In 1967, as a knee-jerk reaction to the ever growing power of the pirate radio stations, and one suspects, concerned by the milieu of lawlessness surrounding some of them, the British Broadcasting Service launched Radio 1 – the first legal pop music station. The first DJ on air was Tony Blackburn, and the first somg that he played was by The Move.
The Move were undoubtedly one of the most influential and interesting groups of the 1960s, and it could well be argued that the reason that they didn’t get as famous as some other bands was that they came from Birmingham, not London, and were based in the Midlands throughout their career.
They were formed in 1965 by bassist-vocalist Chris "Ace" Kefford who was the original leader. However, he was soon usurped by the multi-talented guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood who undoubtedly one of Rock music’s true polymaths. He composed all the group's UK singles and from 1968, also sang lead vocals on many songs, although Carl Wayne was the main lead singer up to 1970.
Beside Wood and Kefford, the original five-piece line-up of The Move in 1965 was drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne and guitarist Trevor Burton. Initially the band had 4 main vocalists (Wayne, Wood, Trevor Burton and Kefford).
In the beginning, however, the band were as known for their outrageous stage persona as for the music. They went on stage dressed as gangsters and lead singer Wayne took an axe to TV sets and busts of Adolf Hitler. They even produced a libellous postcard featuring then Prime Minister Harold Wilson in bed with his private secretary – a prank which landed them in court.
The music got better and better as Roy Wood progressed as a songwriter, but when Carl Wayne left in 1970 he was replaced by Jeff Lynne, late of massively under-rated band The Idle Race, and the dynamic of the band changed forever. The final line-up of 1972 was the trio of Wood, Bevan and Jeff Lynne, who transitioned the group into the Electric Light Orchestra.
The tracks on this DVD come from a number of different sessions:
Blackberry Way, 3mins 37 secs (B+W playback) January 69
Brontosaurus 4mins 30secs colour, live studio) 13th April 1970
Curly 2mins 49 secs BW playback) August 69
The Words of Aaron 5mins 21sec (Colour, Live, Rare) 25/11/70
Ella James 1mins 18secs - Aborted 25/11/71 Colour, Live Aborted take)
Ella James 4mins 4 secs 25/11/71 Colour, Live audio phasing to sort, could rip audio off Youtube uploaded already, this is already on Youtube but the keying has been blacked out presumably for broadcast so is most likely off a different analogue tape, which may be the cause of the phasing).
Down On The Bay 4mins 52secs (Colour, Live) 25/11/71
Down on The Bay 4mins 49secs (Colour Live, same clip with Blue key used) 25/11/71
Fire Brigade 2mins 23Secs BW playback) March 68
When Alice comes back to the Farm 4mins 08secs (Colour Live) 27/12/70
