In an ongoing project to replace my LP collection (that I oh-so foolishly got rid of… ), I’ve gotten around to The Move.
The were pretty popular in the UK during the late sixties, with five top-5 hits in two years. (“Flowers in the Rain” was the first song played on Radio Caroline). Their stage act, inspired by The Who, included smashing TV sets (coincidentally, they took over The Who’s Tuesday night residency at The Marquee Club). Cheap Trick had a hit when they covered “California Man”.
The Move never really caught on in the US. I only stumbled upon them because Todd Rundgren covered “Do Ya”. They went from obscurity to global fame in 1972 when they became The Electric Light Orchestra. Since then, Jeff Lynne has gone on to (over-produced) stardom, associating with the likes of The Traveling Wilburys and The Beatles. Roy Wood released the amazing solo album “Boulders”, formed Wizzard and a couple of other bands, but his music was too eclectic for mainstream success.
“Message From the Country” is probably their most accessible album. It’s interesting to note that they were recording the tracks at the same time as the first ELO album.
Right you are. I got my radio stations mixed up on that.
I was reading up on Roy and found that he’s considered by some to be a godfather of Glam Rock. Lately he’s been making regular appearances in Manchester’s Sunday Mercury, commenting on music and other topics.
I discovered the Move in 1970, I think it was, when I heard “Brontosaurus” on an underground radio station (remember those?). I went into a record store (remember those?) looking for that one song. Turned out it was only released as a single, and not released in the US at all, but I ended up buying “Shazam” anyhow. What a great album! Some terrific original tunes and some very inventive covers (“Last Thing on My Mind” and “Piece of My Heart” come to mind). Then I went back and got their 1968 album “The Move.” That blew my mind! Amazing songwriting, and a cover of Moby Grape’s “Hey Grandma” thrown in for good measure.
I finally found “Brontosaurus” on 1974’s “Best of the Move.”
I never got into ELO the way I got into the Move. Funny how that goes…
Love the Move. Particular favorites: “Blackberry Way”–the clinically depressed sibling of “Penny Lane”–“Cherry Blossom Clinic,” “Don’t Make My Baby Blue,” “Flowers in the Rain,” the great “epics” on Moving On…lots of others.
Always hated ELO, though, and never really got into Wizzard or Wood’s solo career all that much.
No albums, just various tracks from sampler albums, etc.
And if you liked later Move songs like California Man, Biffy, that was pretty much like early Wizzard!
Inspired by this thread, I’m playing (Here we go round) The Lemon Tree right now!
), I’ve gotten around to The Move.