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MOONDANCE EVENTS ROCK MUSIC WEEKEND IS SET FOR JULY 18 - 20, 2024


The Moody Blues

VOCALS/GUITARS
  Justin Hayward
BASS/VOCALS
  John Lodge
DRUMS
  Graeme Edge

WEBSITE: 
The Moody Blues

13 Top 40 Hits
14 Top 40 Albums (2 #1)

 

HITS: 
1965 Go Now!
1968 Tuesday Afternoon
1970 Question
1971 The Story In Your Eyes
1972 Isn't Life Strange
1972 Nights In White Satin
1973 I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band)
1978 Steppin' In A Slide Zone
1981 22,000 Days
1981 Gemini Dream
1981 Meanwhile
1981 The Voice
1983 Sitting At The Wheel
1986 Your Wildest Dreams
1986 The Other Side of Life
1988 I Know You're Out There Somewhere
1988 No More Lies
1991 Say It With Love

The Moody Blues - 2007

“I suppose that it is our songs, and the way we interpret them that has seen us travel so far,” says The Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward. “It means so much to us that some of our recordings have really meant something to people.”

The Moody Blues are one of the most enduring and beloved rock bands in music history. With a legacy that spans the late 60's to present, The Moody Blues have generated a legendary list of hit songs that are regarded as some of the most groundbreaking and innovative music of our time. The Moody Blues -- Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge -- carry on their magical musical legacy to generation after generation, year after year.

This year, the Moodies tour the U.S. in support of a new Universal Music Enterprises release, a double CD greatest hits package entitled Gold, which includes original re-mastered recordings of such Moody Blues rock staple hits as: Tuesday Afternoon, Nights In White Satin, Ride My See Saw, Legend Of A Mind, Voices In The Sky, Lovely To See You, The Voice, Gemini Dream, Gypsy (Of A Strange And Distant Time), and more.

“It’s all about the music,” says Graeme Edge. “The music is everything for us. We’ve always put the music before anything else, and that’s why I think we’ve been able to endure for so long.”

A legendary band with a incredible roster of hits, including Nights In White Satin, Ride My See Saw, The Story In Your Eyes, Isn’t Life Strange, Question, I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band), Your Wildest Dreams, to name a few; The Moody Blues’ #1, Top 5, Top 10, Top 20, Top 40, multi-Platinum, Platinum and Gold albums and singles, have generated yearly sold-old tours over the course of several decades, making them one of the top-grossing album and touring bands in existence.

In 1967, their first full-length studio album, DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED, was a ground-breaking concept album that also illustrated the first time that a rock band had fused an orchestra with electric guitars.

“Back in the 60’s when the dreams of a ‘new generation’ were being born,” says John Lodge, “we wrote a stage show which became ‘Days Of Future Passed.’ The theme encompassed the past, present and future experiences of our lives.” Lodge adds, “I think that this theme has continued in the music of the Moody Blues, and is a record of our generation traveling through life.”

The album was so unique in its approach, that creating their first studio album became a landmark moment in time. Their record label, Decca Records, had requested that the band record an album to test stereo recording, which was in its infancy at the time. Being primarily a classical label, the band was asked to record a rock version of Dvorak's 9th Symphony. The band complied, but wanted to record it on their own terms. Behind closed doors, they came up with the concept of fusing classical music with rock, but written to their own soundtrack. The result was DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED, an album that today is considered a masterpiece.

From the DAYS, Tuesday Afternoon became a massive worldwide hit, and Nights In White Satin marked one of the first four minute songs played on the radio, going on to become one of the biggest selling singles in history, and hitting #1 three separate times on Billboard. The ultimate result: one of the greatest-selling albums of all-time.

After the enormous success of the first album, The Moody Blues expanded their musical canvas by exploring different types of sounds and compositions, branching out from their original "symphony" sound into psychedelic and straight-ahead rock. This produced a string of hit albums and multiple hit records throughout the 60’s & 70's, including IN SEARCH OF THE LOST CHORD, ON THE THRESHOLD OF A DREAM, TO OUR CHILDREN'S CHILDREN'S CHILDREN, A QUESTION OF BALANCE, EVERY GOOD BOY DESERVES FAVOUR and SEVENTH SOJOURN. From these albums, such worldwide recordings as Ride My See Saw, Voices In The Sky, The Story In Your Eyes, Isn't Life Strange, Question, I'm Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band), and many others, became staples on rock radio, and still are to this day.

After SEVENTH SOJOURN, The Moody Blues decided to take a short hiatus, and concentrate on other projects. The break allowed the band members to focus on projects outside the group, as Justin Hayward and John Lodge collaborated as the Blue Jays in 1975, which became a Top 20 album; Graeme Edge made two solo albums, Kick Off Your Muddy Boots and Paradise Ballroom; Ray Thomas produced two solo albums, From Mighty Oaks and Hopes, Wishes and Dreams; and Mike Pinder recorded The Promise. In addition, John Lodge recorded Natural Avenue, and Justin Hayward recorded Songwriter and Nightflight. Hayward also collaborated with Jeff Wayne on the War Of The Worlds album, by recording the worldwide hit Forever Autumn.

The Moody Blues also released a live album to keep their fans satisfied in the interim entitled CAUGHT LIVE +5 and a greatest hits package, THIS IS THE MOODY BLUES. Judging by the success of these two albums, it was no surprise that when the Moodies re-formed in 1977 to deliver the much anticipated OCTAVE, that the album shot to the top of the charts, garnering hit singles Steppin' In A Slide Zone and Driftwood. (It was at this time, that while recording the album, Mike Pinder decided to leave the band).

In 1980, the band released LONG DISTANCE VOYAGER. While punk rock, power pop and new wave were dominating the charts, The Moody Blues cut through straight to the top and landed at #1 on the Billboard 200, with two hit singles: Gemini Dream and The Voice. The Moody Blues then released THE PRESENT in 1983 with the hits Blue World and Sitting At The Wheel; followed by another album that would win over a new generation of young fans in the mid-late 80's entitled THE OTHER SIDE OF LIFE in which Your Wildest Dreams (one of their biggest selling singles of their career to date), became a huge hit on MTV, and was named Billboard magazine's "Video Of The Year.” The next two albums continued their momentum with the hit single I Know You're Out There Somewhere from SUR LA MER, the counterpart to Your Wildest Dreams; and 1991's Say It With Love from KEYS OF THE KINGDOM.
The 90’s marked yet another phase of the band’s illustrious career. The Moody Blues had reached a milestone in 1992 -- their 25th anniversary of the release of DAYS OF FUTURE PASSED. With this concept in mind, the band performed live, in concert, for the first time, with a symphony orchestra -- filmed at Red Rocks, Colorado for a PBS special, home video and album. The band then took the symphony concerts on the road. The response was nothing short of phenomenal.

During this time period, The Moodies released their Gold-selling boxed set collection entitled TIME TRAVELLER, a greatest hits package in 1997 entitled THE BEST OF THE MOODY BLUES, and a double-cd ANTHOLOGY album. It wasn’t until 2000, that the Moody Blues released a new studio album STRANGE TIMES, their first new album in eight years which debuted in the Top 100 on Billboard. Featuring 14 new compositions, the band recorded the album in Genoa, Italy, and marked the first time that they self-produced, as it was one of their most personal collections of songs that they recorded as artists and as songwriters. In conjunction with the release of STRANGE TIMES, The Moody Blues recorded a second live public television special filmed in 2000, at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall entitled THE MOODY BLUES: LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL. Also released as a live album, HALL OF FAME: RECORDED LIVE AT THE ROYAL ALBERT HALL, the concert, available on video, became the first live Moody Blues performance released on DVD.

In 2001, the Moody Blues were featured in the highest grossing giant screen production of the year in the IMAX film entitled Journey Into Amazing Caves. Featuring two new Moody Blues songs, We Can Fly and Water; and their classics Nights in White Satin and Ride My Seesaw, the film was awarded the 2001 MAC Award. The soundtrack to Journey Into Amazing Caves was simultaneously released on CD.

In 2003, The Moody Blues released the first holiday album of their career on Universal Records entitled DECEMBER. The band’s majestic, orchestral mix of rock and pop fit beautifully in the new Christmas CD – from its lush originals, to the band’s choice of traditional songs. Produced by Hayward and Lodge, DECEMBER features five original songs, five cover songs, and one newly arrange traditional tune with additional lyrics.

Universal Music Enterprises then released the band’s first DVD video collection in 2004 for their “20th Century Masters” series entitled “THE BEST OF THE MOODY BLUES – The DVD Collection.” The DVD includes the band’s MTV videos: Your Wildest Dreams, I Know You’re Out There Somewhere, The Other Side Of Life, Running Out Of Love and No More Lies.

Although the band has performed live in almost every part of the world over their extensive career, this year has marked yet another milestone in the Moodies’ career, as they took their music to New Zealand for the first time. Additionally, the band was just recently awarded IMAX’s “Soundtrack Of The Year” award for the film, Journey Into Amazing Caves.

The legacy of The Moody Blues continues to live on. “We found early success in an era when freedom of expression was everything,” says Hayward. “Then it became important for us to capture that moment of inspiration and that spark of magic that we had found through songwriting and recording, and to re-live it with an audience every time we go on stage,” says Hayward.

“That is a feeling I personally never want to give up having,” continues Hayward. “We’re so glad to be on this journey.”

Adds Lodge, “With a guitar, a blank piece of paper and a pen, the horizon has always been ours…we go wherever the songs take us."

- Chris Murphy


"The Moodys are back on tour simply because they love to play and there are people that still want to see this classic, can't-be-copied band…this crowd - after just three songs - had no inhibitions about dancing in the seats and aisles… Forty-three years, twenty-six albums, countless great songs, 60 million albums sold and you can still trust the Moody Blues. When they say 'Lovely To See You,' they mean it."

- The New Editor Online Media Blog


"Forty years after they exploded on the scene, the Moody Blues are considered a seminal influence on progressive rock, one of the first groups to successfully marry the mystical with the musical."

- Las Vegas Magazine

Did You Know?

  • Your Wildest Dreams was #1 on Billboard s Adult Contemporary Chart
    It also won a Billboard Video of the Year award
  • In 1973, the band announced they were breaking up but got back together in 1977
  • The hit Blue Guitar was performed by Hayward and Lodge during the bands break
  • Former member Denny Laine went on to co-found Wings with Paul McCartney
  • Former member Patrick Moraz was a member of Yes before joining the Moody Blues
  • The single Nights in White Satin sold over 2 million copies
  • Hayward and Lodge worked together during the band's breakup and released Blue Jays in 1975
  • The Moody Blues receive the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to music in 1985
  • They also received the Golden Ticket Award for 100,000 tickets sold at Madison Square Garden
  • Astronaut Robert Gibson gave the Moody Blues one of their cassettes he had taken on all 4 of his space missions
  • The Moody Blues created the soundtrack for the IMAX film Journey Into Amazing Caves in 2001
  • Nights in White Satin was inducted into the National Academy of Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame
  • The Moody Blues opened for the Beatles in 1965 on their last UK tour

Moondance Jam 33 Lineup

Moondance Jam 33: The Rock 'N Roll Event of the Summer
July 18 - 20, 2024

CreedKansasSwitchfootBlue Oyster CultFinger ElevenFoghatFoghatThe Sweet

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