Wood was one of the three outstanding British composers between the wars who developed what became known as "light music", the others being Eric Coates and Montague Phillips. Altough Wood tended to find himself in the shadow of Coates, he produced a considerable repertoire of orchestral music and songs, both fields in which Coates excelled. He was married to the singer Dorothy Court, with whom he went on the halls and for whom he wrote a succession of popular songs. "Roses of Picardy" was one of the most successful hits of the First World War and sold over a million-and-a-quarter copies. Subsequently he turned to musical comedy as a composer and his musical play "Tina" from 1915 was an early gramophone hit with at least half-a-dozen recordings.