The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in May 1964. The band initially consisted of drummer Graeme Edge, guitarist/vocalist Denny Laine, keyboardist/vocalist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Ray Thomas, and bassist/vocalist Clint Warwick. Originally part of the British beat and R&B scene of the early–mid 1960s, the band came to prominence with the UK No. 1 and US Top 10 single "Go Now" in late 1964/early 1965. Laine and Warwick left the band by the end of 1966, being replaced by guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward and bassist/vocalist John Lodge. They embraced the psychedelic rock movement of the late 1960s, with their second album, 1967's Days of Future Passed, being a fusion of rock with classical music that established the band as pioneers in the development of art rock and progressive rock. It has been described as a "landmark" and "one of the first successful concept albums".
David Justin Hayward is an English musician. He was the guitarist and frontman of the rock band the Moody Blues from 1966 until that group's dissolution in 2018. He became the group's principal vocalist and its most prolific songwriter over the 1967–1974 period, and composed several international hit singles for the band.
Octave is the ninth album by The Moody Blues, released in 1978, and their first release after a substantial hiatus following the success of the best-selling Seventh Sojourn in 1972. Released after a considerable break, which saw The Moody Blues returning in an era of punk music and disco, Octave produced a reduced commercial outcome for the band, but reached No. 6 in the United Kingdom and went platinum in the United States, where the album reached No. 13. The album produced the hit single "Steppin' in a Slide Zone", which hit No. 39 in the US, in addition to "Driftwood". The album's title is a musical pun: it references both the notion of an octave; and as a word derived from the Latin octavus it refers to this being the eighth album by this line-up of the Moody Blues.
Blue Jays is a 1975 album by Justin Hayward and John Lodge. It was recorded and released during the Moody Blues' five-year hiatus.
Raymond Thomas was an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was best known as a founding member of the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single "Nights in White Satin" is regarded as one of progressive rock's defining moments. In 2018, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues.
Graeme Charles Edge was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as the bandleader of his own outfit, the Graeme Edge Band. He contributed his talents to a variety of other projects throughout his career. In 2018, Edge was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues.
Caught Live + 5 is a live album by The Moody Blues, consisting of a 12 December 1969 live show at the Royal Albert Hall and five previously unreleased studio recordings from 1967 to 1968.
Prelude is a 1987 compilation album by the Moody Blues consisting of tracks from 1967–1968, all but one of which were not included on albums.
This Is The Moody Blues is a two LP compilation album by the Moody Blues, released in late 1974 while the band was on a self-imposed sabbatical. Though all of the songs were previously released on albums, several of them are heard here in distinctly different mixes. Like the Moody Blues albums of the time – but unlike most compilation albums, including later Moody Blues compilations – the songs on this album segue seamlessly, without silence between tracks. On the original LP, this was true of the songs on each side; when the album was remastered for CD, each disc was also blended, so that "Legend of a Mind" segues into "In the Beginning", and "Watching and Waiting" segues into "I'm Just a Singer ".
"Tuesday Afternoon" is a 1968 song written by Justin Hayward that was first released by English rock band the Moody Blues on their 1967 album Days of Future Passed and later released as a single.
Anthology is a compilation album by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was released in the US on 20 October 1998. It was not released in the UK until 2001 under the title The Collection with different artwork but with the same tracks as the US release.
The Best of The Moody Blues is a compilation album by the British progressive rock band The Moody Blues, released on 23 September 1996.
Greatest Hits is a compilation album by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues, released in 1989. The band recorded new versions of "Isn't Life Strange" and "Question" with orchestration by the London Symphony Orchestra. The arrangements were overseen by Anne Dudley, who also produced the recordings with Justin Hayward and John Lodge. In 1990, only a year after its original release, the album was re-released as Legend of a Band: The Story of the Moody Blues with different artwork to coincide with the release of the home video documentary of the same name.
Lovely to See You: Live is a two-disc live album by The Moody Blues. Released on 15 November 2005, Lovely to See You: Live was recorded at a performance at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles, California. The album is named after The Moody Blues song "Lovely to See You", from their 1969 album On the Threshold of a Dream. Unlike the Moody Blues' two previous live albums A Night at Red Rocks with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra and Hall of Fame, Lovely to See You: Live does not feature a live orchestra. It is also their first live album since Ray Thomas retired due to health issues.
Live at the BBC: 1967–1970 is a two-disc album by The Moody Blues. Released in 2007, it features forty-one live recordings of various performances for the BBC between 1967 and 1970. The album features multiple recordings of some songs, so they are listed more than once. In 2019 the album was reissued on a numbered limited edition triple-coloured vinyl disk set.
"Visions of Paradise" is a 1968 song by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues. First released on their album In Search of the Lost Chord, it was written jointly by band members Justin Hayward and Ray Thomas, and was the first of many collaborations between them. The song is primarily led by Justin Hayward's voice and Ray Thomas's flute, with the lyrics describing the writer's perception of paradise.
Justin Hayward and Friends Sing the Moody Blues Classic Hits is an album by Justin Hayward of The Moody Blues with the Frankfurt Rock Orchestra and Michael Sadler of Saga and Shaun Williamson as guest-singers. It's an album of tracks taken from the Moody Blues discography, played with orchestral arrangements with lead vocal duties being taken in turn by Hayward, Sadler, and Williamson.
Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 is a live album by the Moody Blues that consists of their live performance at the Isle of Wight Festival in 1970. The album was released in 2008.
Michael Thomas Pinder is an English musician. He is a founding member and the original keyboard player of the rock group the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's ninth album Octave in 1978. Pinder is renown for his technological contributions to rock music, most notably in the development and emergence of the Mellotron in the 1960s decade. In 2018, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues. He is the last surviving member of the group's original five members.
Gold is a compilation album by The Moody Blues, released in 2005 by Polydor Records as part of Polydor's Gold series.
