|
The Move
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The Move is a 1960s rock music band from Birmingham, England, led by
guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood. The group evolved from
several mid-'60s Birmingham groups, including Carl Wayne and the
Vikings, the Nightriders and the Mayfair Set .
The group's name seems to refer to the move various members of these
bands made to form the group. Beside Wood, the original members of the
Move were drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Chris "Ace" Kefford, vocalist Carl
Wayne and guitarist Trevor Burton.
They played their
first shows in early 1966, and became known for their elaborate vocal
arrangements and for their taste in soul music and American West-Coast
bands the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Love and Moby Grape. Their
manager, Tony Secunda, got them a weekly residency at London's Marquee
Club, where they appeared dressed in gangster regalia. Roy Wood wrote
their first single, 1967's "Night of Fear," which began the Move's
practice of musical quotation (in this case, the 1812 Overture).
Known for outrageous
stage antics, they were sued by Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Harold Wilson for libel after Secunda, to promote their single "Flowers
in the Rain," produced a postcard of Wilson in bed with a woman with
whom he was allegedly having an affair. Their "Wave Your Flag and Stop
the Train" referenced the Monkees, while "Fire Brigade" contained a
guitar figure straight out of Eddie Cochran, and the bridge of
"Blackberry Way" is taken from the intro of Harry Nilsson's "Good Old
Desk".
By spring 1968 and
the release of their first LP, Kefford had left the band; Burton
overtook the bass part, but also left a year later, replaced by Rick
Price, who had done time in Birmingham groups as well.
1970s Shazam
continued their practice of musical quotation and of elaborately
re-arranged versions of other performers' songs; "Hello Susie" quotes
Booker T. Jones' and Eddie Floyd's "Big Bird," and the album includes a
cover of a Tom Paxton song.
Carl Wayne left the
group after Shazam, soon replaced by Jeff Lynne, who was yet another
Birmingham musician (from the Idle Race). This lineup recorded Looking
On, which featured the single "Brontosaurus." Lynne, Wood, Price and
Bevan then made the final Move LP, Message from the Country (1971),
which many regard as their best. The title track quoted Jimmy Webb's
"Up-Up and Away," Wood's "Ben Crawley Steel Company" was obviously
modelled on Johnny Cash, and Bevan's "Don't Mess Me Up" was homage to
Elvis Presley, complete with fake Jordanaires. Down to the trio of
Wood, Lynne and Bevan, the Move released a "maxi-single" in 1972
consisting of "Ella James," "California Man" and "Do Ya." "California
Man" was a tribute to Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard, while "Do Ya"
became the Move's best-known song, the original version reaching the
lower rungs of the American charts in 1972. Meanwhile, Wood and Lynne
had embarked on a side project, the Electric Light Orchestra (whose
remake of "Do Ya" was a hit in 1977).
Wood released a solo
album in 1972, Boulders, which contained a stunning parody of the
Everly Brothers, and went on to front the glam rock band Wizzard, while
Lynne (minus Wood) achieved massive success with the Electric Light
Orchestra. Randy Newman wrote a song about "English boys from
Birmingham" that appeared on his Born Again LP.
Although never
nearly as popular in the United States as they were in their native
England, the Move was a seminal pop group of the era, and is often
cited as one of the main progenitors of power pop. Cheap Trick recorded
a version of "California Man" on their Heaven Tonight LP.
"Flowers in the Rain" was the first track played on Radio 1 when it began in 1967.
Carl Wayne, who had joined the Hollies in 2000, died on August 31, 2004 after a long battle with cancer.
|
|
