POLL: Favorite Moody Blues singles (1964-1973)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Two Sheds, Dec 28, 2019.

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  1. Houston_Music_Fan

    Houston_Music_Fan Forum Resident

    Location:
    Houston, Texas
    I adore this, too. Another awesome b-side.

     
  2. Gramps Tom

    Gramps Tom Forum Resident

  3. Vic_1957

    Vic_1957 Forum Resident

    Location:
    NJ, USA
    Love the vocals as well. I also love the way the song ends, with the great Justin leads and crunching, rocking guitars. :righton:

    My choices (in no particular order and subject to change):

    I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)/For My Lady
    Isn't Life Strange/After You Came
    The Story in Your Eyes/My Song
    Question/Candle of Life
    Ride My See-Saw/A Simple Game

    "The Land of Make Believe" would have made an awesome single, with "You and Me" or "New Horizons" as the "B" side.
     
  4. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    Used to have this. Great overview. One of the best things about it was the absence of any moody spoken 'poetry' .
     
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  5. Gramps Tom

    Gramps Tom Forum Resident

    Agreed......
     
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  6. Billo

    Billo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern England
    That Discogs info re a UK single release of 'Story in Your Eyes' is rather strange as it depicts the French picture sleeve

    while it states 'manufactured in the UK' that could mean it was an 'export only' single as the first 'B' side of 'My Song' is listed on wiki as for the Netherlands not the UK

    also the Threshold catalogue no TH6 relates to Portugal and Greece versions of the single

    Reading through the CD booklet notes of the 2008 version of EGBDF there is no mention at all of SIYE being released as a single in the UK which seems strange as they normally give full details

    Going back to the 1997 CD release of EGBDF John Lodge says in a band interview in the CD Booklet notes;

    'we had a no compromise situation with EGBDF where we didn't release a single at all...' this really affired a stance for The Moody Blues as an albums band...

    - it seems UK radio then had a 2 mins 45 secs watershed re length of radio airplay for most singles but not so in the USA where longer songs would be played regardless of the timings

    that 1997 CD releases of the 'core seven' lists both original UK albums catalogue numbers and the UK singles from them - nothing other than a UK Album released July 1971 as Threshold THS 5 reaching UK no.1 and USA no.2 is listed on EGBDF CD release no.844 772-2

    where as both 'Isn't Life Strange' and 'I'm Just A Singer' are duly noted as UK singles on the next 'Seventh Sojourn' CD in that 1997 series

    while the CD set 'The Singles+' BR Music BS 8123-2 released in 2000 only states the overseas catalogue number for SIYE as a single of 6101-601 dating from September 1971, no UK catalogue number listed as is done for some other singles

    so either Justin and John were both mis-remembering, and the earlier 1997 CD release omitted mention of a 1971 UK single taken from EGBDF - or maybe Discogs are listing a UK 'export' single which was manufactured in the UK but for overseas release in Europe - hence the French picture sleeve depicted

    our UK singles came normally in very average covers minus any nice picture sleeves before circa 1972 - my 'Isn't Life Strange' was in a very plain white cover in 1972 !

    my own copy of the single SIYE is a USA single and I have never seen a UK copy !

    In that interview I read Justin was quite frank about how they were being 'all Arty' in refusing a UK single be taken off EGBDF (shades of Led Zep probably)....only to be too grateful to the American record company for ignoring them and putting SIYE out and it charting for them !
     
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  7. Dylancat

    Dylancat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Cincinnati, OH
    Several poems were on this release.
     
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  8. Wildest cat from montana

    Wildest cat from montana Humble Reader

    Location:
    ontario canada
    D' oh ! My addled mind had it mixed up with my ' Best of The Moody Blues ' CD which is without poetry.
    I don' think as clearly as I used to . If I ever even did.
     
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  9. duggan

    duggan Senior Member

    Location:
    sydney
    From memory, there was speculation that the BBC might ban "I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)" due to the word "Singer" being the name of a sewing machine brand.
     
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  10. duggan

    duggan Senior Member

    Location:
    sydney
    It is superb.
     
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  11. Two Sheds

    Two Sheds Sha La La La Lee Thread Starter

    Well, you were in the UK in 1971-72 and I was in the US at that time (and a six-year old at that), so you would know better than I would.
     
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  12. Rock66

    Rock66 Forum Resident

    Join the club. I thought you were right in your statement. I haven't played Asi Son Los Moody Blues for a couple years, but I thought there might have been a poem or two. Anyway it is a great album and unless you go out for the 4 CD box set a great way to become familiar with most of the best the Moodies have to offer.
     
  13. FrankenStrat

    FrankenStrat Forum Resident

    I can confirm from working part-time in a record shop in the UK in the early 70s that Story In Your Eyes was listed in a Decca catalogue as a single in the UK. I duly ordered a copy for myself, and... it never arrived. I can't verify that the catalogue number was TH6 but that seems logical.
     
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  14. owsley

    owsley Senior Member

    Location:
    Boston
    The severely edited stereo foldown 2 min single version of Tuesday Afternoon gets 116 votes? That's interesting
    Fly Me High is my favorite. Pop-sike perfection and lyrically a precursor to Legend Of A Mind. It was a B-side is the US, A-side everywhere else. If this list included pre-Moodies solo efforts my all time #1 would be Justin Hayward's 'I Can't Face The World Without You' from '66, my personal favorite JH composition.
     
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  15. Billo

    Billo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern England
    Intresting that the UK copy of 'Story in Your Eyes' while 'listed' never turned up - along with NO mention of any UK single(s) on the last CD release of EGBDF which did list all the UK singles taken from each of the other 'core seven' albums in that CD series...

    it's quite possible that The Moodies put a STOP on an intended UK single after initial UK copies may have been pressed (earlier 'Life's Not Life' saw a very limited run of 'official' UK singles in 1967) or maybe as I speculated there was an export single made in the UK for overseas release - like as with some Cliff/Shadows singles and The Beatles 'If I Fell' / 'Tell Me Why' Parlophone
    DP 562 single - never a UK release tho' it was manufactured here

    Justin Hayward clearly mentioned 'that was us being all arty' (in refusing to 'allow' a single off EGBDF at home) in I think an interview with 'Record Collector' magazine when asked why SIYE was NOT a UK single as in the USA

    John Lodge in that 1997 CD booklet of EGDBF speaks likewise re 'no singles' in the UK

    surely both Justin and John would not make the same error at different times re this point ? - the band owned Threshold records

    HAD they in 1971 put out such a great track as SIYE in the UK with radio and TV promotion - duly following up 'Question' reaching no.2 in the UK in 1970 and next 'Isn't Life Strange' making the UK top twenty and 'I'm Just A Singer' also charting at home in 1972 - I feel sure The Moodies would have had a decent UK chart hit as in the USA with the song which was a big fav with Moodies fans

    Thanks largely to Led Zeppelin there was something of an 'attitude' then re being a more serious 'albums' group as opposed to merely a 'singles' band aiming for hits ! - laughable in retrospect as Pink Floyd, Yes, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Emerson Lake and Palmer, etc...plus The Moodies each had memorable hit singles so the record companies didn't see any distinction overall

    The Moodies held some sway at Decca via figures such as Sir Edward Lewis, Hugh Mendhl, Tony Clarke etc being firmly on their side (along with The Stones they were pretty much Decca's biggest selling band then) and they were given Decca no.2 studio to use pretty much as they wished over that halcyon period of 1970-73 so IF they put a 'block' on any UK single or intended release I could see Decca complying with their wishes then

    I often wondered why Decca never did a budget twelve track LP 'The World of The Moody Blues 1964-66: Featuring Denny Laine' when bands such as The Zombies, Amen Corner, Them, etc all had such budget compilations...the answer probably was Decca didn't then want to upset the current Moodies who sales wise were on such a roll

    that might also explain why the Royal Albert Hall concert from 1969 never at the time saw light of day as the band were firmly against it....only in the later seventies did Decca ignore their wishes and put it out as 'Caught Live Plus Five' to get sales out of it adding those unissued studio recordings to complete the 2LP set
     
    Last edited: Jan 2, 2020
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  16. Two Sheds

    Two Sheds Sha La La La Lee Thread Starter

    So maybe the Moodies cancelled this release? It makes no sense that they would have had a UK single that didn't chart at that stage of the game - they were too popular in the early '70s. Maybe that's what happened.

    Billo is correct that 'Life's Not Life' had a limited run - that one may have been cancelled shortly after release. It seems kind of futile putting out a Denny Laine lineup single in January 1967, three months after Laine departed. I guess this one came out before 'Fly Me High' though. Decca probably wanted to put out something, and no one knew at that time if the Hayward/Lodge lineup would be successful.
     
  17. Billo

    Billo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern England
    Yeah 'Life's Not Life' featuring Denny Laine on lead vocals, guitar was released by Decca in January 1967 several months after Justin Hayward and John Lodge had been recruited around November 1966 which seems strange tho' EMI had released a final Manfred Mann single 'You Gave Me Somebody To Love' (which charted in the UK) featuring Paul Jones in 1966 after Jones had gone solo and been replaced by Mike d'Abo and the Manfreds had moved to Phonogram's Fontana label - but for The Moodies still being with Decca records it seemed a strange move as the band had already replaced Denny with Justin !

    'Fly Me High' was of course Justin's debut single with The Moodies in May 1967 however just before in 1966 the Laine-Pinder song 'Boulevard de la Madeleine' had charted in Belgium so maybe Decca were simply hoping for one more chart hit possibly overseas with the original Moodies so put out 'Life's Not Life' at the opening of 1967

    Record companies want to sell product first and foremost !
     
  18. Two Sheds

    Two Sheds Sha La La La Lee Thread Starter

    OT - EMI released an EP ('As Was') with the group featured as "Manfred Mann (featuring Paul Jones)" because they had signed Paul Jones as a solo artist and dropped Manfred Mann from the label (as you mentioned). I'm a fan of both groups. :)

    The first lineup of the Moody Blues was more popular in continental Europe than they were in the UK or US, so the idea of the Moodies getting another hit with Denny Laine over there was plausible. It wasn't meant to be though.
     
  19. Billo

    Billo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern England
    Yes re Manfred Mann it seems EMI were quite on the ball re the Paul Jones era Manfreds - they also compiled in 1966 a 'hits' LP titled;
    'Mann Made Hits' with Paul Jones (with a big pic of their 'solo artist' Paul only on the back of the sleeve !)

    and the following year in 1967 an almost all instrumentals LP 'Soul of Mann' which featured Jones on harmonica on a number of tracks plus one lead vocal track 'L.S.D.' from 1965

    tho' they could also have gathered together the singles non album 'B' sides and EP tracks over 1963-66 featuring Paul Jones for a further LP set had they bothered

    re The Moodies I suspect Decca felt the original Denny Laine era line up were rather eclipsed later as the 'classic' Moodies were so different so never bothered to compile anything in the earlier bluesy style either to not upset or annoy The Moodies or just assumed the later fans would not be bothered re the first incarnation of the group's style
     
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  20. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    Sorry, but every one of my votes went to the Denny Laine-era singles.

    I realize they were, in effect, two entirely different bands, but the Laine era gets almost no recognition for its greatness beyond "Go Now." Laine was a wonderfully emotive singer, and also co-wrote some great songs during this era. (Unfortunately, his own earlier career also gets overshadowed by his later membership in Wings.)

    I can recognize the appeal of what the rest of the world considers to be the "real" Moody Blues (even though half or more of that appeal is lost on me). But those who are musically adventurous really should sample the Laine era for something good in a completely way.
     
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  21. Fischman

    Fischman RockMonster, ClassicalMaster, and JazzMeister

    Location:
    New Mexico
    It's great you have love for Laine and indeed there is quality music to be heard there. But I wouldn't necessarily suggest that to "those who are musicially adventurous." Good as ti was, the Laine era stuff was quite straightforward. It was the "real" moodies that took the music into more adventurous territory.
     
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  22. GodShifter

    GodShifter Forum Member

    Location:
    Dallas, TX, USA
    All of them. Anything on This is the Moody Blues is good with me. I even like the Denny Laine/Clint Warwick hits.
     
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  23. MikeM

    MikeM Senior Member

    Location:
    Youngstown, Ohio
    I was applying "adventurous" not to the music, but to those who would prove willing to move out of their musical comfort zone (specifically in this case, their image of what "Moody Blues music" is) and explore something different for them.
     
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  24. Billo

    Billo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Southern England
    Actually the original Laine era Moodies WERE moving towards the classic Moodies style !

    from their white 'blues' / R & B with a soul tinge beginnings the original songs by 'Laine-Pinder' begin to examine the human condition

    songs such as 'Everyday', then 'This is My House (But Nobody Calls)' - first begin to evaluate the themes of loneliness and the human situation - hence later; 'Lonely man cries for love and has none...' (later Justin's 'One Lonely Room' etc)

    Boulevard de la Madeleine' with a french themed title ('Seventh Sojourn' / 'Sur La Mer') is a imaginative atmospheric piece

    Uunsual sounds begin to feature, besides Mike's keyboards listen to the solo in 'And My Baby's Gone' as the 'mark one' Moodies begin to explore studio sounds on the instrumentation

    whilst the references first appear re LIFE itself - 'Life's Not Life' (later 'Candle of Life', 'One More Time To Live', 'Isn't Life Strange', 'The Other Side of Life' etc)

    and the original Moodies began covering if not then writing songs that referenced Dreams - 'I've Got A Dream', 'Hang onto A Dream'.....later a theme returned to by the classic Moodies 'On The Threshold of A Dream','The Dream', 'The Dreamer', 'I Dreamed Last Night', 'Your Wildest Dream'

    one might say just co-incidence however these themes re life, love, pondering the human condition/situation, dreams etc do recur throughout the work of the band from original songs of the Denny Laine Moodies to classic 'core seven' Moodies to Moraz era Moodies and thereafter

    Ray Thomas subliminal flute first surfaces during the original Moodies works, plus a brisk tambourine with dominant keyboards filling out the sound and so too the unusual 'wailing banshee' type four part male vocal harmonies in a 'surging' choral style - notable back on 'Go Now' and not then a normal group feature in 1964

    the original Moodies then unissued 1966 final tracks show a move towards more acoustic folky style tracks - Denny Laine went on to write 'I Don't Believe in Miracles' which was not unlike Justin Hayward's style

    while in 1965 Laine-Pinder wrote and the original Moodies performed a fascinating very atmsospheric number 'From The Bottom of My Heart (I Love You)' that builds from a dramatic piano opening via a 'moody' style vocal on up to a mesmerising 'surging' vocal climax clearly anticipating their later 'surging' vocal sound on 'Nights in White Satin' two years later together with Ray's flute making a compelling supportive contribution

    and note Mike and Ray's supporting backup vocals that share the lead vocal feature both with and behind Denny's lead voice here - a style of joint group singing that would appear later many times in the 'classic' Moodies

    the emergence of the 'classic' Moodies can clearly be seen to be developing here....just add messers Hayward and Lodge late the next year

     
    Last edited: Jan 4, 2020
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  25. Zardok

    Zardok Forum Resident

    Location:
    Castle Cary
    Excellent post, thanks!
     
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