Carl Wayne on the Move

Record Mirror, 6th September 1969

Interview with Carl by Lon Goddard

Roy and I disagree constantly...he looks like a junkie or the underground personality of the year...the group is in a horrible position...we aren't for the States at all...

"Like the Who, all riots inside the Move came out into the open," he said. "They were made public and the public should know all about them."

The plight of Carl Wayne is an intricate professional clash within the Move. It has no bearing on the personalities in the group, but one-way policies have placed Carl before the firing squad of his own standards.

"I personally consider the Move to be in a horrible position," confessed Carl. "We had, as a band, achieved remarkable success and I admit to being slightly embarrassed about the commercial trend of that success. In our infancy, we were one of the biggest underground groups going. Our initial releases "Night of Fear" and "I Can Hear the Grass Grow" could have been viewed as either underground or straight pop - so we were in a good middle of the road position.

"Later, there developed a vast number of underground groups who were playing exactly what they wanted, but with no hope of ever making it economically, so we came out with a string of commercial records which established us well outside the underground category.

"Then the Cream cracked America wide open and created a market for underground groups that was large enough and receptive enough to make it pay for those that had stuck it out. We were between the devil and the deep blue sea, having been affected by commercial records and seen the rewards of the hits, so we pushed along in the same line, not wishing to end something that was going so well.

"We could have gone to the States three or four times, but it is now my opinion that we aren't for the States at all. We are, however, an adaptable group and the States audiences haven't seen us yet, so we might well begin with a fresh outlook when we do get there.

"A partnership is the hardest thing to make work. Keeping together in the Move is often a dicey business. Roy and I are on opposite sides of the fence and disagree constantly. I am anxious, irritable and I get frustrated, while Roy tends to be pleasant, lazy and lethargic.

"I dig Roy as a person and he is about the best commercial writer in the country today. He adds a lot to the Move, but his way of formatting each record and his writing gets embarrassing for me. What's worse is that he is content to work this way and so are Rick and Bev. There is a rift between me and the rest of the Move, but I am only the singer and Roy is recognised as the main part of the band.

"He looks like a junkie or the underground personality of the year and even acts the part by raking commercialism over the coals if he is asked about it, but he cannot be swayed when he writes a number.

"The Move are not about to split up, but we could be together for a year, a week, or three years. When we finish the live appearances together, we will stay on recording as a group, but I might well do what Frampton and Marriott did in seeking people who agree musically and forming a group.

"No more of the four and five man equal-status things - I will have to dominate. America is where the opportunity is, and like Graham Nash, I would like to live there. I would hate to end up in the position of Dave Dee, although I like him very much.

"So I have to be true to myself and try to find those things I really want to do. I tell you all these things because one should say what he feels; if a guy enjoys a lot of women, it's no good doing an interview and telling people how much he digs drinking milk."