Moody Blues, The

Moody Blues, The, grandiose British rock band who combined symphonic strings with overblown songs. membership: Denny Laine (real name, Brian Hines), gtr., voc. (b. Birmingham, Warwickshire, England, Oct. 29, 1944); Mike Pinder, kybd., gtr. (b. Birmingham, England, Dec. 27, 1941); Clint Warwick (real name, Clinton Eccles), bs. (b. Birmingham, England, June 25, 1949); Ray Thomas, bs. (b. Stourport-on-Severn, Hertfordshire, England, Dec. 29, 1942); Graeme Edge, drm. (b. Rochester, Kent, England, March 30, 1942).

Laine and Warwick left in 1966, to be replaced by Justin Hayward, lead voc, lead gtr., kybd., sitar (b. Swindon, Wiltshire, England, Oct. 14, 1946); and John Lodge, bs., voc. (b. Birmingham, England, July 20, 1945)s. In 1978, Pinder was replaced by Patrick Moraz, kybd. (b. Morges, Switzerland, June 24, 1948).

The Moody Blues were formed in 1964 in Birmingham, England, by Denny Laine, Mike Pinder, Clint Warwick, Ray Thomas, and Graeme Edge. Thomas and Pinder had been in the Birmingham group El Riot and The Rebels, while Laine had led Denny Laine and The Diplomats between 1962 and 1964. The Moody Blues debuted in Birmingham in May 1964, later playing at London’s famed Marquee club. Signed to British Decca (London/Deram in the U.S.), the group’s second single, the blues-style “Go Now!,” became a smash British and major American hit in early 1965. However, the initial lineup never again achieved even another moderate hit and, in 1966, both Laine and Warwick left, with Laine eventually joining Paul McCartney’s Wings in 1971.

Adding Justin Hayward and John Lodge, The Moody Blues obtained a mellotron and embarked on a totally new musical direction under producer Tony Clarke. The lineup’s debut album, Days of Future Passed, eschewed their blues backgrounds and was hailed both as a “concept” album and for its adventurous fusion of rock and classical music. Recorded with The London Festival Orch., the album yielded a major hit with “Tuesday Afternoon” and included the classic “Nights in White Satin,” a smash hit upon rerelease in 1972. For their next album, In Search of the Lost Chord, The Moody Blues made extensive use of the mellotron and studio overdubbing, playing more than 30 different instruments to produce their characteristic lavish sound without an orchestra. The album contained the cosmic favorites “Legend of a Mind” and “Om” and produced a minor hit with the rocking “Ride My See-Saw.”

On the Threshold of a Dream yielded a minor hit with “Never Comes the Day” in 1969, the year The Moody Blues formed Threshold Records. The group’s first album release on the label, To Our Children’s Children’s Children, contained band favorites such as “Higher and Higher” and “I Never Thought I’d Live to Be a Hundred /Million.” Abandoning multiple overdubs beginning with A Question of Balance, The Moody Blues scored major hits with “Question,” “The Story in My Eyes,” and “Isn’t Life Strange,” and “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)” from Seventh Sojourn.

After a nine-month world tour ended in the U.S. in early 1974, the members of The Moody Blues settled down to a variety of outside projects. The first and most successful of these, Justin Hayward and John Lodge’s Blue Jays, yielded two minor hits with “I Dreamed Last Night” and “Blue Guitar.” Other projects included solo albums by Thomas, Pinder, Hayward, and Lodge, and two albums by Edge with Adrian Gurvitz.

In July 1977, The Moody Blues announced their intention to reunite for yet another album. Following the release of Octave, which produced minor hits with “Steppin’ in a Slide Zone” and “Driftwood,” The Moody Blues conducted a successful worldwide tour with Patrick Moraz (formerly of Yes) substituting for Michael Pinder, who had moved to Calif. Moraz joined the band on a permanent basis in 1978. Pinder eventually reemerged in the mid-1990s, recording one music and two children’s albums for his own label, One Step Records.

The Moody Blues’ 1981 Long Distance Voyager produced two major hits, “Gemini Dream” and “The Voice,” and 1986’s The Other Side of Life, featuring guitar, synthesizers, and electronic drums, yielded their first near-smash hit in years with “Your Wildest Dreams.” They conducted a world tour in 1986, switching to Polydor Records for Sur La Mer and its moderate hit “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere.” Patrick Moraz left The Moody Blues in early 1992 and, in 1994, the group toured America performing with local symphony orchestras. Polydor’s 5-CD set Time Traveler compiled studio recordings from Days of Future Passed through Keys to the Kingdom, as well as Justin Hayward and John Lodge’s Blue Jays.

Discography

Number 1 (1965); The Magnificent Moodies (1965); Days of Future Passed (1968); In Search of the Lost Chord (1968); On the Threshold of a Dream (1969); To Our Children’s Children’s Children (1970):A Question of Balance (1970); Every Good Boys Deserves Favour (1971); In the Beginning (1971); Seventh Sojourn (1972); Caught Live Plus Five (1977); Octave (1978); Long Distance Voyager (1981); The Present (1983); Early Blues (1985); The Other Side of Life (1986); Prelude (1987); Sur La Mer (1988); Keys of the Kingdom (1991); A Night at Red Rock with The Colo. Symphony Orch. (1993).

—Brock Helander