Deram Records: Night of Fear

Our second look at Deram Records features the precursor to the Electric Light Orchestra – The Move. Released in December 1966 as the ninth single for the label, “Night of Fear” charted in the UK at #2 in January 1967. Like most of The Move’s single releases, it failed to chart in the US. Only “Do Ya,” which was released in 1972, made a dent in the American charts – and it was barely a ding with its peak at #93.

“Night of Fear” draws from Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and you can see that Roy Wood was thinking about a mixture of rock and classical music well before ELO. The song features Carl Wayne on lead vocals and Trevor Burton, Ace Kefford, and Roy Wood on back-up vocals.

This is a great little tune and it can only be conjectured why it never charted in the US. Perhaps being on Deram was part of the problem. In 1967, it was still a very new label; and frankly, many of the Deram releases never charted in the US or the UK. Most that did still get oldies play. Enjoy this nugget from the past.