D-Sides, Orphans, and Oddities
Episodes
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
The Moody Blues
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
Tuesday Nov 30, 2021
Were The Moody Blues "prog"? I don't think so. They weren't virtuosos in any sense, although they were all very competent (or somewhat competent - Graeme Edge wasn't asked to do much, really) but they WERE unique and extremely popular. And every album has a treat or two. At least the ones before 1983. All you had to do was light a marijuana joint with the pot leaves and let the gentle mellotron patina take you to a new land. I guess the key to The Moody Blues' success was that they never asked too much of the listener (like Yes or King Crimson), but never insulted them (like Chicago would, eventually.) In 1975 they all recorded solo albums, and they were also pretty good.
Justin Hayward - Forever Autumn (1978)
Ray Thomas - Hey Mama Life (1975)
Graeme Edge Band - Somethin' We'd Like To Say (1975) Trivia! Barry St. John sang backup on this album. She appeared on "Dark Side of the Moon" and of course, she was in Les Humphries Singers.
Graeme Edge Band - Be My Eyes (1977)
John Lodge - Into to Children of Rock 'n' Roll (1977)
John Lodge - Children of Rock 'n' Roll (1977) Featuring Kenny Jones on drums. He was in The Small Faces, then The Faces with Rod Stewart, and then released a single in 1974 ("Ready or Not") and then this. He also played in Paul McCartney's supergroup Rockestra around this time. Maybe this is where he met Pete Townshend.
Mike Pinder - The Promise (1976) My favorite Moody released the blandest solo record of the lot. Maybe he found religion and not just mysticism. Whatever the case, I was disappointed by this. "Solar heaven?"
Mike Pinder - Free As A Dove (1976) This was co-produced by Robert Margouleff, one of the main forces behind Stevie Wonder's golden era. He and his partner Malcolm Cecil brought (and tamed) synthesizers from their unwieldy beginnings into unlikely mainstream dominance. He worked with Billy Preston, The Isley Brothers, Devo, Syreeta Wright, and Stevie. Also, a curious album was released in 1980 by a group that was ubiquitous at the time, The Bus Boys. Remember? Their hit was "(The Boys Are) Back In Town." They recorded a song with Eddie Murphy in 1988 called "Never Giving Up." I wonder what happened to them to stop their momentum. Does either of you know offhand?
John Lodge - Natural Avenue (1977)
The Graeme Edge Band - Paradise Ballroom (1977)
The Graeme Edge Band - We Like To Do It (1974)
The Moody Blues - The Word/Om (1968)
Ray Thomas - Adam and I (1975)
The Moody Blues - The Balance (1970) This song was co-written by Edge and Thomas. Most Moody Blues songs were written by one member.
The Moody Blues - In The Beginning/Lovely To See You (1969) This record came with a booklet that included all the lyrics and credits, ornately written. To wit:
The Moody Blues - The Dream/Have You Heard (1969)
Wednesday Jun 17, 2020
Dave Clark Five, Link Wray, and Evie Sands.
Wednesday Jun 17, 2020
Wednesday Jun 17, 2020
Mike Smith - Medley (1985)
Mike Smith Marlboro Themes (?) I would guess 1980.
2004:
Mike Smith, the lead singer of band the Dave Clark Five, has died of pneumonia at an English hospital, just weeks before the band was to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Smith, 64, was admitted to a hospital outside London on Wednesday morning with a chest infection resulting from complications of a 2003 spinal cord injury that had left him paralyzed from the waist down, his New York agent, Margo Lewis, said in a statement. His death came just two weeks before the Dave Clark Five - one of the leading bands of the 1960s British invasion - was due to be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in two weeks.
The Dave Clark Five, whose hits included Glad All Over and Bits and Pieces, were one of the first British bands to find major success in the United States after the Beatles.
Mike Smith & Mike D'Abo - Free As A Bird (1976)
Dave Clark Five - Fallout Shelter (1965)
Dave Clark Five - Into Your Life (1971)
Sal Mineo - PSA "Inside Your Insanity" Laughable anti-drug PSA.
The Sonics - Don't You Just Know It (1965) Orig. hit by Huey (Piano) Smith & The Clowns
Joy Fleming - Half-Breed (1973)
The Kane Triplets - Theme Form Mission:Impossible (1968)
The Kane Triplets were a pop music group made up of triplets Lucille, Jeanne and Maureen Kane. They are perhaps best known for their recording of the Theme from Mission: Impossible, which was released in 1968 by United Artists Records with vocals written by Fred Milano and Angelo D'Aleo of The Belmonts.
On 30 January 2007, Jeanne Kane was murdered by her ex-husband and retired NYPD sergeant John Galtieri. Galtieri, who was (at the time) a manager at Quiznos, was sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment for shooting Kane in a Staten Island parking lot. Which confirms my theory: DON'T EAT AT QUIZNOS!!!
The Chocolate Tunnel - The Highly Successful Young Rupert White (1967)
Moody Blues - Driftwood (1978)
Evie Sands - Any Way That You Want Me (1969)
Evie Sands - Lady Of The Night (1979)
Evie Sands - One Fine Summer Morning (1969)
Evie Sands - Wouldn't It Be Nice To Live Again (2007) Written by that wonderful broken soul Dennis Wilson.
Link Wray - Ice People (1971)
Link Wray - Snag (1979)
Link Wray & Mordicai Jones - The Coca Cola Sign Blinds My Eyes (1971) Mordicai Jones was Link's piano/mandolin player Bobby Howard.
Link Wray & Joey Welz - Listen To The Voices That Want To Be Free (1970)
Ray Thomas - Didn't I (1976) Flautist from The Moody Blues did a solo record like all the other members did in 1976.
Ray Thomas - Adam and I (1975) Or two. He was the Robin Gibb of the Moodies.
Ray Thomas - Hey Mama Life (1975)
The Whispers - A Mother For My Children (1974)
The Whispers - Bingo (1974)
The Whispers - I Only Meant To Wet My Feet (1971)
The Gap Band - Fontessa Fame (1974)