George Thorogood and the Destroyers-Move It On Over (1978)
Artist: George Thorogood and the Destroyers
Title: Move It On Over
Sell Price: $4.44
Sell Date: 4/7/26
Condition: VG+/VG+
Discogs Last Sold: 3/30/26 NM/NM $6.00
Low: $0.99 G+/G+ 3/5/26
Median: $4.71
Average: $5.77
High: $22.00 VG+/VG+ 11/7/25
Current low price: $0.85 G+/no cover, $2.75 VG+/VG
Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 172
Have/Want: 9688/233
Where Sold: Clifton, VA
Time It Took To Sell: 3 years
Where and When Buught: Facebook marketplace
Gwiz-gau Grade: B+
Sad To See It Go: No
There are some things about George Thorogood that are "best in class" for what he is doing. George manage to put an original slant on the blues bar band format and make it playable on commercial rock radio for a good long time. He's racked up 8 Gold records to date in the US and Move It On Over was the first to be certified in 1980, 2 years after release. The radio hits were the one-two punch that opened the record: Hank Williams "Move It On Over" and Bo Diddley's "Who Do You Love." That ain't blues at all! It's country and rock. Don't worry there are plenty of Elmore James covers. Sure the originals are better, and at this point George didn't have any to hang his had on. The hits always sound great and nothing sounds bad. The straight guitar bass drums vocals approach won the day.
I got to see Thorogood at the end of his commercial peak headlining my local area in the Fall of '85 before he started falling back to large club or theatre level. It kind of blows one mind how successful he was and for how long. The label that originally had George in the 70s was Rounder, an independent blues label out of Cambridge, MA before EMI and later Capitol got their hooks in him as the 80's progressed. That they could move half a million in two years says and even a million certified for a hits comp and a live album. That he could headline arenas at any point also says something.
In the era where Rock Guitar was toned down, people wanted guitars loud and proud and Thorogood's distinctive gravel pocked leather voice ripped right through the speakers with tough slide guitar you could barely hear on a Clapton record in that time period. People could call this niche and point their noses to the air, but if you look at the people that broke the indie blues ghetto to have commerical hits like Robert Cray and the Fabulous Thunderbirds, their records sound a little more slick. Stevie Ray was an anomally because he was sold as the next great one on par with Hendrix. That wasn't George's lane.
Reinterpreters have their merits if done right.
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