THE MOVE 'THE WORDS OF AARON' from The Lost Broadcasts

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 song 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 multitalented 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).

They were originally planned as a noisy pop art rock band in a similar style to The Who, but it wasn’t long before they developed a new and provocative style of their own. At the time, many bands were questioning the role of the rock musician. They were unwilling to continue being merely entertainers and felt that, to use a 21st Century expression, they had to ‘think outside the box’ in order to find new and exciting ways to present their art to the public.

In the beginning, the band was 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 Marcia Falkender – a prank which landed them in court.

It could well be argued that this most post-modern of beat groups were encouraged in their outrageousness by their manager the notorious Don Arden often considered to be either a management genius or an uncontrollable psychopath (often by the same people), and probably best-known now as the father of media mogul and star of stage and screen, Sharon Osbourne.

But, nearly five decades on, the outrage and excesses are largely forgotten, and the band are now only really remembered for the music – fourteen singles (nine of which were hits, Blackberry Way reaching the coveted #1 position, and four albums. But unlike their next projects, they had no commercial success in the United States, and remain shockingly undervalued.

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 were also launching another band - 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).
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
Wild Tiger Woman 2mins 31secs (BW playback) September 68

Check it out on Gonzo:
http://www.gonzomultimedia.co.uk/product_details/15503