Moody Blues, The

This band came into being in Birmingham in 1964 after the harmonica player and singer Ray Thomas and the keyboardist Mike Pinder, who had previously been members of El Riot & the Rebels started their own band. They had initially called their new band the Krew Kats in 1963, but moving on from that they took on the drummer Graeme Edge, the singer and guitarist Denny Laine and bass player Clint Warwick.

They initially called themselves the M & B 5 due to the chance of sponsorship by the Mitchell & Butlers Brewery, which didn’t happen in the end. Their first performance was at the Carlton Ballroom in Birmingham where they were given the position of resident band. Not much later on they changed their name to The Moody Blues, which had a faint reference to “Mood Indigo” by Duke Ellington and also the fact that the group performed mostly rhythm and blues at that point. The band also retained the original letters M and B.

The band moved to London during the summer months of 1964 and signed a recording contract with Ridgepride which leased its recordings to Decca. Their first single was a cover version of “Steal Your Heart Away” which had previously been recorded by the blues singer and guitarist Bobby Parker. Although they performed the song on an episode of Ready Steady Go! it still failed to make it to the UK singles chart.

Not deterred they then released their second single “Go Now” which was a cover that had been recorded by Bessie Banks in the US earlier that year. It was promoted in one of the first rock and pop promotional films and made it all the way to No. 1 on the UK singles chart and No. 10 in the US. It is the only single by the band that made it to No. 1 even though they had several other charting songs.

In February 1965 they released a cover version of “I Don’t Want to Go On Without You” which had previously been recorded by The Drifters and it climbed to No. 33 on the UK Singles chart. They also released the song on their The Moody Blues EP in April that same year and that went to No. 12 on the UK EP chart. Their next single was “From the Bottom of My Heart (I Love You)” which was written by Mike Pinder and Denny Laine and released in May 1965. It went to No. 22 on the UK Singles chart.

1965 is also the year they released their debut album The Magnificent Moodies with the back cover having a prose poem specially written by Donovan and saw the band moving to Decca Records with their management being undertaken by The Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein. They released the single “Everyday” in October that year but this time it only reached No. 44 on the UK Singles chart and in December their album track “Bye Bye Bird”, which was a cover of a Sonny Boy Williamson song, was released in France and made it to No. 3 there. As if 1965 hadn’t been busy enough for them, they were the support band for The Beatles tour in Britain in December before going on their own tour of North America from December to January.

When 1966 came round Clint Warwick retired in the July, being succeeded by Rod Clark who was only with them for a few months before he and Denny Laine left in the October (Denny Laine went onto become a member of Wings). Not long after that the single “Boulevard de la Madeleine” was released and became a hit in Belgium, but before long Brian Epstein also left as their manager. There had been recordings done for a second album called Look Out but they were shelved and only reappeared on a much later double CD of The Magnificent Moodies in 2014. The last single by the original line-up was “Life’s Not Life” written by Denny Laine and Mike Pinder was released on an EP in France in 1966. A new line up was put together in October 1966 when the singer Justin Hayward, recommended by Eric Burdon, and the singer and bassist John Lodge were added to the three original members.

The band went to Belgium for a short while but had returned to the UK by early 1967 where they played on the cabaret circuit for a brief period. They got to grips with the fact that they didn’t sound the same without Denny Laine singing the R&B covers even though they did continue to perform their biggest hit “Go Now”. They changed during this time with Justin Hayward also writing songs and the band playing mainly their original songs. They had the new Decca producer Tony Clarke and with him they released the single “Fly Me High” in May 1967 which was the first recording that included Justin Hayward and John Lodge. It didn’t make the charts put introduced a bit of a new style to their music where their music became more psychedelic.

The next single was “Love and Beauty” which was the first time of many that Mike Pinder played the mellotron on a recording but, once again, the song didn’t chart. Later in 1967 their contract with Decca was due to expire but they were supported by the A&R manager Hugh Mendl who had set up the subsidiary Deram Records. They were asked to promote this new company by making a rock version of New World Symphony by Antonin Dvorak but this was shelved by the composer, arranger and conductor Peter Knight in preference for them recording an album of their own original songs, unknown by the label executives at the time. The recorded the album Days of Future Passed and once released in November of that year it reached No. 27 on the UK LP chart, later it would reach No. 2 in the US in 1972. The album was performed with additional music added by the London Festival Orchestra and produced the singles “Tuesday Afternoon” and the memorable “Nights in White Satin”, which eventually reached No. 2 in the UK and No. 9 in the US several years later, both written by Justin Hayward.

When 1968 came around the next album In Search of the Lost Chord was released which included the single “Voices in the Sky” which went to No. 27 in the UK Singles chart and “Ride My See-Saw” which went to No. 42. The following year the band released On the Threshold of a Dream which was the first album they had made which reached No. 1 on the UK album chart. The following year the band had formed their own record label Threshold Records before it was the release of To Our Children’s Children which went to No. 2 on the UK album chart. It produced the single release “Watching and Waiting”. They appeared at the Isle of Wight Festival for the first time in 1969, having also performed there the next year in 1970.

Moving into the 1970s they recorded and released the 1970 album A Question of Balance which was easier to perform live. It went to No. 1 on the UK album chart and No. 3 in the US. The singles “Question” came from it and went to No. 2 on the UK Singles chart and “Melancholy Man” went to No. 1 in France. The following year in 1971 it was the turn of Every Good Boy Deserves Favour which went to No. 1 on the UK album chart and No. 2 in the US and produced the single “The Story In Your Eyes” which went to No. 23 in the US.

Next up it was Seventh Sojourn in 1972 and this one was the first to make it to the No. 1 spot in the US and reaching No. 5 on the UK album chart. The singles from it were “Isn’t Life Strange” which reached No. 13 in the UK and No. 29 in the US and “I’m Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)” which reached No. 36 in the UK and No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The following year, in 1973, they were finishing off their world tour and Australia presented the band with five gold discs. After they had returned to Britain after their tour they took a hiatus. They did, however, release the compilation This Is The Moody Blues in October of that year.

During the hiatus John Lodge and Justin Hayward recorded the album Blue Jays in 1975 which went to No. 4 on the UK album chart and No. 15 in the US. They also released the single “Blue Guitar” which was backed by 10cc and didn’t appear on an album, but went to No. 8 in the UK.

Also in 1975 Graeme Edge released his album Kick Off Your Muddy Boots followed the next year with Paradise Ballroom. Mike Pinder released his solo album The Promise in 1976, Ray Thomas released his albums From Mighty Oaks and Hopes, Wishes and Dreams in 1975 and 1976 respectively.

In 1977 John Lodge released his Natural Avenue and Justin Hayward released his Songwriter that same year. The following year Justin Hayward performed in Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of War of the Worlds which produced his single “Forever Autumn” that went to No. 5 on the UK Singles chart.

After the band’s hiatus they decided to get back together to record again and in 1977 they released the double album Caught Live + 5 which had three sides of a live recording and the other side being leftover 1960s tracks. The following year they released Octave but Mike Pinder decided not to tour due to having a young family. He was replaced for the world tour by Patrick Moraz who had been a keyboardist for Yes. The album produced the singles “Steppin’ in a Slide Zone” and “Driftwood”. Once they had finished their touring they retained Patrick Moraz as their keyboardist and Mike Pinder had tried to make an unsuccessful legal action preventing the next album. He didn’t return to work with the band.

In 1981 Long Distance Voyager was released and reached No. 7 in the UK and No. 1 in the US. The singles “The Voice”, “Gemini Dream” became Top 20 hits in the US and “Talking Out of Turn” reached No. 65 in the US. Next up was The Present in 1983 which scored the singles “Blue World” which reached No, 35 in the UK and No. 62 in the US and “Sitting at the Wheel” which reached No. 3 on the US’s Mainstream Rock chart, 27 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 91 in the UK.

The Other Side of Life was released in 1986 and it’s single “Your Wildest Dreams” reached No. 1 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary singles chart and a Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 200. It also won a Billboard Video of the Year award. Two years later it was the turn of Sur La Mer which produced the single “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere” which reached No. 2 on the Billboard Mainstream Rock chart, 30 on the Billboard Hot 100 and 52 in the UK. Also in 1986 they added a second keyboardist Bias Boshell who was replaced for the period 1987 to 1990 by Guy Allison until his return.

In 1990 they performed the John Lennon tribute concert “Across the Universe” in Liverpool. The following year Patrick Moraz was let go from the group and Paul Bliss replaced him to work with Bias Boshell. Moraz took out a lawsuit against the band in 1992 which appeared on the TV channel Court TV but was only awarded his back pay and not the amount of his claim.

In 1991 Keys of the Kingdom was released and reached No. 54 on the UK album chart. It produced the singles “Say It With Love” and “Bless the Wings (That Bring You Back). They embarked on their supporting tour and also appeared at the Montreux Jazz Festival, with that performance later appearing on DVD and album. The following year was the turn of Night at Red Rocks which also had a video of their live performance accompanied by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.

The band took a break which saw them not recording for several years but released the box set Time Traveller in 1994. Five years later they released Strange Times which had little success and only reached No. 92 on the UK Album chart. Also in 1999 the band appeared on an episode of the animated TV show The Simpsons.

When the new millennium came about they released the 2000 live album Hall of Fame that also had a DVD release. It was the last tour with Bias Boshell. The band performed and wrote two songs for the film Journey into Amazing Caves in 2001. The following Ray Thomas retired leaving just 3 members so they hired the rhythm guitarist and flautist to take over his position.

In late 2003 they released the album December, which would be their last studio album. The following year the original bassist Clint Warwick passed away when he was 63 years old.

In 2005 the live album and DVD Lovely to See You: Live was released and over 2006 and 2007 the seven albums recorded since the group were joined by John Lodge and Justin Hayward were released on CDs. The band toured the UK, Canada and the US from 2006 to 2010 with the addition of the keyboardist Alan Hewitt.

In 2013 the compilation Timeless Flight was released and toured the US and UK in 2015 as well as debuting at the Glastonbury Festival. The live album and DVD Days of Future Past Live was released in 2018 after they had performed in Toronto as a celebration of the albums 50th anniversary.

The band’s co-founder Ray Thomas sadly died in January 2018 when he was 76 years old. Several months later he was posthumously included when the band were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Graeme Edge retired in 2018 and passed away in November 2021 when he was 80 years old, Denny Laine died in December 2023 when he was 79 years old and Mike Pinder died in April 2024 when he was 82 years old.

During the national and international long-lasting career and success of the band it has distinguished itself for its contribution to British music and unique style. It has won at least 14 platinum and gold discs and sold more than 70 million albums worldwide.

Sources:

Moody Blues, The

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