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Flowers in the Rain
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Wikipedia article
{{Infobox song
| name = Flowers in the Rain
| cover =
| alt =
| type = single
| artist = The Move
| album = Move
| B-side = (Here We Go Round) the Lemon Tree
| released = 25 August 1967
| recorded = 6 July 1967
| studio = Advision Sound Studios, London
| venue =
| genre = Psychedelic pop
| length = 2:29 (original version)
2:41 (2007 remastered version)
| label = Regal Zonophone (UK)
A&M (US)
| writer = Roy Wood
| producer = Denny Cordell
| prev_title = I Can Hear the Grass Grow
| prev_year = 1967
| next_title = Fire Brigade
| next_year = 1968
| misc =
}}
"'Flowers in the Rain'" is a song by English rock band The Move. The song was released as a single and reached number two in 1967 on the UK Singles Chart, and number four in Ireland.
It achieved its own place in pop history by being the first record to be played on BBC Radio 1 when the station was launched on 30 September 1967. (Technically, both George Martin's specially commissioned "Theme One" and Johnny Dankworth's "Beefeaters" were the first tracks to be heard on the station. "Beefeaters" was Tony Blackburn's theme tune for 'Daily Disc Delivery' and so it was heard before "Flowers in the Rain".Another school of thought cites Julie Andrews' "The Sound of Music" as the first track since this was played at 5:30am when the new Radio One frequency opened up with a shared programme, heard simultaneously on Radio Two, hosted by Paul Hollingdale ('The Weekly News', Issue 7,946, 29 September 2007))
The song was written by the Move's guitarist/vocalist Roy Wood. As with many of Wood's early songs, the basis of "Flowers in the Rain" was a book of fairy tales which Wood authored while at The Moseley College of Art. The distinctive instrumental arrangement, including oboe, clarinet, cor anglais and French horn, was suggested by assistant producer Tony Visconti.
Promotional stunt
In a promotional stunt for the record typical of the band's manager Tony Secunda a postcard was released with a cartoon of a naked then-Prime Minister Harold Wilson in bed with his secretary Marcia Williams. Wilson sued, and the High Court ordered that all royalties from the song be donated to a charity of Wilson's choice. This legal arrangement remains in force to this day and is thought to have cost the group millions of pounds over the years. During the single's chart success, most of the money went to the Spastics Society and Stoke Mandeville Hospital. In the 1990s, 'The Observer' newspaper reported the royalties had exceeded 200,000 and found that The Harold Wilson Charitable Trust had extended the range of beneficiaries to include, among others, the Oxford Operatic Society, Bolton Lads Club and the Jewish National Fund for Israel.
Personnel
* Carl Wayne lead vocals
* Roy Wood lead guitar, -lead vocals
* Trevor Burton rhythm guitar
* Ace Kefford bass guitar
* Bev Bevan drums
* Tony Visconti string arrangements
Charts
Covers
*On 25 September 2007, BBC Radio 4 featured a programme called 'The Story of Flowers in the Rain', hosted by Tony Blackburn, on the court action and its related history, to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song.
References
Category:The Move songs
Category:Songs written by Roy Wood
Category:Psychedelic songs
Category:Song recordings produced by Denny Cordell
Category:1967 songs
Category:Regal Zonophone Records singles
Category:1967 singles
Category:Songs involved in royalties controversies
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