Flowers In The Rain
The untold story of The Move by Jim McCarthy
ISBN 978-1-915246-59-2
219, 08-11-24
WYMER PUBLISHING www.wymerpublishing.co.uk
Reviewed December, 2024
At last! This is the book many have waited for and it's finally here!! The City of Birmingham's thriving 1960s music scene produced The Move - one of the most famous "unknown" bands of that era whose controversial image influenced the Sex Pistols and punk rock revolution a decade later. Now, hang onto your seat and be transported back to that crazy time in the UK known as "The Summer of Love"...
I'm serious here! The Move were a musical force to be reckoned with and it's surprising that no book dedicated to them was ever published until now. It takes some courage to tackle a band like The Move but author Jim McCarthy was more than up to the task - and obviously crazy enough to do so! Jim is a well-published UK based writer and talented artist whose list of credits include books on Keith Moon, The Ramones, and Santana as well as several popular graphic novels.
No stone is left unturned in this well-researched more than 400 page book that I'm sure will be the last word on this chart-topping band and a worthy epitaph to one of the most exciting pop groups to emerge from that hallowed decade. Jim McCarthy's somewhat anarchic and unique writing style captures a sense of immediacy that was so characteristic of those fast changing times during the 1960s.
Compiled with reference to hundreds of contemporary and recent interviews of individual band members and associates, this book dives deep to expose as much available information as possible. This often leaves the reader an opportunity to decide what may be fact or fiction, especially when considering the hype and distorted facts prevalent back in those heady days. Many long-forgotten contemporary news stories and magazine articles are brought to light in the book. This, along with scores of eyewitness accounts, transport the reader back to those crazy times when authority and "the establishment" were both questioned and challenged.
"Night Of Fear"
The Move's rise to fame was dramatic, and their time in the spotlight burned bright, but like many a wildfire it could not be sustained. From the ashes of The Move emerged ELO and Wizzard whose successes during the 1970s overshadowed what had come before, and The Move was mostly forgotten by both the record industry and the public. Thanks to efforts made during the 1990s and early 2000s by ELO archivist Rob Caiger and others to re-master and re-issue their long-neglected legacy of recordings for the digital marketplace, the band has undergone a belated comeback of sorts.
At least The Move were never subjected to the type of ignominious treatment afforded to many other once famous pop groups of the 1960s and 70s whose "Greatest Hits" or "Best of" compilations found in supermarket discount bins were recent re-recordings featuring only one or two original band members!
The Move were the perfect band in so many ways. Dynamic lead vocalist Carl Wayne was supported by talented guitarists Roy Wood and Trevor Burton (who also possessed great lead vocals when required), and this powered along by thunderous drummer Bev Bevan, and killer bass guitarist Ace Kefford who had the blonde good looks and dynamic vocal to front a band in his own right! Jim McCarthy takes an in-depth look at the background of each band member. With all five combined plus their incredibly tight three or four part harmonies, the group became far more than just the sum of its parts as Jim well describes.
There's good background information too in this book describing the local Birmingham or "West Midlands" music scene as it was during those early days. What becomes most apparent (and obvious to fans of the BrumBeat website) is the amount of cross-pollination taking place with so many groups exchanging members, breaking up, re-forming, and competing within a rather close-knit music community and performing circuit.
It was controversial and larger-than-life pop manager Tony Secunda who took five supposed “hooligans” from Birmingham and brought them to London and challenge the rather artsy and ultra hip music scene developing there. As former manager of The Moody Blues, Tony Secunda’s vice-like grip on the band is discussed in detail from interviews with many who knew or worked with him. A mysterious character with known shady business dealings, I'm sure his autobiography would have provided a fascinating read had he lived long enough to write one.
As the book well describes, it was Tony Secunda who developed the band’s wild image with the belief that there was no such thing as bad publicity! Some of the stunts that included attempts to get arrested were shocking even by today’s standards. Carl Wayne's use of a large axe to chop up TV sets and efigies of political figures certainly brought in the crowds but some of the indoor pyrotechnics including flash and smoke bombs that rained fire onto the stage and audience would hardly be tolerated today.
Easily the most controversial publicity stunt however was the infamous "Harold Wilson" affair on which to promote the Move's 'Flowers In The Rain' record. Tony Secunda had postcards printed having a less than flattering caricature of the Prime Minister shown in a compromising situation with his secretary. Wether true or not and even as a joke, this was a step too far. Followed by police, threatened by "heavies" and investigated by the MI5, the band and their manager ended up in a major court case. Jim's book gives a particularly detailed account of this and the eventual controversial outcome that makes fascinating reading even today.
NOTE; Although there's no published biography available on Tony Secunda, Jim McCarthy has included an entire section dedicated to him in the Appendices at the end of this book. This includes background of his first wife Chelita who was an influential figure in the London fashion and music scene of the 1960s and 70s in her own right. Brum music star Steve Gibbons provides much info on Tony Secunda, and also Tony's son Piers whom Jim McCarthy interviewed extensively.
"I Can Hear The Grass Grow"
What becomes evident while reading this book is there were two versions of The Move. There’s the version we all know and love from their hit records and music, but there’s also the “Live” version of The Move that relatively few fans around today were lucky enough to experience. By all accounts the original five piece lineup were a formidable force to be reckoned with on stage. This was a frighteningly tight performing unit.
There are various accounts in the book of other well known bands not wanting to follow The Move on stage due to their explosive energy and stage presence. Ultra tight harmony vocals was a trademark of the group, and this combined with an aural and visual assault (including strobe lighting later banned in many venues), made for a truly exciting experience. As the song says; "A magnetic wave of sound" ('I Can Hear The Grass Grow').
Jim McCarthy's Move book "Flowers In The Rain" takes its title from the band's third single that almost topped the UK charts in 1967 and the first record to be played on "Radio One". Guitarist/vocalist Roy Wood composed all their hits - a lot of pressure for someone so young at the time. In the book, the story behind each of The Move's now classic high charting singles is discussed in detail from the first in 1966 'Night Of Fear', then 'I Can Hear The Grass Grow' followed by 'Fire Brigade' and all the rest up to 'California Man' by which time the remaining group had already evolved into "The Electric Light Orchestra".
Like many famous pop groups, not all the Move's records turned to gold. Bev Bevan had a particular dislike for their 1969 "sugary" single release 'Curly' (where's your girly?) as follow-up to their chart-topping and well-deserved Number One 'Blackberry Way'. Also, the "progressive" but dodgy 'When Alice Gets Back To The Farm' from 1970 has B-side written all over it (what were they thinking!) and didn't even chart. Such was the intense pressure Roy Wood was placed under to come up with the goods by both management - and indeed other group members!
Carl Wayne (who was thinking from a business perspective) brought in compositions he hoped to publish by local musician Dave Morgan, but group member Ace Kefford's efforts were largely ignored save for his wonderful psychedelic 'William Chalkers Time Machine' that was given to Brum band "The Lemon Tree". Trevor Burton was also certainly talented enough to come up with songs and possibly Bev Bevan too, but the Move never became the type of artistic democracy enjoyed by fellow Brummies The Moody Blues.
"Flowers In The Rain"
Why didn't The Move conquer America as part of the famous "British Invasion"? This is just one of the scenarios Jim McCarthy examines in his book. The rise to fame for The Move had come almost overnight, and with five rapidly expanding (and still very young) ego's at work, the band dynamic was volatile. The book covers in detail Ace Kefford’s mental breakdown and subsequent messy exit from the group in 1968. This was during an era where mental illness was rarely discussed or even understood. Drugs of course were a factor with both Ace and Trevor Burton, but it's not gonna help matters if you're on tour with both Jimi Hendrix and Syd Barrett's Pink Floyd at the same time!
Along with crazy stories of gigs and tours, there's a lot written in this book about what happened behind the scenes that involve the more lurid side of the music business as it was in those days. Managers, promoters, booking agents, producers, record industry executives and even roadies are examined and discussed in detail. There are some big names here too aside from Tony Secunda (who I'm sure the Sex Pistols own Malcolm McLaren learned from). Don Arden who ended up managing The Move had a fearsome reputation in the music business. He ended up managing E.L.O. and Wizzard, plus Black Sabbath and his daughter Sharon married Ozzy Osbourne!
It's not just The Move who are detailed in Jim McCarty's book. There's also extensive info and stories of the various off-shoot groups associated with them. This includes The Ace Kefford Stand, The Lemon Tree, Balls, Big Bertha, Mongrel, Idle Race and others, plus of course The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) and Wizzard.
There's a very extensive section of the book along the lines of "Where are they now?" bringing us all up to date on what happened to the former group members, associates, and their subsequent careers. Jim McCarthy interviewed all the surviving Move members to obtain their own memories and views of what it was like back in those crazy times and how the experience has influenced their lives today. This makes a very interesting read in its own right.
There's eight pages of rare photos in this book taken by Robert Davidson who worked for Tony Secunda and as such was The Move's official photographer. Great shots of Carl Wayne on-stage wielding his famous axe, and Trevor Burton performing with a stripper! Shown there too is the infamous "Harold Wilson postcard" that caused so much trouble for the band almost 60 years ago.
"Flowers In The Rain, The Untold Story of The Move" also includes an extensive discography having details of all their record releases up to the present. Not only that, there's also listed all the records that were recorded by each member of The Move (solo and otherwise), plus a long list of all their TV and radio appearances from 1966 to 1971. So many of these recorded historic performances were sadly later lost or "wiped" in a short-sighted BBC policy to economize.
Jim McCarthys book features a 'Foreword' by none other than Move fan Paul Weller whose acclaimed Punk/Mod revival band "The Jam" echoed a decade later the volatile energy of the UK 1960s music scene. If that wasn't enough, Sex Pistols founder bass guitarist Glen Matlock provides the 'Afterword'. Glen was fired from the band by Malcolm McLaren in uncanny coincidence to Ace Kefford's departure from The Move!
I quickly discovered upon reading this book that there's a lot more to learn about The Move and this is indeed the "untold story" that will keep you entertained while you Hear The Grass Grow or wake up in the Cherry Blossom Clinic! For more information about Author Jim McCarthy, check out his website at; www.jimmccarthy.co.uk
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Copyright © John Woodhouse