| Mike Pinder (keyboards, vocals).Pinder decided to try and go professional, recruiting
members from some of the best groups working in Birmingham.August of 1966 Laine had left as well.Europe, recording the occasional single.Passed became a landmark in the band's history.The Moody Blues are a British rock band originally from Birmingham, England.The band has had numerous hit albums in the UK, U.They disbanded when Lodge, the youngest member, went to technical college and Pinder joined the army.Pinder then rejoined Thomas to form the Krew Cats and enjoyed moderate success.The five appeared as the Moody Blues for the first time in Birmingham in 1964.Brewery and was also a subtle reference to the Duke Ellington song, "Mood Indigo".They released a single, "Steal Your Heart Away" that year which made it onto the charts.Wharton left the management firm and the group released a series of unsuccessful singles.He was briefly replaced by Rod Clarke but in November 1966 Laine and Clarke had also departed the group.The Moody Blues agreed but insisted that they be given artistic freedom and be left without supervision.They then convinced Peter Knight, who had been assigned to arrange and conduct the orchestral interludes, to collaborate on a recording of their stage show instead.Justin Hayward began playing sitar and incorporating it into Moody Blues music, having been inspired by George Harrison.Question of Balance (1970)."Nights In White Satin" became the Moody Blues' biggest U.Hot 100 charts on its original release.In 1974 the compilation album This Is The Moody Blues was released by Threshold Records.Hayward and Lodge released a duo album, the very successful Blue Jays (1975), and the members each released solo albums.Lodge released Natural Avenue (1977); Pinder produced The Promise (1976); and Thomas also two, From Mighty Oaks (1975) and Hopes, Wishes and Dreams (1976).London did this in an attempt to redevelop a somewhat waning public interest in the Moody Blues prior to their anticipated new album, but the crude sound of the concert from 1969 titled Caught Live + 5 would clash sharply with the lush and refined sound the modern Moodies were capable of producing in the studio.By all accounts, the sessions had moments of tension and difficulty, but by autumn 1978 Octave was released.Pinder, citing his young family, excused himself from any tour commitments.Yes had asked their keyboard player, Patrick Moraz, to leave.Moraz's management had some contacts with the Moodies, and after a successful audition with the band in England in 1978, he was hired as keyboard player for the tour that would follow.Billboard and top 5 in the UK.The album's title song also charted in the U.The Moody Blues performed live at the charity event concert "Heartbeat '86" which raised money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital.The band played four songs, and later provided backup with Electric Light Orchestra for George Harrison.Know You're Out There Somewhere", a sequel to "Your Wildest Dreams".The Moody Blues in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California in 2005.The band had begun to reinforce their concert sound in the later 1980s with the addition of a second keyboardist, Bias Boshell, as well as female backing singers.Bias Boshell and Paul Bliss were brought in to play keyboards on the remaining tracks."Bless the Wings" as well as a new flute masterpiece by Ray Thomas entitled "Celtic Sonant".Mike Pinder and Patrick Moraz sound live with the Moody Blues.American public television where it had been first broadcast.CD collection called "Time Traveller."Their second hiatus from recording ended in 1998.This album was the first to feature Danilo Madonia as an arranger and electric organist.Also in 1999, The Moody Blues appeared in one episode of "The Simpsons" called "Viva Ned Flanders".In 2001, an IMAX film was released, entitled "Journey into Amazing Caves", which featured two new songs written and performed by the Moody Blues.The soundtrack also featured Justin Hayward performing vocals and playing guitar throughout.One of these songs, entitled "Water", is the Moody Blues' first instrumental studio recording since their 1983 "Hole in the World" from The Present LP.The new millennium saw the Moody Blues reducing their touring schedule.Original bassist Clint Warwick, who had left the group in 1966 to become a carpenter and raise a family, returned to the music scene in 2002 and released a solo CD.Digital remastering for these Deluxe Editions was done by Justin Hayward himself.Bassist John Lodge has said in an interview on the radio show "Acoustic Storm" on January 30, 2007 that a new Moody Blues album is "not far away."Since Pink Floyd's induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Moody Blues (along with Genesis, King Crimson, Rush, and Yes) are at the head of the list of progressive rock groups which have not yet been inducted and consistently top opinion polls of acts whom the public feel should be inducted.All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License.See Copyrights for details.Click your browser's Back button to return to the previous page."The Moody Blues on MSN Music";s.The video has been added to your playlist.This video will appear on your blog shortly.Thank you for sharing your concerns.In order to process a privacy complaint we need more information from you.Change the value of a comment by clicking on a thumb.It was really a big deal that the Moody Blues were back on the air and in the Top 10.The HOPEFUL romantic in me...And Somehow I'll Return Again To You.It's one of those songs that is timeless just like yor wildest dreams.I've always loved the Moody Blues!It started with "Go Now" and still continues....The Moody Blues "I Know You're Out There Somewh...The Moody Blues "I Know You're Out There Somewhere Video".The code changes based on your selection.Uni("Please enter search text."Night at Red Rocks with the Colo ...Hall of Fame (Live At Royal Albert ...Pinder left the band, first for a gig with Jackie Lynton and then a stint in the Army.The Moody Blues, as they came to be known, made their debut in Birmingham in May of 1964, and quickly earned the notice and later the services of manager Tony Secunda.Moody Blues never came up with another single success.The group decided to make their fourth single, "From the Bottom of My Heart," an experiment with a different, much more subtly soulful sound, and it was one of the most extraordinary records of the entire British Invasion, with haunting performances all around.Unfortunately, the single only reached number 22 on the British charts following its release in May of 1965.Ultimately, the grind of touring, coupled with the strains facing the group, became too much for Warwick, who exited in the spring of 1966, and by August of 1966 Laine had left as well.British act could earn halfway decent fees.They were still critically short of money and prospects when fate played a hand, in the form of a project initiated by Decca Records.Luckily, they were able to convince the staff producer and engineer that the proposed adaptation was wrongheaded, and to deliver something else; the producer, Tony Clarke, was impressed with some of the band's own compositions, and they arrived at the idea of an archetypal day's cycle of living represented in rock songs set within an orchestral framework.Peter Knight writing the orchestrations that were used to accompany the group's work and bridge the songs, the result was the album Days of Future Passed.The record's mix of rock and classical sounds was new, and at first puzzled the record company, which didn't know how to market it, but eventually the record was issued, first in England and later in America.It became a hit in England, propelled up the charts by the single "Nights in White Satin" (authored and sung by Hayward), which made the Top 20 in the U.And having just come out of a financial hole, the group wasn't about to go into debt again financing such a recording.In Search of the Lost Chord (1968) put the Mellotron in the spotlight, and it quickly became a part of their signature sound.The group members have since admitted at various times that they were, as was the norm at the time, indulging in various hallucinogenic substances.Hayward tended to have the biggest share of the group's singles, and his songs often occupied the leadoff spot on their LPs."Question" and "The Story in Your Eyes," for example, were known as singles, but were also totally overshadowed by their respective LPs.Meanwhile, a significant part of their audience didn't think of the Moody Blues merely as musicians but, rather, as spiritual guides.In the midst of all of this activity, the members, finally slowing down and enjoying the fruits of their success, had reached an impasse.As they prepared to record their new album, Seventh Sojourn (1972), the strain of touring and recording steadily for five years had taken its toll.Good songs were becoming more difficult to deliver and record, and cutting that album had proved nearly impossible.During this era, Hayward and Lodge recorded a very successful duet album, Blue Jays (1975), and all five members did solo albums.All were released through Threshold, which was still distributed by English Decca (then called London Records in the United States), and Threshold even maintained a small catalog of other artists, including Trapeze and Providence, though they evidently missed their chance to sign a group that might well have eclipsed the Moody Blues musically, King Crimson.Other bands, including Barclay James Harvest and the Strawbs, the latter coming into progressive rock from a folk orientation, picked off some of the Moody Blues' audience during the 1970s."In Your Wildest Dreams" (1986), an almost perfect successor to "Nights in White Satin."In 2003, Ray Thomas retired, and the Moody Blues carried on as a core trio of Hayward, Lodge, and Edge.Some of the information on this page is provided by All Music Guide and does not necessarily reflect the views of Ticketmaster.Use of this site is subject to express terms of use, which prohibit commercial use of this site.BIRMINGHAM
Last updated March, 2006
Graeme Edge drums
Denny Laine vocal, guitar (left 1966)
Mike Pinder vocal, piano, mellotron
Ray Thomas vocal, flute
Clint Warwick vocal, bass guitar (left 1966)
Justin Hayward vocal, guitar, sitar (joined 1966)
John Lodge vocal, bass guitar, cello (joined 1966)
The Moody Blues were the first of the Brum Beat bands to become internationally famous and would later have a huge influence on what became known as the "progressive" music scene.One of his earliest bands was Johnny Dean and The Dominators who played regularly at The Mermaid pub on Stratford Road.John Lodge switched to bass guitar when the band acquired Mike Heard as lead guitarist.El Riot and The Rebels eventually split in 1963 when they were offered some bookings in Germany but only Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder were willing to go and John Lodge wanted to complete a drafting apprenticeship.Thomas and Pinder formed a new group called The Krewcats (not to be confused with Shadows drummer Brian Bennett's band of that name) and went over to Germany from May to November of 1963.Albert Eccles from Aston, was born on 25th June 1940, and had started playing guitar as a member of a band called The Rainbow Boys.He changed his name to the more suitable Clint Warwick after he became the bass guitarist for Danny King's Dukes (see Danny King), a group that was well known throughout the Midlands and also managed to secure a season at Butlins holiday camp in Scotland.Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder at the Moathouse Club resulted in the formation of a new group, although Danny King had by this time lost interest.Five was adopted, but the company was not interested so the initials were adapted to represent "Moody" and "Blues".Secunda got the band to perform at London's famous Marquee Club and shortly after, arranged a record deal with the Moody Blues signing to the prestigious Decca Records label.The single did not chart but the Moody Blues appeared on TV for the first time on the popular show 'Ready Steady Go!Looking for hit material, their second single was an inventive arrangement of an obscure song by American singer Bessie Banks and the recording featured a group vocal backing that would become a Moody Blues trade mark.The song was Go Now and it became a worldwide hit for the Moody Blues in late 1964, reaching No.British charts and also making top ten in the USA.Pinder composition From The Bottom Of My Heart which was also released as a single.Despite the massive success of Go Now, subsequent singles by the Moody Blues had diminishing impact on the record charts and this was at a time when pop groups depended upon regular hit records rather than album sales for their survival.The Moody Blues' self composed fifth single Everyday released in October 1965 only got to No.Beatles manager Brian Epstein took over management of the Moody Blues in 1966 but this did little to improve the situation.Clint Warwick passed away in 2004 (see the Brum Beat Clint Warwick story).He was replaced temporarily by Rod Clarke who later joined The Rockin' Berries.Before the end of the year, Denny Laine would also leave to begin a solo career (see Denny Laine).By late 1966, the Moody Blues were faced with the prospect of performing on the cabaret circuit to make ends meet.Replacement band members were bass guitarist John Lodge (formerly of El Riot and The Rebels) who had completed his drafting apprenticeship and was playing in a Birmingham group over in Germany called the John Bull Breed along with former Rebels guitarist Mike Heard.Justin Hayward who came from Swindon.The Moody Blues' innovative stage presentation started to gain them a new audience and the band toured France in the summer of 1967 (note: the Mellotron was developed and manufactured by the Bradley Brothers at Streetly Electronics in Birmingham.Decca Records became interested in the Moody Blues' new "progressive" sound and proposed an experiment where the group would record an album of classical compositions supported by a full symphony orchestra.Despite initial reluctance by the record company, the resulting collection entitled Days Of Future Passed, was released on the Decca subsidiary Deram label that was specialising in progressive music.From the album came the Moody Blues' classic single Nights In White Satin, written by Justin Hayward, and reaching number 9 in the UK, becoming their first top 20 hit since Go Now.The Moody Blues' next album released in 1968 titled In Search Of The Lost Chord was a major success on both sides of the Atlantic and it featured the songwriting efforts of all the group members.New singles were also released including Justin Hayward's Voices In The Sky and John Lodge's Ride My See Saw which both scored high chart placings.In 1969 the Moody Blues released the album On The Threshold Of A Dream which topped the charts in the UK and scoring high in the USA.Although their record releases have not been so frequent in the 1990's, they are the most successful of all the Birmingham groups from the 1960s in terms of longetivity and international acclaim.Welcome to the Official Moody Blues Fan Community, the place for the ultimate in access to The Moody Blues!Ticket Giveaways, Meet and Greets with the Moody Blues, and amazing tools to stay connected to other fans, this is where you can come to be in the know and in the now when it comes to The Moody Blues!Don't wait, join today and start to enjoy the benefits of membership today!Full archive of recent Written Features and FanView!Happy New Year, get ready for another 12 months of great things with the Moody Blues!Don't forget, Member Only Presales and Ticket Packages start up again next week!Click Here for articles about the Moody Blues!Happy Holidays from the Moody Blues and MoodyBluesToday.To celebrate, we are giving away MBT merch!Log in for the latest video interview with Mr. |
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