REVIEWS:
The Move are one of the most underrated and overlooked bands of the 60's. Assembled in February 1966 from fragments of various Midlands bands they quickly rose to national recognition under the wing of Tony Secunda who marketed them to perfection. They quickly earned a reputation as bad boys of the era as a result of Secunda's astute publicity stunts and a wild stage act of which destruction was a regular feature. Five Top 5 UK hits followed through 1967/68 including "Night of Fear", "Flowers in the Rain" and "Fire Brigade", all were Roy Wood compositions that showed his genius at creating near perfect three minute pop classics.
Their line up was never a settled affair and the long overdue debut 1968's The Move was their only album to feature the original line up of Carl Wayne, Roy Wood, Ace Kefford, Trevor Burton and Bev Bevan. Kefford and Burton would depart before the second album and Rick Price was brought in to complete the line up that would record the 1970 masterwork Shazam, however around this period the hit singles began to dry up and Carl Wayne would also jump ship. Jeff Lynne was brought in as Wayne's replacement primarily on the understanding that he and Wood would wind down The Move to focus on a more adventurous project to combine the rock band format with a string section and to quote the band at the time "continue where The Beatles had left off with I am the Walrus".
In the meantime the four-peice of Wood, Lynne, Price and Bevan would release the Looking On album towards the end of 1970, short on tracks like Shazam and heavy in approach many critics viewed Wood's input as being proto Heavy Metal. The end was in sight for the band who following Rick Price's departure signed (in the UK) to EMI's progressive Harvest label who whilst ultimately being interested in the new Wood/Lynne Project demanded one further album from The Move. This contractual obligation appeared in 1971 as Message From the Country and whilst showing Lynne growing as a writer and performer, the remainder of the set appeared uninspired.
Minor hits followed before the demise of the band, "Chinatown" and "Tonight" were respectable Wood outings and the swansong single "California Man" (which was a nod to the future Wizzard sound) was actually issued after the release of the first ELO album. The final three-piece Move line up of Wood, Lynne and Bevan re-launched themselves as The Electric Light Orchestra which for whatever reason Wood quickly decided to leave after completing just one album to form Wizzard. Both ELO and Wizzard would arguably be more successful than The Move but their legacy is important even if only as a historical link to Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's foundations.
Roy Wood is ultimately one of the most underrated and important figures to emerge from the 60's, with diversity being either his greatest asset or perhaps his downfall, but influential without doubt. Anyone considering the sinister title track of Black Sabbaths 1970 debut as ground breaking should pay close attention to the closing passage of Roy Wood's "Disturbance" issued as the B side of 1966 "Night of Fear" single, sounds a little familiar wouldn't you say?.
The Move and Shazam are highly recommended with the latter being one of the most criminally ignored works ever. The newly expanded Something Else is an impressive set of Live covers, Looking On and Message from the Country are respectable but ultimately less essential.
Rob Eustace
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Useless Information, Fire Brigade, Walk Upon The Water, The Girl Outside, Weekend. LOW POINTS: Zing went the Strings of my Heart, Hey Grandma.
This is a solid debut from a seriously underrated UK outfit who are predominantly remembered in their homeland as a singles band but I understand had a serious underground following in the US. Led by the multi talented, multi instrumentalist, singer songwriter extraordinaire Roy Wood they were assembled from the fragments of various bands in their Midlands hometown of Birmingham. Marketed to perfection, with one publicity stunt after another, they soon caught the public's eye, coming to blow's along the way with the Prime Minster of the day no less "Taxman's" Mr Wilson. More than anything else however they appear destined to be eternally remembered for being the first artist to appear on BBC's Radio One when the station was launched in 1967 with the "Flowers in the Rain" single.
By the time The Move was released in 1968 they had already recorded four Top 5 singles in the UK, two of which appear on this album, the aforementioned flower power classic "Flowers in the Rain" and the jangly guitar classic "Fire Brigade", eternally catchy and prime slice's of Woods genius at creating classy pop singles containing subtle melodies and seamless harmonies. The Move managed to produce four very different albums during their brief existence, this the first is without doubt the most assessable of the four and clearly the most popular, essentially this is because it represents the sound the band created during their commercial peak. For the more endearing fan however it may probably be the weakest, that is not to say that The Move is a bad album by any stretch of the imagination.
The Move are extremely difficult to Pigeon Hole mainly due to the incredible songwriting abilities of their driving force and creative genius Roy Wood. The bands line-up changed from album to album and on this debut they consist of the original five piece of Wood, Trevor Burton, Ace Kefford, Bev Bevan and Carl Wayne. On this first outing they take turns at the microphone which must have been a little frustrating for the bands official lead singer at the time Carl Wayne. Even when the individual members take the stand though it appears that Wood is never really totally happy at handing his songs over to colleagues, and its a regular feature to hear Wood step in to handle a chorus or a middle eight.
Kefford is the first to step forward handling vocals (during the verses at least) on the opening "Yellow Rainbow" a standard 68 psychedelic styled effort, and the following "Kilroy was Here" is a fairly unadventurous Wood composition, lyrically telling the tale of a 60's Graffiti artist, Wood handles the vocals himself this time round. "The Lemon Tree" is a pleasant summer of love take with its music box interludes and some truly delightful strings smothering a delicately crafted middle eight. Mr Wayne still hasn't had a look in as Trevor Burton strides forward to handle the Eddie Cochran cover "Weekend", it's short, sweet and effectively delivered breaking the flow of psychedelic mantra's and adding a little diversity to proceedings.
Wayne at last takes to the stage for "Walk upon the Water", not without Roy drowning him totally during the choruses and handling a couple sections on his own. It's the strongest track so far, it sounds a little like Odyssey period Zombies in places and plays out with in a 67 period Beatles style. Carl continues the vocal duties with the most well known track from the album "Flowers in the Rain", a very British flower power anthem that seems to work it's way onto every 60's compilation known to man, and a good many other collections besides.
"Useless Information" and "Fire Brigade" are to me the strongest tracks on this set, both are classic unpretentious pop masterworks with hooks, melodies and harmonies that a good many other more successful bands from this period couldn't hope to emulate, simply classic Roy Wood. The only other track from this period that comes close to the aforementioned pairing is the little known 7" b side "Omnibus" which is well worth seeking out and has all the qualities of these magnificent tracks.
"Zing Went The Strings Of My Heart" is the low point of this collection, it does add a little further diversity maybe but Bevan's vocal treatment of this Doo Wop number can only really be judged for it's comedy value, I'm really not sure if this was meant to be taken seriously or not. "The Girl Outside" sees Trevor Burton adequately handle a beautifully orchestrated Roy Wood ballad, it's essentially as good as any McCartney ballad from the period but is not quite as polished as a George Martin production might have been.
"Mist on a Monday Morning" is the earliest evidence of a Wood medieval style ballad, cello's and harpsichord feature heavily but this is a lot more melodic and accessible than any of Roy's efforts that would appear on the first ELO album. "Cherry Blossom Clinic" is a track that would be better when revisited on the following album. Here it's nothing more than a jumbled chaotic mess with alternating vocal duties between Burton and Wood fronting a collage of sound that feels cluttered with the vast array of instrumentation and effects on offer. "Hey Grandma" completes the set in an uneventful manner and the album really would have benefited from closing with another Wood original. Generally the final three tracks allow the album to tail off disappointingly with all the better material bunched together earlier in the set.
Overall though this is a more than adequate offering from the period that the band were at their commercial peak and regularly appearing towards the top end of the singles charts. The following album would take the band in a different direction completely and therefore if you like your Move "Night of Fear" or "Blackberry Way" style this is the only album you need, they are an underrated band who are seriously worthy of your attention.
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Hello Suzie, Beautiful Daughter, Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited, Fields of People, Don't Make My Baby Blue, The Last Thing on My Mind. LOW POINTS: None.
The Moves second album is so far removed from it's predecessor that it split the critics and even their own fan base straight down they middle. Ace Kefford and Trevor Burton had jumped ship between the first two albums, Rick Price had been brought in on Bass, while Roy Wood switched to Lead Guitar and together with Bev Bevan and Carl Wayne (who would also soon be gone) recorded this their second album as a four piece. Shazam appears to be a love it or loathe it situation, many of the fans loathed it and it saw the end of the band as a top end singles chart outfit. It disappointed many due to it's opposite approach to it's predecessor, just six long tracks replaced the more accessible abundance of three minute pop classics that frequented the 1968 The Move release. The critics were just as confused as the fans, Rolling Stone claimed it as a masterpiece but most others were not quite so favourable.
So love to or loathe it, personally I love it, to the point that whilst I would accept that it can't be the greatest album of all time (and it's not Pet Sounds either !!) it has now remained for many years my personal favourite. No other Move album would feature in my Top 50 (or even my Top 200 come to that) but Shazam would sit proudly at the top of the pile looking down on the Peppers, Revolvers, Beggars, Marquee's and All Things that among others would surround it. This is of course one hell of a billing for what in reality is a little known album that really attracts very little attention, but it immediately grabbed me at the first attempt, and I simply never tire of hearing it. I take great comfort each time I discover that (whilst admittedly there are few) others do occasionally feel the same about Shazam, so how do I justify this grand statement?.
Shazam is essentially a beast with two heads, the six tracks split neatly over the two sides of the record with the first side exclusively for Wood originals and the second handed over to extremely well dressed covers. Interestingly enough the album actually kicks off with a Wood original that had already been covered by the lightweight 60's pop combo The Amen Corner. Forget if you can all evidence of that three minute pop jingle and embrace this rendition of "Hello Suzie" which is a completely different animal in the masters hands. The opening chords of this track blow away any notions that Shazam is going to be following the blueprint of it's predecessor. The thundering intro lulls, then bolts and kicks down the doors as Wood's angry course vocal delivery flares up and storms it's way through the first verse. Spacey backing vocals supplement but tone down all this aggression at the chorus but the track is a real stormer with an equally commanding and energetic percussion performance from Bevan. "Hello Suzie" is everything you expect from a Roy Wood composition, he'd already proved he could write a hit record and generate catchy pop songs at will, but this time round he wants your attention and "Hello Suzie" certainly demands it instantly.
Despite the critical hammering Shazam sometimes receives, the second track "Beautiful Daughter" is often isolated as being possibly the best song Wood ever wrote for The Move. A sweet orchestrated melody and a terrific vocal from Carl Wayne do make this the track the only throwback to the previous album and if there is any fault at all with Shazam this track does feel a little out of place here. The sheer quality of this track however makes it a joy to behold and I really wouldn't want to think of Shazam without it.
"Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited" as the title suggests is a re-working of the track that appeared on the debut, but what a re-working, three times the length and ten times as impressive. The track begins with the first verse of the original being casually recited in that wonderful laid back Brum accent over a gentle melodic acoustic backing. The track then ignites instantly midway through the "going off my head" line and Wood totally revamps the cluttered messy original with a brighter and more focused, energetic arrangement. The track follows the original to the closing "throw the key away" line before flowing into a lengthy, mostly instrumental coda of which Rick Price's sinister Bass is an outstanding feature. Various acoustic classical styled sections blend seamlessly with dark menacing bass heavy passages before culminating in a grand rousing finale featuring wonderful falsetto harmonies, a truly outstanding composition.
It is the second side of Shazam that attracts the most abuse, mainly due to the decision to fill a complete side with covers rather than use further Wood originals. Covers these maybe but they are not your regular covers, all three are simply awesome and these arrangements make the tracks feel like Wood originals and perfectly fit the bill when critics speak of "making a track your own". Carl Wayne also gets to front all three and is inspired and performs like never before, he is a truly underrated vocalist who was practically lost forever by jumping ship following this album. The opening "Fields of People" kicks off the second side feeling like a real 60's flower power anthem with it's hippy style lyrics. Off the cuff comments litter the track "there's a guy out here looking for the band" and give it a real loose feel and it really shines during the wonderful harmonies displayed during the choruses. Musicianship shines throughout with so much happening that you feel as though you hear something different each time you revisit it. The track concludes with an Indian style jam which begins gently, and then slowly adds instruments along the way before building to a truly frantic and rousing climax.
"Don't Make My Baby Blue" is a awesome heavy guitar blues masterpiece which works mainly because of the balance of Wood's inspired guitar work and Wayne's incredibly soulful vocal performance. Its heavy blues sure, but its nothing like the blues renditions that the likes of Page and Beck were churning out during this period. Wood's performance may not be as technically brilliant as his rivals but everything is firmly in place and the feel of the track is immense with a fantastic solo mid course. Wayne's vocals never threaten to implode into the wailing and screaming that most blues rock giants were endorsing at the time and these are truly unique performances. Carl Wayne is totally professional from start to finish and further evidence of his vocal attributes have since surfaced on the (now extended to an album length) Something Else EP that includes similar live workouts of soul covers given this heavier treatment.
The final track, an inspired version of Tom Paxton's "The Last Thing On My Mind" is another masterwork, to transform a track like this is a credit to the uniqueness of Wood's ability as a creator of rock and pop masterpieces whether they be originals or not. Everything from Wayne's perfectly controlled vocals during the verses, and the Wood/Wayne harmonies at the choruses, to the majestic Wah Wah solo and the throbbing Price bass make this another completely staggering band performance. It's another lengthy track but it's length is totally justified and it's an incredible interpretation. I for one would loved to have heard this line up record more studio covers from the evidence of the work that appears on this set and the Something Else Live album.
It's extremely rare to even find a review of Shazam which is an injustice in itself. Starostin has dealt with it and whilst he sites Wood as being "the most underrated rock hero of all time" he doesn't rate this album and nor do a great many others so I guess I must accept that Shazam is not for everyone. The snippets of conversations that interspersed the tracks are a very British affair and I can understand that they may be an annoying distraction to many. There is no doubt that Wood is eccentric and Shazam reflects this in places but it's the sheer invention, musicianship, production, level of songwriting and the inspiring cover interpretations that all combine to make Shazam one of the most underrated albums of all time. Shazam is criminally ignored, but to some is a genuine masterpiece. Whilst it can be said that it may not be for everyone, if you do fish in the waters of late 60's and early 70's pop culture, do you really want to be letting this one slip through your net?
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Feels Too Good, Turkish Tram Conductor Blues. LOW POINTS: What.
Following up an album like Shazam was always going to prove difficult for The Move but Looking On actually manages to exclude itself from direct comparison to its predecessor because it's essentially conceived by a different band. Carl Wayne who had featured far more predominately on Shazam than he had on the debut had jumped ship to pursue a solo career on the UK cabaret circuit that the band had fallen into (much to Wood's distaste) towards the end of 1969. His replacement was Jeff Lynne formerly of fellow Birmingham outfit The Idle Race, a band I know very little of, short of their "Impostors of Life's Magazine" single, but are a band I would love to hear more of if only I could get hold of their out of print Back to the Story complete works CD (any idea's anyone?).
This was not the first time Mr Lynne had been approached to join The Move, but no doubt due to the lack of any real commercial success with the Idle Race, and with Roy Wood dangling the carrot that once The Move were free of any contractual obligations they would together launch the Wood/Lynne Project (this would of course eventually materialise as The Electric Light Orchestra) the offer was too good to turn down a second time. Looking On is again another distinctly different album to its predecessors, the band now had a second songwriter and vocalist, and while the honours were split pretty evenly on future ventures they were to prove a little lopsided on this occasion.
The lengthy title track opens the set, heavy, gloomy and bluesy in approach, Wood had clearly abandoned any notion of writing any more bright and breezy three minute pop songs. It contains some effective guitar work, heavy riffs chug along laced with some catchy hooks and pretty solid soloing, but it doesn't have the same invention or spark as the tracks that appeared on Shazam and the long coda while constructive in places does overall tend to run pretty short on ideas. "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" (great title) is a second heavy blues workout built around the same format as the title track, heavy riffs and wailing solos throughout, but this time topped with a growling Wood vocal and towards the end it starts to feel a little like a prototype Wizzard track.
"What" is the first introduction to Jeff Lynne and it does at times threaten to have the makings of a really great track, but it's never quite realised by Lynne seemingly trying just a little too hard. The verses are constructed around a spacey piano accompaniment, and the choruses which are effective show early signs of Lynne's talent for writing strong melodies, but the bridge between the two with the heavier distorted vocals never sits comfortably with the rest of the track. It's all a little grand for my liking, it's overlong and disjointed and Lynne was certainly capable of better. "When Alice Comes Back to the Farm" is the third hard rocking Wood number in succession and there's really very little to add except that with each passing track Wood appears to be growing closer and closer to the archetypal Wizzard sound that he would turn to after abandoning the Wood/Lynne Project that was high on his agenda during the conception of Looking On.
"Open Up Said the World at the Door" is the only other Lynne composition on this set (hence the earlier lopsided comment) and is the more satisfying of the two tracks. A shared vocal exercise from Wood and Lynne, they blend well together here, but the track like many others on this set suffers from an unessential long coda. This time the playout incorporates among other sections a Bev Bevan drum solo (always unessential), heavenly choirs and a grand piano passage, and generally it's the second Lynne track that feels unnecessarily overblown. "Brontosaurus" (the single from the album) is yet another riff heavy Wood rocker and while there is some nice guitar work included the main riff is a bland, repetitive plodding affair and at this point you begin to feel that the lack of any diversity in Woods tracks is bringing the whole project down.
"Feels to Good" is the high point of Looking On for me, Roy at last shakes free from the heavy chains that he chose to restrain himself in on the balance of the album and ties the set up with another lengthy but more imaginative venture. Long playouts were obviously the order of the day for the band and following the sparkling vocal section the track plays out in a stubborn infectious groove with all manner of instruments dropping in and out along the way. So a lack of any real diversity among the Wood penned tracks coupled with overlong and overblown Lynne compositions make Looking On a disappointing follow up to the mighty Shazam. I have read Wood's side of the coin here described as being proto heavy metal, well it's not quite that but I would agree that Roy certainly appears to be floundering and losing his sense of direction.
Having said that, and all things considered Looking On is not a complete write off but there's a distinct air of "could do better" about the whole project. There would be a fourth Move album (for contractual purposes) and this would be performed by their fourth line up as Rick Price would soon depart as the others clearly began to focus their minds elsewhere.
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: No Time, Ella James, The Minister, The Words of Aaron, Message From the Country. LOW POINTS: Ben Crawley Steel Company, My Marge, Until Your Moma's Gone.
Message From The Country would be The Move's swansong and too many it is in essence the birth of ELO rather than farewell to The Move. Rick Price's departure following Looking On meant that Message From The Country would be the fourth Move album featuring a fourth different line up, this time the band soldiering on with the original ELO nucleus of Wood, Lynne and Bevan. History dictates that Wood (who was clearly unsure of which direction he should be taking on the previous Looking On album) was actually working on three projects during the sessions for this album with tracks destined for Message From The Country, his solo album Boulders, and the first ELO album all ending up on the same tapes. The Wood "heavy blues" workouts from the previous set had disappeared this time round and the quality and quantity of Lynne's tracks had increased but all in all Message From The Country is not an overly impressive piece of work.
Both Wood and Lynne contribute four tracks each and collaborate on the pointless novelty closer "My Marge". Bev Bevan contributes the Elvis style rocker "Don't Mess Me Up" which Wood delivers in his best "tongue in cheek" Presley voice, close in style to his Eddie and the Falcons pastiches. Bevan's bass warbling on this track reprises his "bullfrog" outing on the debut album in the form of "Zing went the Strings of My Heart". Bevan gets to play another part here in the shape of lead vocalist on the Wood penned Country and Western number "Ben Crawley Steel Company". Unfortunately this is nothing more than a throwaway novelty in the mould of the tracks Lennon and McCartney would write to give Ringo some attention. Why on earth when bands have perfectly good vocalists in their line up (three in the Beatles case) do they get the likes of Bevan and Ringo involved. I could quite easily have lived without the novelty tracks that were written for these guys and I've no more room for "Ben Crawley" than I have for "Yellow Submarine" or "Octopus's Garden". Come on guys, you wouldn't invite Ringo or Bevan off the drum stool for a guitar solo so why the hell hand them the microphone, filler of the highest order I'm afraid.
Jeff Lynne's tracks are far superior to his efforts on the previous album, the title track is a solid bass heavy number which climaxes in a multi layered vocal harmony and it's generally more refreshingly straightforward than his multi part overblown ventures from Looking On. "No Time" is a sweet ballad featuring what sounds suspiciously like the Recorders you would hear in school assemblies during the 70's (maybe you still do?). Nice harmony vocals throughout make this a second consecutive solid Lynne effort.
"The Minister" and "The Words of Aaron" are both further examples of Lynne settling down and growing in confidence with his new colleagues. You get the feeling that he's writing freely without any fear of competition or comparison to Wood's efforts. Both tracks (whilst still different) do feel closer to the early ELO sound than anything else you'll find here and round off a consistent set of impressive compositions for Lynne. Wood on the other hand still appears to be floundering, following the pop gems of The Move, the creative masterworks of Shazam, and the heavy rockers of Looking On his efforts here only confirm that he either had no interest in this project or has lost inspiration totally. Admittedly he was clearly more focused on the forthcoming ELO project than this final Move outing and was clearly saving his stronger material for that venture and his lighter more accessible material for his solo album.
"Ella James" is probably his best offering here, a straightforward pop rocker with solid hooks and a great vocal. "Ben Crawley Steel Company" has of course been dealt with earlier and the remaining two Wood numbers "Until Your Moma's Gone" and " It wasn't my idea to Dance" are fairly mundane. "Moma" sounds like a lightweight Wizzard warm up, "Dance" to it's credit is a little more structured but still doesn't rank highly in the Roy Wood composition stakes, maybe I'm being a little harsh here as I suppose it does point a little in the direction of his future projects.
Diversity and direction were ultimately a problem for Roy Wood, when you look at his entire output through The Move, ELO, Wizzard and his solo projects he never repeats the same formula twice. Sometime the results are spectacular in the form of Shazam or Wizzard Brew but at other times fairly uninspiring Eddie and the Falcons, Looking On and his efforts here. Any casual singles buyer would be astounded at the difference between what appeared on a Roy Wood single and what appeared on a Roy Wood album. Any Wizzard fans expecting a feast of glam tracks like "Angel Fingers" and "See My Baby Jive" were in for a hell of a shock when they got Wizzard Brew home in the same way that The Move fans who brought "Blackberry Way" and "Curly" were offended at Shazam three years earlier.
To sum up Message From The Country is a reasonably enjoyable but ultimately disappointing swansong for The Move with Lynne's input improving but Woods sitting in transition, and with three of the ten tracks being novelties there's not a great deal of innovative work to be found here. I believe it's shortly to be re-issued in the UK (2004) and should benefit from outtakes and the singles from the period "Chinatown", "Tonight" and the farewell "California Man" which again all have a totally different feel to the tracks that appeared on this album. A sad farewell then to The Move after four albums, but it wasn't of course the end of the road for this three piece who would soon re-package and re-launch themselves as a different brand that would ultimately (whether rightly or wrongly) become a far bigger market attraction
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(reviewed by Rob Eustace)
HIGH POINTS: Piece Of My Heart, Higher And Higher, Sunshine Help Me, Too Much In Love, Stephanie Knows Who. LOW POINTS: None
Originally released as a five track EP Something Else has now been extended to album length by adding previously unreleased tracks and restoring another to it's original un-edited length. Much of Something Else would make a handsome companion to the second side of the Shazam album as this set is made up entirely of covers approached in a very similar style to the Shazam takes. Carl Wayne is outstanding at the front handling the entire set with the exception of the title track which is again adequately dealt with by Trevor Burton. The whole performance is delivered in a heavy format but not to the extreme's of say The Who when they approached "Summertime Blues". The guitars are cranked up nicely but not to a level where they might decimate Wayne's vocals and despite the distinct heavy treatment the harmonies remain tight, melodic, and effective throughout.
If Something Else is a fair representation of The Move's Live set (which I believe it is) then it is no surprise as to why half of Shazam was handed over to covers and why they are so effective. "Sunshine Help Me", "Piece of My Heart" and "Stephanie Knows Who" would all slip seamlessly onto that album and it is a surprise to me that the band never decided to record a studio album made up entirely of covers, they were clearly capable of interpreting tracks in their own imitable style without any problem. There really isn't a bad track kicking around anywhere here, "Piece of My Heart" is the pick of the bunch for me just ahead of "Sunshine Help Me" which is the track from the original EP that has now been restored to it's full length.
The performances are top notch throughout, the bass throbs, the drums roll and thunder, the guitars deliver a solid sound without being stretched to distortion levels, the vocal harmonies are tight and impressive and Wayne's lead vocals are controlled and enthralling. There are treatments of The Byrds "So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star", Denny Laines "Too Much in Love", two older 50's standards in the shape of "It'll be Me" and the title track Eddie Cochran's "Something Else" and a rousing version of Jacky Wilson's "Higher and Higher". This a real gem of a set which was recorded at The Marquee Club in London back in the days when the band were still hungry, adventurous and (for me) in their prime. Probably the most fitting description for this set (in the words of Mr Weller) would be Heavy Soul, and for maximum effect and to coin the famous old phrase "play loud".
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(reviewed by Kevin Baker)
It's a real pity that these guys aren't all that well-known in the US. Then again, I don't know how well they're known in the UK, either - the girl working at the music store in London I bought this at (it was over near Covent Garden) said she'd never heard of them....a tragedy to be sure. They manage to combine quirkiness with excellent pop sensibilities - take Night Of Fear as an example. Their debut single, it features lyrics about paranoia, a riff stolen from the 1812 Overture, and undeniable hooks and harmonies. That's pretty typical of The Move, or at least of the ditties put together on this assemblage.
It IS pretty easy to guess the decade with the Move's music, though. The instrumentation is extremely 60s-ish, and very obviously Summer of Love Flower Power era at that. But, I like that in my music - that beautiful mixing of naive melody, creative and diverse arrangement, and rockin' energy is something. The Move never left you forget they're a ROCK band, especially with some later songs such as Brontosaurus, whose riff sounds like a slower, heavy version of Lady Madonna's. However, the magic of The Move is not found in their heavy, bluesy side from their twilight days. I much prefer the first section of songs, devoted to their swingin' 1966-67 material, which also happens to be their best known.
Tho, what thongth doeth that thetction of their career include, you merrily lithp at me? There's the aforementioned Night Of Fear and its B-side, which is another catchy ditty, albeit a catchy ditty ending with a clip of creepy noise from a horror movie. There's also the delightfully fun Here We Go Round The Lemon Tree, which involves a man with a crush on a chick who enjoys dancing around her lemon tree in a bikini. I somewhat suspect the singer is interested in her, eh, lemons if you, uh, know wot ah mean wink wink nudge nudge. I'll bet he, eh, also gets off the East London line at Wapping station, too. Monty Python rip-off humor aside, Lemon Tree has a very memorable set of hooks, and the arrangement is classic - that celeste was a great touch. Then, of course, there's the best commercial ever done for London Regional Transport's bus service - Omnibus! Well, it's not actually a commercial, but if they had any brains, they'd use it in a commercial - catchy as can be. Of all the up-tempo songs, it may be my favorite on here.
I also fancy Walk On The Water, which has FABULOUS harmonies, and Flowers In The Rain and I Can Hear The Grass Grow are lovely gems of tasty mid-60s pyschedelic pop. Fire Brigade is a great little rocker, and Wild Tiger Woman does blues-psycho-pop just right by me. But none of these songs that I've mentioned are the starts. Nope, that honor goes to Blackberry Way. I heard that song ONCE when I was 14, and the chorus was stuck in my brain for 2 YEARS until I found an mp3 of it. 2 YEARS, and I only heard the song one time!!! The chorus hook may just be my choice for greatest pop hook of all time. The song itself is a lovely, though dark counterpoint to the optimism of the Beatles' Penny Lane. They also give us a little 007 nod with the strings in the verse. It's the best song by the Move, and even if it had been their only number, it would warrant them a place in the annals of music history.
Now, the last part of the disc....it doesn't do quite as much for me, partly because I'm such a sucker for the first 10 songs on here. Brontosaurus is a good rocker, Useless Information is a nice up-tempo number along the lines of Omnibus, and really, all of the songs are GOOD. Well, their cover of Jackie Wilson's Higher And Higher leaves a lot to be desired, but all the originals are catchy and well put together. As I said, it's a pity these guys didn't catch on in the US - excellent '60s music.
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