Night of Fear

"Night of Fear" is the debut single by British rock band the Move, written by Roy Wood.[3] The song was first released on 9 December 1966, and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart on 26 January 1967, staying for ten weeks in the charts.[4] "Night of Fear" was the first of a string of four consecutive top-five singles in the UK.[5]

This article is about The Move's single. For the 1972 Australian horror film, see Night of Fear (film).
"Night of Fear"
Dutch 1967 release
Single by The Move
B-side"The Disturbance"
Released9 December 1966[1]
Recorded22 October 1966[1]
StudioAdvision Studios, London
Genre
Length2:18 (mono)
2:21 (stereo)
LabelDeram
Songwriter(s)Roy Wood
Producer(s)Denny Cordell
The Move singles chronology
"Night of Fear"
(1966)		 "I Can Hear the Grass Grow"
(1967)

Background

By this point in time, Roy Wood had only written two songs, One of which was a B-side titled "Make Them Understand", which he had recorded with Mike Sheridan's Lot in September 1965 (a band which would eventually turn into The Idle Race).[6][7] The other was "You're the One I Need", which was recorded by the Move in January 1966, however, that recording remained unreleased for several years.[8] Their manager, Tony Secunda, had also started encouraging Wood to start writing more material, including tracks for a debut single.[9] He started composing, and eventually, through the use of musical quotation, came up with two tracks, "Night of Fear" and "The Disturbance". The main riff and the bass line in the chorus is derived from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture.[10][11][12]

At one point, Wood wanted the single's B-side "The Disturbance" to be the Move's first A-side, but "Night of Fear" was eventually chosen as it was deemed to be more commercial.[13] Despite being an upbeat tune, the lyrics of "Night of Fear" revolve around supernatural occurrences, such as moving shadows in a hallway, along with shifting pictures in a bedroom and as such, the lyrics allude to the narrator being on an hallucinogenic substance, most likely LSD or Cannabis.[14][15] "The Disturbance" on the other hand, bases its lyrics on the psychologically disturbed mind of the narrator.[15][1] The song features all four of the Move's vocalists: Carl Wayne, Trevor Burton, Ace Kefford and Roy Wood in four-part harmony, primarily featuring Wayne and Wood with Kefford singing the chorus "Just about to flip your mind, just about to trip your mind".[16]

Recording and release

"Night of Fear" was first introduced to an audience on 21 October 1966, during a performance in Croydon, South London.[1] The reception for the song was positive, and the Move entered Advision Studios and recorded the song the following day, on 22 October.[1] The single was released by Deram Records on 9 December 1966 with the catalogue number DM.109.[17][nb 1] The single was a large success in the UK,[18] where it entered the charts on 11 January 1967 at a position of 32. Three weeks later, on 1 February, it peaked at number 2, a position it held for one week. The single exited the top-10 on 1 March and was last seen on 15 March at a position of 46, after which it dropped off.[4] In total, the single spent 10 weeks on the chart, half of which were in the top-10.[4] "Night of Fear" was also a large success in continental Europe and New Zealand. As with all singles by the Move, it did not chart on Billboard Hot 100.

The song was notably promoted, when during a visit to Manchester, they attempted to get arrested for walking around with a false H-bomb, in a stunt that was promoted by Secunda.[19] Reviews for the song were positive. One article read "Meet the pioneers of the psychedelic sound", and as a result of its trippy sound, rumours started circulating that the word "Psychedelic" was a synonym for LSD, and that the group were using it, something later debunked by drummer Bev Bevan: "Nobody believed that Roy wasn't out of his head on drugs - but he wasn't. It was all fairy stories rooted in childhood."[9]

Personnel

The Move

Additional personnel

  • Denny Cordell – studio engineer, producer
  • Gerald Chevin – studio engineer

Charts
Chart (1966–1967) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[20] 42
Denmark (Danmarks Radio)[21] 19
Ireland (IRMA)[22] 6
Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[23] 19
Netherlands (Single Top 100)[24] 18
New Zealand (Listener)[25] 2
Rhodesia (Lyons Maid)[26] 9
South Africa (Springbok)[27] 16
UK Singles (OCC)[4] 2
West Germany (Official German Charts)[28] 30

Notes
  1. The release date of 9 December 1966 is printed on promotional copies of the singles, sent around radio stations prior to the official release

References
  1. "The Move — Night Of Fear 50th Anniversary". Fly Records. Retrieved 28 November 2019.
  2. Stanley, Bob (13 September 2013). "Deluxe and Delightful: Glam". Yeah Yeah Yeah: The Story of Modern Pop. Faber & Faber. p. 345. ISBN 978-0-571-28198-5.
  3. Luhrssen, David; Larson, Michael (2017). Encyclopedia of Classic Rock. ABC-CLIO. p. 247. ISBN 978-1440835148.
  4. "Move: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company.
  5. Kelley, Ken (3 May 2014). "The Move Announce Their Break-Up". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  6. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music: Rich, Young and Pretty - Swift, Richard. MUZE. ISBN 0195313739.
  7. Larkin, Colin (2002). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Sixties Music. Virgin. ISBN 1852279338.
  8. Lasserre, Vincent (2017). Camion Blanc: La saga de Roy Wood Brumbeat forever (The Move, Wizzard, ELO, etc.) (in French). Camion Blanc. ISBN 978-2357799899.
  9. Brumbeat: The Move. Retrieved 11 November 2009.
  10. Strong, Martin C. (2000). The Great Rock Discography (5th ed.). Edinburgh: Mojo Books. pp. 673–675. ISBN 1-84195-017-3.
  11. Hardy, Phil; Laing, Dave (1995). The Da Capo Companion To 20th-century Popular Music. Da Capo Press. p. 674. ISBN 0306806401.
  12. "A beginner's guide to: The Move". Counteract – News | Music | Film | Food. 2 January 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  13. Heylin, Clinton (2012). All the Madmen: Barrett, Bowie, Drake, the Floyd, The Kinks, The Who and the Journey to the Dark Side of English Rock. Hachette. ISBN 978-1780330785.
  14. Hitchens, Peter (2012). The War We Never Fought: The British Establishment's Surrender to Drugs. A & C Black. ISBN 978-1441172068.
  15. Petridis, Alexis (8 November 2016). "Britain's lost pop genius: the glam rocker who hated being in the spotlight". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  16. Song Review by Richie Unterberger. "Night of Fear - The Move | Song Info". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
  17. Strong, Martin Charles (1998). The Great Rock Discography. Canongate. p. 560. ISBN 0862418275.
  18. Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. 13 April 2002.
  19. "I Shot The Move". Davidson Online. Retrieved 3 March 2021.
  20. Kent, David (2005). Australian Chart Book 1940–1969. Australian Chart Book Pty Ltd, Turramurra, N.S.W. ISBN 0-646-44439-5.
  21. "Salgshitlisterne Top 20 - Uge 8". Danske Hitlister. 19 February 1967. Archived from the original on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 11 February 2022.
  22. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Night of Fear". Irish Singles Chart.
  23. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 8, 1967" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  24. "The Move – Night Of Fear" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  25. "flavour of new zealand - search listener". www.flavourofnz.co.nz. Retrieved 27 August 2020.
  26. Kimberley, C (2000). Zimbabwe: Singles Chart Book. p. 32.
  27. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Rock.co.za. 4 June 1965. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  28. "Offiziellecharts.de – The Move – Night of Fear" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts.
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