John Peel Wiki

Changes to the look of John Peel Wiki will take place in the near future due to a new skin being rolled out over Oct/Nov across Wikia. Please see the Wikia Staff Blog for further details. On this site, the changes will affect the navigation from the left menu, as well as introduce a fixed page width with narrower content space. Please be patient while adjustments are made for the switch to the new system.

UPDATE: As the change is now in force for some users, I have switched the navigation to the simplified one for the new system. Please check Navigation in the Help section if you can't find things. I also initially made small adjustments to the front page layout, but have now reverted to the old look until all users are on the new system.

COUNTDOWN: Just a reminder for people still using Monaco that the final switch to the new skin is due on Nov. 3. After that, it will no longer be offered as an option. Sorry. Nothing to do with me.

Steve W

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John Peel Wiki
The Move TOTP67

The Move in 1967

The Move were one of the leading British rock bands of the 1960s from Birmingham, England. Despite scoring nine Top 20 UK singles in five years, they were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. Although bassist-vocalist Chris "Ace" Kefford was the original leader, for most of their career, the Move was led by guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood. He wrote 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. The final line-up of 1972 was the trio of Wood, Bevan and Jeff Lynne; together, they rode the group's transition into the Electric Light Orchestra.  (Read more at Wikipedia )

Links To Peel[]

When Peel was working for KMEN in San Bernardino, California in 1966-67, The Move was one of the exciting new bands gigging in London, and he reported on their stage act (which involved smashing up instruments, cars, etc.) in his "British Scene" column in the station newspaper, the Kmentertainer. In the issue dated January 7, 1967 he writes:

The Move have leaped manfully into the headlines again. This time the group chopped up an effigy of Adolph [sic] Hitler during a performance at the Slade School of Art in London and then were the recipents of naughty phone calls from admirers of Herr Hitler. The group announced that the effigicide (how's that for a word) would continue to be a part of their somewhat unconventional stage show.

In the issue of January 28, 1967, we read:

The Auto-destructive performances of the Who and the Move still causing considerable controversy with the former group being probably the most popular on the London scene at this time. Incidentally a week ago Carl Wayne, lead singer and demolition captain of the Move, had the arduous task of chopping up an entire car during the group's performance. In an other recent show they came up with a classic when, during a frenzy of electronic shrapnel, smoke bombs, rockets and splinters of wood, a midget ran across the stage in front of the group - just once - and by all accounts almost caused a riot.

At this time, the Move were playing at venues like UFO and the Marquee club, alongside Pink Floyd and other new, "underground" groups of the era, and record producer and UFO co-founder Joe Boyd was interested in signing them (as he relates in his book White Bicycles). Then, when Peel moved back from California to the UK and joined Radio London, the Move's "psychedelic" singles "Night Of Fear" and "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" featured in the station's charts and Peel played them on both daytime shows and the Perfumed Garden.

When he joined BBC Radio One, a session by them was featured in his first ever appearance on Top Gear on 01 October 1967, including some cover versions of the kind of "West Coast" material - songs by Love, the Byrds and Moby Grape - Peel was keen on at the time. As such, he retained some affection for them and kept playing the occasional track during the subsequent decades. However, the Move's later hit singles made them seem too commercial for many of the "underground" music fans who listened to Peel's shows in the late 1960s,.

Even though he didn't play much from The Move's later more experimental output, he did seem to have lot of respect for them. On the 22 April 1972 issue of Sounds he reviewed their final single "California Man", stating that even though the song didn't have the "tunefulness of some of (Roy Wood)'s work" it had "good lyrics", and also complemented the arrangment, praising Wood's "incredibly accurate imitation of Jerry Lee Lewis" and a "tasty piano break". He concluded the interview stating that both Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne were "good writers and good performers and it's a pity that things don't work out better for them", in response of the fact that the single was not a hit, and also lamented the fact that the first Electric Light Orchestra LP didn't sell "as well as it should have done" [1].

Peel did follow the first steps of The Move's evolution, Electric Light Orchestra, but when the band departed from its experimental roots, partly due to Roy Wood leaving the project, he lost interest in them.

Sessions[]

  • The_Move_-_Fire_Brigade_(Peel_Session)

    The Move - Fire Brigade (Peel Session)

    Two sessions. A selection of tracks officially appeared on: "The BBC Sessions " (Band of Joy, 1995) (marked #) and "Move" (Deluxe Edition, Esoteric Recordings, 2016) (marked @)

1. Recorded: 1967-09-21. First broadcast: 01 October 1967 (presented by Peel and Pete Drummond). Repeated: 22 October 1967 (presented by Drummond and Rick Dane)

  • Flowers in The Rain / So You Wanna Be A Rock 'N' Roll Star / Stephanie Knows Who# / Cherry Blossom Clinic#@ / Hey Grandma#@ / Kilroy Was Here

2. Recorded: 1968-01-22. First broadcast: 28 January 1968 (presented by Peel and Tommy Vance). Repeated: 03 March 1968.

  • Cherry Blossom Clinic / Fire Brigade#@ / Weekend#@ / It'll Be Me#@ / Walk On The Water@ (Useless Information@ on the release above but not noted as a session track in Ken's Books, and the band do not appear at all on the BBC's Keeping It Peel minisite)

Other Shows Played[]

(Please add more information if known)

1960s
1970s
1980s

1990s

2000s

TOTP

Others

  • John Peel Remembers 1967: Flowers In The Rain (Peel stops the record after 25 seconds because he's fed up with the song)
KMEN British Pop Top Ten
  • 28 Jan 1967: Night Of Fear (7)
  • 11 Feb 1967: Night Of Fear (4)
  • 18 Feb 1967: Night Of Fear (4)

Cover Versions[]

(List is incomplete - please add more if known)

See Also[]

External Links[]

Footnotes
  1. Reprinted in the 2005 remastered edition of The Move's "Message from the Country".