No, that solo represents a kind of zenith of my college years. As luck would have it my floor in the dorm had several Move fans and I can tell you that after a few doobies that solo is mesmerizing in the way it builds. Bev shines on it too! Also, I kinda wish you’d stop calling them stupid. The Move were certainly not stupid, and they were never boring.
I have two copies of Split Ends that I compared last night. They have differently coloured inner sleeves and different matrixes, but damn! What a compilation. This was where I realized Jeff Lynne was a force to be reckoned with when I first owned it.
Please re-read the post. I never called The Move stupid. I called what they did stupid. Touring America and not playing any hits and on top of that not releasing any Move records in North America is stupid. They never made it in America because ( besides one single) they were NO MOVE RECORDS TO BUY. Now, wouldn't you call that stupid? Just because a band makes great music doesn't make them intelligent or knowledgeable in the music business. I will call any band stupid if they do something stupid. This isn't a safe zone. Or do you believe that an attack on one of your favorite bands equals an attack on you? This isn't a Move Fan Boy Site. This is a free Forum. I will say what needs to be said. Sorry if some members take offence. You have to deal with it. If you find my posts distasteful you can block me out. Trust me, I never hesitate to block out members I find annoying. But I am under no obligation to say nice things about your favorite band. I really like Air Supply (1980 - 1987) but most people call them a crappy band. And why not. Everytime they appeared they were band syncing on solid gold which was pretty stupid. And a band that does nothing but ballads. (Not true. Mostly) is enough to turn anyone's guts. The solo is long and boring. Many of us don't like it. Some of us do. This is called life.
Well, it’s been pointed out to you that they did not. Play more than a handful of dates. It was hardly a tour. And many of the covers are obscure, which makes them cool in my book. I’m not gonna block you, although I was simply asking you to not insult a great band over minor things and you seem to be offended that someone might find that offensive. And, again I think you misjudged the sitar solo. Roy would go on to record many longer pieces, so beware.
Hi John, ‘Mist On A Monday Morning’ always stirs me, as does ‘Cherry Blossom Clinic’. A masterful late-60s album. Here’s a little known tidbit for any avid Move collector... The début LP (‘Move’) was issued in stereo and mono. The stereo version was a hybrid of true stereo tracks and mono tracks. That’s pretty well-known, but... From the 80s onwards, the mono mixes became ‘standard’ on CD compilations, with the stereo mixes being collectable bonuses. However, the CD compilers, in their haste, always assumed that three tracks from the stereo album are actually mono; these tracks have therefore never made it to digital. They are: Kilroy Was Here Fire Brigade Mist On A Monday Morning. The reason they’re always overlooked is simple: they sound like mono, but stereo elements become apparent when listening through headphones. Specifically: ‘Kilroy’ and ‘Mist’ have their lead vocal tracks bussed to a reverb unit, the output of which is hard panned in the mix; ‘Fire’ (like some tracks on the US stereo LP of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’) has been treated with global panning (i.e. the entire mix pans slightly to one side). This occurs during the song’s intro only. Also, the stereo mix of ‘Cherry Blossom Clinic’ that’s been doing the rounds on compilations since the 70s (i.e. the one with studio chatter on the front... it’s on 1998’s ‘Movements’ CD box) is not from the 1968 stereo LP. In fact, the mono mix of that track is on the stereo LP. Jason
My understanding is that Roy was very short on new compositions at the time, hence ‘Cherry Blossom Clinic Revisited’ was flown in from their contemporary live act, and the side two tracks retained the long jams that (arguably) worked better on stage than on record. ‘Shazam’ is unquestionably the best sounding Move album, but sorely lacks the rich diversity of their début LP.
The amazing thing is that the press were reporting that Shazam could be a double album at one point, and only one new Roy song appears on it. Roy may have been holding back for a solo album? There were some other tracks that could have been - roy had the mostly finished Second Class and the leftover Vote for Me.
About Fire Brigade--I would add that the siren in the intro is cut a bit short compared to the mono--and (extremely important to my ear)--the final bent G's on Trevor's (I believe it's him) lead guitar are actually in tune on the "stereo"--on the ubiquitous mono, they're quite sharp in pitch and an obvious overdub.
They still had the 4 track tapes. Why didn't they do proper stereo mixes for all the songs? I heard some were remixed later a few years ago.
Maybe my favorite Move song, and there are a lot of excellent ones, is Kilroy Was Here. Does anyone have any info on that one? It speaks for itself but I love Roy Wood's surreal and absurdist sense of humour. I thought stupid was posing with an H bomb prop in a busy street for publicity and the manager always telling them to scowl for the cameras (Bev often smiled anyway). Anything for publicity and attention didn't really help the music get heard I don't think.
That’s a really valid question, which I can’t answer. Whoever made those 1968 stereo mixes had a fairly indifferent attitude to their job. For example, the only stereo element of ‘Walk Upon The Water’ is the left and right panning, in the bridges, of that backwards percussion sound; everything else is mono. Similarly, ‘Lemon Tree’ features stereo strings in the bridge only, but everything else is mono. ‘Cherry’ and ‘Rainbow’, which could’ve sounded glorious in stereo, are both mono. Regarding the recent stereo remixes, ‘Rainbow’ (from 2009’s Anthology 1966-1972) was only simulated stereo, suggesting a lost multitrack; but it does include introductory studio chatter/a count-in. ‘Cherry’, from the same set, is also simulated stereo. However, it was treated to a true stereo remix on the 2007 expanded reissues of the début album, albeit without the brass track which, apparently has been lost (although it’s present on the older stereo mix, i.e. from 1998’s Movements box).
Beautiful daughter was performed on the Colour Me Pop show in February 1969 with the basically the same backing track.
I Can Hear The Grass Grow deserves to be lined up alongside the best singles of 1966 - great psychedelic power pop. Fire Brigade - great pop song full of hooks.
Maybe, it's a matter of opinion. But without the first three singles, no way. . . . and I'm a big fan and proponent of The Move for over 50 years.
Wow? Damn.....A didn't realize. I believe I have an explanation as to the odd stereo mix of Lemon Tree. (Originally written for The Idle Race.) Track 1: band Track 2: vocals Track 3 and 4: String quartet. Or....... But I have no doubt the band was recorded to 4 tracks of a 4 track machine. The rhythm and guitar tracks of tape 1 (Tracks 1, 2 and 3.) were bounced down to track 1 of tape 2. The vocal track of tape one (Track 4) was bounced down to Track 2 of Tape 2. And then the two tracks of the string quartet were added to tracks 3 and 4 of Tape 2.
That’s a reasonable explanation. The intrigue compounds when you listen to the 2007 stereo remix (from the deluxe reissue of Move): there are backing vocals in the right channel. This implies that: band and lead vocal eek:) were bounced to track 1 (centre); BVs on track 2 (right) strings on tracks 3 and 4 (left and right). Unless... the BVs shared the right-panned strings’ track, allowing the lead vox and band to stay separated. This seems probable, as there is reverb on the lead vox track that’s not on the band track... and the BVs and strings never overlap, so they could easily have been punched onto the same track.
