Managing nine Top 20 UK singles in half a decade, the Move would never truly make a mark in the U.S. until they morphed into Electric Light Orchestra. Together, multi-instrumentalist Roy Wood, drummer Bev Bevan and guitarist Jeff Lynne would take the Move beyond their pop psychedelic leanings to the orchestra rock of ELO. Magnetic Waves Of Sound, The Best Of The Move features the early beginnings of a band that would eventually become an international phenomenon.
On this 21-song CD, there are loads of early singles, including the guitar jangle of their 1967 #2 charter “Night of Fear,” to the “Penny Lane”-like “Blackberry Way” (featuring Move and ELO keyboardist Richard Tandy), to “Cherry Blossom Clinic,” a tribute song to an insane asylum with instrumental flights of fancy.
Throughout, you can’t help but notice Bevan’s big drumming prowess (the man does like rolling across the toms) and the progression of Wood’s songwriting as he began to outgrow the band’s ambitions. Signaling a change, Lynne, who joined the Move in 1970, appears on “When Alice Comes Back To The Farm,” and takes the lead vocals on the sweeping “What?.” The last album from the Move was recorded at the same time ELO was recording their first.
The Move’s version of “Do Ya,” the only Move song to crack the U.S. charts (the ELO version was a Top 40 hit) ends Magnetic Waves Of Sound, The Best Of The Move. Proving that rock and roll does come round full circle, Roy Wood joined Jeff Lynne on stage for Electric Light Orchestra’s induction into the 2017 Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame. Safe to say, there wouldn’t have been an Electric Light Orchestra without the Move.
~ Ralph Greco, Jr.
