The Move

The Move were a British rock band formed in Birmingham in 1965. They scored nine top 20 UK singles in five years, but were among the most popular British bands not to find any real success in the United States. For most of their career The Move were led by guitarist, singer and songwriter Roy Wood. He wrote all the group's UK singles and, from 1968, also sang lead vocals on many songs. Initially, the band had four main vocalists (Wood, Carl Wayne, Trevor Burton, and Chris "Ace" Kefford) who divided the lead-vocal duties among themselves. The Move evolved from several mid-1960s Birmingham-based groups, including Carl Wayne & the Vikings, the Nightriders, and the Mayfair Set. Their name referred to the move various members of these bands made to form the group. Besides Wood, The Move's original five-piece line-up in 1965 was drummer Bev Bevan, bassist Ace Kefford, vocalist Carl Wayne, and guitarist Trevor Burton. By 1972, The Move had been reduced to a trio consisting of Wood, Bevan and Jeff Lynne, formerly of the Idle Race. The band's later years saw this lineup develop a side project called Electric Light Orchestra, which would go on to achieve major international success after The Move disbanded. During their time together, the band released four studio albums, two compilation albums, and one EP. After their first two singles, "Night of Fear" and "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" hit number 2 and number 5 on the UK singles chart, the band released their self-titled debut in 1968, which hit number 15 on the UK Official Albums Chart and garnered two more top-10 singles, "Flowers in the Rain" and "Fire Brigade". After 1968, the band would have three more singles in the top 10, including "Blackberry Way", which went all the way to number 1. The band also released three more studio albums, Shazam, Looking On, and Message from the Country before their breakup. In 1981, the band briefly reunited for a one-off charity concert. 23 years later, in 2004, Bevan would form the "Bev Bevan Band". The name later changed to "Bev Bevan's Move" and would bring in Burton in 2006 as an occasional guest in shows, before becoming a permanent member of the group. Between 2007 and 2014, Burton and Bevan performed intermittently as "The Move featuring Bev Bevan and Trevor Burton". The band's most recent reunion would happen in 2016, as "Bev Bevan's Zing Band".

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