Flowers in the Rain

"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.

For the album by Mad at the World, see Flowers in the Rain (album).
"Flowers in the Rain"
Single by The Move
from the album Move
B-side"(Here We Go Round) the Lemon Tree"
Released25 August 1967
Recorded6 July 1967
StudioAdvision Sound Studios, London
GenrePsychedelic pop
Length2:29 (original version)
2:41 (2007 remastered version)
LabelRegal Zonophone (UK)
A&M (US)
Songwriter(s)Roy Wood
Producer(s)Denny Cordell
The Move singles chronology
"I Can Hear the Grass Grow"
(1967)		 "Flowers in the Rain"
(1967)		 "Fire Brigade"
(1968)

It achieved its own place in pop history by being the first record[1] 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.[2] "Beefeaters" was Tony Blackburn's theme tune for Daily Disc Delivery and so it was heard before "Flowers in the Rain".[1][3])

"Flowers in the Rain" was the last single by The Move to have Carl Wayne on lead vocals before Roy Wood took over as the band's lead vocalist for "Fire Brigade". The distinctive instrumental arrangement, including oboe, clarinet, cor anglais and French horn, was suggested by assistant producer Tony Visconti.[1]

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 Harold Wilson, linking him to his secretary Marcia Williams. Wilson sued, and the High Court ordered that all royalties from the song were 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.[1]

Personnel

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.[4]

gollark: Good idea.
gollark: Impractical? Completely. Useful? No. Cool? Yes.
gollark: BSA: randomly add new BSA to the game.
gollark: And give it only to, I don't know, CB ~~brimstones~~ prizes.
gollark: BSA: transfer all dragons from one randomly selected scroll to another.

References
  1. "Flower Power". BBC News. 24 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
  2. Savage, Mark (30 September 2017). "50 facts about Radio 1 & 2 as they turn 50". BBC News.
  3. 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)
  4. "The Story of Flowers in the Rain". BBC Radio 4. 25 September 2007. Retrieved 20 February 2013.
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