REVIEW: Move, the – The Lost Broadcasts

When I look ahead to what the future might hold, I really don't envy young people and am glad that I grew up in a different age. Looking back, however, can sometimes make me cringe, something that happened when I watched this DVD. It is one of a series featuring rarely seen archive performances, in this instance it comprises eleven by The Move. The insert notes begin with reference to 'Flowers In The Rain', claiming its special place in history as the first record played by Tony Blackburn at 7am on September 30th 1967, marking the start of Radio 1, but this track is not included here. Watching the video effects employed reminded me of my first steps experimenting with photo-editing software. Despite the results looking very amateurish now, I believe I can understand the excitement that the studio engineers must have experienced when first discovering the possibilities of their equipment. Look back, it is important to put things in context, back in the late 1960s this was all fairly cutting edge stuff that was seeking to push boundaries. Similarly, the music may now sound rather plodding but it must be remembered that the band were also breaking out from more established formats; they certainly didn't have our current vast range of genres to listen to for comparison purposes. Whilst the band might have looked very serious and deep in concentration during some of the more experimental tracks such as 'The Words Of Aaron' and 'Ella James', they appeared much more relaxed and flowing during 'Down On The Bay', which gave them an opportunity to play in a more familiar blues rock style. The eleven tracks include two takes of 'Ella James' and 'Down On The Bay' along with chart hits 'Blackberry Way', 'Brontosaurus', 'Curly' (with the great Roy Wood playing two recorders at once), and 'Fire Brigade'. I think that archive footage such as this is of great historic value, and offers a great insight into a different, more naïve world. Roy Wood's distinctive appearance may well be familiar to many, particularly as a result of 'I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday'; it was also good to see remembered familiar faces such as Bev Bevan and Carl Wayne. As somebody who was alive to see this band perform these songs for the first time as fresh new music back then I also find such offerings as this 'Lost Broadcasts' series to be great at generating feelings of nostalgia. They also help to underscore my happiness at having been privileged to be around when the pop/rock music scene was exploding with adventurous creativity and enthusiasm; I also feel so privileged to be able to now experience a similar burgeoning of fresh talent, making the most of the vast array of technologies now available in the 21st century. I wonder what today's teenagers will think when they reach the year 2052 and look back on some of our current TV output – will it also look dated and unsophisticated then? Then again, with the world scheduled to end of 21st December, perhaps that question will never be answered. http://www.therocktologist.com/move-the-ndash-the-lost-broadcasts.html