Move - Magnetic Waves of Sound - The Best of The Move

  by Malcolm Carter

published: 17 / 3 / 2017

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Between late ’66 and ’72 Birmingham band the Move released thirteen singles, a 7” EP that unusually played at 33rpm and four albums. Until that EP, a pointless live recording of five covers, the classic five-piece line up hadn’t put a foot wrong musically. The B-sides of their first four singles towered over many of their contemporaries’ A-sides. What was the point of that EP, when in guitarist Roy Wood they had a songwriter who was up there with the greats of that era, and had written all eight songs that made up those first four singles; it still frustrates to this day. There’s no denying that the Move were an exceptional live band and that all members were excellent musicians and singers, but why interrupt that run of glorious original singles with a live covers EP? Maybe there was a feeling that the energy the band created on stage wasn’t transferred through their singles but considering that lead singer (and true showman) Carl Wayne used to take an axe not only to television sets on stage but to automobiles and effigies of Adolf Hitler too it’s hardly surprising; capture that on 7” of vinyl, even if it did play at the speed of an album. Or maybe Roy Wood just wasn’t a prolific songwriter and the record companies were pushing for new product all the time. Certainly the band's first two albums suffered by the inclusion of perfunctory covers; they would have been different albums completely had more Wood originals been included. Apart from Wood and Wayne the band, initially, was completed by drummer Bev Bevan (still underrated today), guitarist Trevor Burton and bassist Chris ‘Ace’ Kefford. Burton took over bass when Kefford left the band in 1968. Of course, it’s well documented that the final line-up of the Move, a trio made up of just Wood and Bevan from the original band with ex-Idle Race main man Jeff Lynne, morphed into The Electric Light Orchestra and Wood’s own Wizzard, both to enjoy greater success than the Move ever did. But for a time there, for a good five years, the Move were one of the most original, inventive and talented bands we had. Wood’s gift for writing about, shall we say characters that were slightly unhinged perhaps, was explored through that first batch of singles, even more so on the flip-sides and carried through on songs on the first album, making it their finest hour. But Wood also had a way with pretty yet ever so slightly disturbing melodies; along with Denny Cordell’s imaginative production the Move could hardly fail in those heady days. So here we are again, another Move compilation; twenty-one tracks on one CD that in all fairness is that rare thing; a near perfect ‘best of’. These tracks have been reissued so many times since the dawn of the CD that original Move fans will already have these songs spread through multiple CDs and they really don’t need this new CD from Esoteric, The earliest singles still sound as good as we are ever likely to hear them; the muddy period recordings still sound like your head is in a puddle before the band/producer finally lets all the glory shine in the stereo cuts. But for any newcomers to the Move this is a fine place to start. Those early songs are some of the best psych-pop ever to come out of the UK. Even later on when Wood introduced a heavier sound via ‘Brontosaurus’, or explored the love of rock ‘n’ roll he would later expand on in his Wizzard period, highlighted here by ‘California Man’, there’s little not to like. It is strange though that the little nuances that now come to light on those early singles were developed further by Lynne with ELO than they were on Wood’s later work. There is an incentive for the hardcore Move fan to shell out once more for these songs though, Esoteric have, once again, packaged the whole thing nicely, new liner notes by Mark Paytress are up to his usual high standard and the label has included another period poster similar to those in their 2016 reissues of the Move’s albums. But it’s the DVD that comes with the package which will make the die-hard fans part with their cash. Another twenty-one tracker (although some songs make more than one appearance) it takes in the black and white promotional film for ‘I Can Hear the Grass Grow´ in surprisingly good quality (and also highly amusing), before three tracks, also in black and white, from the German TV show ‘Beat, Beat, Beat’ which the band perform live confirming just how strong that four-man front line were as singers. Wayne may have been the focal point for many but there’s no denying that, although he was a very strong vocalist, the others weren’t so far behind. A 'Top of the Pops' performance of ‘Fire Brigade’ from February 1968 follows before ten songs from ‘Colour Me Pop’, another BBC programme that was broadcast in January 1969. Three of the songs are mimed it would appear but the rest are live. The quality of the recordings is again excellent and better than expected; it has been mentioned that some of the clips on this DVD have been ‘squashed’ or bizarrely ‘stretched’. Now I haven’t viewed this DVD on anything other than a computer and a far from state of the art television and didn’t need to adjust anything; the clips are presented in the right ratio and are certainly not distorted visually in any way. Maybe a slight adjustment to your sets is needed, lads. The cover of the Louvin Brothers ‘Christian Life’ on the 'Colour Me Pop' set is particularly welcome, showing yet another side to the band and how they were not afraid to tackle different styles of music. The live cuts show that even when the band was down to a four-piece (Kefford had split by the time of this BBC 2 recording) they still had the power and talent to capture an audience’s attention. There are also six songs performed on the German TV show 'Beat Club', taken from various broadcasts between 1968 (‘Fire Brigade’) and 1970 (‘Brontosaurus’ and ‘When Alice Comes Back to the Farm’) the latter two the only clips featuring Jeff Lynne. The quality of these 'Beat Club' clips varies greatly but it’s great to have them available at last. As an introduction to the Move the CD is one of the better sounding available and for the casual listener includes most of what is essential. For the committed fan it’s the DVD that will make you part with your cash, and yet another reminder of what a talented songwriter Roy Wood was, what a powerful live band the Move could be and how they pushed boundaries that they are no always given the credit for.

Track Listing:-

1 Night Of Fear
2 I Can Hear The Grass Grow
3 Wave The Flag And Stop The Train
4 Kilroy Was Here
5 (Here We Go Round) The Lemon Tree
6 Walk Upon The Water
7 Flowers In The Rain
8 Fire Brigade
9 Wild Tiger Woman
10 Blackberry Way
11 Curly
12 Hello Susie
13 Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited
14 Brontosaurus
15 When Alice Comes Back To The Farm
16 What?
17 Ella James
18 Tonight
19 China Town
20 California Man
21 Do Ya?

Band Links:-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Move
https://en-gb.facebook.com/DrRoyWood/
http://www.roywood.co.uk/
https://en-gb.facebook.com/The-Move-Roy-Wood-210108123280/

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