THE 1000 BEST SONGS IN THE WORLD EVER.

389-Supergrass-Moving.

1999-Number 6 single.

Best Bit-At 3.34. What does Supergrass lead singer and songwriter Gaz Coombes have in common with Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Liam Gallagher, Liberace, Lemmy, Paul Weller, and Country singer Don Williams? All will be revealed after you have read through until the end.

Supergrass were formed in Oxford, England, in 1993 by Gaz Coombes, (vocals, and guitar) Danny Goffey, (drums) and Mick Quinn, (bass) they were officially joined by Rob Coombes (keyboards, and piano) the older brother of Gaz in 2002, although he had been an unofficial member of the band for the majority of it’s career to that point. Supergrass, started out life as ‘Theodore Supergrass,’ for about two months, until as in the words of Mick Quinn, ‘We realised that Theodore was a bit rubbish so we took that off.’ Supergrass are recognised as being part of the UK ‘Britpop’ scene (see also best songs 256 ) of the 1990’s, and also as an ‘Alternative Rock’ group. They split in 2010, sighting musical differences, but did reunite between 2019-2022, to tour, and again in 2024, to tour once more, but they have stated that they will not be recording any new music together.

The discography of Supergrass includes six studio Albums released between 1995-2008, and 26 singles released between 1994-2015, there are also three extended plays, (EP’s) three official compilation Albums, and one live Album available. A seventh studio Album, tentatively titled ‘Release the Drones’ was announced in early 2010, Gaz Coombes stated that the Album was ‘nearly finished,’ and it was scheduled for release in May, at the time of writing the Album remains unfinished and unreleased. In the UK, their debut studio Album ‘I Should Coco,’ from 1995 reached Number 1, with all of their other studio Albums peaking within the top 20. When ‘I Should Coco’ made Number 1, it was the first debut Album by a ‘Parlophone’ recording artist to reach Number 1 since the Beatles with ‘Please Please Me’ in 1963. Also in the UK, 14 of their singles have reached the top 40, with the double ‘A’ sided ‘Alright’ and ‘Time,’ (1995) and ‘Richard III,’ (1997) both peaking the highest at Number 2. In America on Billboard, they have never charted on the Hot 100 singles chart, or the 200 Album chart, but ‘Cheapskate,’ from 1997, did make Number 35 on the Billboard ‘Modern Rock Tracks’ chart, which since 2009 has been known as the ‘Alternative Airplay’ chart.

Gaz Coombes was born Gareth Michael Coombes, on March 8th, 1976, in Oxford, England, he is best known as the lead vocalist and guitarist of the Alternative Rock band Supergrass. Between the ages of five to nine he lived with his family in San Francisco, California, United States, before returning to Oxford. Gaz Coombes and fellow future Supergrass member Danny Goffey co-formed, along with others ‘The Jennifers,’ whilst attending ‘Wheatley Park School,’ just outside Oxford in 1990. The Jennifers released one single called ‘Just Got Back Today,’ on ‘Nude Records’ in 1992, before they disbanded, that single is now a highly sought-after rarity. Gaz Coombes has released four solo studio Albums between 2012-2023, two extended plays, (EP’s) and 14 singles between 2012-2022.

‘Moving’ was the second of three singles released from Supergrass’ self titled third studio Album, from September 1999, the song was written by Supergrass and Rob Coombes, with the production credited to Supergrass and John Cornfield. Nine other musicians provided extra percussion, violin, viola, and cello on the track, with the British violinist and orchestra leader Gavyn Wright of the ‘London Session Orchestra,’ and the ‘Penguin Cafe Orchestra,’ providing strings. The Album is often referred to as ‘the X-ray album,’ due to the picture on the sleeve of the three band members represented as skeletons.

‘Moving’ tells the story of how difficult life on the road touring can be, the songs official video is intended to depict the tedium. The passing of time is shown by the change of outfits the band are wearing, and also by the selection of different hotel rooms that they are seen in, the footage is sped up and slowed down to add to that effect.

What does Supergrass lead singer and songwriter Gaz Coombes have in common with Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Liam Gallagher, Liberace, Lemmy, Paul Weller, and Country singer Don Williams? Along with all those other superstars of Pop music, Gaz Coombes also sports ‘side whiskers,’ ‘side burns,’ ‘furry face huggers,’ ‘sidies,’ or even ‘mutton chops.’

‘Got a mow, low feeling around me, and a cold stone feeling inside. I’ve got to find somebody to help me, I keep you in mind.’