The Move - Something Else from The Move

This is a special treat here from Esoteric Recordings. In 1967, The Move were riding high with their successful hits including; Flowers in the Rain, Night of Fear, Fire Brigade, Disturbance, and I Can Hear the Grass Grow. The following year in 1968, they released their sole self-titled debut album as Roy Wood’s songwriting was growing stronger and was ahead of his time in the late ‘60s and would later be an early pioneer in the Glam Rock scene of the ‘70s.

The concert recorded on February 27^th at the Marquee Club was staged and show the band at their finest. Listening to this, you can close your eyes and being in the club and showing support for The Move as they blare into a eruptive yet powerful set that shows the original 5-piece in their garage-rock, proto-punk, and psychedelic-pop finest and would soon give supporters including Cheap Trick and Mark E. Smith of The Fall to show their stamp of approval of their inspiration of the band’s music.

But there was a problem in the recordings, the level of the vocals were varied during their performance. So the four tracks were shelved for technical situations at that time period. By this time, Ace Kefford who was the original co-founder of The Move, left due to a breakdown, panic attacks, and depression. And guitarist Trevor Burton took over on Bass guitar as the band became a quartet. The second concert was recorded on May 5^th of that year and the five songs and released as a mini EP on June 21^st entitled, Something Else from The Move.

When the EP was released, it didn’t do well and failed to make it to the UK charts. Cut to 2007, the original four-track recordings of the Marquee performances were released on The Move Anthology 1966-1972 box set eight years ago. So what we have here, is the concert from the two shows at the Marquee Club that were carefully and painstakingly restored as much as possible from the recordings.

The garage-punk attitude of tracks covering The Byrds' So You Want to Be a Rock 'n' Roll Star, Jerry Lee Lewis’ It’ll Be Me, Love’s Stephanie Knows Who and Eddie Cochran’s Something Else, shows The Move really nailing the proto-hard rock attitude with the psych twist. And it’s a killer take of the classic numbers and I imagine Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols listening to the Move’s take of Cochran’s take and going into honor both of the band’s legacy.

Their homage to Ravel’s militant intro of the Bolero with Roy, Trevor, and Ace handling the both the structure before Bev’s crescendo drumming knows that it’s time to get the show starting with a big gigantic cannon blast. The singles of Flowers in the Rain and Fire Brigade are always an amazing live take and listening to them in their performance at the Marquee, it’s loud and in your face and I can imagine the audience singing to the words and dancing to the beat of compositions.

Trevor’s bass is a thumping rocker as Roy’s rhythmic element ascending guitar goes for an adventurous take of Jackie Wilson’s (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher and I love what they did on here. It has a Psych-Mod approach and a knockout thanks to Bev’s killing drumming that is like a tornado waiting to hit. Carl hits those soulful vocal arrangements of the song. Not to mention their haunting psychedelic take of Spooky Tooth's Sunshine Help Me which closes the show off.

The bonus tracks include the full five-track EP in its Mono format and the 16-page booklet contains the history behind the band’s performance and recording with liner notes by Mark Powell including photographs and a Fan Club letter about the upcoming performance and to be a participant of the live set, promos, posters, pictures of both the quintet and quartet, and the band’s walking across the street in London. And the CD itself is done in the styles and homage to the Regal Zonophone label.

A must have worth checking out and listening and imaging being at The Move's Marquee performances to know that why they were overlooked and ahead of their time.