s, Luke Haines carved a unique niche for himself in the 1990s with witty lyrics, wry humour and some stellar tunes with The Auteurs and other acts (Black Box Recorder, Baader Meinhof). By 1999, feeling aghast at the state of the Brit Rock scene in the UK, Luke decided to "start a righteous solo trip", having been commissioned to write the soundtrack for the film Christie Malry's Own Double Entry (2001). Sticking with Virgin Records, Luke then unveiled his first solo album proper, The Oliver Twist Manifesto, before fronting a new-look Auteurs for Das Capital. In due course, Luke switched labels to indie Fantastic Plastic for Off My Rocker At The Art School Bop (2006), followed in 2009 by 21st Century Man. Since then, he's curated a string of imaginative, amusing and always worthwhile albums for Cherry Red Records. Alive And Well… is the first-ever anthology of Luke's solo work, cherry-picking musical highlights from each of his long players as well as a smattering of B-sides, radio sessions, rarities and - on Disc 4 - a raft of previously unissued material. Alive And Well… is a very personal statement spanning the last two decades of the musical life of Luke Haines.
Between 1995 and 1997, Edsel released eight full-length CDs of Marc Bolan's previously unreleased demos, alternate takes, unused and abandoned songs and unfinished recordings. These CDs were deleted in 2001. Since then, copies of the rare original individual releases have changed hands for foolish amounts of money and sellers on Ebay have offered to pirate the entire set! Edsel is now proud to announce the re-issue of all 8 CDs in a limited edition bound book set, with extensive brand new annotation by Mojo writer Mark Paytress, author of the acknowledged definitive Bolan biography “Bolan: The Rise and Fall of a 20th Century Sperstar”.