The 1960s Birmingham Sound - The Move

Birmingham's culture of popular music first developed in the mid-1950s. By the early 1960s, the city had over 500 bands constantly exchanging members and performing at popular local venues. In 1965, Davey Jones, (who eventually became known as David Bowie) and his band "Davy Jones and The Lower Third" performed at the trendy Cedar Club in Birmingham. He put the idea into Ace Kefford's and Trevor Burton's heads that they start their own band. Kefford and Burton' took Jones's advice and asked Bev Bevan, Carl Wayne, and Roy Wood to form a band called The Movement. It was later shortening it to The Move. At first, they performed covers of American West Coast acts such as The Byrds. Later, they blended pop, blues, and psychedelic music with three, four, and five-part harmonies to form a style that scored nine single hits in five years.

Tony Secunda, known for his business acumen and flair for publicity, became the band's manager. Secunda got the band residency at the Marquee Bar and Club in London. He encouraged Roy Wood to write songs, and they had their first big hit, "Night Of Fear," which climbed to Number 2 in early 1967. They became known for their wild stage act, including flash bombs, smoke, and smash old TV sets with an ax. Wood composed "I Can Hear The Grass Grow" followed by "Flowers In The Rain," which became top hits. After playing at the Marquee for several months, every record company in London tried to sign the band. 

One of Secunda's antics got them sued by Harold Wilson, a leading British politician, who won a libel case against the Move, forcing them to pay all Wilson's legal costs, and the royalties earned from "Flower in the Rain" for perpetuity. After that episode, they fired Secunda and hired Don Arden to manage the group.

One of Arden's first moves was to add the Move on a sixteen-city band tour package tour featuring Jimi Hendrix and the Experience. The other bands included Pink Floyd, The Nice, Amen Corner, and Eire Apparent. Many consider this band package one of the best to tour the U.K.

Vintage Rock Posters offers a $15,000 reward for original concert posters for the 1967 Hendrix, The Move, and Pink Floyd package tour. A British printer produced the 30 x 40 quad poster for advertising the band package in all sixteen cities. If you have an original Hendrix, Pink Floyd, and the Move band package poster, please take pictures of it and send them to rareboard@aol.com.

Over the next two years, the band had several top hits but never achieved the cherished number on the charts until "Blackberry Way." The song had a melody similar to the Beatle's "Penny Lane." After returning from an unsuccessful tour in the U.S., the band drifted between different music styles, and the public lost interest. In 1972, their song Do Ya had some success in the States. 

Unfortunately, after so many years on the road, personality conflicts grew between band members. In 1968, the Move dismissed Ace Kefford from the band because of his erratic behavior. The following year, Bev Bevan and Trevor Burton got into a fistfight on stage, resulting in Burton leaving the band. Even though the Move was among the most popular British bands in the 1960s, they did not find any real success in the United States. They disbanded in 1972.