The Move- Flowers in the Rain REACTION & REVIEW

[@Nebuchadnezzar-Wildebeest]

The first record ever played on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. And Roy Wood never made a single penny from writing it because a publicity stunt devised by their notorious manager, Tony Secuda, went drastically wrong and the copyright was lost. Roy Wood and Bev Bevan later formed ELO with Jeff Lynne (who was also, briefly, in The Move).

[@gaiaeternal5131]

Hi Justin. Dave from Beyond The Sea. I remember tuning in on the first day of Radio 1 at 7 am, and hearing this song. I was in hospital at the time, recovering from an operation. The DJ was Tony Blackburn, who still has a show called Sounds of The Sixties on BBC radio that I often tune in to. This was the tail end of the Summer of Love in 1967 - flowers in your hair, peace & love, San Francisco, Haight/Asbury, lots of drugs - but for me so many classic pop songs.

[@JustJP]

Morning Dave! Love that you remember exactly when/where you first heard this one

[@sheldonhowells3083]

Roy Wood knows how to write a catchy song! Other big hits include, "Fire Brigade" and "Blackberry Way". Jeff Lynne would also feature in later line-ups of the band.

[@dexstewart2450]

Morphed into ELO. Nine top 20 UK singles in five years

[@barriehull7076]

Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard.

[@lawrencesmith6536]

I love their album Message From the Country. Wore it out back in the day

[@jon-paulfilkins7820]

Roy Wood, chief songwriter had/has an interesting career. The Move, Co-Founding ELO, Wizard (a strangely British phenomena) and some solo singles. An interesting eclectic mix of sound usually held together with whimsey.

[@murdockreviews]

Lovely band. Fantastic 60s single.

[@delorangeade]

The Move were one of the more successful UK bands of that time, but never managed to translate that success across the Atlantic. Fire Brigade, Night of Fear and Blackberry Way were all great singles, and worthy of being more than a footnote in musical history. Roy Wood's songwriting sometimes addressed themes of mental illness, and I think this song alludes to that, rather than psychedelic experiences.

[@jameswarner5809]

Some good suggestions for further Move reactions here. i'd put my vote with Fire Brigade next. If you're going to check out Roy Wood's future project, Wizzard, it's got to be See My Baby Jive.

[@benjisandoval5640]

Wow!!! That really caught my attention! Another reason that I love this channel! Thank's JP...great way to start the day.

[@JustJP]

Ty! Hope you have a great one!

[@richg0404]

I am 64 years old and have been listening to music for most of my life. I am still discovering great music from back in the 60s, 70s, etc that i either forgot about (happening more and more LOL) or that I overlooked when I was young. There is a ton of wonderful stuff out there and channels like JP's are a nice way to find it.

[@Glenner7]

Wow, I never thought I'd ever see a reaction to The Move or Roy Wood. Hello Susie! Miss Clarke and the Computer!

[@bobholtzmann]

Enjoyable flower power pop single - I noticed there's a bit of an oboe here and there. A few years later The Move would take on a more raucous sound in songs like, "Feel Too Good" (from the later 1970 album Looking On) and Roy Wood plays the oboe as a rock instrument. Roy Wood's cello would come into play in more later work with Jeff Lynn.

[@Elvin_Pelvin]

The Move!!! - one of my earliest favourite bands. You are not alone Justin in thinking there is a synth in this - but as far as I can tell (I am a clarinet / sax player) the sound is produced by two reed instruments - probably oboe and possibly cor anglais in unison giving it a sort of slightly phased type sound which became the standard synth sound of the 70s.

[@michaelcapewell4811]

If you think this is ‘Stompin’, you need to hear their previous single, ‘I Can Hear the Grass Grow’. Legendary group! Pre-cursers to ELO. Roy Wood was a genius! If he had been American his name would be up there with Brian Wilson and the rest.

[@markferrett700]

Roy Wood is an underrated genius imho!!! Jeff Lynn rightly gets the recognition he deserves......Roy Wood is on an equal footing.......great stuff.

[@davidcopson5800]

Jeff Lynne will be mentioned in the comments for sure. Up until a few years ago he lived half a mile away from me, at Walsh Hall.

[@shemanic1]

"I can hear the grass grow" next please. After all that rain you may too.

[@sdwill66]

Blackberry Way

[@murreygellmann7708]

Brilliant band Lots of great tunes to dive into... "Useless Information" would be a good next listen

[@tammccoy4258]

You are at the gates of a wonderful rabbit hole. The Move was a lovely little pop band and the following songs are probably worth you listening to: Fire Brigade, Blackberry Way and California Man. They then morphed into ELO - Jeff Lynne was not a meber of The Move at the time of Flowers in the Rain but he shares vocals on Californian Man for example - and another wonderful UK pop band Wizzard (See My Baby Jive and Angel Fingers are worth a listen). If you can get hold of a Top of the Pops performance of California Man or the Wizzard songs you will be truly tickled.

[@barriehull7076]

Why are rubber gloves called marigolds? They are the leading brand name in rubber gloves in the UK. In this song they are flowers.

[@olafwiencke139]

The move became ELO 😊

[@DropAnchor1978]

I recall an interesting story about this single. It was released in the 1960s and featured a cartoon of Harold Wilson, the Prime Minister, in bed with his secretary. Action was taken against the band, and proceeds from this song were henceforth donated to charity as punishment.

[@ElverGobbi]

A.k.a. the band before Electric Light Orchestra. Very psychedelic years... Reminds me of the Shulman brothers band Simon Dupree and the Big Sound, before Gentle Giant, or The Gods, pre Uriah Heep Hensley's band.... The rain in the begining reminds me too of the song 'One More Rainy Day', from the Deep Purple's debut album...

[@jeremyb5640]

Part of the soundtrack to the summer of love. While it may have been inspired by a fairy tale, there’s no mistaking a dreamlike LSD quality to the lyrics. This is a record that could only have come out in 1967. The Radio 1 connection probably makes this bouncy Penny Lane-esque song more notable than it might otherwise have been, but it’s always a fun listen. The Move were, in part, the precursor to another Birmingham band that you definitely know! ELO! Bev Bevan was the drummer throughout ELO’s career, while Roy Wood was a member of ELO in the band’s early years. Jeff Lynne, meanwhile, was also a member of The Move for a time.

[@denismansfield8876]

Roy Wood was married to Annie Haslem. He played every instrument on Annie's ... Annie in Wonderland album. I really like this album ... heck, it's Annie.

[@michaelfrank2266]

I have absolutely no recall of this song. Pleasant little ditty.

[@Driecnk]

Ditty

[@ramblerandy2397]

Actually, that "direct" singing was the bridge sung by Roy Wood. Carl Wayne sings the rest, with backing here and there. Wayne went on to be a cabaret singer, whereas the rest of the backing band wanted to play heavier rock. Roy Wood was/is just unique.

[@Databhoy]

The Move were very schizo - some of the most whimsical poppy singles but also some of the roughest, growliest proggy heavy rock albums. They morphed into the ELO after Jeff Lynne joined for their last 2-3 albums. Roy Wood became increasingly eccentric with Wizzard a pop rock band featuring saxes, cellos, French horns and bagpipes- it’s ALL very good!

[@jamespaivapaiva4460]

A little drip,tulip?🌷 Or just a poppy, of a trip!🏵️😂✌️&❤ I'm Lynning towards the later.

[@onsesejoo2605]

Flower Power was one of the slogans of that era.

[@Owlstretchingtime78]

You don't say!!

[@JustJP]

🌻💪

[@Starless2012]

"Words of Aaron" is another great one by them

[@johncarr2806]

Carl Wayne was lead vocalist on the early singles, before Roy Wood took over. Wayne left to pursue a largely unsuccessful solo career, before becoming lead vocalist with The Hollies, until his untimely death.

[@Driecnk]

Roy Wood

[@warrenbutson349]

How cool to play The Move. Massive in Europe in 60s but did nothing in US. Became ELO

[@rodneygriffin7666]

Tony!!

[@blitztim6416]

That’s a busy song.

[@maraboo72]

My favorite Move songs are Something, Curly( among other reasons because of the unusual instrumentation), Cherry Blosoom Clinic and above all - of course - Blackberry Way.

[@bobholtzmann]

-- I would also add "Feel Too Good", which my local radio still plays to this day.

[@diogenesagogo]

Blackberry Way has such strong nostalgic associations for me..

[@jerkedevries]

Is the second vocal Jeff Lynne’s? Nice quality song

[@murdockreviews]

No, this was before Lynne joined the group.

[@summertime_blooz]

Jeff Lynne of the band The Idle Race joined The Move a few albums in. He and Move leader Roy Wood would soon hatch an experimental band named Electric Light Orchestra with Move drummer Bev Bevan. Wood left ELO after only one album, and Lynne soldiered on into obscurity. After the debut ELO album Wood made some good Pop music of his own which never caught on in the US but is worth checking out.

[@davidcopson5800]

(Jeff Lynne) "soldiered on into obscurity"? I think not. Lynne had an illustrious career and is still a force today. Roy Wood on the other hand.......

[@summertime_blooz]

@davidcopson5800 That was a joke obviously. But really, Roy Wood made some good records after ELO. I love his song 'Dancin At The Rainbow's End'. Check it out!

[@Eduardo-Ferreira1982]

This is UK sunshine pop, cause it seems they couldn't get a piece of grass. On the contrary,, in the US, "won't you try" (ahah) Great Society "Free Advice"? It's psychedelic before psychedelism came.

[@-davidolivares]

Gibbity goo…

[@TZ61]

Wow! First reaction to The Move, I don't know why I'm surprised since most folks in the States awareness of The Move is limited to the fact that Jeff Lynne joined them later on. They are QUITE British which puts people off, but hopefully you'll put both feet in the water to find some real pearls. Great upload.

[@Driecnk]

We whipped your ass in the 1960s

[@paulcollins5586]

No comment.

[@pentagrammaton6793]

Yeah

[@warrenbutson349]

Fairly sure this is about tripping

[@Eduardo-Ferreira1982]

Wasn't Steve Howe on The Move?

[@pentagrammaton6793]

No, at this point he was in a band called Tomorrow. They recorded White Bicycle.

[@Eduardo-Ferreira1982]

@@pentagrammaton6793 ah, that's right! I know that song! Some years ago, there was a radioshow on RNE 3 (Spanish national radio, third channel) called Sunset Boulevard. One hour only with psychedelic and alike music. That's where I first heard the previous band of Lemmy Kilmister (forgot the name, at this precise moment. Edit: Sam Gopal) and an English band that went to Italy and got a huge success, called The Rokes (good vocal melodies, for me a Moody Blues fan). What a show! I went there, religiously, every Friday 11 am.

[@Elvin_Pelvin]

@@Eduardo-Ferreira1982 yes! Sam Gopal - there's a video on KZbin with Lemmy (pre-bass monster days) singing whilst strumming a six string. It is very 60s with Sam and his compadres on a boat on the Thames.

[@jfergs.3302]

This type of twee 60's 'pop' I could never get into... Even when a kid I thought this rather blah... I did go on to forgive RW this however, as 6yrs later he would go on to write the greatest Christmas song ever :)

[@davidcopson5800]

I always thought 'Driving Home For Christmas' was written by Chris Rea?

[@jfergs.3302]

@@davidcopson5800 It was, and I see what you did there :)