''Looking On'' is the third studio album by

The Move The Move were a British rock band of the late 1960s and the early 1970s. 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 caree ...

, released in the UK in December 1970. The album is their first to feature

Jeff Lynne Jeffrey Lynne (born 30 December 1947) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder of the rock music, rock band Electric Light Orchestra (ELO), which was formed in 1970. As a songwriter, h ...

, their first containing entirely original compositions, and the first on the

Fly Flies are insects of the Order (biology), order Diptera, the name being derived from the Ancient Greek, Greek δι- ''di-'' "two", and πτερόν ''pteron'' "wing". Insects of this order use only a single pair of wings to fly, the hindwing ...

label, its catalogue number being FLY 1. It includes both their 1970 singles, the Top 10 hit "

Brontosaurus ''Brontosaurus'' (; meaning "thunder lizard" from Greek , "thunder" and , "lizard") is a genus of gigantic quadruped sauropod dinosaurs. Although the type species, ''B. excelsus'', had long been considered a species of the closely related ' ...

," released on Regal Zonophone in March, and the less successful " When Alice Comes Back To The Farm," released on Fly in October. ''Looking On'' presents the band dabbling in heavy metal ("Brontosaurus"), blues ("When Alice Comes Back to the Farm", "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues"), prog-style epics ("Open Up Said the World at the Door"), soul ("Feel Too Good"), and, in the case of the title track, all four styles mashed together. It's also the first album to feature

Roy Wood Roy Wood (born 8 November 1946) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. He was particularly successful in the 1960s and 1970s as member and co-founder of the Move, Electric Light Orchestra and Wizzard. As a songwriter, he contributed a ...

and Jeff Lynne as a tandem, with Wood’s use of

cello The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a Bow (music), bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), t ...

and

woodwinds Woodwind instruments are a family of musical instruments within the greater category of wind instruments. Common examples include flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and saxophone. There are two main types of woodwind instruments: flutes and reed ...

and Lynne's use of

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

in addition to guitars and vocals, reflecting the work they were pursuing in

The Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

, the debut album of which they were recording at the same time. The jazzy fills on the title track also serve as a signpost of the style that Wood would later develop in

Wizzard Wizzard were an English rock band formed by Roy Wood, former member of the Move and co-founder of the Electric Light Orchestra. ''The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits'' states, "Wizzard was Roy Wood just as much as Wings was Paul McCartne ...

and the Wizzo Band.

Background

The Move was effectively a dead band walking when Lynne joined in February 1970 after fronting (and producing) The Idle Race. Wood had wanted to launch a new group with Lynne that would feature rock and strings and retire the Move immediately. According to Wood, none of the members of The Move had any interest in the band at this point; Lynne in particular had joined the band solely so that he could get the separate orchestral project started with Wood. But contractual obligations and management pressure kept the band name kicking, regardless of the drastic changes in sound and the unwillingness of the personnel. Wood and Lynne took the opportunity to begin work on the embryonic Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) project in the studio and get the Move off the road, for the most part—the occasional live set in 1970 usually featured most of the tracks on ''Looking On'', a cover of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

' "

She's a Woman "She's a Woman" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney. It was released on a non-album single in November 1964 as the B-side to "I Feel Fine", except in North Ame ...

," and one of The Move's singles, "

I Can Hear The Grass Grow "I Can Hear the Grass Grow " is the second single by the Move, written by Roy Wood. The song was first released on 31 March 1967, and reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart on 10 May 1967, staying for ten weeks in the charts. "I Can Hear the Gr ...

". The album ends with an (uncredited, but usually attributed to Wood and Lynne together) doo-wop-style coda, "The Duke of Edinburgh's Lettuce". ''Looking On'' has been reissued on CD with various combinations of bonus tracks, including in 1998 by

Repertoire A repertoire () is a list or set of dramas, operas, musical compositions or roles which a company or person is prepared to perform. Musicians often have a musical repertoire. The first known use of the word ''repertoire'' was in 1847. It is a l ...

, in 2008 by Salvo and by

Esoteric Recordings Esoteric Recordings is a UK independent record label specialising in 1970s progressive rock, folk, psychedelic, and jazz-rock reissues as part of Cherry Red Records. Its releases include both catalogue reissues and new works from artists who s ...

in 2016.

Cover art

The cover is a photo from the record company's archives. It was taken years before to be used for the Move, but had not seen print before this point.

Reception

Just as '' Shazam'' was overlooked on store shelves in the wake of Carl Wayne's departure and Wood's new, wild on-stage persona, ''Looking On'' was overlooked in excitement over the debut of the Electric Light Orchestra. Fly chose not to promote it extensively, in part because the Move had left the company to join EMI's new

Harvest Records Harvest Records is a British-American record label belonging to Capitol Music Group, originally created by EMI in 1969. History Harvest Records was created by EMI in 1969 to market progressive rock music, and to compete with Philips' Vertigo ...

label shortly after sessions for the album were completed. ''Looking On'' was regarded by some critics as uneven, noodling, and self-indulgent. Drummer Bev Bevan told journalist Mark Paytress that even he felt the LP was "ploddy" in the liner notes of the 2008 reissue of the album. "Brontosaurus" was covered by Move fans

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen and ...

, and "Feel Too Good" was later featured on the soundtrack of the movie ''

Boogie Nights ''Boogie Nights'' is a 1997 American period comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. It is set in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley and focuses on a young nightclub dishwasher who becomes a popular star of pornographic fil ...

'' as well as in the pilot episode of the UK series ''

Life on Mars The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no proof of past or present life has been found on Mars. Cumulative evidence suggests that during the ...

''.

Track listing

Side One

#"Looking On" (

) – 7:48 #"Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" (Wood, erroneously credited to Bev Bevan) – 4:38) #"What" (

) – 6:42 #" When Alice Comes Back to the Farm" (Wood) – 3:40

Side Two

#"Open Up Said the World at the Door" (Lynne) – 7:10 #"

" (Wood) – 4:25 #"Feel Too Good" (Wood) – 8:12 #"The Duke Of Edinburgh's Lettuce" (Lynne/Wood) - 1:27 (hidden track)

Bonus tracks (1998 reissue)

:8. " Wild Tiger Woman" (Wood) :9. "Omnibus" (Wood) :10. "

Blackberry Way "Blackberry Way" is a 1968 single by British band The Move. Written by the band's guitarist/vocalist Roy Wood and produced by Jimmy Miller, "Blackberry Way" was a bleak counterpoint to the sunny psychedelia of earlier recordings. It nevertheless b ...

" (Wood) :11. "Something" ( Morgan) :12. "Curly" (Wood) :13. "This Time Tomorrow" (Morgan) :14. "Lightning Never Strikes Twice" ( Rick Price, Tyler) :15. "Something"

talian Talian may refer to: *Talian dialect, a dialect spoken in Brazil *Talian, Iran Talian ( fa, طاليان, also Romanized as Tālīān and Ţālīān) is a village in Baraghan Rural District, Chendar District, Savojbolagh County, Alborz Province, ...

(Morgan) :16. "Wild Tiger Woman Blues" (Wood) :17. "Curly Where's Your Girlie" (Wood)

Bonus tracks (2008 reissue)

:8. "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice" (Price/Tyler) :9. "Looking On Part 1" (take 3; rough mix) (Wood) :10. "Looking On Part 2" (take 12; rough mix) (Wood) :11. "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" (take 5; rough mix) (Wood) :12. "Open Up Said the World at the Door" (take 4; rough mix) (Lynne) :13. "Feel Too Good" (take 11 extract; rough mix) (Wood) :14. "The Duke of Edinburgh's Lettuce" (take 2; rough mix) (Wood/Lynne)

Bonus tracks (2016 reissue)

Disc One: :8. "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice" (Price/Tyler) Disc Two: :1. "The Duke of Edinburgh's Lettuce" (Wood/Lynne) :2. "Looking On" (part one - take 3 / part two - take 12) (Wood) :3. "Brontosaurus" (mono US radio promo edit) (Wood) :4. "Turkish Tram Conductor Blues" (take 5; rough mix) (Wood) :5. "She's a Woman" (BBC session, recorded 23 March 1970) (Lennon/McCartney) :6. "Bev Bevan interview" (BBC session, recorded 23 March 1970) :7. "Brontosaurus" (BBC session, recorded 23 March 1970) (Wood) :8. "Falling Forever" (BBC session, recorded 23 March 1970) (Lynne) :9. "Lightnin' Never Strikes Twice" (BBC session, recorded 23 March 1970) (Price/Tyler) :10. "Looking On" (BBC session, recorded 28 July 1970) (Wood) :11. "When Alice Comes Back to the Farm" (BBC session, recorded 28 July 1970) (Wood) :12. "Bev Bevan and Roy Wood interview" (BBC session, recorded 28 July 1970) :13. "She's a Woman" (BBC session, recorded 28 July 1970) (Lennon/McCartney)

Personnel

- lead vocals (except on "What" and "Lightning Never Strikes Twice"), oboe, sitar, banjo, slide guitar, cello, guitars, bass (on "Feel Too Good"), saxophones *

- piano, guitars, percussion, drums (on "Feel Too Good"), lead vocals (on "What" and "Open Up Said the World at the Door") *

Bev Bevan Beverley Bevan (born 25 November 1944) is an English rock musician, who was the drummer and one of the original members of The Move and Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). After the end of ELO in 1986, he founded ELO Part II. Bevan also was drumm ...

- drums, percussion * Rick Price - bass, lead vocal (on "Lightning Never Strikes Twice") *

P.P. Arnold PP, pp or Pp may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Pianissimo'', a music term meaning ''very quiet'', from musical dynamics * Production code for the 1967–1968 ''Doctor Who'' serial ''The Enemy of the World'' * Police Procedural - a subgen ...

and

Doris Troy Doris Troy (born Doris Elaine Higginsen; January 6, 1937 – February 16, 2004) was an American R&B singer and songwriter, known to her many fans as "Mama Soul". Her biggest hit was " Just One Look", a top 10 hit in 1963. Life and career She ...

— backing vocals on "Feel Too Good"

References

{{Authority control 1970 albums Albums produced by Roy Wood Albums produced by Jeff Lynne The Move albums Capitol Records albums Fly Records albums