FIRE BRIGADE

The Move will always be remembered for the wonderful hit singles they released in the late 1960's and early 1970's. Those songs however only tell a part of the story, as their albums, with the exception of their self titled debut, were entirely different affairs. Like many bands in the 1960's, notably The Beatles, The Move avoided ripping off fans by including songs on their albums which had appeared as single A or B sides. This noble gesture however made it harder to obtain the singles gathered together in LP format. The "Greatest hits" and "Best of" collections which flood the market these days were much rarer back then, and generally only used to fulfil contractual obligations.

Thankfully, in 1972, the budget label Music For Pleasure gained permission to compile most of The Move's singles plus some early album tracks and release them as this fine collection. Selling for less than a pound at the time, "Fire brigade" contains no fewer than five top 20 singles plus a number of others which were released or considered for release as singles but did not chart. The collection focuses on the band's time with the Regal Zonophone label, so their final few months with Harvest Records are not covered. Missing too are the earliest singles such as "Night of fear" and "I can hear the grass grow".

The great thing about the Move's singles is that they are just that, Great! From the flower power of the first song played on BBC's radio 1 ("Flowers in the rain") through the Beatlesque "Blackberry Way" (sometimes cited as a twin of "Penny Lane") to the heavy metal of "Brontosaurus", we are taken on a musical journey through some of the finest pop of the period.

Admittedly there is little here related to prog, it is to the band's albums that we have to look for the proto-prog which led to their inclusion on this site. That said, superb melodies and fine arrangements like those featured here would later become, in more sophisticated format, the essence of neo-prog.

Bands such as The Beatles, The Doors, etc. are rightly recognised for their pioneering efforts in the late 1960's. The contribution of The Move however has yet to receive the credit it undoubtedly deserves.

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