RIP Graeme Edge

[mandrix]

Back when (69?) I played OTTOAD incessantly...I was fascinated with it. The cool thing about the 8 track was the way the end segued into the beginning.
When the SACD's were released I bought them, all those many years later.
OTTOAD & AQOB my favorites with AQOB probably more so;
How is it we are here, on this path we walk?
In this world of pointless fear filled with empty talk
Descending from the ape as scientist-priests all think
Will they save us in the end?
We're trembling on the brink
------------

 

[4_everyman]

I think we lost much of that "brainy" MB element when Mike Pinder decided to hang it up. His writing usually was of the very deep thinking kind, including two of his classic "suicide anthems" Melancholy Man and Lost In A Lost World. It's remarkable that Pinder is the dominant singer on the Lodge penned rocker, To Share Our Love, which really rocks a ton.

I know that this thread is about Graeme Edge, but the Moodies kind of morphed after Pinder left...and I mourn his leaving the band. Edge's passing reinforces that feeling. I still have all the subsequent albums, and they contain many good songs, but that classic "dead cat walking" Moodies sound went away with Pinder's departure.

Perfectly expressed.

Pinder's departure took the band in a direction I was never able to appreciate to the extent that I loved their "Classic 7" albums. I get the sense that Mike already had one foot out the door when the band released Octave. For me, Octave has always been a fairly forgettable effort. It has a few good songs on it, but it has a very different feel from the seven albums that preceded it.

 

[jimfisheye]

I think I'm mostly a Mike Pinder fan as well. I like the more psychedelic tracks and not so much the ballad style hits. I had a tape of Search of the Lost Chord since I was around 6 years old. Favorite track: Best Way to Travel. I discovered the EGBDF album a while later. Procession/Story In Your Eyes (especially the first part) is greatness! Childrens Children Children is another really strong album for me as a whole. There's at least one track I like on each of the rest of that 7 album run. Catching up on old videos years later and there's a Top of the Pops (I think) show with Graeme Edge the most animated one in the whole band. That was revealing! The recording is poor but you get a sense of - and a bit smacked aside the head with - raw live drums and cymbals and the guys getting down jamming their stuff in a way that didn't make it to any of their studio albums. Graeme comes across as more of the front man than any of the other guys.

 

[Electric Moo]

I used to play "ride my see-saw" in a band I was in: great upbeat song & a lot of fun to play.

RIP

I guess the "departure" bit is somewhat appropriate

 

[Sal1950]

I came home from Viet Nam and was released from the Army in early 1971. Just shortly after that I went to my very first stadium sized concert to see The Moody Blues. It was an incredible experience for me, never seeing a major band perform like that before, along with all the music enhancing goodies that were circulating around the floor that night.
I count that night as the beginning of a party that lasted the next 40+ years for me.
"Living on Reds, Vitamin C, and Cocaine, What long, strange trip it's been....."

 

[JonUrban]

Perfectly expressed.

Pinder's departure took the band in a direction I was never able to appreciate to the extent that I loved their "Classic 7" albums. I get the sense that Mike already had one foot out the door when the band released Octave. For me, Octave has always been a fairly forgettable effort. It has a few good songs on it, but it has a very different feel from the seven albums that preceded it.

I remember going to see them on that "Octave" tour. Mike Pinder was involved in the album, but did not make the tour, as he had a run in with the band and left the group. I still probably have, somewhere, the tour book/guide that you used to be able to buy at concerts for the concert. In that guide there were many pictures of the band recording the album and promoting it, but every shot of the 5 doing whatever had Mike covered over, either with another picture or a graphic. It was so obvious that the Justin/John force was welding a heavy hand and obscuring Mike from being in that tour book.

Sad, really, as I loved the Mike Pinder songs. Songs like "When You're A Free Man", wow, heavy stuff

 

[JediJoker]

Ray Thomas just grooving...

 

[Wurly1]

But, have you heard the 5.1 version?

No i have never heard it

 

[DuncanS]

No i have never heard it

There a few SACD for sale on Discogs (ignoring the first one which wants $20+$1800.50 for P&P!!!)
The Moody Blues - In Search Of The Lost Chord (SACD, Europe, 2006) For Sale | Discogs

 

[Wurly1]

There a few SACD for sale on Discogs (ignoring the first one which wants $20+$1800.50 for P&P!!!)
The Moody Blues - In Search Of The Lost Chord (SACD, Europe, 2006) For Sale | Discogs

thank you, i will look into it.

 

[Wurly1]

thank you, i will look into it.

I checked and i'm a little confused as there are some 2CD sets (one seems to be a dvd but not sure) and some 5 disc sets some seems to be 5.1 dvds. What should i look for to get the best version?

 

[DuncanS]

I checked and i'm a little confused as there are some 2CD sets (one seems to be a dvd but not sure) and some 5 disc sets some seems to be 5.1 dvds. What should i look for to get the best version?

My mistake it is the only one of the Moody Blues SACDs of that era that was released as stereo only

 

[Wurly1]

My mistake it is the only one of the Moody Blues SACDs of that era that was released as stereo only

thanks, I'm now in search of the lost quad version.

 

[hafquark]

I practically worshiped The Moody Blues from DOFP to Seventh Sojourn (ofttimes in the Church of Acid). I first saw them play live in a small university field house around 1969.

I have to agree with a couple other posters who mourned Mike Pinder's departure. He was a major creative force in the band and his loss an unrecoverable blow to the Moodies. The band was never the same without his vocals, lyrics, and ever-present, soaring Mellotron.

 

[tarkusnj]

I practically worshiped The Moody Blues from DOFP to Seventh Sojourn (ofttimes in the Church of Acid). I first saw them play live in a small university field house around 1969.

There is a great upmix of In Search The Lost Chord that...not quad but 5.1. Actually, there are 2 upmixes that I am aware of.

 

[4_everyman]

My mistake it is the only one of the Moody Blues SACDs of that era that was released as stereo only

What's ironic to me is that if I had to choose to have only ONE of the Classic 7 in surround, it would be In Search Of The Lost Chord. <heavy sigh>

Having said that, I'm exceedingly grateful to have the other six as multi-channel SACDs. I also enjoy the two DTS releases - Days Of Future Past and Seventh Sojourn.

 

[ar surround]

There is a great upmix of In Search The Lost Chord that...not quad but 5.1. Actually, there are 2 upmixes that I am aware of.

Jakko’s high res stereo remastering of ISOTLC upmixes exceptionally well to quad with the Surround Master. It blows away the 5.1 mix on the same DVD. I would assume that something like the QSD-1 would also do a nice job.

 

[halbroome]

Jakko’s high res stereo remastering of ISOTLC upmixes exceptionally well to quad with the Surround Master. It blows away the 5.1 mix on the same DVD. I would assume that something like the QSD-1 would also do a nice job.

I found the box set of ISOTLC to be beautiful -- and the Dolby 5.1 is the choice one. It grows on you. Andddddd.......

The Moody Blues official shop is having their Black Friday sale now.