Cartoon Capers - A Bad Move For The Move

The move were a highly successful band formed in the 1960's by singer/songwriter and guitarist Roy Wood, drummer Bev Bevan, singer Carl Wayne, guitarist Trevor Burton and bassist Chris Kefford.

Guitarist and songwriter Jeff Lyne joined in 1969 and it was he, along with Roy Wood, who engineered the band's transition into the Electric Light Orchestra in the early 1970's.

The band released a number of singles that entered the charts in the UK starting with "Night Of Fear" in 1966 followed closely by "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" in April 1967. These reached number 2 and 5 in the UK charts respectively.

After  "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" came the song which is the main focus of this article. Entitled "Flowers In The Rain" it was written by Roy Wood and made number 2 in the UK charts. This song has the distinction of being the first chart single to be played on the BBC's newly launched radio station, Radio 1, on 30th September 1967.

At this time, the band were being managed by Tony Secunda, who also managed the Moody Blues. Secunda had devised a promotional campaign to drive sales of the single and as part of that campaign he had commissioned a satirical cartoon depicting the then Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, having an affair with his political secretary Marcia Williams.

The cartoon was published as a postcard and prompted Wilson to file for libel in the court - a case which he subsequently won.

As a result of the court case, all royalties from the song were donated to a charity nominated by Harold Wilson. When Wilson died in 1995 Roy Wood had hoped that the royalties would revert back to him but this was not the case - the ruling continued in perpetuity.

Most copies of the card were destroyed but a few remain. The image depicted is of one such survivor which was sold at auction in 2004 for £66.

After this debacle, the band sacked Secunda as their manager and were taken under the wing of Don Arden,  who had also managed the Small Faces and subsequently went on to manage Black Sabbath.

More chart success followed for the Move, including a number 1 in the UK charts with "Blackberry Way." in   1969 and "Brontosaurus" in 1970, both written by Roy Wood.

Another Wood song, "Fire Brigade" had charted at number 3 in the UK charts in February 1968.

Subsequent releases did not fare so well however and one, "When alice Comes Back To The Farm", released soon after Brontosaurus, failed to chart. Things looked up briefly in 1972 with "California Man", (number 7 in the UK charts), but by this time the group's transition into the Electric Light Orchestra was underway and the Move faded away.

There was a resurrection of sorts in 2000 when Bev Bevan organised a revival but this did not carry the support of Wood. The band, now known as 'The Move featuring Trevor Burton and Bev Bevan, continue to perform.