"From Teeny Boppers to Tough Guys"

Record Mirror 31 August 1968

Interview with Carl by Derek Boltwood

"We've been in the business two or three years now - and in that time none of us have been to any of the London clubs. And in all that time I've been wondering when someone was going to notice our absence - suddenly turn round and say: 'Good grief! Where are the Move? I've never seen them in the Speakeasy or the Revolution, etc etc.' I think the only time I've been to the Speakeasy is when we played there once."

"We've changed a lot now - especially since we became a fourpiece. I'm not being nasty to Ace or anything, but we're far more together now than we were when he was with us. And we're a lot happier as well. The thing is that Ace just wasn't a particularly good guitarist and he was holding us back all the time. We had to play to his level. We've always had this thing about being a teeny-bopper group - our whole act has revolved around playing to the audience, being the sexy pop stars. But now we're beginning to get a bit more serious about it all - and musically we've improved a lot.

"There are two types of groups as I see it - the teeny-bopper, which is was we were, and the more serious, musicianly. Groups like the Traffic, or Spooky Tooth or Jimi Hendrix - and now I think that we're moving up into that section. Our new record, 'Wild Tiger Woman', isn't really representative of what we want to do, or what we're aiming for - but it's different to what we were doing before. It's sort of half-way there. We have a single out in America at the moment which is very different to our normal style - and it looks as if it might happen there. It's been getting some good reviews.

"We've never had a hit over there, and we were beginning to get a bit worried. All our songs have been Roy Wood compositions, and although they've done well here, they just haven't taken in the States - so this time we thought we'd have a change. The number is called 'Something' - and it was written by Dave Morgan. We'll probably be releasing it here in fact in October as a follow up to 'Wild Tiger Woman'."

The Move's manager, Tony Secunda, is at present negotiating for the group to tour America in the near future with Jimi Hendrix.

"I really hope that comes off," said Carl. "We did a tour with Jimi in this country, and that was really great. The thing is that, although we've been a teeny-bopper group, we've felt more one of the 'underground' groups - obviously not in the sort of music we played, but in that we've always associated from people from those groups.

"What I'd like to see happen - we talk about this quite a lot - is a complete pop orchestra. I really enjoy big band music, and a great many people feel the same way. The Don Ellis Band, for example, is incredible. I'd like to get about five groups together - all good musicians - and take over the Royal Albert Hall for a concert. Everyone on stage, blowing together - it'd start off with the whole 'orchestra' sitting down to play, and just the soloists standing to do their thing. But the whole concert would end with a complete maze of sound, with everyone blowing together. There would be a certain pattern to play to, but apart from that it would be free-form - I don't know how well it would work, but it's certainly worth doing. Almost the ultimate in pop music.

"Another thing I'd like to organise is a club for musicians only - a place where we could all get together for a blow, or to exchange ideas. Just a club to make music - different group members are beginning to get together a lot more now, and that's why pop is starting to look a lot healthier. I think one of the biggest changes in pop now is the shift of emphasis from singles to albums. And I think EPs are going to become more important as well - basically because of the ridiculous price of buying a single now. Compared with an LP or an EP, a single isn't good value. That doesn't mean we won't be making singles any more - they'll always be a market for them.

"Audiences are getting more appreciative of good music now too. It's getting very much like America where the audience will listen, and if they like what you do they clap or scream or yell, and if they don't keep quiet. But they do listen to what you play - it's not just a matter of screaming for their favourite group all during the performance. It's like the Marquee-type of audience, it's getting larger all the time.

"On the whole we're very happy with the way the group's going - and with things in general. You don't have to compromise quite so much now to be accepted - and the Move have reached the stage now where we want to make our own sounds, and not just aim at the charts all the time."