Days of Future and Past...
Muirsical Conversation with John Lodge
Muirsical Conversation with John Lodge
Unlike his Moody Blues band mate Justin Hayward musical sightings of John Lodge, outside of the band he has been an integral part of for nearly fifty years, have been extremely rare.
During the Moody Blues mid-70s hiatus Hayward and Lodge worked together as the Blue Jays, producing a UK Top 5 album and a Top 10 non-album single in 1975.
Two years later John Lodge released Natural Avenue, an album that featured a mix of pop ‘n’ roll and slower, Moody-esque orchestrated numbers.
But other than a non-album solo single in 1980 that was it for the other Blue Jay – until now, and the thirty-eight years later follow-up to Natural Avenue.
10,000 Light Years Ago is a musical adventure that looks to the past that shaped John Lodge’s present, but it’s also a musical potpourri that features progressive atmospherics, pop rock, lighter moments, rock 'n' roll and even a little gypsy swing styled jazz-pop.
John Lodge spoke to FabricationsHQ just before The Moody Blues kicked off their Timeless Flight UK tour to chat about the album, those pre-Moody Blues days in Birmingham and why even one of the most revered and successful rock acts of all time (with 70 million worldwide album sales and 18 platinum records on the wall) feel recording new material might not be worth the effort.
But the conversation started in the 10,000 Light Years Ago present…
Ross Muir: Over the years and decades of chatting to the press, critics and music writers you will have suffered from same question syndrome and déjà vu discussions.
So it must be nice that, for the first time in thirty eight years, you can be asked "so, John, tell me about the new solo album…"
John Lodge: (laughs) Yeah, it is great to be asked that and I’m excited – very excited – about the album.
RM: So what took you so long? (laughs)
JL: I couldn’t find a pen… (laughter). Actually it just felt like the right time and I had been thinking about making a new album for about ten years now. But it was finding out the right way to go about it and how I was going to do it because recording has changed so much over the last decade, as has the music business.
Most records are made nowadays in the control room with the producer and the engineer looking over your shoulder; it’s not like the early days where you all sat in the studio together and you played off one another – you reflected and vibrated against one another musically.
I wanted to get back to that; I wanted to find a way of getting back to that kind of process – similar to the way we recorded the first seven or eight Moody Blues albums.
And I came to the conclusion that the way to go about that was to get a core of musicians who had their own studios; they would then be able to create on the songs, in their own studios, when they were ready to create.
That way we didn’t have to try and find a time when everyone could get together because there may never be a convenient time – and waiting may not be as creative as someone being able to say "ah, I know what I'm going to play on this song now and how I’m going to play it."
That’s what I was looking for, a way of keeping that creativity.
RM: So in effect you reverted back to the old ways of recording while producing new, material – a win-win scenario…
JL: Well for me it was just fantastic because in a studio you would look at each other through a screen, or a window in a booth. The only difference here was you were still looking at someone through a screen but that was the screen of your computer – but you’re still talking to the people direct; you’re still creating together. I could be saying "If I play this on the bass can you play a Scotty Moore type part on guitar?" or "Can you give me some drums here like Max Weinberg would play."
So you can still create together, but in that different way. You’re still talking to the musician direct and not through an engineer or the producer.
RM: That’s great. I think you can hear when an album has been "created" and when an album has been digitally "built" direct to computer with pro tools, samples and audio files recorded by musicians who have never met, let alone talked to each other.
Now, it’s impressive we have the technology to do that but for me it’s missing the critical element – the creative process.
JL: And that’s what I wanted to get back to – that creative process and to have people involved in the recording that were just as excited as me!
When you play something on a new song you want to play something that no-one has ever done before – it becomes part of you and you can sit back and think "no-one else would have played it quite like that."
It may not be what anyone else wants (laughter) but no-one else would have played it the way you did, you know? That's very important top me and it was important to the Moody Blues from day one.
That’s how we wanted to work. When somebody in the band came up with a song – or a part in a song – for the first time, and played it back to us, that was something new we had created that didn’t exist before!
We would sit back and feel proud of that contribution.
RM: And so you should, both individually and collectively, because there is a timeless musicality to Moody Blues music. The Beatles are unarguably at the top of the pop and rock league as regards the timeless nature of their music but the Moodies play in that same division.
JL: Thank you very much.
RM: From the recording of the album to a theme of the album – there's a clearly intentional time and space thread running through some of the songs on 10,000 Light Years Ago…
JL: I had a thought process going through my mind for a long time about the future always being in reach but the past is gone forever – but I didn’t know what it meant to be honest!
Well, I knew what it meant if you read it, but I always felt it meant something more than that.
Then, while I was making the album, I suddenly thought "Yes, of course! What it is actually saying is while you can’t go back the past is important.”
I didn’t want to be retrospective but the past has brought me to where I am today, made me who I am and contains all my musical influences from James Jamerson on all those Tamla Motown Records to Carol Kaye.
So it’s not a retrospective album but it is saying the past has created who I am and where I am – and that’s why it’s called 10,000 Light Years Ago, which is a distance, not a time.
There is distance as you look backwards but when you look up at the night sky today – and look at the light of stars from 10,000 light years ago – that’s their today, yet they might not actually be there anymore.
All we can see is what we are today and that’s what the album is really all about for me – who we are today.
RM: Time and distance is wrapped up in both the atmospheric and excellent opening number In My Mind and the album’s closing statement, the big, Moody-esque title track.
A lot of people catching just a burst of In My Mind could be forgiven for thinking they are hearing an unreleased Pink Floyd instrumental until your own distinct voice comes in with the lyric…
JL: I really wanted to explore musically; if you are in your mind and think about everything you "see" in your mind it’s more than 3D isn’t it? It’s bigger than that – what you can imagine can be something spectacular and I wanted to try and do that musically.
That song really started from the times we’re on stage before a concert – we have our technical run-through to make sure everything sounds right, then we have our musical run-through.
On the technical run-through there are three particular notes I play on my bass guitar to give a full spectrum of sound for my ear monitors. I was thinking about this and said to myself "hang on a minute, I do this at every single technical check before a concert – that should be the opening of the album!"
That’s where the opening sounds and In My Mind came from…
During the Moody Blues mid-70s hiatus Hayward and Lodge worked together as the Blue Jays, producing a UK Top 5 album and a Top 10 non-album single in 1975.
Two years later John Lodge released Natural Avenue, an album that featured a mix of pop ‘n’ roll and slower, Moody-esque orchestrated numbers.
But other than a non-album solo single in 1980 that was it for the other Blue Jay – until now, and the thirty-eight years later follow-up to Natural Avenue.
10,000 Light Years Ago is a musical adventure that looks to the past that shaped John Lodge’s present, but it’s also a musical potpourri that features progressive atmospherics, pop rock, lighter moments, rock 'n' roll and even a little gypsy swing styled jazz-pop.
John Lodge spoke to FabricationsHQ just before The Moody Blues kicked off their Timeless Flight UK tour to chat about the album, those pre-Moody Blues days in Birmingham and why even one of the most revered and successful rock acts of all time (with 70 million worldwide album sales and 18 platinum records on the wall) feel recording new material might not be worth the effort.
But the conversation started in the 10,000 Light Years Ago present…
Ross Muir: Over the years and decades of chatting to the press, critics and music writers you will have suffered from same question syndrome and déjà vu discussions.
So it must be nice that, for the first time in thirty eight years, you can be asked "so, John, tell me about the new solo album…"
John Lodge: (laughs) Yeah, it is great to be asked that and I’m excited – very excited – about the album.
RM: So what took you so long? (laughs)
JL: I couldn’t find a pen… (laughter). Actually it just felt like the right time and I had been thinking about making a new album for about ten years now. But it was finding out the right way to go about it and how I was going to do it because recording has changed so much over the last decade, as has the music business.
Most records are made nowadays in the control room with the producer and the engineer looking over your shoulder; it’s not like the early days where you all sat in the studio together and you played off one another – you reflected and vibrated against one another musically.
I wanted to get back to that; I wanted to find a way of getting back to that kind of process – similar to the way we recorded the first seven or eight Moody Blues albums.
And I came to the conclusion that the way to go about that was to get a core of musicians who had their own studios; they would then be able to create on the songs, in their own studios, when they were ready to create.
That way we didn’t have to try and find a time when everyone could get together because there may never be a convenient time – and waiting may not be as creative as someone being able to say "ah, I know what I'm going to play on this song now and how I’m going to play it."
That’s what I was looking for, a way of keeping that creativity.
RM: So in effect you reverted back to the old ways of recording while producing new, material – a win-win scenario…
JL: Well for me it was just fantastic because in a studio you would look at each other through a screen, or a window in a booth. The only difference here was you were still looking at someone through a screen but that was the screen of your computer – but you’re still talking to the people direct; you’re still creating together. I could be saying "If I play this on the bass can you play a Scotty Moore type part on guitar?" or "Can you give me some drums here like Max Weinberg would play."
So you can still create together, but in that different way. You’re still talking to the musician direct and not through an engineer or the producer.
RM: That’s great. I think you can hear when an album has been "created" and when an album has been digitally "built" direct to computer with pro tools, samples and audio files recorded by musicians who have never met, let alone talked to each other.
Now, it’s impressive we have the technology to do that but for me it’s missing the critical element – the creative process.
JL: And that’s what I wanted to get back to – that creative process and to have people involved in the recording that were just as excited as me!
When you play something on a new song you want to play something that no-one has ever done before – it becomes part of you and you can sit back and think "no-one else would have played it quite like that."
It may not be what anyone else wants (laughter) but no-one else would have played it the way you did, you know? That's very important top me and it was important to the Moody Blues from day one.
That’s how we wanted to work. When somebody in the band came up with a song – or a part in a song – for the first time, and played it back to us, that was something new we had created that didn’t exist before!
We would sit back and feel proud of that contribution.
RM: And so you should, both individually and collectively, because there is a timeless musicality to Moody Blues music. The Beatles are unarguably at the top of the pop and rock league as regards the timeless nature of their music but the Moodies play in that same division.
JL: Thank you very much.
RM: From the recording of the album to a theme of the album – there's a clearly intentional time and space thread running through some of the songs on 10,000 Light Years Ago…
JL: I had a thought process going through my mind for a long time about the future always being in reach but the past is gone forever – but I didn’t know what it meant to be honest!
Well, I knew what it meant if you read it, but I always felt it meant something more than that.
Then, while I was making the album, I suddenly thought "Yes, of course! What it is actually saying is while you can’t go back the past is important.”
I didn’t want to be retrospective but the past has brought me to where I am today, made me who I am and contains all my musical influences from James Jamerson on all those Tamla Motown Records to Carol Kaye.
So it’s not a retrospective album but it is saying the past has created who I am and where I am – and that’s why it’s called 10,000 Light Years Ago, which is a distance, not a time.
There is distance as you look backwards but when you look up at the night sky today – and look at the light of stars from 10,000 light years ago – that’s their today, yet they might not actually be there anymore.
All we can see is what we are today and that’s what the album is really all about for me – who we are today.
RM: Time and distance is wrapped up in both the atmospheric and excellent opening number In My Mind and the album’s closing statement, the big, Moody-esque title track.
A lot of people catching just a burst of In My Mind could be forgiven for thinking they are hearing an unreleased Pink Floyd instrumental until your own distinct voice comes in with the lyric…
JL: I really wanted to explore musically; if you are in your mind and think about everything you "see" in your mind it’s more than 3D isn’t it? It’s bigger than that – what you can imagine can be something spectacular and I wanted to try and do that musically.
That song really started from the times we’re on stage before a concert – we have our technical run-through to make sure everything sounds right, then we have our musical run-through.
On the technical run-through there are three particular notes I play on my bass guitar to give a full spectrum of sound for my ear monitors. I was thinking about this and said to myself "hang on a minute, I do this at every single technical check before a concert – that should be the opening of the album!"
That’s where the opening sounds and In My Mind came from…
RM: There’s a great little slice of hard pop rock on the album called Those Days in Birmingham, which features an autobiographical lyric that reflects on your earliest musical memories.
But does it seem like fifty years since those early, pre-Moody days and the discovery of rock and roll?
JL: No it doesn’t at all, Ross; that’s the really strange thing!
When I was writing the lyrics of that song I wrote down a list of things that were important; the pivotal points in my life that have brought me to where I am now. Heading to Eddy’s Café after school to play rock and roll on the juke box… buying my first guitar and trying to play three chords on it… they were really important.
But having a van that would get you to the gigs? That was very important (laughs).
Then, on the last verse, the line "standing in the shadow on the side of the stage – another world tour, how the times have changed" brings me right up to date.
RM: On the song that follows Those Days in Birmingham, the charming little Simply Magic, you have another early days connection with your ex Moody Blues mates Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder guesting on the track.
But what some people might not know is the three of you go way back before the Moody Blues to a band called El Riot and the Rebels…
JL: That’s right. I met Ray when I was fourteen. Ray and I formed a band called The Rebels originally, which included a school chum of mine Mike Heard on guitar, another guitarist called Bryan Betteridge and our original drummer Ricky Wade. Ricky was replaced by Bobby Sheward when Ricky went in to the Navy and we became known as El Riot and The Rebels. We used to wear Mexican outfits…
RM: Brilliant (laughs).
JL: Yep; and we had sombreros as well! But in those days everyone had to have a gimmick.
Nero and the Gladiators dressed as Nero and gladiators… Johnny Kidd and The Pirates were dressed as pirates… it was just a great, fun time and Ray and I were in that band for four years.
And yes, Mike Pinder joined us for a certain amount of time as well. Mike played piano and keyboards in the band.
RM: And a year or two later Ray and Mike, along with a drummer called Graeme Edge, would be in a little beat-pop band called the Moody Blues, soon to be joined by two gentlemen by the name of Justin Hayward and John Lodge. Flashing forward those fifty years from beat-pop and the birth of the Moody Blues to the present day I obviously can’t help but notice there are no Scottish dates – or any in Ireland for that matter – on the Timeless Flight 2015 UK Tour…
JL: Yes and I’m really annoyed about that. Scotland has always been special to me and I still remember the first gigs up there all those years ago – there was the Dumfries Drill Hall, the Red Shoes in Elgin…
RM: Wow; you really are going back. The Drill Hall building – Loreburn Hall – still exists but the Red Shoes Theatre, which would have been the Two Red Shoes Ballroom when you played, closed down a few years ago. The Beatles famously played there…
JL: I remember all those places and I really enjoy playing Scotland. I don’t really know what happened this time – the promoter probably couldn’t come up with the right dates for routing through Scottish or Irish venues – but it is really annoying because we have a lot of American crew and of course some American musicians with us now and I love showing them around Scotland and all the places I’ve been.
RM: Well hopefully you can show them around on the next tour but I think that’s the second time on the bounce it’s happened – my concern now is that the tour promoter has a specific schedule or a particular set of venues for routing.
JL: It is the scheduling unfortunately and about getting the routing right – but that’s down to the promoter because we love playing up there. We played the famous Green’s Playhouse all those years ago too!
RM: You did indeed – the famous Greens, which became the even more famous Glasgow Apollo.
Sadly that building has long since gone but the fact remains that, whatever the venue, whatever the era, you have a strong and loyal following up here – including my wife (laughs). She's an über-fan of all things Moodies, as are so many others. You’ll always be welcomed back.
JL: Thank you, Ross – you should tell the promoter to make a special effort and we’ll come up at the end of this tour!
RM: That would be great but it’s far more likely to be another time; you are extremely busy boys and girls. But that does lead to the question if there was a gap in the schedule would you like to get out on a solo tour and play smaller venues with a set featuring songs from your solo albums, a few Moodies numbers and perhaps a couple of those old Eddy's Café jukebox numbers?
JL: I would, yes, but that’s something that depends very much on how the album goes and if people want me to come out and do that.
I really enjoy being on the big stage to be honest with you (laughs) although I like being on a small stage as well. It makes no difference to me; I just enjoy playing.
RM: I was curious because I think it would work very well, especially if Chris Spedding was involved.
Chris played on both your albums of course and is such a great guitarist; wonderfully emotive.
JL: I’ve actually spoken to Chris and he’s up for it. He’d like to come out on the road and do it as would our drummer Gordon Marshall and our keyboard player Alan Hewitt.
In fact everyone involved has said "yes, we’ll do it!" and I know how I’d like to do it so yeah, the timing might be right – but we’ll just have to wait and see.
But does it seem like fifty years since those early, pre-Moody days and the discovery of rock and roll?
JL: No it doesn’t at all, Ross; that’s the really strange thing!
When I was writing the lyrics of that song I wrote down a list of things that were important; the pivotal points in my life that have brought me to where I am now. Heading to Eddy’s Café after school to play rock and roll on the juke box… buying my first guitar and trying to play three chords on it… they were really important.
But having a van that would get you to the gigs? That was very important (laughs).
Then, on the last verse, the line "standing in the shadow on the side of the stage – another world tour, how the times have changed" brings me right up to date.
RM: On the song that follows Those Days in Birmingham, the charming little Simply Magic, you have another early days connection with your ex Moody Blues mates Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder guesting on the track.
But what some people might not know is the three of you go way back before the Moody Blues to a band called El Riot and the Rebels…
JL: That’s right. I met Ray when I was fourteen. Ray and I formed a band called The Rebels originally, which included a school chum of mine Mike Heard on guitar, another guitarist called Bryan Betteridge and our original drummer Ricky Wade. Ricky was replaced by Bobby Sheward when Ricky went in to the Navy and we became known as El Riot and The Rebels. We used to wear Mexican outfits…
RM: Brilliant (laughs).
JL: Yep; and we had sombreros as well! But in those days everyone had to have a gimmick.
Nero and the Gladiators dressed as Nero and gladiators… Johnny Kidd and The Pirates were dressed as pirates… it was just a great, fun time and Ray and I were in that band for four years.
And yes, Mike Pinder joined us for a certain amount of time as well. Mike played piano and keyboards in the band.
RM: And a year or two later Ray and Mike, along with a drummer called Graeme Edge, would be in a little beat-pop band called the Moody Blues, soon to be joined by two gentlemen by the name of Justin Hayward and John Lodge. Flashing forward those fifty years from beat-pop and the birth of the Moody Blues to the present day I obviously can’t help but notice there are no Scottish dates – or any in Ireland for that matter – on the Timeless Flight 2015 UK Tour…
JL: Yes and I’m really annoyed about that. Scotland has always been special to me and I still remember the first gigs up there all those years ago – there was the Dumfries Drill Hall, the Red Shoes in Elgin…
RM: Wow; you really are going back. The Drill Hall building – Loreburn Hall – still exists but the Red Shoes Theatre, which would have been the Two Red Shoes Ballroom when you played, closed down a few years ago. The Beatles famously played there…
JL: I remember all those places and I really enjoy playing Scotland. I don’t really know what happened this time – the promoter probably couldn’t come up with the right dates for routing through Scottish or Irish venues – but it is really annoying because we have a lot of American crew and of course some American musicians with us now and I love showing them around Scotland and all the places I’ve been.
RM: Well hopefully you can show them around on the next tour but I think that’s the second time on the bounce it’s happened – my concern now is that the tour promoter has a specific schedule or a particular set of venues for routing.
JL: It is the scheduling unfortunately and about getting the routing right – but that’s down to the promoter because we love playing up there. We played the famous Green’s Playhouse all those years ago too!
RM: You did indeed – the famous Greens, which became the even more famous Glasgow Apollo.
Sadly that building has long since gone but the fact remains that, whatever the venue, whatever the era, you have a strong and loyal following up here – including my wife (laughs). She's an über-fan of all things Moodies, as are so many others. You’ll always be welcomed back.
JL: Thank you, Ross – you should tell the promoter to make a special effort and we’ll come up at the end of this tour!
RM: That would be great but it’s far more likely to be another time; you are extremely busy boys and girls. But that does lead to the question if there was a gap in the schedule would you like to get out on a solo tour and play smaller venues with a set featuring songs from your solo albums, a few Moodies numbers and perhaps a couple of those old Eddy's Café jukebox numbers?
JL: I would, yes, but that’s something that depends very much on how the album goes and if people want me to come out and do that.
I really enjoy being on the big stage to be honest with you (laughs) although I like being on a small stage as well. It makes no difference to me; I just enjoy playing.
RM: I was curious because I think it would work very well, especially if Chris Spedding was involved.
Chris played on both your albums of course and is such a great guitarist; wonderfully emotive.
JL: I’ve actually spoken to Chris and he’s up for it. He’d like to come out on the road and do it as would our drummer Gordon Marshall and our keyboard player Alan Hewitt.
In fact everyone involved has said "yes, we’ll do it!" and I know how I’d like to do it so yeah, the timing might be right – but we’ll just have to wait and see.
RM: Let’s jump back in time again but this time to 1977 and Natural Avenue.
I’m very fond of that album; it resonates with me to this day and I think part of the attraction is the album’s mix of pop ‘n’ roll charm alongside slower, orchestrated Moody-esque songs. Lovely little album.
But what does John Lodge, some thirty-eight years removed from its creation, think of Natural Avenue?
JL: Well first of all thank you very much. I went back in to the studio a couple of years ago to remaster Natural Avenue for a vinyl re-release and when we played it back on vinyl I was transported back to the studio and the time of its recording. And that was really interesting because other than when the album was originally released I had really only heard the album in CD form.
But with 180 gram vinyl there is a difference, especially with the spread of sound – hearing Natural Avenue on 180 gram vinyl was almost like hearing it in the studio when I recorded it. It really did transport me back...
I’m very fond of that album; it resonates with me to this day and I think part of the attraction is the album’s mix of pop ‘n’ roll charm alongside slower, orchestrated Moody-esque songs. Lovely little album.
But what does John Lodge, some thirty-eight years removed from its creation, think of Natural Avenue?
JL: Well first of all thank you very much. I went back in to the studio a couple of years ago to remaster Natural Avenue for a vinyl re-release and when we played it back on vinyl I was transported back to the studio and the time of its recording. And that was really interesting because other than when the album was originally released I had really only heard the album in CD form.
But with 180 gram vinyl there is a difference, especially with the spread of sound – hearing Natural Avenue on 180 gram vinyl was almost like hearing it in the studio when I recorded it. It really did transport me back...
RM: Just the mention of that album and playing a song takes me back to 1977, my own vinyl copy and the Roger Dean gatefold sleeve... Digital recording and digital technology let's you do so much these days but there's something to be said for good quality vinyl and that analogue warmth.
JL: When I was making 10,000 Light Years Ago and went in to the studio in Naples in Florida to put it all together, all the files were digital. But when we collected everything together we put it all through analogue outboard equipment just to get that warmth back in to it.
So 10,000 Light Years Ago is an analogue stereo album but with full audio frequency.
RM: A man after my own musical heart (laughs). Creativity and timelessness are traits of the classic Moody Blues material, resonating with millions of fans across the globe for more than four-and-half-decades.
But can you detach yourself from the source, so to speak, and step back and appreciate that music as a listener? Or perhaps pinch yourself on occasion and think "wow – listen to what we did…"
JL: I do sometimes, to be honest (laughs), especially when I look at the amount of recordings we’ve produced and the contributions we’ve made to music through all of those songs.
But it is difficult to stand back and listen to it objectively because you’re listening to parts you played, as well as everything else that’s in the song; how the song was built up for example.
And when you listen to a particular song you do transport yourself back in to that studio – you remember what happened or how we did this or how we did that – so it’s very difficult to listen to it with someone else’s ears.
RM: David Gilmour, when talking about the making of Dark Side of the Moon, said he would have liked to have been a person who could listen to that album the whole way through for the first time but he could never have that experience. I suspect it will be the same for you and your fellow Moodies for Days of Future Passed, among others...
JL: Yes, it is very difficult. In fact after we finished all the recording for 10,000 Light Years Ago I was awake every night, listening to every song in my head (laughs) – for a week!
And I wasn't really listening to the songs, I was listening to every part of those songs while thinking "yeah, that works; yep, that sounds right" (laughs).
JL: When I was making 10,000 Light Years Ago and went in to the studio in Naples in Florida to put it all together, all the files were digital. But when we collected everything together we put it all through analogue outboard equipment just to get that warmth back in to it.
So 10,000 Light Years Ago is an analogue stereo album but with full audio frequency.
RM: A man after my own musical heart (laughs). Creativity and timelessness are traits of the classic Moody Blues material, resonating with millions of fans across the globe for more than four-and-half-decades.
But can you detach yourself from the source, so to speak, and step back and appreciate that music as a listener? Or perhaps pinch yourself on occasion and think "wow – listen to what we did…"
JL: I do sometimes, to be honest (laughs), especially when I look at the amount of recordings we’ve produced and the contributions we’ve made to music through all of those songs.
But it is difficult to stand back and listen to it objectively because you’re listening to parts you played, as well as everything else that’s in the song; how the song was built up for example.
And when you listen to a particular song you do transport yourself back in to that studio – you remember what happened or how we did this or how we did that – so it’s very difficult to listen to it with someone else’s ears.
RM: David Gilmour, when talking about the making of Dark Side of the Moon, said he would have liked to have been a person who could listen to that album the whole way through for the first time but he could never have that experience. I suspect it will be the same for you and your fellow Moodies for Days of Future Passed, among others...
JL: Yes, it is very difficult. In fact after we finished all the recording for 10,000 Light Years Ago I was awake every night, listening to every song in my head (laughs) – for a week!
And I wasn't really listening to the songs, I was listening to every part of those songs while thinking "yeah, that works; yep, that sounds right" (laughs).
In the 21st century the Moody Blues – Justin Hayward, Graeme Edge and John Lodge – still successfully
tour the world but the band’s last studio album of all-new material, Strange Times, came at the end of the 20th century (December, a seasonal mix of self-penned material and covers, was released in 2003).
RM: With 10,000 Light Years Ago you have a nice little eight track album that mixes great pop rock and lighter charm with a couple of more atmospheric numbers.
It’s also a relatively short album, but for me it becomes a classic case of less is more…
JL: I think so too. There was actually another song I was going to do at one stage but when I was listening back to the album I was thinking to myself "No, the album is finished. Why add more songs? The album won’t be where I want it to be."
RM: Indeed; you have the weight and balance right with the form of the album as you released it.
Now, talking of album releases – or lack thereof – it’s been more than a decade since the Moody Blues released December and some sixteen years since the last album of all new material, Strange Times...
JL: Well, the thing is it’s not just about the band recording an album, you need other people to commit too.
There's nothing worse than sitting at three o’clock in the morning, writing a song, thinking "I wonder if anyone is ever going to hear this?" (laughs).
So you need a record company and music people fully behind you; people who will really listen to what you’re doing and give comment.
That’s why I was so pleased with Cherry Red Records when they approached me about recording an album. They had the enthusiasm – and an artist really needs other people to show that enthusiasm, to be honest.
RM: I have a lot of time for how the boys and girls over at Cherry Red go about their business.
And, yes, I take your point because it's very changed days – other than that top 5%, which covers the Bruce Springsteen’s, the Beyoncé’s and whatever reality star has been marketed to the hilt that month, there are no guarantees when it comes to new product or new material.
And that includes major-name bands such as the Moody Blues. It’s a dramatically different industry.
JL: Yes, it’s a completely changed industry and a very instant industry now – all the Pop Idol type shows we have now have created this instant success.
But it wasn’t like that for us and all the other bands and artists of our era – we had to build our careers.
The Beatles weren’t the Beatles from day one; they had to work hard. I remember when they released Love Me Do – it was a hit but it wasn’t a huge hit; it wasn’t an instant number one.
They had to build and build and I think that’s what’s missing today – it doesn’t exist now, I don’t think.
RM: There are new, or younger, bands out there working hard at their musical apprenticeship but they're battling against the ever-rising tide of the Youtube sensation with a gimmick, the manufactured product, the image-over-talent brigade and the artists with one hyped-to-the-max song and an album of fillers.
There's musical creativity and there’s manufactured commodity.
JL: I think so. As an artist you want to be creative and you’ve got to be creative; that’s what turns me on.
I get a great, inward satisfaction from playing or creating something that no-one else thought about doing before...
tour the world but the band’s last studio album of all-new material, Strange Times, came at the end of the 20th century (December, a seasonal mix of self-penned material and covers, was released in 2003).
RM: With 10,000 Light Years Ago you have a nice little eight track album that mixes great pop rock and lighter charm with a couple of more atmospheric numbers.
It’s also a relatively short album, but for me it becomes a classic case of less is more…
JL: I think so too. There was actually another song I was going to do at one stage but when I was listening back to the album I was thinking to myself "No, the album is finished. Why add more songs? The album won’t be where I want it to be."
RM: Indeed; you have the weight and balance right with the form of the album as you released it.
Now, talking of album releases – or lack thereof – it’s been more than a decade since the Moody Blues released December and some sixteen years since the last album of all new material, Strange Times...
JL: Well, the thing is it’s not just about the band recording an album, you need other people to commit too.
There's nothing worse than sitting at three o’clock in the morning, writing a song, thinking "I wonder if anyone is ever going to hear this?" (laughs).
So you need a record company and music people fully behind you; people who will really listen to what you’re doing and give comment.
That’s why I was so pleased with Cherry Red Records when they approached me about recording an album. They had the enthusiasm – and an artist really needs other people to show that enthusiasm, to be honest.
RM: I have a lot of time for how the boys and girls over at Cherry Red go about their business.
And, yes, I take your point because it's very changed days – other than that top 5%, which covers the Bruce Springsteen’s, the Beyoncé’s and whatever reality star has been marketed to the hilt that month, there are no guarantees when it comes to new product or new material.
And that includes major-name bands such as the Moody Blues. It’s a dramatically different industry.
JL: Yes, it’s a completely changed industry and a very instant industry now – all the Pop Idol type shows we have now have created this instant success.
But it wasn’t like that for us and all the other bands and artists of our era – we had to build our careers.
The Beatles weren’t the Beatles from day one; they had to work hard. I remember when they released Love Me Do – it was a hit but it wasn’t a huge hit; it wasn’t an instant number one.
They had to build and build and I think that’s what’s missing today – it doesn’t exist now, I don’t think.
RM: There are new, or younger, bands out there working hard at their musical apprenticeship but they're battling against the ever-rising tide of the Youtube sensation with a gimmick, the manufactured product, the image-over-talent brigade and the artists with one hyped-to-the-max song and an album of fillers.
There's musical creativity and there’s manufactured commodity.
JL: I think so. As an artist you want to be creative and you’ve got to be creative; that’s what turns me on.
I get a great, inward satisfaction from playing or creating something that no-one else thought about doing before...
RM: On the subject of something no-one has done before – and proving Moody Blues music has the ability to cross genres and musical boundaries – in 2004 an album appeared called Moody Bluegrass.
That was followed by a second album in 2011 that you, Justin and Graeme put your voices to, on a selected track each…
JL: That was really interesting but when they approached us about doing it I thought "Moody Blues and Bluegrass? That doesn’t make any sense!" (laughs).
But, when they played me the demos, I thought "You know what? There is something interesting here."
And beyond our contributions on the album we actually went over and performed live with them all at the Ryman Auditorium, which was the original Grand Ole Opry.
So there we were, in amongst ten or twelve Grammy award winning bluegrass and country musicians, all enjoying themselves and playing Moody Blues music with us! It was great fun!
RM: And another option for any solo shows you might do – some Bluegrass'd up Moody songs! (laughter).
John, it's been great catching up and talking about both your past and your 10,000 Light Years Ago present.
Thank you for talking to FabricationsHQ.
JL: Thank you, Ross!
That was followed by a second album in 2011 that you, Justin and Graeme put your voices to, on a selected track each…
JL: That was really interesting but when they approached us about doing it I thought "Moody Blues and Bluegrass? That doesn’t make any sense!" (laughs).
But, when they played me the demos, I thought "You know what? There is something interesting here."
And beyond our contributions on the album we actually went over and performed live with them all at the Ryman Auditorium, which was the original Grand Ole Opry.
So there we were, in amongst ten or twelve Grammy award winning bluegrass and country musicians, all enjoying themselves and playing Moody Blues music with us! It was great fun!
RM: And another option for any solo shows you might do – some Bluegrass'd up Moody songs! (laughter).
John, it's been great catching up and talking about both your past and your 10,000 Light Years Ago present.
Thank you for talking to FabricationsHQ.
JL: Thank you, Ross!
Ross Muir
Muirsical Conversation with John Lodge
June 2015
10,000 Light Years Ago is out now on Esoteric Antenna (Cherry Red Records group)
The remastered Natural Avenue, on 180 gram vinyl (with bonus 12" single) and CD (with bonus tracks), is available from Esoteric Recordings (Cherry Red Records group)
Moody Blues official website: http://www.moodybluestoday.com/
John Lodge official website: http://www.johnlodge.com/
Moody Blues Timeless Flight UK Tour Dates:
June 6th - Plymouth, Pavilions
June 7th - Cardiff, St David’s Hall
June 8th - Brighton, The Brighton Centre
June 9th - Bristol, Colston Hall
June 11th - Bournemouth, International Centre
June 12th - London, Eventim Apollo
June 13th - Ipswich, The Regent
June 14th - Oxford, New Theatre
June 16th - Manchester, O2 Apollo
June 17th - Nottingham, Royal Centre
June 18th - Sheffield, City Hall
June 20th - Birmingham, LG Arena
June 21st - Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall
June 22nd - Newcastle, City Hall
Photo Credits: Official Press PR photo (John Lodge); Publicity Photo (Moody Blues).
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article and to promote the work of the artists.
No infringement of copyright is intended.
Muirsical Conversation with John Lodge
June 2015
10,000 Light Years Ago is out now on Esoteric Antenna (Cherry Red Records group)
The remastered Natural Avenue, on 180 gram vinyl (with bonus 12" single) and CD (with bonus tracks), is available from Esoteric Recordings (Cherry Red Records group)
Moody Blues official website: http://www.moodybluestoday.com/
John Lodge official website: http://www.johnlodge.com/
Moody Blues Timeless Flight UK Tour Dates:
June 6th - Plymouth, Pavilions
June 7th - Cardiff, St David’s Hall
June 8th - Brighton, The Brighton Centre
June 9th - Bristol, Colston Hall
June 11th - Bournemouth, International Centre
June 12th - London, Eventim Apollo
June 13th - Ipswich, The Regent
June 14th - Oxford, New Theatre
June 16th - Manchester, O2 Apollo
June 17th - Nottingham, Royal Centre
June 18th - Sheffield, City Hall
June 20th - Birmingham, LG Arena
June 21st - Liverpool, Philharmonic Hall
June 22nd - Newcastle, City Hall
Photo Credits: Official Press PR photo (John Lodge); Publicity Photo (Moody Blues).
Audio tracks presented to accompany the above article and to promote the work of the artists.
No infringement of copyright is intended.