About Carl Wayne
Colin David Tooley (18 August 1943 – 31 August 2004), better known as Carl Wayne, was an English singer and actor. He is best remembered as the lead singer of The Move, a group that he co-founded in 1965. He sings lead on several of the band's hits, such as "Curly", "Flowers in the Rain and "I Can Hear the Grass Grow." Wayne was born and raised in Birmingham and entered the music business playing bass guitar. However, he switched to vocals and formed the G-Men, but later joined The Vikings (later Carl Wayne and the Vikings), a band which also included Ace Kefford and Bev Bevan. Kefford and Trevor Burton formed a group, The Move, which Wayne, Bevan, and Roy Wood would join, hitting huge success within the band. He left in 1970, and pursued a cabaret career with slight success. Wayne notably played Tom-Tom and Odd Job John in several episodes of Emu's TV programmes. In 2000, he joined The Hollies, and performed with them until his death in 2004. In front of a live and televised audience of over 20 million, Wayne won first prize. On returning to Birmingham, in the wake of the Beatles' success, record companies were keen to sign similar guitar bands. Wayne grew frustrated with the Move's management pushing Wood to the forefront of the band and himself to the background by encouraging Wood to write the Move's songs and allowing the Move to record songs which Wayne did not sing lead on.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.