"Night of Fear" is the debut

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

by British rock band

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 ...

, written by

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 ...

. The song was first released on 9 December 1966, and reached number 2 in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

on 26 January 1967, staying for ten weeks in the charts. "Night of Fear" was the first of a string of four consecutive top-five singles in the UK.

Background

By this point in time,

had only written two songs, One of which was a B-side titled "Make Them Understand", which he had recorded with Mike Sheridan's Lot in September 1965 (a band which would eventually turn into The Idle Race). The other was "You're the One I Need", which was recorded by the Move in January 1966, however, that recording remained unreleased for several years. Their manager,

Tony Secunda Anthony Michael Secunda (24 August 1940 – 12 February 1995)
– accessed 27 March 2012 was an English manager of rock gro ...

, had also started encouraging Wood to start writing more material, including tracks for a debut single.Brumbeat: The Move
Retrieved 11 November 2009. He started composing, and eventually, through the use of

musical quotation Musical quotation is the practice of directly quoting another work in a new composition. The quotation may be from the same composer's work (self-referential), or from a different composer's work (appropriation). Sometimes the quotation is done for ...

, came up with two tracks, "Night of Fear" and "The Disturbance". The main

riff A riff is a repeated chord progression or refrain in music (also known as an ostinato figure in classical music); it is a pattern, or melody, often played by the rhythm section instruments or solo instrument, that forms the basis or accompani ...

and the bass line in the chorus is derived from Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ''

1812 Overture ''The Year 1812, Solemn Overture'', Op. 49, popularly known as the ''1812 Overture'', is a concert overture in E major written in 1880 by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky to commemorate the successful Russian defense against Napoleon ...

''. At one point, Wood wanted the single's

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

"The Disturbance" to be the Move's first A-side, but "Night of Fear" was eventually chosen as it was deemed to be more commercial. Despite being an upbeat tune, the lyrics of "Night of Fear" revolve around

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

occurrences, such as moving shadows in a hallway, along with shifting pictures in a bedroom and as such, the lyrics allude to the narrator being on an hallucinogenic substance, most likely

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD), also known colloquially as acid, is a potent psychedelic drug. Effects typically include intensified thoughts, emotions, and sensory perception. At sufficiently high dosages LSD manifests primarily mental, vi ...

Cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: ''Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternatively ...

. "The Disturbance" on the other hand, bases its lyrics on the psychologically disturbed mind of the narrator. The song features all four of the Move's vocalists:

Carl Wayne Carl Wayne (born Colin David Tooley; 18 August 1943 – 31 August 2004) was an English singer and actor. He is best remembered as the lead singer of The Move in the 1960s. Early days Wayne was born in Winson Green, Birmingham, and grew up in ...

Trevor Burton Trevor Burton (born Trevor Ireson; 9 March 1949 in Aston, Birmingham, England) is an English guitarist and is a founding member of The Move. Career Burton started playing guitar at a young age and was leading his own group called The Evergla ...

Ace Kefford Christopher John "Ace" Kefford (born 10 December 1946) is an English bassist. He was the co-founder of The Move in October 1965 with Trevor Burton, after meeting David Bowie at Birmingham's Cedar Club, following a performance by Bowie's band ...

and

in four-part harmony, primarily featuring Wayne and Wood with Kefford singing the chorus "Just about to flip your mind, just about to trip your mind".

Recording and release

"Night of Fear" was first introduced to an audience on 21 October 1966, during a performance in

Croydon Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the Districts of England, boroughs, in whole or in part, of London Borough of Bexley, Bexley, London Borough of Bromley, Bromley, London Borou ...

. The reception for the song was positive, and the Move entered Advision Studios and recorded the song the following day, on 22 October. The single was released by

Deram Records Deram Records was a subsidiary record label of Decca Records established in the United Kingdom in 1966. At the time, U.K. Decca was a different company from the Decca label in the United States, which was owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings w ...

on 9 December 1966 with the catalogue number DM.109. The single was a large success in the UK, where it entered the charts on 11 January 1967 at a position of 32. Three weeks later, on 1 February, it peaked at number 2, a position it held for one week. The single exited the top-10 on 1 March and was last seen on 15 March at a position of 46, after which it dropped off. In total, the single spent 10 weeks on the chart, half of which were in the top-10. "Night of Fear" was also a large success in

continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous continent of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. As with all singles by the Move, it did not chart on ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The song was notably promoted, when during a visit to

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

, they attempted to get arrested for walking around with a false

H-bomb A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...

, in a stunt that was promoted by Secunda. Reviews for the song were positive. One article read "Meet the pioneers of the psychedelic sound", and as a result of its trippy sound, rumours started circulating that the word " Psychedelic" was a synonym for LSD, and that the group were using it, something later debunked by drummer

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 ...

: "Nobody believed that Roy wasn't out of his head on drugs - but he wasn't. It was all fairy stories rooted in childhood."

Personnel

The Move *

– lead, harmony and backing vocals *

– rhythm guitar, harmony and backing vocals *

– bass guitar, lead (chorus), harmony and backing vocals *

– lead guitar, harmony and backing vocals *

– drums Additional personnel *

Denny Cordell Dennis Cordell-Lavarack (1 August 1943 – 18 February 1995), known as Denny Cordell, was an English record producer. He is notable for his mid-1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, Leon Russell, The Move, Procol ...

– studio engineer, producer * Gerald Chevin – studio engineer

Charts

Notes

References

{{authority control The Move songs 1966 debut singles Songs written by Roy Wood Deram Records singles Song recordings produced by Denny Cordell 1966 songs Songs about drugs British psychedelic rock songs