Motley Moose – Archive

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”. For example …..

YUK for today – after having moved just over a month ago, I needed to find a new gym: and with the local YMCA within a five-minute walk, it was a natural choice. And their membership application did indeed include a “How did you hear about us?” question …..  but it did not include the “Other” box on the Facebook meme below … which the two women at the registration desk had not seen, and laughingly asked if they could keep the copy I made (which I readily agreed to).

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – a major retrospective of watercolors painted by John Singer Sargent is at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston through January 20th.

BUSINESS NOTES – noting that its initial IPO filing lists an all-white-male board of directors at Twitter … at least one business columnist believes that finding female board members is not that difficult – and the redoubtable Amanda Marcotte notes a (predictable) female apologist stepping forward.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Leon the Cat – a Norwegian kitteh chasing a fox off his family’s property.

YESTERDAY – yours truly attended the Keene, New Hampshire Pumpkin Festival for the first time after recently relocating here. And the city regained the world record for lit jack o’lanterns yet (> 30,000) …. but this display on the Village Green is only a small fraction of the total. It’s a downtown street fest with a Ferris wheel, face-painting, all sorts of Halloween costumes in sight (including small children wearing Red Sox jerseys with …. fake beards) ……. and gorgeous weather to boot.

LEST YOU THINK this is solely an American affliction: an anti-government movement in Canada – much more freeloaders than ‘patriots’ – has found more adherents.  

POLITICAL NOTES – forces loyal to its former dictator are trying to thwart fair elections in the south Asian nation of The Maldives – and recently got some help from its Supreme Court.

SEPARATED at BIRTH – the Weekly Standard’s Stephen Hayes and former NFL player (and ESPN analyst) Mark Schlereth.

   

HISTORY NOTES – a prominent historian believes that Sean Lester – who was the last secretary general of the (ill-fated) League of Nations, and publicly opposed Hitler’s actions after his coming to power – ought to be recognized in his native Northern Ireland.

SATURDAY’s CHILD is Gert the Cat – an English kitteh rescued from a house fire and recovering nicely.

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

A FASCINATING READ is how I would describe the California restaurateur who instituted a no-tipping policy – and the bloggers who liken it to the outburst by a Fox Business host about punishing federal workers … and finds commonalities.

DIRECT DESCENDANTS? – two famous Scots: “Treasure Island” author Robert Louis Stevenson and Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton.

   

……and finally, for a song of the week …………… as I did last week: I’ll highlight one aspect of a major performer/band’s career, rather than attempting to comprehensively cover it. Next year will mark the 50th anniversary of the Moody Blues – but after some initial success, they were on the verge of collapse (both musical and financial) until a fateful turning point came. This was the result of (a) some personnel changes and (b) an industry stroke of luck …. which led them to stardom.

The band’s origins begin in Birmingham, England in 1964 when vocalist Ray Thomas and keyboard player Mike Pinder left a group, seeking new bandmates. They recruited from other groups in the region, coming up with Denny Laine (guitar & vocals), Clint Warwick (bass) and Graeme Edge (drums). And their second single Go Now – a cover of an American R&B single – reached #1 on the British charts (and #10 in the US) in November, 1964.

This garnered them some fame, and a spot opening up for The Beatles on various tours. Yet, they had the famous sophomore jinx: unable to have a successful follow-up (although they did record some interesting tracks) with their America-style R&B sound. In time, the pressure of touring (and internal divisions) led to both Denny Laine and Clint Warwick leaving in mid-1966. Denny Laine later joined Ginger Baker’s Air Force, spent ten years as a member of Paul McCartney’s band Wings and now has a solo career. Clint Warwick left music to become a carpenter before returning (briefly) to the music business in the late 90’s, and he died in 2004 (a few weeks short of his sixty-fourth birthday).

Their replacements would eventually help change the band’s fortune: bassist John Lodge (who was an old bandmate of singer Ray Thomas from years earlier) and guitarist Justin Hayward, who answered an ad placed in the (now defunct) “Melody Maker” music newspaper. At first, they continued in more-or-less the same musical style, and began to play more on continental Europe (as second-tier British acts could garner better gigs).

Then Ray Thomas added the sound of flute on selected tunes, and Mike Pinder and newcomer Hayward started to write different material, as the musical landscape was beginning to change. They realized their future was there (rather than as R&B re-treads) even though some early 1967 singles failed commercially. But they owed Decca Records money: both from advances given to them, and production costs from some of their failed post “Go Now” recordings and so ….. did they even have a future?

The break of their lives came in 1967 when Decca Records – in part because the band owed them money – asked the Moodys to participate in the label’s experiment with a new recording method (Deramic Stereo, after the company’s subsidiary Deram label) that resulted in a better sound. As contrasted with North America: most British homes in 1966 still did not have true stereo systems (other than in classical music households) and so the band was asked to come up with a rock version of Antonin Dvorak’s New World Symphony – in return, the debt would be forgiven.

The band was not eager to surrender creative control and – in something that probably couldn’t happen today – managed to convince the creative types at Decca to let them record their own new material, as long as the label’s classical musicians – later to become known collectively as the London Festival Orchestra – participated.

The result, as you may well know, was the November, 1967 landmark album Days of Future Passed – a gold album that made-back the band’s debt many, many times over. The album features a unified body of songs, going from morning through night – perfect for the post-Summer of Love and Sgt. Pepper era. It set the stage for their career, although they recorded plenty of more standard rock and pop songs (such as I’m Just A Singer (In A Rock And Roll Band) as well as Your Wildest Dreams some years later).

Keyboardist Mike Pinder left the band in 1978 – since then, he has been involved in both computer programming, record production, spoken word records (especially children’s works) and some solo recordings. Lead singer Ray Thomas retired from music in 2002, leaving the Moody Blues as a trio (with backing musicians today).

Drummer Graeme Edge (center, in photo right) is the only remaining charter member, with both Justin Hayward (left in photo right, who turned age 67 earlier this week) and John Lodge (right, in photo right) having joined at the critical transition period.  

Two interesting tribute albums have come from some of Nashville’s most noted bluegrass musicians – including Alison Krauss, Sam Bush and Vince Gill – as in 2004’s Moody Bluegrass and Moody Bluegrass Two from 2011 – the latter of which has guest appearances by former members Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas.

The year 2013 saw the band’s release of a four-disc compilation album of the band’s music, the current lineup is currently on a West Coast tour and will host a musical cruise next spring (along with several other veteran musicians) destined for the Bahamas.

   

Two songs to symbolize their history: the first is one of the most elegant songs from the rock ‘n roll era, Nights in White Satin – from Days of Future Passed – which requires no explanation.

But here is a song from their original (R&B oriented, with Denny Laine) line-up in the spring of 1965: and the All-Music Guide’s Bruce Eder described it thusly:  

Their fourth single (was) “From the Bottom of My Heart,” an experiment with a different, much more subtly soulful sound, and it was one of the most extraordinary records of the entire British Invasion, with haunting performances all around. Unfortunately, the single only reached number 22 on the British charts following its release in May of 1965, and barely brushed the Top 100 in America.

Below you can listen and see if you agree … and also hear what the band might have sounded (more) like today, had fate not intervened.