I had never heard of The Move until a few years ago when I learned that "California Man" by Cheap Trick was actually a cover of The Move. However, that fact didn't spark my intellectual curiosity enough to check them out. Then even more recently, I learned that the Electric Light Orchestra was an offshoot of The Move. That finally put them on my radar, so when I received a gift certificate for the record store picking up a CD by The Move was priority #1. I went straight to the liner notes before I even listened to the CD. You may remember me complaining in the past about great UK bands that never get a sniff in the United States, such as Doves, Kasabian and Elbow. Apparently, The Move were one of the original bands to suffer this fate. They had several hit singles in the UK from 1966 to 1971, but couldn't make a dent in the States.
The majority of The Move's songs were written by eccentric co-founder and multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood. I assumed that a band which would one day become the Electric Light Orchestra would be heavily influenced by The Beatles. However, it seems the only influence they had on Wood was to inspire him to start his own band and perform original songs rather than playing in cover bands that had no interest in his songs. Just from what I can tell from a Best of collection, the Beatles influence enters the band with the arrival of Jeff Lynne in the 70's. I also had no idea that Roy Wood bailed on E.L.O. early on to start the band Wizzard. I had never heard of Wizzard, so I checked them out on You Tube. Apparently, they did that now famous Christmas song, "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday". The video is awesome. Roy Wood is dressed up like a glam Santa. Wizzard consisted of two drummers and horn players and guitars. I checked out a few videos and they seemed like a fun pop band. Their wardrobe, however, was crazy. Wood looked like a combination of Tim the Enchanter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail and Ozzy from the Diary of a Madman album cover. One of the guitarists was dressed as a "gumby" from Monty Python's Flying Circus. Between Wizzard and The Move, Wood was responsible for more than 20 UK hit singles and he's virtually unknown in America.
As I listened to the CD, I was struck by a few things. Cheap Trick's version of "California Man" is actually a combination of two songs by The Move, "California Man" and "Brontosaurus", the later which provides a guitar riff that Rick Nielsen uses and builds upon. The song "Chinatown" which was written by Wood and sung by Lynne is straight up George Harrison, complete with slide guitar. For me, the most interesting song is The Move's version of "Do Ya", which would later become a hit for the Electric Light Orchestra. I think Christopher Walken produced this track, because somebody had a fever for more cowbell. This version doesn't include one of favorite lyrics, "I heard the police playin' with their guns". It also sounds like Lynne says "long black veil" instead of "long black hair". They also had a couple fantastic Who inspired songs, "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" and "Lemon Tree".
The Best of The Move is a great collection of songs by a tragically unknown band. The music runs the gamut of late 60's rock from The Who to The Stones to The Zombies to Syd Barrett Floyd. Based on this collection, Roy Wood seems like a very gifted lyricist and songwriter. I intend to investigate his catalog further. I definitely recommend that my kids listen to The Move, as well as all my Electric Light Orchestra. Peace.