During this period the band delved into the realms of comedy on stage, featuring Roy's infamous impersonations of Donovan and a killer Dusty Springfield routine which saw Woody attired in a blonde wig and pink feather boa! The blonde wig was later to resurface during the early incarnation of ELO when Roy would generously cover the rug in talcum powder and would magically become Old Father Time (but that as they say is another story)!

They recorded one more single under the guise of Mike Sheridan and the Nightriders before deciding that maybe a name change would lift their fortunes and so Mike Sheridan's Lot they became. Two singles were released with the flip side to the first featuring Roy's first composition "Make Them Understand".

Their second and final single as Mike Sheridan's Lot "Don't Turn Your Back On Me" was perhaps the best they had ever recorded, written by Jackie De Shannon and produced by Norman 'Hurricane' Smith (of "Babe, what would you say" and "Don't Let It Die" fame). Despite the name change and marvelous second single, the success they so desired seemed a distant dream.

Within a year Wood had left to form The Move in 1966 with Carl Wayne, Ace Kefford, Bev Bevan, and Trevor Burton and was replaced by another guitarist - Johnny Mann. Sheridan found Mann to be no match for the multi-talented Wood, and seeing his band going nowhere quit shortly afterwards.

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On the 4th of April,1966, Jeff Lynne played his first professional gig with The Nightriders at 'The Belfry' in Birmingham.

Neither song bore any resemblance as to what was to follow and despite the subsequent "Nightriders" release, the band saw themselves moving in a new direction. Pritchard had been writing original material and saw Lynne as a promising front man for the band. With the new image came a new name and by May 1966 the band had become the Idyll Race which very quickly mutated into the Idle Race.