Move (The Move album)

The Move became a highly publicised band, signing to Deram Records in late 1966, and then released their debut single "Night of Fear" on 9 December 1966.[5] This became their first chart hit, reaching number two in the UK Singles Chart.[4] A band fanclub newsletter released during Christmas stated that they were set to release their debut album by February 1967, with a suggested title of Move Mass by their manager Tony Secunda.[6] However, Secunda decided during the last second that this release would be cancelled, and instead apted the band to continue to perform publicity stunts which would put the band in the newspapers.[6] A follow-up to "Night of Fear" came almost four months later, when "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" was released, reaching number five on the charts.[4][5]

The group hoped to release the album by autumn 1967; however, in April of that year, New Musical Express announced that the Move offered a £200 reward (equivalent to £3,900 in 2023)[7] to an individual who could potentially return the master tapes back to them.[8] These master tapes, containing ten songs, were stolen from a car which was parked on Denmark Street in the West End of London. They were later discarded by the thief, and were eventually found in a rubbish bin. The tapes were damaged beyond repair or use, and a new mix had to be performed by the engineers, further delaying the release date of the album by several months.[8] Producer Denny Cordell also managed to switch the band from Deram over to Regal Zonophone Records.[9]

During autumn 1967, the Move released another very successful single in Britain, "Flowers in the Rain".[5] It charted at number two.[4] This had the honour of becoming the first full record to be played on the newly launched BBC Radio 1, further adding to their popularity.[10] However, keeping up with this newfound popularity became hard, and the group had a tight performance schedule. Chris "Ace" Kefford was quoted saying "The pressure of being in the charts and having your clothes ripped and hair pulled out by fans in the streets - I had scissors stuck in my eye - but for the same money I got in The Vikings."[11]

Tying in with "Flowers in the Rain", Secunda performed another publicity stunt, by printing postcards depicting Harold Wilson (at the time prime minister and Labour Party leader) in bed with his secretary Marcia Falkender, Baroness Falkender. This prompted Wilson to sue the group, leading to all royalties going to a charity of Wilson's liking, to the loss of the song's composer Roy Wood.[12][13] The scheduled follow up to "Flowers in the Rain" was "Cherry Blossom Clinic", which was backed by "Vote For Me", a satirical piece regarding corrupt politicians. This idea was shelved due to the court proceedings, as both the band and Regal Zonophone believed that it was unwise to release the potentially controversial song.[14]

The musical style and direction greatly varies. Most songs from the earlier sessions could be classified as psychedelic pop, most notably "Walk Upon the Water" which acts as an anti drink-driving song, with somewhat dark lyrics over an upbeat melody.[21] Wood had in fact written it to be a single, but the record label decided against using it for that purpose.[19] However, other songs, such as "Kilroy Was Here" (which references the World War II phenomenon Kilroy was here) could be classified as a combo of psychedelic pop and folk rock.[22] The album also makes attempts at Baroque pop on both "The Girl Outside" and "Mist on A Monday Morning", the latter of which was Wood's first attempt at writing something like the Beatles "Eleanor Rigby".[22] The two most psychedelic tracks on the album are the opening song "Yellow Rainbow", which heavily features reverb on both the guitars and drums, along with "Cherry Blossom Clinic" which features prevalent use of a Wah-wah pedal.[16]

"Cherry Blossom Clinic" was about a nuthouse, basically, but a nice one. That was one of my early songs. When I left art-school it was one of my ambitions to write a children's book for adults – fairy stories with strange twists in them. I had a lot of ideas written down and I used them in my songs.

— Roy Wood, in Clinton Heylin, All the Madmen: Barrett, Bowie, Drake, the Floyd, The Kinks, The Who and the Journey to the Dark Side of English Rock

The three covers which are present are also vastly different from one another, and don't seem to share characteristics. "Weekend", written by Bill and Doree Post was originally recorded by Eddie Cochran in 1959, and largely revolves around the genres of rock and roll and rockabilly, which originated from that era.[23] "Hey Grandma", written by Jerry Miller and Don Stevenson was first recorded by American psychedelic rock band Moby Grape and initially appeared as the opening track to their eponymous debut album on 6 June 1967.[24] The third and final cover was "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" written by James F. Hanley in 1934. However, their rendition of the Broadway song was derived from a later cover by the Coasters, which introduced tempo changes, and a four part harmony by them, including two falsetto vocals.[25]

Lyrically, the album is very eclectic, deriving inspiration from various sources, but in style with Wood's earlier songwriting and compositions, many songs revolve around the mental state of the narrator.[26] "Cherry Blossom Clinic" and "Walk Upon the Water" both revolve around the declining mental state of the narrator, with "Walk Upon the Water" alluding to the narrator's friends drowning, while "Cherry Blossom Clinic" describes the further mental decline of an psychiatric hospital patient.[21][26] Other themes includes loneliness, displayed on "(Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree", "Flowers in the Rain" and "Mist on a Monday Morning", all of which portray loneliness in vastly different ways, including sorrow, sadness and peace of mind.

Unlike the Move's singles, singer Carl Wayne's duty is minimized, singing only lead vocals on "Walk Upon the Water", "Flowers in the Rain" and "Useless Information".[27] He does, however sing harmony vocals on "Hey Grandma" and "Fire Brigade".[27] Rhythm guitarist Trevor Burton has had his role as a lead singer expanded, and he sings lead on "Weekend" and "The Girl Outside", while also contributing harmony vocals on "Kilroy Was Here", "(Here We Go Round) the Lemon Tree", "Walk Upon the Water", and "Cherry Blossom Clinic".[27] Wood's role has also been maximized, singing lead on "Mist on a Monday Morning", while contributing harmony vocals to virtually every other track present.[27] Although heavily present as a singer during live performances, bassist Ace Kefford's role as a singer is confined to two songs, "Yellow Rainbow"[28] (sung with the song's author Wood), and "Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", which he sings with drummer Bev Bevan, in one of only two lead vocals the latter sang with the Move.[29]

All songs written by Roy Wood, except where noted.

After some unofficial releases, Move was reissued on CD, by Cube, with additional tracks, in 1994. It was reissued in a deluxe, two-disc package in 2007 by Salvo.[41] More re-issues arrived in April 2016 from Esoteric Records, a label of Cherry Red Records: a 3CD remastered and expanded deluxe edition (Catalog ID: ECLEC32536) and a remastered and expanded edition (Catalog ID: ECLEC2537). According to Esoteric, these newly re-mastered editions focus on the mono mix of the album. The single CD version includes five bonus tracks (none of them previously unreleased), and the 3-CD set includes 52 bonus tracks (five of them previously unreleased).[42][43]

The Move

• Carl Wayne – vocals
• Roy Wood – guitars, vocals
• Trevor Burton – guitars, vocals
• Ace Kefford – bass, vocals
• Bev Bevan – drums, percussion, vocals

Additional Personnel

• Nicky Hopkins – piano (7), harpsichord (12)
• Tony Visconti – string, brass and woodwind arrangements

• The Move (Cherry Red page)