Late 1963. A fledgling band from Birmingham hatched a plan to try and get Mitchells & Butlers brewery to sponsor them. So, they very cleverly named themselves the “M&B Five”. The beer company however wasn’t interested- shock , horror! The band were already invested in the M&B name though so they decided to make the best of the situation and still use the initials – thinking they were a Blues band and very much Moody, they named themselves “The Moody Blues” ?. One of the pioneers of psychedelic rock, their group vocal backing sound, the mellotron and soft, lyrical sounds pondering the mysteries of life and the universe, they were the mellow side of being knocked out on some funny stuff ?. Unfortunately the Moody Blues never really became huge – like their contemporaries Pink Floyd etc. – and the critics never really took a shine to them. They also made some mistakes along the way – for example, refusing to record a song suggested to them by Paul McCartney. Paul gave the song away to another singer called Mary Hopkins who has a massive international hit with it – ‘Those Were The Days’ !? 

“Nights In White Satin” is an amazing song. It’s dreamy and sensuous and romantic all at the same time, making one feel like we’re part of some mellow evening of hanging out and who knows how and with whom the evening will end☺️ The single came from their second album ,“In Days of Future Passed” – and the album itself is quite a milestone in music. It is possibly the first ever “concept album” and became the template for the likes of ‘The Wall’ by Pink Floyd & ‘Tommy’ by The Who and many many more! The band’s ambition was to do an album that used the parts of a passing day as metaphors for phases of life. “Nights in White Satin” was the end of the song cycle, and it was about ending old relationships and beginning new ones. The lyrics were inspired by a gift of white satin sheets to the lead guitarist, Justin Hayward, by his girlfriend. Inspired, Justin then wrote the song in just four minutes and it went on to become the Blues’ signature song. It was a slow burner though – it took 5 years to become a global super-duper hit.

I’m not much of a Moody Blues fan to be honest. I only ever really heard ‘Nights In White Satin’ and ‘Voices In the Sky’ on the radio – loved the songs but never really got into the Blues. They were on “A Date With You” quite a lot in the late 70s and I definitely know the lyrics to both these songs. Am discovering some more of their music now though – it’s brilliant! One word to describe their music – “ethereal”

Voices in the sky