THE MOODY BLUES
OUT OF THIS WORLD TOUR

Nine albums recorded as the Moody Blues (Justin Hayward, John Lodge, Ray Thomas, Graeme Edge and Mike Pinder) in excess of 20 million sold world wide, it now seems slightly ironic that they achieved their initial recognition with a phenomenal single 'Nights in White Satin' written by Justin in 1966 which has now achieved classic proportions as it is endlessly covered and re-released as a single this September by Decca in celebration and simultaneous to their selected master-works on 'Out Of This World' (K-Tel).

In 1966 the Moody Blues met producer Tony Clarke for their first recording together being 'Fly Me High' (Decca) which was a prelude to a succession of chart topping collaborations like, 'Days of Future Passed', 'On The Threshold Of A Dream', 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour' and 'Question of Balance'. However, 'Nights', that first initial masterpiece would never fade away for the public and was re-released in America, six years after its original issue and promptly soared to number one, simultaneous with the re-release of their first album 'Days of Future Passed' which also topped the album charts. The release of their new album 'Seventh Sojourn' at that time gave them the unprecedented achievement of gaining the number 1 and 2 slot in the American charts at the same time. Even the Beatles could not beat that!

There have been a host of golden and platinum milestones including the coveted N.A.R.M. Award in 1972 for Best Selling World Group, the Playboy Vocal Group of the Year Award in 1973 and the award to Justin Hayward presented to him in 1974 by A.S.C.A.P. (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) for his work as a songwriter. The following year John Lodge received the A.S.C.A.P. award for "I'm Just A Singer In A Rock 'N' Roll Band".

The four year group hibernation (during which there was a flurry of solo chart activity from individual members) did not effect the rapturous return which was heralded by 'Octave' in 1978 and two sell out tours of America which seldom saw them playing less than 10,000 capacity and often in excess of 20,000.

The legend that never really went away while their music lived on is now back live with Patrick Moraz in the keyboard seat and their first appearances in the U.K. for six years sealed by two capacity appearances at Wembley Arena in 1979.

John had actually played with Ray Thomas in El Riot and The Rebels prior to the Moody Blues formation, although he had spent the period between 1964 and 1967 completing his education and gaining a professional qualification. Amongst the hits he has written for the Moody Blues are 'Ride My See-Saw', 'Isn't Life Strange' and 'I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock 'N' Roll Band)'. During the group's lengthy lay off, John joined forces with Justin for the 'Bluejays' LP, 'Natural Avenue', which was a hit in both Britain and America, on which he utilised the talents of Kenny Jones, late of the Small Faces and currently Keith Moon's replacement in The Who, famed session guitarist Chris Spedding (noted, amongst many other things, for having produced tracks for the Sex Pistols), Mick Weaver (a veteran of dozens of bands who is currently working with Ian Matthews) and Mel Collins (saxophone player to the stars, currently with Camel).

Justin joined the Moody Blues in 1966 having paid his dues in Mary Wilde's latterday Wildcats. Amongst his most famous compositions for the Moody Blues, featuring his distinctive voice are 'Nights In White Satin', 'Tuesday Afternoon', 'Question', 'Voices In The Sky', 'Never Comes The Day', all of which have been hit singles. After 'Seventh Sojourn', Justin recorded 'Bluejays' with John Lodge which made the top twenty in the US LP chart and the top ten in Britain, as well as releasing a hit single with John, 'I Dreamed Last Night'. Earlier that year, Justin recorded 'Blue Guitar' with Eric Stewart which was incorporated into the Bluesjays project and became a top ten hit in 1975. Subsequently, Justin released his solo LP 'Songwriter', which made the top forty on both sides of the Atlantic, and featured such tracks as 'One Lonely Room', 'Raised On Love' and 'Stage Door'. In 1978, Justin was featured on Jeff Wayne's 'War Of The Worlds' double LP and his single 'Forever Autumn' become a worldwide hit.

During the second half of 1967, the group evolved a fresh musical direction, drawing together elements of both rock and classical music, the latter part being substantially supplied by Pinder's purchase of a mellotron, a keyboard instrument able to faithfully reproduce the sound of classical string players. Although the group's contemporaries reportedly felt that the Moodies were out of their minds to pursue such an untried direction, they persevered, finally approaching Decca Records with a view to making records which would illustrate this innovation. As luck would have it, the group's cap-in-hand approach coincided with a requirement on Decca's part for an album which would demonstrate the excellence of the stereophonic sound equipment which the company also manufactured, and the Moody Blues thus recorded the album which would become a major turning point for them, 'Days Of Future Passed'.

During 1968 came the first album which the group made in this second phase where they were unrestricted by Decca's requirements and able to move in whichever direction they wanted. Whereas 'Days Of Future Passed' had been a small hit in terms of chart, 'In Search Of The Lost Chord' was an immediate triumph, making the top ten in the British charts within a few weeks of its release, and finally reaching the top five, and also scoring heavily in America. The album also provided a pair of British top 50 singles in 'Voices In The Sky' and 'Ride My See-Saw', respectively composed by Justin Hayward and John Lodge. Following this, the group achieved even greater success when the next album in a series which would eventually make the Moody Blues the biggest group in the world in commercial terms, 'On The Threshold Of A Dream', topped the British album charts for two weeks during May 1969, and also became their first top twenty LP in America. By this time, the group had also sprouted a sixth member, in producer Tony Clarke, who after initially assisting in the preparation of 'Days Of Future Passed', had become far more intimately connected with the succeeding albums, and was to become involved during the latter part of 1969 in helping the group set up their own record label, Threshold, whose offices were situated in Cobham, Surrey, a village convenient for each member of the group to converge upon for meetings, yet far enough away from London for normal music business pressures to be happily absent.

The first signing to Threshold was, of course, the Moody Blues, and it should be noted here that Decca were apparently very happy to allow their star act to branch out in this new venture. Retrospectively, it must be admitted that the artists signed to Threshold other than the Moody Blues themselves were not destined to alter the course of rock music history, but to be charitable, occasional failures are an indication of humanity, and during this period, practically everything else in which the group were involved was astonishingly successful, in particular their first LP for Threshold, 'To Our Children's Children's Children', released at the end of 1969. Unaccountably, the album only reached number two in the British charts, but improved on previous American performances, peaking at number fourteen.

By the beginning of 1970, there was little doubt that the Moody Blues were one of the top groups in the world, as LP sales running into the millions and vast crowds attending their concerts around the world attested, and their popularity was underlined by the release of their first LP of the new decade, 'A Question of Balance', which was release in August 1970 and immediately rushed to the top of the British chart. In America, it became their first LP to make the top three, while a single from the album, 'Question' again written by Justin Hayward, reached the number two position in the British chart.

This kind of success continued with the 1971 album, 'Every Good Boy Deserves Favour' (the title refers to the mnemonic method of recalling the notes on the primary musical scale, E, G, B, D, and F), which gave the group their third chart topping album in Britain, and also inched them nearer to the top of the US chart, where it stopped at the number two position. The 1972 LP 'Seventh Sojourn', a highly appropriate title for the group's seventh album since their re-emergence, became their first chart topper in America, although it only made number five in Britain, an indication that Britain, at least to some extent, was in the midst of a turmoil of changing musical values. However, the change was not sufficient to prevent the album providing two more hit singles, 'Isn't Life Strange' and 'I'm Just A Singer', both written by John Lodge, entering the top twenty, one on each side of the Atlantic.

By the time the excitement surrounding 'Seventh Sojourn' had evaporated, it was 1973, and quite naturally, the Moody Blues felt they had earned a sabbatical after five years of almost constant touring and recording. A measure of their success as a live act can be judged from the fact that in 1972 alone, the group's American tours grossed nearly two million dollars, but by this time, the individual members had discovered that money was far from the most important item in their lives, their poverty stricken days of the mid-'60s being far behind them.

However, what money could provide was the ability to indulge in their own private recording projects, and after two years of silence. A double compilation album, 'This Is The Moody Blues' was released in late 1974 and reached number eleven in the American album chart, various solo albums by members of the group either totally unaided by other members or as collaborations in the case of the 'Bluejays' album by Hayward and Lodge, began to appear. By mid 1977, each of the group with the exception of Mike Pinder was represented by two albums, at which point an intriguing double album was released, three sides of which consisted of live recordings made at Royal Albert Hall during 1969, although many found the fourth side, which was composed of five tracks recorded in the studio in 1967-1968, but which had not previously been released, of at least equal interest.

By this time, Britain was in the grip of New Wave music, effectively preventing the album which was titled 'Caught Live +5' from achieving too much in chart terms, although a large body of Moody Blues fans in America saw to it that the album made the top thirty in the country. Later that year, the five members of the group met to discuss their future, and the decision was made to work on a brand new album, although it was not released until the summer of 1978, when a garden party was held in Cobham to celebrate the group's return, and each member was presented with numerous platinum discs by the chairman of Decca Records, Sir Edward Lewis. At this point, it was estimated that the group had sold more than twenty six million LPs.

The four year gap before the appearance of 'Octave' (another appropriate title) had obviously not resulted in the Moody Blues being forgotten by their erstwhile fans - within weeks, the album had reached the top twenty on both sides of the Atlantic, and a tour was being set in motion taking in the United States and the mainland of Europe. However, Mike Pinder was unwilling to go further than reuniting with the rest of the group to make records, and his place at the keyboards was taken by Patrick Moraz, who apparently fitted into the group quite easily.

That was last year - now at the end of 1979, it's time for Britain to welcome the Moody Blues back to the live stage. Inevitably, there'll be people in the audience tonight who have never been fortunate enough to see the Moody Blues playing live, but just as many, and possibly more, will be those who've seen the group before and enjoyed their albums since the '60s. A cause for celebration - the return of the Magnificent Moody Blues.

An original member of the Moody Blues, Graeme Edge was previously in The Avengers. Amongst his composition for the Moody Blues are 'In The Beginning', the track which leads off 'On The Threshold Of A Dream', 'The World' and 'The Dream'. During the group's sabbatical period, Graeme spent a good deal of time sailing across the Atlantic, amongst many less ambitious voyages. After that, he made two solo albums in collaboration with guitarist Adrian Gurvitz, 'Kick Off Your Muddy Boots' and 'Paradise Ballroom', both of which made the American album chart. Apart from Graeme and Adrian, amongst the other musicians who played on the albums were Adrian's brother Paul Gurvitz (both Paul and Adrian were members of '60's hitmaking group 'The Gun'), Ginger Baker (who later joined the Gurvitz brothers in the Baker-Gurvitz Army), and Mickey Gallagher (now a member of Ian Drury's Blockheads) and Blue Weaver (now an established member of the Bee Gees backing band).

A founding member of the Moody Blues, Ray had previously played in El Riot and the Rebels with John Lodge. Amongst his best known composition for the Moodies are songs like 'Dear Diary', 'Legend Of A Mind', 'For My Lady'.

During the group's inactive period between 1973 and 1977, Ray recorded and released a brace of solo albums. 'From Mighty Oaks', and 'Hopes Wishes Dreams', both of which made the American and English album charts. On both albums, he was significantly assisted by another artist who at one time was signed to Threshold Records singer/guitarist Nicky James, which whom Ray wrote the bulk of the material on the two albums. Most recently, apart from his involvement with the Moody Blues, Ray made a brief guest appearance at a reunion concert in London to celebrate Buddy Holly Week, contributed a harmonica solo to an all-star jam session at the end of the gig.

Having been classically trained in his native land of Switzerland, Patrick's first group of any note in the field of rock music was Mainhorse Airline, later known as Mainhorse, who recorded for Polydor Records. During 1973, Patrick met Lee Jackson (ex of The Nice) and was invited to join the latter's band of the time, Jackson Heights. Jackson, however, sensed that Patrick was more suited to electric music than mainly acoustic fare offered by Jackson Heights, and disbanded the group, instead forming Refugee, a highly promising trio in the best traditions of The Nice, with Brian Davison and himself as rhythm section and Patrick on keyboards. After the release of a Refugee album which made the British chart, Patrick was invited to join Yes as Rick Wakeman's replacement, helping them to make the highly successful 'Relayer' LP, after which Yes decided to each make a solo LP. Patrick has subsequently made several more solo LPs, having left Yes by 1977 after a two year stay with the group. There are few more experimental keyboard players in rock music, and his invitation to join The Moody Blues during the summer of 1978 is highly appropriate.