Does every nominee who reaches a certain threshold in the voting get in, or is it only the top 5 vote-getters? If it's only the top 5, then I'm only voting for The Moody Blues and The Zombies so as not to inadvertently push someone else past either of those two into the top five.
yes it's only five votes per fan but you can vote each day up to a limit they set I too will limit my votes from now on to just Moodies and Zombies I think the committee they have make final choice with all those inducted able to have a vote too I believe
Both F and F Major 7th work but, you may be right what the acoustic guitar is doing in the studio version. There is definitely a higher F note on the mellotron though, so an F Major inversion with the F note on top works as well. In the clip below at 2:43, Justin plays an F Major 7th with an F in the root played with his thumb. He then plays an E minor chord with the open E string root but he then adds in D-E on the 4th string. Technically you are right about the first chord as F major 7th.
This is what I could hear through headphones, an F followed by a G on the mellotron, which lead me to my conclusion, rightly or wrongly...
The Hall's official website says it's only the top five, but I don't see how that can be right as most years have at least six inductees. What I've heard elsewhere is that each voter gets five votes, and all acts with over 50% of the total votes cast get in.
From a full album standpoint, I think TOCCC is their strongest. Other albums have higher highs, but, as I said before, the flow and vibe on this album makes for such a fantastic overall listen. I never get tired of it.
This is how I also feel about TOCCC. A fine album that has seemed to get short shrift in the Moodies' various comps over the years, but really is one of their most cohesive overall musical statements. My favorite songs here are probably the rousing Graeme Edge opener ("Higher and Higher"), Hayward's "I Never Thought I'd Live To Be A Hundred" (I sincerely hope he does!), Pinder's trippy pair of tunes ("Out and In" with Lodge and "Sun Is Still Shining"), Thomas' "Eternity Road" (one of his deepest), and Lodge's haunting "Candle of Life" (possibly the highlight of entire set). In sum, TOCCC presents the Moodies firing on all cylinders, featuring excellent contributions from each member but still sounding like a unified band effort. FTR, this album is almost exactly as old as I am, so I have an additional affinity for it that way. Not to be missed!
I was in college when TOCCC came out. It had a very spacy feel, full of cosmic themes . Fit very well into the hippy ethos and didn't have a trace of their overly saccharine tendencies which were turning people off to their music (such as Lovely to See You). This album still holds up well and I return to it often, along with Days of Future Passed and In Search of the Lost Chord. Those are my core 3.
The song is very dense sounding. Your chord sounds fine as well. Many Moody Songs are perfect for different arrangements when it comes to chords. Gypsy is one of them as well.
Just wanted to mention they played here a few years back in a theater setting. The 'Mark 2' rhythm section is highly underrated; they could stand toe-to-toe with any other band out there.
Candle of Life is perhaps my all time favorite Lodge track. Gypsy is a great single... it is unrelenting and I love the distinctive harmonies.
That 3 song run from Gypsy thru Candle Of Life is really outstanding. Side 1 is excellent but side 2 jumps to some other level.
I have liked this one for the past 40+ years, but after reading the comments here, I am listening to the album in a new light. I sometimes get so caught up in the sheer accessibility of Hayward's songs that I miss the rest of the band's contributions, which on this album are considerable. I've always missed that it is a concept album because I subconsciously (or consciously) split the album into each writer's songs, but it is a concept album as much as Days of Future Past is.
yeah sure quite true ! - Justin was the most prolific writer and penned many of the classic hit singles, he's the 'face' and most public 'voice' and the 'emotion' of The Moodies with his distinctive often heart rending sincere vocals and provided terrific guitarwork plus sitar etc, he also was a rocker at heart and very much the all important 'frontman' guitarist/singer figure onstage (even tho' the classic band really had a full 'frontline' as opposed to one figure) John was very much the 'heart' of the band, he too penned a few big hits, wrote many love songs, plus some deeper more reflective on life songs too ('House of Four Doors', 'Candle of Life', 'One More Time To Live' etc) also adding the occasional uptempo rocker, and was the key high harmony voice and powering bass guitarwork Ray was the 'personality' and 'character' of The Moodies - while equally deep at times ('Eternity Road') he kept everybody's feet on the ground with humour and charm ('Dr. Livingstone', 'Timothy Leary', 'Floating', 'Nice To Be Here' etc later 'Veteran Cosmic Rocker' !) and added the strongest voice with his key baritone voice (so clearly missing in the vocal sound now) and of course added that haunting flute Graeme was the 'flesh, blood, and muscle' of the band as a highly distinctive drummer plus wrote poetry that while some might dismiss out of hand is actually quite timeless...and thought provoking - he later developed into a decent songwriter as well ('22,000 Days') Mike was both the 'backbone' of the band and it's 'soul' - the cosmic visionary who wrote many deeper more philosophical album orientated songs with an 'epic' feel to many of them, and while he opened two albums of the 'core seven' and provided one second track on many occasions Mike's songs come at the end of side one of a vinyl album ('OTTOAD',' TOCCC') and it's noticeable how often Moodies albums built up towards a finale or key main penultimate track written by Mike ('OTTOAD', 'ISOTLC', TOCCC','AQOB', 'EGBDF',TMBSS' and even his Moodies swansong on 'Octave') which is no co-incidence is it...? as Moodies 'backbone' and their in house arranger (something they badly missed later on) Mike's classically orientated often quite cinematic mellotron/chamberlain playing characterised their music being the 'blue sky and sunshine' surrounding their musical landscape sound - of each of them - besides his own songs, and Mike's cool reflective authorative voice added great drama to both the poetry narrations and their 'choral' vocal harmony sound - note how effective this is on John's song 'Candle of Life' when Justin and John's voices are joined by Mike's only on the line; 'Burn slowly the Candle of Life...' thus the classic Moodies had a perfect balance about them where each provided a key contribution and they gelled as a complete unit also in the late seventies and eighties ex-Yes keyboardist Patrick Moraz came in at short notice and bailed them out for the 'Octave' tour, Patrick played older material 100% faithfully and with his banks of keyboards added another 'symphonic' Moodies style more 80's style flowing keyboard backdrop to their later songs, playing what they wanted and required giving them a positive musical 'shot in the arm' (as Justin Hayward put it) with creative energy just when the band needed it following Mike Pinder's retirement from the group, ensuring another decade of life as a recording and performing band (who even managed a USA chart topping album !) so while of course the 'Mark 2' Moodies of 1966-78 are THE 'classic' Moodies both the original 'Mark 1' Moodies (with Denny Laine & the late Clint Warwick) and the 80's 'Mark 3' Moodies with Patrick Moraz also fully played their part in the complete band history leaving us with a excellent complete body of work which obviously creatively peaked during the classic era and the 'core seven' albums when Justin, John and Mike were all in the group together...with Ray and Graeme - and those key 'backroom boys' longtime producer Tony Clarke and recording engineer Derek Varnals were working with them so effectively
TOCCC is my favorite Moodies album, and I can't really add much to what all you previous posters have said as you've covered the greatness of this album very well. I never heard the album growing up. My dad was a fan and I listened to all his records, but he didn't have TOCCC. I had only heard "Gypsy" here and there and was always blown away by it. I'd ask others, what's the Moody Blues song that goes "aaah-ahhh, ahhh-ahhh", trying to sing it myself. People would say "they have a lot of songs that do that", and fair enough; that's true. Once the SACDs came out I picked them all up and finally got to hear TOCCC in its full majesty. I was blown away. I've tried to get my dad into TOCCC but haven't had any luck. I tell him, you love this band and yet you've never heard (what I and many think is) their best album. I'm going to keep trying.
Before I add A Question of Balance later today or tomorrow , I'd like to post this History of the Moody Blues video. It's as close to a Moody Blues version of the Beatles Anthology (or at least The Compleat Beatles ) as we will probably get. I like the fact that all five members are interviewed (Ray gets fleeting screen time ) along with Tony Clarke, and Derek Varnals.etc., not just the usual useless talking heads complimenting the band. It's time well spent if you haven't seen it.
funny road manager Mike Keys is all dissmissive of Patrick Moraz in that - it's all from the 'classic artists' DVD - Keys saying; 'did it work... ? (i.e. with Moraz) ....I didn't ever think so !' - but BACK THEN in the late seventies / early 80's Mike Keys most certainly was NOT saying that at all (at least in public) ....and boy in those days were The Moodies singing a very different tune re Moraz !! then they were happily presenting Patrick Moraz to the public as very much the 'fifth Moody' including him in band publicity photos (some they now cut him out of as they 'revise' their own history) and credited Moraz as a full band member on four 80's studio albums plus the 'Legend of A Band' VHS / DVD release and in the Wembley 1984 live concert screened by BBC TV - which is up on youtube in instalments in Autumn 1978 it was 'all smiles' and 'new best friends' together etc...with them happily mega praising up Moraz, while the Moodies fan club (which I belonged to then) were sending out newsletters saying how terrific Patrick Moraz was, how much creative energy etc he added to them, and over praising him left right and centre....(seems The Moodies were over paying him too !) what a difference a later court case maketh... I had to laugh at Graeme Edge glibly dismissing Moraz as; 'a sideman NOT an integral member of the group' ! - have a listen to 'Long Distance Voyager', 'The Present', 'The Other Side of Life' and 'Sur La Mer' albums of 1981-88, even if not to your taste Moraz keyboard playing is a vital part of their trademark musical sound then...and he contributes far far more than either Graeme Edge (often replaced by drum programming later) or Ray Thomas (who was not even on 'Sur La Mer') back then from late 1978 and on into the 80's the band were only too pleased to cash in on Moraz fame as a solo artist and Ex-Yes / Refugee keyboardist.... ....and then they were at the same time quietly publicly 'forgetting' co-founder Mike Pinder !
Yep, it's bizarre how they turned on Moraz like they did, but those things happen in rock and roll far too often.
I think the chief reason was simple - MONEY ! they mega quickly got in Patrick Moraz when Mike Pinder refused to do the 'Octave' tour being 'all smiles' in September 1978 when they introduced Patrick in the UK music press presenting him very much as the new 'fifth Moody' - the fact Moraz was a 'known name' from his stint with Yes taking over from Rick Wakeman and playing on 'Relayer' plus having already made a solo album too went in their favor as they were getting in an established 'name' (as opposed to say the very talented but not that well known name Bias Boshell - who came in later) it appears they got Moraz in on a 'silly money' deal re percentages etc as a 'hired gun' for them - it worked at the time as the 'Octave' tour of 1979 was a success, then 'Long Distance Voyager' of course topped the USA album chart in 1981...even two singles from it also charted in the USA at that point they were singing Moraz praises to the skies....and never mentioned Mike Pinder at all ! in fact as the 80's went on several music press figures were asking; 'WHY is Patrick Moraz STILL bothering to be in The Moody Blues ?' to some in the music business it was seen as a bit of a job rather beneath him because the band opted to move towards a more 'radio friendly' synth pop style with far lighter songs mostly wistful tunes about lost love with pleasant melodies ('Your Wildest Dream' aka 'Once Upon A Time', 'I Know Your Out There Somewhere', 'Here Comes The Weekend' etc) - all very nice and well played & sung but mostly nothing much Earth shatteringly deep anymore - bar the odd deeper album track here and there Moraz in fact had argued against that wanting to keep the band a more deeply album orientated concern like the classic Moodies he knew ! Moraz also it seems was against Ray Thomas being 'sidelined' after 1983 (Ray's health first deteriorated somewhat plus he had personal problems too during that period) - Ray only provided backing vocals on TOSOL album in 1986 and is not on 'Sur La Mer' at all in 1988 despite his being included in the innersleeve child photos of them all (as both Patrick Moraz and one pic of producer Tony Visconti were too) - ironic but Graeme Edge was next to be 'phased out' effectively from the recording group too with drum programming sometimes replacing him - even another drummer on a couple of tracks later on the 1991 studio album 'Keys of The Kingdom' ! so it appears 'post Pinder' era something of a power play took place in the band and by 1991 they were it seems finally getting fed up paying Moraz probably a considerable sum for his services likely still being tied to the initial 'hired gun' agreement they had perhaps rather too hastily made back in late 1978 for the 'Octave' tour etc...(??) Significantly by then Bias Boshell was brought in as second keyboardist (to Moraz annoyance it seems - he and before him Mike had done the keyboards job perfectly well alone previously without any problems) - possibly Boshell was recruited as second keyboardist (presumably far cheaper than Moraz) with one eye on edging Moraz out (??) 'The Present' album in 1983 didn't do anywhere near as well as LDV (tho' to be fair it did chart in UK and USA and gave them a top forty UK hit single with Justin's 'Blue World') - now they really dismiss that album (which wasn't that bad at all in truth) and I have heard Moraz took his due percentage for playing on it...which he was entitled to do but probably upset the others somewhat (?) things came to a head recording John Lodge's song 'Magic' for KOTK album - Moraz had like Pinder moved to the west coast of the USA and was called all the way over to England....then left sitting about all afternoon...to be called upon merely to play the song's brief intro ! also Moraz had been absent for the Swiss national celebrations event...then some remarks Moraz made in the music press bemoaning The Moodies move towards lighter more commercial songs was suddenly deemed to be a 'major crime' and it seems the reason for his dismissal... if they were over paying him that was THEIR fault - in 1978 they were perfectly happy to play on Moraz being an established top 'name' keyboardist to succeed Mike Pinder (no one could ever 'replace' Mike of course) as keyboardist it seems they kept the songwriting 'in house' too probably for royalties purposes - Moraz got just the one co-writer credit with Edge on 'The Spirit' on TOSOL album in 1986, although he later said he composed the instrumental intro heard at the beginning of 'The Voice' on LDV in 1981 and 'Hole in The World' instrumental which opened John's 'Under My Feet'on 'The Present' in 1983 This is only what I have read and heard and seen in that Court TV Moraz v Moodies case over the years of course... whatever the departures of both Mike Pinder and later Patrick Moraz and the two legal actions (the latter shown on Court TV !) were sad chapters in The Moodies mostly very positive story - nobody then emerged with any great credit which was sad just as sad is the hideous 'history re-writing' they have done since re both Mike Pinder and Patrick Moraz roles in The Moodies ! but along with Denny Laine and the late Clint Warwick who made key early contributions (1964-66) Patrick Moraz (1978-91) SHOULD be included for any Hall of Fame induction along with the 'classic' Moodies Justin, Mike, Ray, John, and Graeme (1966-78)
A QUESTION OF BALANCE Track listing Side one 1. "Question" 5:40 2. "How Is It (We Are Here)" 2:48 3. "And the Tide Rushes In" 2:57 4. "Don't You Feel Small" 2:40 5. "Tortoise and the Hare" 3:23 Side two 6. "It's Up to You" 3:11 7. "Minstrel's Song" 4:27 8. "Dawning Is the Day" 4:22 9. "Melancholy Man" 5:49 10. "The Balance" 3:33 Total length: 38:41 2006 SACD expanded edition and 2008 remaster bonus tracks 11. "Mike's Number One" 3:36 12. "Question" (alternate version) 6:08 13. "Minstrel's Song" (original mix) 4:35 14. "It's Up to You" (original mix) 3:19 15. "Don't You Feel Small" (original mix) 3:02 16. "Dawning Is the Day" (full original mix) Personnel Justin Hayward - vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin John Lodge - vocals, bass Ray Thomas - vocals, flute, tambourine Graeme Edge - drums, percussion, whispered vocal on "Don't You Feel Smal Mike Pinder - vocals, Mellotron, Moog synthesizer, piano, maracas, acoustic guitar Released 7 August 1970 Recorded January – June 1970 at Decca Studios, West Hampstead, London Length 38:41 Label Threshold Records Producer Tony Clarke
This is the first album of theirs that seemed like a letdown to me . I loved "It's Up To You" immediately and "Question" and I thought "And the Tide Rushes In" was a good song from Ray , but much of the other material seemed like a step down from their other albums. I like the album more now than I did back when it was released. I actually prefer the alternate version of "Question" because the orchestra hits on the originally released version always seemed kind of bombastic to my ears.
Of course, anything after TOCCC would be a let down. Talk about a hard act to follow. Do not think the orchestra hit on " Question "is bombastic, but rather dynamic, and it actually resembles and may be intended to be a battaglia due to the subject matter of the song. I assume Clarke and the group wanted to open the LP with the song, but opted to differ from the 45. Also note that this is first appearance of Moog on a Moody song.
