Chart entered : 25 June 1988
Chart peak : 52
Now it's time to wave goodbye to some more sixties legends.
The Moody Blues had had a singular career. The original incarnation of the group struggled to capitalise on the success of "Go Now" and after three more modest hits, singer / guitarist Denny Laine and bassist Clint Warwick quit the group in 1966. They were replaced by Justin Hayward fresh from his stint in the Wilde Three ( covered in the Goodbye Marty Wilde post ) and John Lodge who had played with flautist Ray Thomas and keyboard player Mike Pinder in beat group El Riot and the Rebels. The new arrivals led the band away from R & B to a new "pomp rock" sound marked by portentous lyrics, Mike's haunting choral Mellotron and symphonic interludes. It was -and still is - reviled by the critics but it sold shedloads both here and in America. Like contemporaries Pink Floyd their stature is not adequately reflected in the singles charts with some of their number one albums not containing a UK hit single. They had a break in the mid-seventies with Justin and John scoring a big hit as a duo with "Blue Guitar" in 1975 but reconvened in 1978 for the album "Octave". Mike left the group during the sessions and was replaced by Swiss keyboard wizard Patrick Moraz who'd already scored a couple of hit instrumental albums in the UK and redirected the group to a more streamlined synth -pop sound. After 1983's "Blue World" they were consigned to Radio Two and so 1986's "Your Wildest Dreams" , a massive hit in the US didn't register here.
"I Know You're Out There Somewhere" is very much in the same vein as the rest of their eighties material with Justin, an ace guitarist, letting the synths do most of the work. It's a straightforward pop tune from the perspective of a middle aged man looking for a lost love with an attractive melody delivered well by Justin in his usual plaintive style. It is a little on the bland side, lacking the sense of purpose in their previous few singles. It owed its chart position to an appearance on Wogan. It reached number 30 in the U.S.
The single was a trailer for their thirteenth album "Sur La Mer" which Ray effectively sat out although he appeared with them on Wogan and in the videos for the singles.. Frankly I think it would be better dans la mer. Justin's solo compositions seem to indicate a wish to be a middle of the road balladeer challenging Cliff Richard , the follow up single "How Many Lies" being a prime example, while John's contributions are blustery attempts to recapture past glories. The last two tracks are so vapid and boring they could tranquilise a rhino. The album maintained their steadily downward trajectory in the charts since 1972 peaking at 21 and performed relatively poorly in the U.S. too.
While the band were recording their next album in 1990 Patrick gave an interview to Keyboard Magazine expressing dissatisfaction with his role in the band. At the same time he was preparing music for Switzerland's 700th anniversary celebrations. As a result he was fired . He later took the band to court and won his case in televised proceedings. Compilations issued since have sought to minimise his role even to the extent of airbrushing him out of band photos. The band elected not to replace him with a permanent keyboard player.
The band's commercial decline gathered apace with the next album "Keys To The Kingdom" in 1991. Ray had a bit more input including a solo composition "Celtic Sonant " ( an absolutely dire attempt to re-write The Skye Boat Song ) but drummer Graeme Edge plays on just three tracks . Neither played on the lead single the anthemic "Say It With Love" which only charted in Canada. The follow up "Bless the Wings", sounding like latter day ELO , did no business anywhere. Despite being a marginally better set than its predecessor, the album peaked at 54 here and 94 in the US.
The following year the band played a well received concert with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at the Red Rocks stadium and spent most of the nineties refining their live act to include a full orchestra. In 1996 a compilation LP reached number 13.
The first new recording for the best part of a decade came with a new single "English Sunset" in 1999 which utilises a drum and bass rhythm of all things. It's not embarrassing but not particularly comfortable either. It proved utterly unrepresentative of the new album "Strange Times" which largely ditched the synths and drum machines in favour of string arrangements for its slow melancholy songs. "The Swallow" is a particularly affecting meditation on ageing given extra piquancy by the new vulnerability in Justin's voice. Taken as a whole the album is too soporific and sold poorly, peaking in the nineties on both sides of the Atlantic.
In 2001 they provided some new music for an IMAX film Journey into Amazing Caves .
The following year Ray, whose health had declined, decided to retire, leaving Graeme as the only survivor from the original line up.
In 2003 they put out their last album to date, a Christmas album featuring some new material called "December". It's OK if you're in the mood for that sort of thing. It was their first album since their Denny Laine-era debut to include covers and like that one didn't chart anywhere.
Since then the remaining trio have continued to tour regularly with Justin taking time out in the noughties to also tour with Jeff Wayne in the live presentation of War of the Worlds .
Ray is currently in remission from prostate cancer. He announced a forthcoming solo album in 2014 but there's been no sign of it.
Patrick has released three solo albums of piano music since his departure from the band and a collaboration with drummer Greg Alban.
Mike settled down to family life in California and worked for Atari on music synthesis. He re-emerged in 1994 with a space-themed solo album "Among The Stars" which was poorly received. The following year he released the spoken word album of children's stories A Planet With One Mind which was well received in its genre. Since then he's been unproductive but has contributed to two albums by his sons who record as The Pinder Brothers.
We covered Denny's subsequent career in the Wings posts.
Clint disliked touring and gave up the music business for carpentry. In 1996 he lost his son Paul. In 2002 he made his only solo recording the valedictory "My Life" a country-ish ballad which goes on forever and amply demonstrates why he wasn't the lead singer.
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