The Movies were a 6-piece British rock band prominent in the
pub rock era of the mid-late 1970s. The band released five studio albums between 1975 and 1981. After their debut album, released by Firefly Records (dismissed as "a rather spotty, nondescript affair" by Richard Cromelin in ''Phonograph Record''), they signed to GTO Records.
They moved on again to
RCA Records
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ari ...
for their last two albums. They also recorded a session for
John Peel
John Robert Parker Ravenscroft (30 August 1939 – 25 October 2004), known professionally as John Peel, was an English disc jockey (DJ) and radio presenter. He was the longest-serving of the original BBC Radio 1 DJs, broadcasting regularly fr ...
's
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
show in 1977, and had a live performance broadcast on the Radio 1 show ''In Concert'' the same year.
[Garner, Ken (1993) ''In Session Tonight'', BBC Books, , p. 275] The band made three appearances on the BBC television programme ''
The Old Grey Whistle Test
''The Old Grey Whistle Test'' (sometimes abbreviated to ''Whistle Test'' or ''OGWT'') is a British television music show. The show was devised by BBC producer Rowan Ayers, commissioned by David Attenborough and aired on BBC2 from 1971 to 1988. ...
'', in 1977, 1978, and 1980.
They served as backing group for
Joan Armatrading
Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading, (, born 9 December 1950) is a Kittitian-English singer-songwriter and guitarist.
A three-time Grammy Award nominee, Armatrading has also been nominated twice for BRIT Awards as Best Female Artist. She received ...
on her 1975 ''
Back to the Night'' tour, while recording their first album with Joan's producer
Pete Gage.
The band's music was compared with
Ace
An ace is a playing card, die or domino with a single pip. In the standard French deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the ca ...
,
[''Hi-fi News & Record Review'', Volume 21, Issues 1-6, Link House Publications, 1976, p. 119] Steely Dan, and
Little Feat
Little Feat is an American rock band formed by lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles. George disbanded the group because of creative differences shortly before his death in 1979. Surviving ...
.
They were described in the ''
Belfast Telegraph
The ''Belfast Telegraph'' is a daily newspaper published in Belfast, Northern Ireland, by Independent News & Media. Its editor is Eoin Brannigan. Reflecting its unionist tradition, the paper has historically been "favoured by the Protestant pop ...
'' in 1978 as "one of Britain's most talented and sophisticated rock bands".
Musicians
*Jon Cole – lead vocals, guitar
*Julian Diggle – percussion, harmonica, vocals
*Greg Knowles – lead guitar, backing vocals
*Jamie Lane – drums, backing vocals
*Durban Laverde – bass (1974–1975)
*Dag Small – keyboards (1974–1976)
*Mick Parker – keyboards (1976–1981)
*Dave Quinn – bass (1975–1978)
*
Colin Gibson – bass (1978–1981)
Discography
;Albums
*''The Movies'' (1975), Firefly/
A&M
*''
Double "A"'' (1977), GTO
*''Bullets Through the Barrier'' (1978), GTO/
Epic
*''India'' (1980),
RCA
The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Com ...
*''Motor Motor Motor'' (1981), RCA
;Singles
*"Fancy Man" (1975)
*"Big Boys Band" (1977)
*"Have Another Body"
*"Last Train"
*"No Class"
*"Love Is a Sacrifice"
*"Hard Heart" (American release)
*"Clockwise Into the Sun"
References
External links
The Movies website
Musical groups established in 1974
Musical groups from Cambridge
English rock music groups
{{UK-band-stub