#The Move #Roy Wood #Jeff Lynne #psychedelic rock #blues rock #hard rock #British psychedelia #pop rock #art rock #proto-prog #1960s #Tom Paxton cover
The Move were the best and most important British group of the late '60s that never made a significant dent in the American market. Through the band's several phases (which were sometimes dictated more by image than musical direction), their chief asset was guitarist and songwriter Roy Wood, who combined a knack for Beatlesque pop with a peculiarly British, and occasionally morbid, sense of humor. On their final albums (with considerable input from Jeff Lynne), the band became artier and more ambitious, hinting at the orchestral rock that Wood and Lynne would devise for the Electric Light Orchestra. The Move, however, always placed more emphasis on the pop than the art, and never lost sight of their hardcore rock & roll roots. Formed in the mid-'60s, the Move were so named because the five musicians from the original lineups were moving from established Birmingham groups into a new band. Most of the Move, in fact, had previously recorded flop singles in average, unremarkable British Invasion styles as members of other outfits. Taken under the wing of manager Tony Secunda, the group moved to London and crafted an explosive act, heavily influenced by the Who, which found them destroying televisions on stage. The Move's early singles were also heavily influenced by mod pop in their chunky chords and oddball character sketches, although Roy Wood's songs were much poppier and bouncier than those of Pete Townshend. From: https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-move-mn0000483587/biography
