The Moody Blues
Encyclopedia
The Moody Blues are an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed
Days of Future Passed
Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by The Moody Blues, released in 1967. It was also their first album to feature Justin Hayward and John Lodge, who would play a very strong role in directing the band's sound in the decades to come...

.

The Moody Blues have sold in excess of 70 million albums worldwide and have been awarded 14 platinum and gold discs. As of 2011 they remain active with one member from the original band from 1964 and two more from the 1967 lineup.

Early years, Decca Records 1964-1967

The Moody Blues formed on 4 May 1964, in Erdington
Erdington
Erdington is a suburb northeast of Birmingham city centre, England and bordering Sutton Coldfield. It is also a council constituency, managed by its own district committee...

, Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Ray Thomas, John Lodge, and Michael Pinder had been members of El Riot & the Rebels. They disbanded when Lodge, the youngest member, went to technical college and Michael Pinder joined the army. Michael Pinder then rejoined Thomas to form the Krew Cats. The pair recruited guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine
Denny Laine
Denny Laine is an English songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, guitarist, and lead singer of The Moody Blues' 1965 debut album "The Magnificent Moodies"; and, later, best known for his role as co-founder of Wings...

, band manager-turned-drummer Graeme Edge
Graeme Edge
Graeme Charles Edge is best known as the drummer and a songwriter for the Moody Blues, but has also led his own outfit, the Graeme Edge Band.-Biography:...

, and bassist Clint Warwick
Clint Warwick
Clint Warwick was the original bassist for the rock band, The Moody Blues....

. The five appeared as the Moody Blues for the first time in Birmingham
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...

 in 1964. The name developed from a hoped-for sponsorship from the M&B Brewery which failed to materialise, the band calling themselves both "The M B's" and "The M B Five" and was also a subtle reference to the Duke Ellington
Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader. Ellington wrote over 1,000 compositions...

 song, "Mood Indigo".

Soon, the band obtained a London-based management company, 'Ridgepride', formed by ex-Decca A&R man Alex Murray (Alex Wharton
Alex Wharton
Alex Wharton , later also known as Alex Murray, was part of the singing duo the Most Brothers with Mickie Most, and later, co-manager and producer of the band, Moody Blues.-Singing and acting career:...

), who helped them land a recording contract with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 in the spring of 1964. Initially they were signed to a management company who then leased their recordings to Decca. They released a single, "Steal Your Heart Away", that year which failed to chart. The Moody Blues appeared on the cult UK series "Ready Steady Go!" singing the uptempo 'B' side "Lose Your Money (But Don't Lose your Mind)". But it was their second single, "Go Now
Go Now (song)
"Go Now" is a 1964 song composed by Larry Banks and Milton Bennett. It was first recorded by Bessie Banks, and most successfully by The Moody Blues.-Bessie Banks:The song was first recorded by Larry Banks' former wife, Bessie Banks...

" (released later that year), which really launched their career, being promoted on TV with one of the first purpose-made promotional films in the pop era, produced and directed by Alex Wharton
Alex Wharton
Alex Wharton , later also known as Alex Murray, was part of the singing duo the Most Brothers with Mickie Most, and later, co-manager and producer of the band, Moody Blues.-Singing and acting career:...

. The single became a hit in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 (where it remains their only Number 1 single to date) and in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, where it reached #10. The band encountered management problems after the chart-topping hit and subsequently signed to Decca Records in the UK (London Records in the US) as actual recording artists. A four track Extended Play release titled: "The Moody Blues" featuring both sides of their first two Decca singles was issued in a colour picture sleeve in early 1965.

Their debut album The Magnificent Moodies
The Magnificent Moodies
The Magnificent Moodies is the 1965 debut album by The Moody Blues first released in the UK and the first and only album featuring their R&B lineup of guitarist Denny Laine, bassist Clint Warwick, keyboardist Mike Pinder, flute player–percussionist Ray Thomas, and drummer Graeme Edge...

, produced by Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell was an English record producer. He is notable for his late 1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, The Move, Procol Harum and Joe Cocker.-Career:...

 with a strong Merseybeat/R&B flavour, was released on Decca in mono only in 1965. It contained the hit single together with one side of classic R&B covers, and a second including four Laine/Pinder originals. "Bye Bye Bird" (Decca AT 15048) was lifted from the album in December 1965 as an overseas single charting in France (no.3).

Alex Wharton
Alex Wharton
Alex Wharton , later also known as Alex Murray, was part of the singing duo the Most Brothers with Mickie Most, and later, co-manager and producer of the band, Moody Blues.-Singing and acting career:...

 left the management firm and the group released a series of relatively unsuccessful singles. They enjoyed a minor UK hit with a cover of "I Don't Want To Go On Without You" (no.33) in February 1965, while the Pinder-Laine original "From The Bottom of My Heart (I Love You)" (no.22) produced by Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell
Denny Cordell was an English record producer. He is notable for his late 1960s and early 1970s productions of hit singles for The Moody Blues, The Move, Procol Harum and Joe Cocker.-Career:...

 (with a vocal choral sound towards the conclusion that anticipated their later more famous vocal sound on "Nights in White Satin") was issued as a UK single in May 1965. Further UK singles were: "Everyday" (no.44) in October 1965, another Pinder-Laine song, plus their later "This is My House (But Nobody Calls)" (Decca F 12498,1966) and "Boulevard de la Madeleine" also issued in late 1966. Denny Laine quit in late 1966 and a final 'Mark one' Moodies single Pinder-Laine's "Life's Not Life" was scheduled for release in January 1967 (Decca F 12543) c/w "He Can Win". (This single's release is often listed as being cancelled, however, both promo and regular stock copies have been seen over the years.) In June 1966 Warwick left the group. He was briefly replaced by Rod Clark (born Rodney Clark, 23 November 1942, Surlingham, near Norwich, Norfolk), but in October, Clark departed the group, which split for a month.

Arrival of Hayward and Lodge

The group re-formed in November 1966 and new members were John Lodge
John Lodge
John Charles Lodge is an English musician, best known as bassist and singer of the longstanding rock group The Moody Blues.-Early years:...

, their bassist from El Riot, and Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...

, formerly of The Wilde Three. Hayward was recommended to Pinder by Eric Burdon
Eric Burdon
Eric Victor Burdon is an English singer-songwriter best known as a founding member and vocalist of rock band The Animals, and the funk rock band War and for his aggressive stage performance...

 of The Animals
The Animals
The Animals were an English music group of the 1960s formed in Newcastle upon Tyne during the early part of the decade, and later relocated to London...

 and was endorsed by famed UK singer Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde
Marty Wilde is an English singer and songwriter. He was among the first generation of British pop stars to emulate American rock and roll, and is the father of pop singers Ricky Wilde, Kim Wilde and Roxanne Wilde.-Career:Wilde was performing under the name Reg Patterson at London's Condor Club in...

, the leader of The Wilde Three. Pinder phoned Hayward after reading his application, and was impressed when Hayward played him his 45 rpm single "London Is Behind Me" during their car ride to meet the other members in Esher
Esher
Esher is a town in the Surrey borough of Elmbridge in South East England near the River Mole. It is a very prosperous part of the Greater London Urban Area, largely suburban in character, and is situated 14.1 miles south west of Charing Cross....

.

After financial misfortune and a confrontation from an audience member, the band soon realised that their style of American blues covers and novelty tunes was not working for them and they decided that they would only perform their own material. The band were introduced to Decca staff producer Tony Clarke who produced a recording session which saw Justin Hayward's "Fly Me High" & Mike Pinder's older-styled "Really Haven't Got the Time" (Decca F12607) as the 'Mark Two' Moodies first single released in May 1967. This picked up both radio airplay and favourable reviews, and failed to chart in the UK, but the sound gave clues to the direction their music would evolve. Their new style, featuring the symphonic sounds of Pinder's Mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...

, was first introduced on Pinder's song "Love And Beauty" (Decca F 12670) which was issued as a single c/w with Hayward's rocker "Leave This Man Alone" in September 1967. This too was not a UK hit, but further established their 'new' Moodies identity. Ray Thomas's flute had been in evidence earlier ("I've Got A Dream") on their debut album, however it became a far more featured instrument from this point onwards as they started incorporating distinct psychedelic influences, which was later developed in a concept album revolving around an archetypal day in the life of everyman
Everyman
In literature and drama, the term everyman has come to mean an ordinary individual, with whom the audience or reader is supposed to be able to identify easily, and who is often placed in extraordinary circumstances...

.

Days Of Future Passed

The Moody Blues' contract with Decca Records
Decca Records
Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 was set to expire and they owed the label several thousand pounds in advances. They had the support, however, of Decca A&R manager Hugh Mendl
Hugh Mendl
Hugh Rees Christopher Mendl was a British record producer, A&R representative, and manager who worked for Decca Records for over 40 years....

, who had been instrumental in the recent establishment of London/Decca's new subsidiary imprint Deram Records
Deram Records
Deram Records was a subsidiary record label established in 1966 by Decca Records in the United Kingdom. At this time U.K. Decca was a completely different company than the Decca label in the United States, which was then owned by MCA Inc. Deram recordings were also distributed in the U.S. through...

. With Mendl's backing, The Moody Blues were offered a deal to make a rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...

 version of Antonín Dvořák
Antonín Dvorák
Antonín Leopold Dvořák was a Czech composer of late Romantic music, who employed the idioms of the folk music of Moravia and his native Bohemia. Dvořák’s own style is sometimes called "romantic-classicist synthesis". His works include symphonic, choral and chamber music, concerti, operas and many...

's New World Symphony
Symphony No. 9 (Dvorák)
The Symphony No. 9 in E Minor "From the New World", Op. 95, B. 178 , popularly known as the New World Symphony, was composed by Antonín Dvořák in 1893 during his visit to the United States from 1892 to 1895. It is by far his most popular symphony, and one of the most popular in the modern repertoire...

that would promote the company's new Deramic Stereo Sound (DSS) audio format in return for which the group would be forgiven their debt.

The Moody Blues agreed, but they insisted that they be given artistic control of the project, and Hugh Mendl
Hugh Mendl
Hugh Rees Christopher Mendl was a British record producer, A&R representative, and manager who worked for Decca Records for over 40 years....

 (as executive producer) was able to provide this in the face of Decca's notoriously tight-fisted attitude to their artists. The group were unable to complete the assigned project, which was abandoned. However, they managed to convince Peter Knight
Peter Knight (composer)
Peter Knight was an English musical arranger, conductor and composer.-Career:Knight was born in Exmouth, Devon, England. He worked with Independent Television light entertainment stars from 'Spot The Tune' with Jackie Rae and Marion Ryan to the comedy series 'Home to Roost' ...

, who had been assigned to arrange and conduct the orchestral interludes, to collaborate on a recording that used the band's original material instead.

Although Deram executives were initially skeptical about the hybrid style of the resulting concept album. Days of Future Passed
Days of Future Passed
Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by The Moody Blues, released in 1967. It was also their first album to feature Justin Hayward and John Lodge, who would play a very strong role in directing the band's sound in the decades to come...

(released in November 1967) became one of the most successful pop/rock releases of the period, earning a gold record award and reaching #27 on the British album chart. Five years later it was to reach #3 in the U.S./Billboard charts. The album was a song cycle
Song cycle
A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...

 or concept album that (like James Joyce
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Irish novelist and poet, considered to be one of the most influential writers in the modernist avant-garde of the early 20th century...

's Ulysses
Ulysses (novel)
Ulysses is a novel by the Irish author James Joyce. It was first serialised in parts in the American journal The Little Review from March 1918 to December 1920, and then published in its entirety by Sylvia Beach on 2 February 1922, in Paris. One of the most important works of Modernist literature,...

) took place over the course of a single day. In production and arrangement the album drew inspiration from the pioneering use of the classical instrumentation by The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 to whom Pinder had introduced the Mellotron that year. It took the form to new heights using the London Festival Orchestra
London Festival Orchestra
The London Festival Orchestra was established in the 1950s as the 'house orchestra' for Decca Records. In 1980 it was incorporated as an independent performing orchestra under Ross Pople....

, a loose affiliation of Decca's classical musicians given a fictitious name adding the term "London" to sound impressive, to provide an orchestral linking framework to the Moodies already written and performed songs, plus overture & conclusion sections on the album including backing up Graeme Edge's opening & closing poems recited by Pinder. Strings were added to the latter portion of the album version of Hayward's "Nights in White Satin
Nights in White Satin
"Nights in White Satin" is a 1967 single by The Moody Blues, written by Justin Hayward and first featured on the album Days of Future Passed.It is in the key of E minor Aeolian.-Single releases:...

" (absent on the single hit version) as was Pinder's "The Sun Set". The orchestra and group never actually perform together on the recording with the band's rock instrumentation centred on Pinder's Mellotron. The album, despite being a lush concept album, was in fact cut in a very workmanlike manner, with the band recording a particular song, then the track being presented to Peter Knight who quickly composed a suitable "linking" orchestral portion which the Decca musicians ('London Festival Orchestral') then recorded. The album was as much an original work by Knight himself as the group. The composing credits were listed on the sleeve as: "Redwave-Knight", when in fact Hayward wrote "Nights..." and "Tuesday Afternoon", Thomas provided "Another Morning" and "Twilight Time", Lodge penned "Peak Hour" and "Evening (Time To Get Away)", and Edge contributed the opening and closing poems (the first 'Morning Glory' and the latter titled "Late Lament") read by Mike Pinder who composed both "The Sun Set" and "Dawn is a Feeling" (sung by Hayward, with Pinder himself singing the bridge section).

Decca staff producer Tony Clarke
Tony Clarke (producer)
Tony Clarke was an English rock music record producer and guitarist. Born in Coventry, he is best known for producing The Moody Blues from 1966 to 1979.-Biography:...

 produced the album, and afterwards continued working with the band. Sometimes known to fans as "The Sixth Moodie" he went on to produce all of their albums and singles for the next eleven years. Engineer Derek Varnals would also contribute heavily to the creation of the early Moodies' studio sound, working with Pinder & Clarke to create a more symphonic overlapping sound on the Mellotron as opposed to the sharp 'cut off' the instrument would normally give, partly achieved by removing all the "sound effects" tapes (trains, whistles, cockerel crowing, etc.) and then 'doubling up' the tapes of orchestral instruments' sounds, which combined with Pinder's ability and sensitivity at playing (Pinder having earlier worked for the company that manufactured the Mellotron) and Varnals' recording skills at creating an orchestral 'wave' sound that characterised their non-orchestra accompanied sound thereafter.

The album plus two singles, "Nights in White Satin" and "Tuesday Afternoon
Tuesday Afternoon
"Tuesday Afternoon" is a 1968 single by English symphonic rock band The Moody Blues, and presented in its original album form on their 1967 album Days of Future Passed in two parts.-Part one:The first part, the one most familiar to listeners, called "Tuesday Afternoon", was...

" (as a medley with "Forever Afternoon," listed as "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)" on the album), became massively popular.

In Search of the Lost Chord

The 1968 follow-up LP, In Search of the Lost Chord
In Search of the Lost Chord
-2006 SACD Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks:In Search of the Lost Chord was remastered into SACD in March 2006 and repackaged into a 2 CD Deluxe Edition.Extra tracks on the Deluxe Edition are:#"Departure" – 0:55...

included "Legend of a Mind
Legend of a Mind
"Legend of a Mind" is a song by the British progressive rock band The Moody Blues, and was written by the band's flautist Ray Thomas, who provides the lead vocals. "Legend of a Mind" was recorded in January 1968 and was first released on the Moody Blues' album In Search of the Lost Chord...

", a song written by Ray Thomas in tribute to LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...

 guru Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...

 which encompassed a masterful flute solo performed by Thomas - four members of the group had taken LSD together at the start of 1967. A promotional film for the song was filmed on location at Groot-Bijgaarden Castle near Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...

 in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

. Lodge provided a two part song "House of Four Doors" set either side of this Thomas epic piece. Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward
Justin Hayward is an English musician, best known as singer, songwriter and guitarist in the rock band The Moody Blues.Hayward was born in Dean Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, England...

 began playing sitar
Sitar
The 'Tablaman' is a plucked stringed instrument predominantly used in Hindustani classical music, where it has been ubiquitous since the Middle Ages...

 and incorporating it into Moody Blues music ("Voices...", "Visions of Paradise" etc.) , having been inspired by George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

. Hayward's "Voices in The Sky" charted as a single in the UK (no.27), as did Lodge's "Ride my See Saw" (no.42, No.15 in France) - still their concert finale number today - which featured Pinder's non-album song "A Simple Game" as 'B' side. Pinder's "The Best Way To Travel" was another high point, as was his closing song "Om" (sung by Pinder and Thomas, again featuring Hayward on sitar). Graeme Edge found a significant secondary role in the band as a writer of poetry, and some of their early albums from the late Sixties begin with various band members reciting poems by Edge that were conceptually related to the lyrics of the songs that would follow. Edge himself narrating his brief "Departure" poem on "Lost Chord".

On the Threshold of a Dream

On 1969's On the Threshold of a Dream
On the Threshold of a Dream
On the Threshold of a Dream is the fourth album by The Moody Blues, released on the Deram label in 1969. It was their last album to be released by the band before they formed their own record label, Threshold, to be distributed by Decca Records....

Hayward, Edge, & Pinder share the opening narration on Edge's "In The Beginning", leading into Hayward's "Lovely To See You". His "Never Comes The Day" was issued as a UK single , while Thomas' wry observations of life in "Dear Diary" and "Lazy Day" were striking features. Pinder contributed the closing track on side one, "So Deep Within You". Side two closes with the "Dream Sequence", Edge's poem "The Dream" leading into Pinder's "Have You Heard" parts I and II with the two parts separated by his classically themed instrumental piece "The Voyage".

To Our Children's Children's Children

The band's music continued to become more complex and symphonic, with heavy amounts of reverberation
Reverberation
Reverberation is the persistence of sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed. A reverberation, or reverb, is created when a sound is produced in an enclosed space causing a large number of echoes to build up and then slowly decay as the sound is absorbed by the walls and air...

 on the vocal tracks, resulting in 1969's To Our Children's Children's Children
To Our Children's Children's Children
To Our Children's Children's Children is the fifth album by The Moody Blues, first issued in late 1969. It was the first album released on the group's newly formed Threshold Records label, which was named after the band's previous album from the same year, On the Threshold of a Dream.It was...

 — a concept album inspired by the first moon landing. The opening track "Higher And Higher" saw Pinder simulate a rocket blast-off on keyboards, then narrate Edge's lyrics. Thomas' "Floating" and "Eternity Road" stood out, as did Hayward's "Gypsy" and a rare Pinder-Lodge collaboration "Out And In". Lodge provided his two part "Eyes of A Child" and "Candle of Life" while Pinder contributed "Sun is Still Shining". The album closes with "Watching and Waiting
Watching and Waiting
"Watching and Waiting" is a 1969 single by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues, and was written by band members Justin Hayward and Ray Thomas. It was first released as a single in October 1969, and was later released in November 1969 on the album To Our Children's Children's Children...

", composed by Ray Thomas and Justin Hayward and sung by Hayward. This song was issued as a single on the Threshold label but failed to chart.

A Question of Balance

Although the Moodies had by now defined a somewhat psychedelic
Psychedelic music
Psychedelic music covers a range of popular music styles and genres, which are inspired by or influenced by psychedelic culture and which attempt to replicate and enhance the mind-altering experiences of psychedelic drugs. It emerged during the mid 1960s among folk rock and blues-rock bands in the...

 style and helped to define the progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...

 (then also known as 'art rock') sound, the group decided to record an album that could be played in concert, losing some of their full-blown sound for A Question of Balance
A Question of Balance
A Question of Balance, released in 1970, is the sixth album by The Moody Blues. The album was an attempt by the group to strip down their well-known lush, psychedelic sound in order to be able to better perform the songs in concert...

(1970). This album, reaching #3 in the American charts and #1 in the British charts, was indicative of the band's growing success in America. Hayward's "Question" (in a differing version) was issued as a single hitting No.2 in the UK (only kept from top spot by The England World Cup football team's novelty record "Back Home"). Justin Hayward began an artful exploration of guitar tone through the use of numerous effects pedals and fuzz-boxes, and developed for himself a very melodic buzzing guitar-solo sound. The Moody Blues had by now become a bill-topping act in their own right, they appeared twice at the famous "Isle of Wight Festivals" (A DVD of their 1970 performance has now been released). Pinder's "Melancholy Man" (a no. 1 single in France) stood out besides Hayward's "Question" on the 1970 album.

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Seventh Sojourn

For their next two albums, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (album)
Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is the seventh album by the Moody Blues, released in 1971. The album was the last to feature only the Mellotron, as it would be assisted by the Chamberlin on the Moody Blues' next studio album, 1972's Seventh Sojourn.This album featured the only track to be written...

(1971) - from which Hayward's "The Story in Your Eyes
The Story in Your Eyes
"The Story in Your Eyes" is a 1971 hit single by the English rock band The Moody Blues. Written by the band's guitarist Justin Hayward, it was first released as a single with "My Song" on the B-side, and then on the 1971 album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour shortly after.On the album, "The Story...

" was taken as a US Charting single (no.23), and Seventh Sojourn
Seventh Sojourn
Seventh Sojourn, released in 1972, is the eighth album by The Moody Blues.In Seventh Sojourn, The Moody Blues used, besides the Mellotron, a keyboard called the Chamberlin, a device similar to the Mellotron created by the original inventor of the device, Harry Chamberlin...

(1972) (which reached #1 in the U.S.), the band returned to their signature orchestral sound which, while difficult to reproduce in concert, had become their trademark. The title "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" was borrowed, tongue-in-cheek, from a mnemonic
Mnemonic
A mnemonic , or mnemonic device, is any learning technique that aids memory. To improve long term memory, mnemonic systems are used to make memorization easier. Commonly encountered mnemonics are often verbal, such as a very short poem or a special word used to help a person remember something,...

 used to remember the musical notes that form the lines of the treble clef: EGBDF. The opening track "Procession" was the only item composed by all five band members, a fascinating track depicting the "evolution" of music, leading into Hayward's "Story in Your Eyes". Thomas's reflective "Our Guessing Game" and whimsical "Nice To Be Here" offset the deeper drama of Hayward's "You Can Never Go Home", Lodge's "One More Time To Live" and Pinder's "My Song". Edge, the long standing drummer-poet, started writing lyrics intended to be sung, rather than verses to be spoken - his "After You Came" (1971) featured each of the four Lead singers taking a vocal section. Then in 1972 Lodge's songs "Isn't Life Strange ?" (no.13) and "I'm Just A Singer (in A Rock 'n' Roll Band)" (no.36) were lifted from "Seventh Sojourn" as charting UK singles. "Sojourn" also saw Pinder using the new Chamberlain instrument in place of Mellotron and Edge use an electronic drum kit. Pinder's stirring lament "Lost in A Lost World" opened this last "Core Seven" outing, while his sympathetic ode to Timothy Leary "When You're A Free Man", Thomas's romantic "For My Lady", and Hayward's serene "New Horizons" all stood out. They each provided well known songs during this period,in addition to the singles, Pinder's songs "A Simple Game" (1968) & "So Deep Within You" (1969) were successfully covered by The Four Tops, Pinder winning an Ivor Novello Award for "A Simple Game", Elkie Brooks later covered Hayward's "Nights in White Satin". Pinder also appeared on John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

's "Imagine" album in 1971, providing additional percussion on "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier (I Don't Want To Die)". The 1968 to 1972 album sleeves, plus several solo sets up to Ray Thomas's "Hopes, Wishes & Dreams" in 1976, were characterised by striking surreal scenic sleeve artwork (mostly gatefold sleeves) by artist Phil Travers.

In late 1972, a re-issue of the five-year-old Nights in White Satin became the Moody Blues' biggest US hit, soaring to number two on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...

 and becoming a certified million-seller; the song had "bubbled under" the Hot 100 charts on its original release. The song also returned to the UK charts, reaching #9, ten places higher than its original release in 1967.

Threshold Records

The Moodies were also among the pioneers of the idea that a successful rock band could promote itself through their own label, following the Beatles' creation of Apple Records
Apple Records
Apple Records is a record label founded by The Beatles in 1968, as a division of Apple Corps Ltd. It was initially intended as a creative outlet for the Beatles, both as a group and individually, plus a selection of other artists including Mary Hopkin, James Taylor, Badfinger, and Billy Preston...

. After their On the Threshold of a Dream
On the Threshold of a Dream
On the Threshold of a Dream is the fourth album by The Moody Blues, released on the Deram label in 1969. It was their last album to be released by the band before they formed their own record label, Threshold, to be distributed by Decca Records....

album (1969), they created Threshold Records
Threshold Records
Threshold Records was a record label created by The Moody Blues, after their 1969 album On the Threshold of a Dream.It was a UK subsidiary of Decca Records and a U.S. subsidiary of London Records...

, prompted in part by disputes with London/Deram over album design costs (their gatefold record jackets and expensive cover art were not popular with company executives). Threshold would produce new albums and deliver them to London/Decca who acted as distributor. The group attempted to build Threshold into a major label by developing new talent — most notably the UK hard rock
Hard rock
Hard rock is a loosely defined genre of rock music which has its earliest roots in mid-1960s garage rock, blues rock and psychedelic rock...

 band Trapeze
Trapeze (band)
Trapeze were an English rock band formed in March 1969, by vocalist John Jones and guitarist/keyboardist Terry Rowley , with guitarist Mel Galley, singer/bassist Glenn Hughes, and drummer Dave Holland...

 and the Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...

, classical-acoustic sextet Providence
Providence (band)
Providence was a six-piece music group originally from Boise, Idaho, but later based out of Portland, Oregon, USA, circa 1971—1974. The band was made up of six members: Bob Barriatua, electric bass, vocals; Bart Bishop, lead vocals, piano, harpsichord, organ, autoharp; Jim Cockey, violin,...

 — but these efforts proved unsuccessful and the Moodies eventually returned to more traditional recording contracts. They did lay the groundwork, however, for other major acts to set up similar personal labels and distribution deals including The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...

' own label and Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...

's Swan Song
Swan Song Records
Swan Song Records was a record label launched by the English rock band Led Zeppelin on 10 May 1974. It was overseen by Led Zeppelin's manager Peter Grant and was a vehicle for the band to promote its own products as well as sign artists who found it difficult to win contracts with other major labels...

, and all of the Moodies' studio releases from 1969 to 1999 would bear the Threshold
Threshold Records
Threshold Records was a record label created by The Moody Blues, after their 1969 album On the Threshold of a Dream.It was a UK subsidiary of Decca Records and a U.S. subsidiary of London Records...

 logo on at least one of their format versions.

Hiatus and solo work, 1974-1976

In the spring of 1974, after completing a vast world tour that culminated with a tour of Asia, the group took an extended break, because of the other band members feeling exhausted and overshadowed (this said by Hayward himself in the final issue of Higher & Higher magazine 2006). Although the band had typically featured four lead vocalists (with Edge also contributing vocally), with Hayward the principal guitarist/vocalist, Pinder was considered to be the person most responsible for their symphonic sound, arrangements, and overall conceptual direction. Pinder and Thomas handled much of the Moodies onstage audience liaison work (as the 1969 "Caught Live" album displays).

Before the band's 1973-74 world tour, Hayward wrote a song called "Island" with the intention of including it on a potential follow-up album, which the Moodies recorded in 1973 before ultimately going their separate ways. Major reasons for the hiatus was their standing had become almost frightening by this time with so many employees the band members could not recognise and misguided fans seeking some kind of Papal blessings & cures for illness; etc.. This overblown adoration deeply disturbed the band members who were also feeling the strain of trying to run their own record label (as The Beatles had earlier) -- Ray Thomas remarked that he found himself on the tube with a stack of legal papers. An additional cause of the hiatus was the long tours had by this time strained Mike Pinder who needed a rest. In 1974 the band oversaw preparation of the compilation album This Is The Moody Blues
This Is The Moody Blues
This Is The Moody Blues is a two LP compilation album by The Moody Blues, released in late 1974 while the band was on a self-imposed sabbatical...

which was released that year.

Hayward and Lodge released a duo album, the very successful Blue Jays
Blue Jays (album)
Blue Jays is a 1975 album by Justin Hayward & John Lodge. It was recorded and released during the Moody Blues' five-year hiatus.The track "Blue Guitar", originally released as a non-album single credited to Hayward & Lodge in September 1975 but performed by Hayward with the band 10cc, was added to...

(1975), and a UK chart single, "Blue Guitar" (no. 8), which was credited to Hayward & Lodge even though it was actually just Hayward with 10cc
10cc
10cc are an English art rock band who achieved their greatest commercial success in the 1970s. The band initially consisted of four musicians -- Graham Gouldman, Eric Stewart, Kevin Godley, and Lol Creme -- who had written and recorded together for some three years, before assuming the "10cc" name...

 backing him. The album had originally been a projected liaison between Hayward & Pinder, but after Pinder dropped out, John Lodge stepped in. (Tony Clarke produced.) The members then released solo albums. Pinder said he hoped to get the band back together that year. "Having moved to California in 1974, I returned to England for a visit in summer 1975. I was trying to get the band to do an album, but the response was so weak I returned to California with my two new Mk5 mellotrons and began work on my solo album The Promise." Edge produced two albums with guitarist Adrian Gurvitz
Adrian Gurvitz
Adrian Gurvitz is an English singer, musician and songwriter.-Career:...

, Kick Off Your Muddy Boots (1975) and Paradise Ballroom (1976); Hayward composed the acoustically textured Songwriter (1977), which would be followed up in later years by Night Flight
Night Flight (album)
Night Flight was a studio album by Moody Blues frontman Justin Hayward, released on Decca Records in 1980. It was reissued on CD in September 1989....

(1980), Moving Mountains (1985), (which Hayward dedicated to Peter Knight) Classic Blue
Classic Blue
Classic Blue is the fourth solo studio album by The Moody Blues front-man Justin Hayward. Classic Blue was released in 1989 by Trax Records , and features Mike Batt, who also produced the album, and the London Philharmonic Orchestra...

(1989), The View From The Hill
The View From The Hill (album)
The View from the Hill is a solo album released in 1996 by Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues. It is his last original studio album to date.-Track listing:All songs written by Justin Hayward unless noted.#"I Heard It" - 5:37#"Broken Dream" - 5:52...

(1996), and Live In San Juan Capistrano
Live In San Juan Capistrano (album)
Live in San Juan Capistrano is an album released in 1998 by Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues. The live set featured Gordon Marshall, Mickey Féat and Paul Bliss....

(1998); Lodge released Natural Avenue
Natural Avenue (album)
Natural Avenue is an album by John Lodge of The Moody Blues. It received a favourable review from Robert Hillburn in the Los Angeles Times....

(1977); Pinder produced The Promise
The Promise (Mike Pinder album)
The Promise is a 1976 solo album by Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues, recorded during their sabbatical from 1973 to 1977.It was reissued on CD in August 1989.-Side 1:#Free As A Dove – 4:10#You'll Make It Through – 3:52...

(1976); and Thomas collaborated on two projects with songwriter Nicky James, producing From Mighty Oaks (1975) and Hopes, Wishes and Dreams
Hopes, Wishes and Dreams (album)
Hopes, Wishes and Dreams is the second solo album by Ray Thomas of The Moody Blues in conjunction with Nicky James and the orchestral arrangements of Terry James, released under The Moody Blues own Threshold Label as THS17 in June 1976. The album was also available in cassette and cartridge. It was...

(1976).

Reunion

In 1977, as the group made a decision to record together again, with their record company Decca (UK) urging a reunion album. London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....

 decided to release a somewhat poorly mixed then-eight-year-old recording of the band performing at the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

, against their artistic wishes. London/Decca did this in an attempt to re-energise a somewhat waning public interest in the Moody Blues before their anticipated new album. By this time Pinder had married and started a family in California, so for their reunion recording, the band decamped stateside with producer Clarke. The sessions were marked with tension and division, first there was a fire at the studios they were using, then after quickly re-locating to Pinder's home studio a landslide following torrential rains effectively marooned them inevitably causing tensions to rise (with Pinder then dropping out before completion).

Producer Tony Clarke was also forced to leave because of non-musical reasons before the album was completed, but by the spring of 1978 Octave
Octave (album)
Octave is the ninth album by The Moody Blues, and their first release after a substantial hiatus following the success of the best-selling Seventh Sojourn in 1972. The album proved to be the last for the group with keyboardist Mike Pinder, who departed during the album's sessions, and declined an...

was ready for release. Pinder, citing his young family, and by then probably considering their touring days behind them, excused himself from the touring commitments that were to follow. Pinder's decision caused some open acrimony within the band (notably from Edge), Ray Thomas had said Pinder was initially agreeable to touring, and his opting out later on (with a major comeback tour already planned) was a severe and embarrassing blow to them. Attempts were made by their management to completely downplay Pinder's absence, notably at a major UK music press party Decca organised, when the top Decca dignitary guest, while making a "welcome back" speech, openly referred to "Mike Pinder being currently absent over in the States", much to their dismay.

Octave, Pinder departs, and arrival of Moraz

During this period, the prog-rock band Yes
Yes (band)
Yes are an English rock band who achieved worldwide success with their progressive, art, and symphonic style of rock music. Regarded as one of the pioneers of the progressive genre, Yes are known for their lengthy songs, mystical lyrics, elaborate album art, and live stage sets...

 had asked their keyboard player, Patrick Moraz
Patrick Moraz
Patrick Philippe Moraz is a progressive rock keyboard player. He is best known as the keyboardist for the progressive rock band Yes, from 1974 to 1976, and the Moody Blues from 1978 to 1991...

, 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 Octave World Tour that began in Germany in October. In spite of these difficulties, the album itself sold well and produced the hits "Steppin' in a Slide Zone
Steppin' In a Slide Zone
"Steppin' in a Slide Zone" is a 1978 single by the English progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It was the first single The Moody Blues had released in five years, after the band's temporary hiatus...

", (no. 39 US) written by Lodge and "Driftwood
Driftwood (The Moody Blues song)
"Driftwood" is a 1978 single by the English progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It was the second single released from the album Octave, after "Steppin' in a Slide Zone"...

", (no. 59 US) written by Hayward. The music video produced for "Driftwood" features Moraz, although Mike Pinder was the one who played on the actual recording; the video for "Steppin' in a Slide Zone" simply shows the other four members without Pinder (which was rather awkward as Pinder's keyboards featured extensively on the song, notably on the distinctive intro and during a solo section of the piece). A group performance of Hayward's "Had to Fall in Love" & Lodge's "Slide Zone" on the UK "Kenny Everett Show" also depicted them as a four piece. On Octave Hayward had some four solo composed songs (more in fact than on "The Other Side of Life" later in 1986), Edge contributed "I'll Be Level With You" (aka "Little Man") one of only a number of songs showing a complete group unity. In truth, a few songs sounded like solo efforts, while Lodge's "Survival", Hayward's appropriate closing "The Day We Meet Again" and Pinder's lone final contribution and lead vocal, "One Step Into The Light" (curiously as the band is depicted as doing so on the cover photo - where Pinder is perhaps significantly barely glimpsed at all and almost out of focus) were all high points on the album. Around this time Justin Hayward enjoyed a solo hit (no.5) in the UK (US #47) with the song "Forever Autumn" from Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a 1978 concept album by Jeff Wayne, retelling the story of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Its format is progressive rock and string orchestra, using narration and leitmotifs to carry the story via rhyming melodic lyrics that express...

. In recent times Hayward has sung both this and "The Eve of The War" live in the touring version of the album, as featured on Wayne's original big selling double album.

The Moodies toured the US and Europe during much of 1979. By 1980 they were ready to record again, this time bringing in producer Pip Williams
Pip Williams
Pip Williams, is a record producer, arranger and guitarist, best known for producing albums for Status Quo and The Moody Blues.-Career:...

. Moraz was retained as the band's permanent keyboardist, though Pinder had originally understood that he would continue to record even if not touring with the band. Pinder attempted legal measures to prevent the new Moody Blues album from reaching the public without his contributions, but he was not successful, and ultimately, he never returned to the fold. While Moraz was a more than capable keyboardist replacement for both records and concerts, Pinder's departure was, on an artistic and songwriting level, to prove a considerable loss to the group overall. Nevertheless when released in 1981, Long Distance Voyager
Long Distance Voyager
Long Distance Voyager is the tenth album by the British rock band The Moody Blues, first released in May 1981. on the group's Threshold record label...

was a colossal success, reaching #1 on Billboard and top 5 in the UK. The album yielded two hits, "The Voice
The Voice (The Moody Blues song)
"The Voice" is the second single released from The Moody Blues' 1981 album Long Distance Voyager. The song continued the success of previous single "Gemini Dream", becoming a Top 40 hit on the US pop chart, where it peaked at #15 in September 1981. The song had previously topped the Billboard Top...

", (no. 15 US) written by Hayward, and "Gemini Dream
Gemini Dream
"Gemini Dream" is a 1981 single by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It reached #12 in the U.S. charts. It was the first single released from their 1981 album Long Distance Voyager, which also included "Painted Smile," another track from the album, on the B-side...

",(no.12 US) written by Hayward and Lodge. John Lodge's "Talking out of Turn" also charted in the US reaching no. 65. Edge provided "22,000 Days" (featuring Thomas as lead voice with Hayward & Lodge) while Thomas' own contributions were the final portion of the set with his singing on the final two songs; "Painted Smile", "Reflective Smile" (a poem narrated by a DJ friend of the band) and "Veteran Cosmic Rocker". By now, the mellotron had long been set aside as their primary keyboard instrument on their studio albums and the band embraced a more modern, less symphonic approach, though still retaining a lush keyboard-led sound as Moraz gave a more contemporary edge to their sound. In live concerts the mellotron would still be used heavily by Patrick Moraz until the mid-1980s, strikingly also on songs which originally did not originally feature the mellotron. The marketing formula for the band demanded from this time forward that a Justin Hayward song would be used to lead off their studio albums, as his material was the most popular. This however began to narrow The Moodies' range as a certain predictability became apparent, with songs now being aimed at picking up radio airplay. Hayward had always written most of their hit singles, followed by Lodge, however from this point onwards Hayward had to carry far more of the composing burden, most notably in Pinder's absence (Pinder had often either closed Moodies' albums or provided a key penultimate song). Also Ray Thomas' song contributions began to diminish soon after, Hayward and Lodge also then teaming up to provide songs in addition to their own compositions. It has to be said that despite being a strong contemporary album with Patrick Moraz contributing a much needed fresh energy, and selling exceedingly well, duly picking up new fans for the band, most longtime Moodies fans, while remaining loyal to the band, nevertheless acutely felt the absence of Pinder's voice and songs on "Voyager".

The Present
The Present
The Present is the eleventh album by The Moody Blues. It is the second album of the Patrick Moraz era. It had three minor hit singles, "Blue World" , "Sitting at the Wheel" and "Running Water"....

(1983), again produced by Williams, proved less successful than its predecessor, though it did spawn a UK top 40 hit (No. 35) in "Blue World
Blue World
"Blue World" is a 1983 hit single by The Moody Blues. It was first released as single in August 1983, and was later released on the album The Present. "Blue World" was one of three singles from The Present, with the others being "Sitting at the Wheel" and "Running Water." Blue World also...

" (#62 in the U.S.) and a US top 40 hit in "Sitting at the Wheel
Sitting at the Wheel
"Sitting at the Wheel" is a 1983 hit single by The Moody Blues, written by John Lodge. It was first released on November 19, 1983, only one week after their previous single, "Blue World," was released...

" (which failed to chart in the UK). Videos were also produced for both singles. "The Present
The Present
The Present is the eleventh album by The Moody Blues. It is the second album of the Patrick Moraz era. It had three minor hit singles, "Blue World" , "Sitting at the Wheel" and "Running Water"....

" was released in conjunction with Talencora Ltd. shortly before Decca were bought out by Polydor Records
Polydor Records
Polydor is a record label owned by Universal Music Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom.-Beginnings:Polydor was originally an independent branch of the Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft. Its name was first used as an export label in 1924, the British and German branches of the Gramophone...

.

The Other Side of Life, Sur La Mer

In 1986 they enjoyed renewed success with their album The Other Side of Life
The Other Side of Life
The Other Side of Life is the twelfth album by the rock band The Moody Blues. It contains the major hit, "Your Wildest Dreams," which, like "Nights in White Satin" before it, was a top-10 hit in the United States. It is the third album of the Patrick Moraz era, and the first for flautist and...

and in particular with the track "Your Wildest Dreams
Your Wildest Dreams
"Your Wildest Dreams" is a 1986 single by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues, and it was written by the band's lead guitarist Justin Hayward. The song was first released as a single, and was later released on the Moody Blues 1986 album The Other Side of Life...

" - a US Top 10 hit (and #1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary singles chart for two weeks) which garnered a Billboard Video of the Year award after being frequently featured on MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

. Newly hired producer Tony Visconti
Tony Visconti
Anthony Edward Visconti is an American record producer and sometimes a musician or singer.Since the late 1960s, he has worked with an array of performers; his lengthiest involvement with any artist is with David Bowie: intermittently from Bowie's 1969 album Space Oddity to 2003's Reality, Visconti...

, and Barry Radman, a synth programmer formerly hired by Moraz, delivered a modern sound the Moodies had been after in order to remain competitive with their pop contemporaries. The album's title song also charted in the US, at #58. The renewed interest in the band ensured a younger audience from this point on, with many of their longtime followers remaining loyal despite a fair number of older fans finding the current albums of this period far more lightweight in content. For example, John Lodge had gone from writing powerfully reflective mystical or humanitarian themed pieces such as "House of Four Doors", "Candle of Life" and "One More Time To Live" to quirkier items such as "Here Comes The Weekend", "Rock and Roll Over You" and "Love is On The Run (From Me)", while Hayward's songs seemed less the deeper drama of numbers such as "The Actor", "Dawning is the Day", "You Can Never Go Home", "The Land of Make Believe", etc., to pleasant (and more radio-friendly) perennial far simpler songs about lost love and romance ("Your Wildest Dreams", "No More Lies", "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" etc.). There were still some deeper songs being created by the band, however, ("The Voice", "22,000 Days", "The Other Side of Life", "The Spirit", "Deep", etc.) but the overall tone of the band had become noticeably a more lightweight commercialised one; presumably this was with record company agreement to keep in accordance with the then prevailing times. Significantly their live shows from this period included a good number of their eighties album tracks, however over time more of the "Core Seven" album era favourites would gradually begin to reappear in their playlist.

The Moody Blues performed live at the Birmingham Heart Beat Charity Concert 1986 which raised money for the Birmingham Children's Hospital. The band played four songs, and later provided backup with the Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra
Electric Light Orchestra were a British rock group from Birmingham who released eleven studio albums between 1971 and 1986 and another album in 2001. ELO were formed to accommodate Roy Wood and Jeff Lynne's desire to create modern rock and pop songs with classical overtones...

 for George Harrison
George Harrison
George Harrison, MBE was an English musician, guitarist, singer-songwriter, actor and film producer who achieved international fame as lead guitarist of The Beatles. Often referred to as "the quiet Beatle", Harrison became over time an admirer of Indian mysticism, and introduced it to the other...

.

The Moodies continued their early video-generation success with Sur La Mer
Sur La Mer
Sur La Mer is the fourteenth album released by The Moody Blues'. It features the hit single "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," a sequel to their 1986 hit "Your Wildest Dreams." Much of the music on this album would fit in the "synthpop" genre, though it does bear more rock and acoustic...

(1988) and its video and single, "I Know You're Out There Somewhere
I Know You're Out There Somewhere
"I Know You're Out There Somewhere" is a 1988 single by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It was written by guitarist Justin Hayward, and it is the sequel to the Moody Blues' 1986 single "Your Wildest Dreams", also written by Hayward...

" (#30 US, #52 UK, #2 US Mainstream Rock), a sequel to "Your Wildest Dreams". Their sound took on an ever-increasingly synthetic and technical quality as Moraz and Visconti began using modern sequencers, samplers and drum machines. During this time, Justin Hayward and John Lodge wrote and sang on most of the songs as the band came under pressure from their new record company, PolyGram Records, to promote those it deemed to be the two more commercial-looking and -sounding members. Ray Thomas was playing a diminished role in the studio. The band were temporarily evolving into a synthpop
Synthpop
Synthpop is a genre of popular music that first became prominent in the 1980s, in which the synthesizer is the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s by the use of synthesizers in progressive rock, electronic art rock, disco and particularly the "Kraut rock" of...

 act, with music not at all fit for a flute (although Thomas actually provided additional percussion, notably a brisk tambourine, on many more Moodies songs which continued to be featured, plus occasional harmonica), and at this point he was largely relegated to the status of a backup singer. Thomas was also unwell during this period, further limiting his involvement with the band in the recording studio. He provided some backing vocals for both The Other Side of Life
The Other Side of Life
The Other Side of Life is the twelfth album by the rock band The Moody Blues. It contains the major hit, "Your Wildest Dreams," which, like "Nights in White Satin" before it, was a top-10 hit in the United States. It is the third album of the Patrick Moraz era, and the first for flautist and...

and Sur La Mer
Sur La Mer
Sur La Mer is the fourteenth album released by The Moody Blues'. It features the hit single "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," a sequel to their 1986 hit "Your Wildest Dreams." Much of the music on this album would fit in the "synthpop" genre, though it does bear more rock and acoustic...

; however, multiple production considerations led Visconti to leave Thomas' vocals off of the latter of these two albums, thereby further reducing the texture of their overall vocal sound, which had been rich four-part harmonies, then went down to three, now reduced still further to just the more similar-sounding voices of Hayward and Lodge (Lodge also providing falsetto vocals and high harmonies), with Pinder and Thomas each having provided both lower- and higher-pitched vocal harmonies in the group's earlier vocal sound.

Departure of Moraz

Thomas' high value remained on stage primarily from his continued ability to sing out his 60's and 70's Moodies classics, and also in flute and keyboard duets he composed with Moraz which were only performed by the two during Moodies' concerts. The band had begun to reinforce their concert sound in 1986 with the addition of a second keyboardist (Bias Boshell
Bias Boshell
Tobias "Bias" Boshell is an English singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known as the founder of folk rock band Trees.He was born in Wye, Kent, was educated at Bedales and the Royal College of Music...

 was the first, replaced in 1987 by Guy Allison before Boshell returned by 1990), as well as female backing singers (see Personnel below).

In 1991, halfway through the production of their new studio album, Patrick Moraz made some comments in an article in Keyboard Magazine
Keyboard Magazine
Keyboard Magazine is a magazine that originally covered electronic keyboard instruments and keyboardists, though with the advent of computer based recording and audio technology, they have added digital music technology to their regular coverage, including those not strictly pertaining to the...

 that suggested dissatisfaction with his role in the Moodies. His complaints ranged from the Moodies' music becoming too simple in structure, to the other members' reluctance to allow him to make significant contributions to the songwriting on their albums. He also was spending long amounts of time planning a music concert to celebrate his native Switzerland's 700th anniversary, instead of rehearsing with the Moodies. He was dismissed from further participation in the group before the project was completed. Boshell, as well as new keyboardist Paul Bliss, were brought in to finish the new album's keyboard tracks. Despite credits as an 'official band member' being included in any group photos on the four Eighties studio albums from "Long Distance Voyager" to "Sur La Mer" in recent years Moodies compilations now refer to Moraz as merely being an 'Additional keyboardist'. Moraz later took legal action against the group in the United States, which he won, but was then awarded only a nominal sum.

Keys of the Kingdom

Keys of the Kingdom
Keys of the Kingdom
Keys of the Kingdom is the fifteenth album released by the rock band The Moody Blues in 1991. Although some of the tracks recall the songwriting on Sur La Mer, the failure of Keys of the Kingdom to produce any major hit singles would mark the beginning of the Moodies' decline in popularity with...

(1991) had modest commercial success. Once again, Hayward's songs led off the album, with the new singles "Say It With Love" and "Bless the Wings (That Bring You Back)." Also included was a new ambient flute piece by Ray Thomas entitled "Celtic Sonant." Hayward and Thomas also co-wrote "Never Blame The Rainbows For The Rain" to close the album. John Lodge would make a defining shift in his songwriting on this album, leaving his trademark high-energy rock music, and instead gravitating towards slow love ballads such as "Lean On Me (Tonight)" (though he had earlier contributed some songs in this gentler vein such as "Emily's Song" for his daughter in 1971 and "Survival" in 1978, plus "Talking out of Turn" in 1981), while Lodge's more powerful songs continued with "Magic" and the Lennonesque "Shadows On the Wall". This gentler trend would continue on the two successive Moodies albums. Hayward wrote the driving two-part piece "Say What You Mean." Tony Visconti produced some of the tracks on "Keys", as did Christopher Neil and Alan Tarney. The ensuing tour saw them invited to play at the Montreux Jazz Festival
Montreux Jazz Festival
The Montreux Jazz Festival is the best-known music festival in Switzerland and one of the most prestigious in Europe; it is held annually in early July in Montreux on the shores of Lake Geneva...

. A non-album Hayward-Lodge song cut at these sessions, "Highway", was included on the "Say it With Love" twelve-inch single and on a later box set, while the vinyl album did not include their song "Once is Enough" as on the compact disc version.

The group remained a steady concert draw, and a series of video and audio versions of their 1992 Night at Red Rocks
A Night at Red Rocks
A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra is an album by The Moody Blues, recorded from a live performance at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre on 9 September 1992. This performance was the first time The Moody Blues performed in concert backed by a full orchestra. They subsequently...

concert enjoyed great success, particularly as a fund-raiser for American public television
Public broadcasting
Public broadcasting includes radio, television and other electronic media outlets whose primary mission is public service. Public broadcasters receive funding from diverse sources including license fees, individual contributions, public financing and commercial financing.Public broadcasting may be...

 where it had been first broadcast. The concert was conducted and arranged by Larry Baird, who has participated in many other bands' orchestral live concerts, such as Kansas, Michael Bolton, Three Dog Night, Al Jarreau and Alan Parsons. The group also continued their use of additional musicians on stage and in the studio. After the two legal suits from both Pinder in 1981 and Moraz in 1992, the band were careful not to recognize future keyboard players as official members. Following on from his contributions as keyboardist on the 'Keys Of The Kingdom' album, Paul Bliss has played keyboards for the band live since 1991, being promoted to first keyboardist in 2001 (but has since been replaced in March 2010 after 19 years continuous service with the band). Thomas and Bliss continued the tradition of a flute/keyboard duet for many tours. After Edge injured himself in 1991, second drummer Gordon Marshall was brought in to back him up; he stayed with the group after Edge recovered and has remained in the position since.

Strange Times,1990s tours

From 1991 to 1998, the group took a hiatus from recording and spent time trying to perfect the art of performing live with an orchestra. The recording hiatus ended in 1999, with the album Strange Times
Strange Times (Moody Blues album)
Strange Times is the sixteenth album by the rock band The Moody Blues, released in 1999. By this time it suited the band to release a very airy and generally more minimal-sounding album, with a slower pace. The sound features acoustic guitar, slightly processed electric guitar, light organ,...

, which proved to be the group's first album in almost two decades to be more than moderately received by UK critics, although Justin Hayward was quoted as saying he was disappointed at the album's chart performance - probably not helped by the long recording hiatus - which was notably less than 'Keys of the Kingdom' in 1991. It was recorded in Recco, Italy, at Hayward's suggestion, and was the band's first self-produced effort. The album also featured keyboards and arrangements from Italian musician Danilo Madonia, who has worked in-studio with the band since. The album opened with "English Sunset", a pop song featuring a modern, nearly techno arrangement. The song "This is The Moment" (which is not on "Strange Times"), which was originally featured in the Broadway production of "Jekyll and Hyde", was a minor hit in the US. Strange Times was also the first album since 1970 to include a new poem by Graeme Edge "Nothing Changes", narrated by Edge himself, with Hayward then singing the concluding portion of the track, and notably concluded by quoting Mike Pinder's 1968 song title 'A Simple Game'. Also in 1999, The Moody Blues appeared in one episode of "The Simpsons" called "Viva Ned Flanders
Viva Ned Flanders
"Viva Ned Flanders" is the tenth episode of The Simpsons tenth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on January 10, 1999. In the episode, Ned Flanders, who is revealed to be 60 years old, feels that he has not lived his life to the fullest...

". On "Strange Times" Ray Thomas appeared vocally with Hayward & Lodge on "Sooner or Later (Walkin' on Air)" and his own brief song "My Little Lovely", plus provided a vocal snippet and backing vocals on Hayward's "English Sunset"; these would prove to be his recorded vocal swan song with the band.

In 2000, the band released "Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame (The Moody Blues album)
Hall of Fame is a live album by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It was recorded at a concert performed at the Royal Albert Hall, which included backing by a live orchestra. The album was released on 8 August 2000...

", a new live concert from Royal Albert Hall, with a concurrent DVD release. This was taken from the last tour on which Boshell played. He left the live lineup in 2001; Bliss took over first keyboard duties, with his former second keyboard role filled by Bernie Barlow, and Julie Ragins when Barlow took maternity leave from 2006 to 2009.

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 piece "Hole in the World" from The Present LP.

Thomas retires, December

The new millennium saw the Moody Blues reducing their touring schedule. At the end of 2002, founding member Ray Thomas retired from the group, reducing the Moody Blues to the trio of Hayward, Lodge, and Edge, the latter being the only original member remaining. Flautist & rhythm guitarist Norda Mullen was recruited early the following year for their North America tour, and has worked with the band live and in the studio since. Toward the end of 2003, they released a Christmas-themed album entitled December. The songs included originals and four covers such as John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...

's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"; Mike Batt's "A Winter's Tale", "When A Child is Born" and even a version of Bing Crosby's evergreen standard "White Christmas" (apparently included on Record Company insistance, Edge stating in interview on a Moodies fans website that he was unhappy about cutting it), this makes it the group's first album to include covers since their 1965 debut album The Magnificent Moodies
The Magnificent Moodies
The Magnificent Moodies is the 1965 debut album by The Moody Blues first released in the UK and the first and only album featuring their R&B lineup of guitarist Denny Laine, bassist Clint Warwick, keyboardist Mike Pinder, flute player–percussionist Ray Thomas, and drummer Graeme Edge...

, besides the Peter Knight composed sections of 'Days of Future Passed'..

In March 2006, the first five of the band's 'Core Seven' albums (the seven albums from Days of Future Passed
Days of Future Passed
Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by The Moody Blues, released in 1967. It was also their first album to feature Justin Hayward and John Lodge, who would play a very strong role in directing the band's sound in the decades to come...

to Seventh Sojourn
Seventh Sojourn
Seventh Sojourn, released in 1972, is the eighth album by The Moody Blues.In Seventh Sojourn, The Moody Blues used, besides the Mellotron, a keyboard called the Chamberlin, a device similar to the Mellotron created by the original inventor of the device, Harry Chamberlin...

) were re-released in SACD
Super Audio CD
Super Audio CD is a high-resolution, read-only optical disc for audio storage. Sony and Philips Electronics jointly developed the technology, and publicized it in 1999. It is designated as the Scarlet Book standard. Sony and Philips previously collaborated to define the Compact Disc standard...

 format with Deluxe Editions, featuring bonus songs and some rare previously unreleased tracks by the group. In April 2007, the last two of these classic albums were re-released by Universal/Threshold. These deluxe editions were unique for an art rock group like the Moodies in that one of their members, Justin Hayward, was the one hired to do the work, instead of a professional master technician. Hayward stated that he listened to virgin vinyl copies of these albums and used them as reference points for the new compact discs. In September 2008, Hayward announced the impending release of remastered versions of Octave
Octave (album)
Octave is the ninth album by The Moody Blues, and their first release after a substantial hiatus following the success of the best-selling Seventh Sojourn in 1972. The album proved to be the last for the group with keyboardist Mike Pinder, who departed during the album's sessions, and declined an...

, Long Distance Voyager
Long Distance Voyager
Long Distance Voyager is the tenth album by the British rock band The Moody Blues, first released in May 1981. on the group's Threshold record label...

and The Present which will be released on Universal Records in the months to come. On May 21, 2007 the Moodies released a forty-one track, two-disc compilation of sessions recorded at BBC Studios, various television appearances, and a previously 'lost' performance done on the Tom Jones show titled Live at the BBC: 1967-1970
Live at the BBC: 1967-1970
Live at the BBC: 1967–1970 is a two-disc album by The Moody Blues. Released in 2007, it features numerous live recordings from various performances for BBC, with all of the recordings were recorded between 1967 and 1970...

.

Latest work

In 2007, the now defunct Hard Rock Park
Hard Rock Cafe
Hard Rock Cafe is a chain of theme restaurants founded in 1971 by Americans Peter Morton & Isaac Tigrett. In 1979, the cafe began covering its walls with rock and roll memorabilia, a tradition which expanded to others in the chain. In 2006, Hard Rock was sold to the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and...

 theme park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Myrtle Beach is a coastal city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is situated on the center of a large and continuous stretch of beach known as the Grand Strand in northeastern South Carolina. It is considered to be a major tourist destination in the...

, announced the building of a dark ride
Dark ride
A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride where riders in guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music, and special effects....

 entitled "Nights in White Satin: The Trip
Nights in White Satin: The Trip
Nights in White Satin: The Trip was a theme park ride located at Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and is based on the song Nights in White Satin by The Moody Blues. It is a dark ride that incorporates visual effects, digital CGI, and special effects installed by Attraction Design...

". The ride incorporated multi-sensory experiences as well as a re-orchestrated version of the song by Justin Hayward. A re-recorded version of Graeme Edge's "Late Lament" again followed, which had each group member reading a verse of the poem. In March 2009, the ride closed because of the conversion of the park to the Freestyle Music Park, with the new owners desiring to make the park more "family friendly."

The group continues to tour; they toured the US, Canada and the UK in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In addition, Hayward took part in the UK tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds
Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds is a 1978 concept album by Jeff Wayne, retelling the story of The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Its format is progressive rock and string orchestra, using narration and leitmotifs to carry the story via rhyming melodic lyrics that express...

in April 2006, and a second tour in November 2007, also with dates in 2009. The Moody Blues also toured Australia and New Zealand in 2006. Their long-time producer, Tony Clarke, died in January 2010.

The Moody Blues added keyboardist Alan Hewitt for their 2010 North American and UK Tours.

Moody Bluegrass

The Moody Bluegrass project is a group of Nashville artists who have recorded an album of 12 Moody Blues songs in the Bluegrass
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...

 style, under the title Moody Bluegrass - A Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues. Those involved include Alison Krauss
Alison Krauss
Alison Maria Krauss is an American bluegrass-country singer, songwriter and fiddler. She entered the music industry at an early age, winning local contests by the age of ten and recording for the first time at fourteen. She signed with Rounder Records in 1985 and released her first solo album in...

, Harley Allen, Tim O'Brien, John Cowan, Larry Cordle, Jan Harvey, Emma Harvey, Sam Bush and John Randall.

A second Moody Bluegrass album entitled Two...Much Love with a further 16 Moody Blues songs will include guest performances from Hayward, Lodge and Edge, (each of whom is credited as the lead on one song) plus Thomas and Pinder, making this the first time since 1978 that these five musicians all appeared on one newly-recorded album.

Discography

Studio albums
  • The Magnificent Moodies
    The Magnificent Moodies
    The Magnificent Moodies is the 1965 debut album by The Moody Blues first released in the UK and the first and only album featuring their R&B lineup of guitarist Denny Laine, bassist Clint Warwick, keyboardist Mike Pinder, flute player–percussionist Ray Thomas, and drummer Graeme Edge...

    (1965)
  • Days of Future Passed
    Days of Future Passed
    Days of Future Passed is the second album and first concept album by The Moody Blues, released in 1967. It was also their first album to feature Justin Hayward and John Lodge, who would play a very strong role in directing the band's sound in the decades to come...

    (1967)
  • In Search of the Lost Chord
    In Search of the Lost Chord
    -2006 SACD Deluxe Edition Bonus Tracks:In Search of the Lost Chord was remastered into SACD in March 2006 and repackaged into a 2 CD Deluxe Edition.Extra tracks on the Deluxe Edition are:#"Departure" – 0:55...

    (1968)
  • On the Threshold of a Dream
    On the Threshold of a Dream
    On the Threshold of a Dream is the fourth album by The Moody Blues, released on the Deram label in 1969. It was their last album to be released by the band before they formed their own record label, Threshold, to be distributed by Decca Records....

    (1969)
  • To Our Children's Children's Children
    To Our Children's Children's Children
    To Our Children's Children's Children is the fifth album by The Moody Blues, first issued in late 1969. It was the first album released on the group's newly formed Threshold Records label, which was named after the band's previous album from the same year, On the Threshold of a Dream.It was...

    (1969)
  • A Question of Balance
    A Question of Balance
    A Question of Balance, released in 1970, is the sixth album by The Moody Blues. The album was an attempt by the group to strip down their well-known lush, psychedelic sound in order to be able to better perform the songs in concert...

    (1970)
  • Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
    Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (album)
    Every Good Boy Deserves Favour is the seventh album by the Moody Blues, released in 1971. The album was the last to feature only the Mellotron, as it would be assisted by the Chamberlin on the Moody Blues' next studio album, 1972's Seventh Sojourn.This album featured the only track to be written...

    (1971)
  • Seventh Sojourn
    Seventh Sojourn
    Seventh Sojourn, released in 1972, is the eighth album by The Moody Blues.In Seventh Sojourn, The Moody Blues used, besides the Mellotron, a keyboard called the Chamberlin, a device similar to the Mellotron created by the original inventor of the device, Harry Chamberlin...

    (1972)
  • Octave
    Octave (album)
    Octave is the ninth album by The Moody Blues, and their first release after a substantial hiatus following the success of the best-selling Seventh Sojourn in 1972. The album proved to be the last for the group with keyboardist Mike Pinder, who departed during the album's sessions, and declined an...

    (1978)
  • Long Distance Voyager
    Long Distance Voyager
    Long Distance Voyager is the tenth album by the British rock band The Moody Blues, first released in May 1981. on the group's Threshold record label...

    (1981)
  • The Present
    The Present
    The Present is the eleventh album by The Moody Blues. It is the second album of the Patrick Moraz era. It had three minor hit singles, "Blue World" , "Sitting at the Wheel" and "Running Water"....

    (1983)
  • The Other Side of Life
    The Other Side of Life
    The Other Side of Life is the twelfth album by the rock band The Moody Blues. It contains the major hit, "Your Wildest Dreams," which, like "Nights in White Satin" before it, was a top-10 hit in the United States. It is the third album of the Patrick Moraz era, and the first for flautist and...

    (1986)
  • Sur la Mer
    Sur La Mer
    Sur La Mer is the fourteenth album released by The Moody Blues'. It features the hit single "I Know You're Out There Somewhere," a sequel to their 1986 hit "Your Wildest Dreams." Much of the music on this album would fit in the "synthpop" genre, though it does bear more rock and acoustic...

    (1988)
  • Keys of the Kingdom
    Keys of the Kingdom
    Keys of the Kingdom is the fifteenth album released by the rock band The Moody Blues in 1991. Although some of the tracks recall the songwriting on Sur La Mer, the failure of Keys of the Kingdom to produce any major hit singles would mark the beginning of the Moodies' decline in popularity with...

    (1991)
  • Strange Times (1999)
  • December (2003)

External links

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