Hey Folks, Yeah You, You F*****s!

[SaturdayAfternoon]

Yes, image is important to a degree. But the music should remain numero uno, which I think JA did keep that as its main focus. That's why it lasted, albeit in 3 different forms, for so long.

Too right friend,
Music is primarily about sound for me, but the Airplane are so fucking good looking, man, which is also somewhat important. But they took sound to new "heights" (ha ha.) which is what I love about JA, their music was so far-out, even for today's modern music.

[PsychedelicRabbit]

JA had many issues within the band. But if there is one thing that I notice about them is that when they make music, all the B.S. is pushed aside for those few minutes. They make wonderful music, for certain. And even Starship did occasionally, regardless of how much people hate that band. Music, in my opinion, is so much more than sound or if they hit the right note or if the beat is okay/danceable. Music is about a feeling, a connection, a sense that "this person/these people understand me. They know what I'm on about..." and that is something that will have me hooked for life.

[SaturdayAfternoon]

Music is about a feeling, a connection, a sense that "this person/these people understand me. They know what I'm on about..." and that is something that will have me hooked for life.

Yeah, music is beautiful that way. I felt something when I first heard JA, which is why i'm still tuning into their music today. No-matter how far out their songs can be, I feel a connection with them because I love things that are really far out. People like my dad don't understand, but they obviously don't have that connection like me when I hear their sound.

[nicktecky]

Hey RR (again):
Funny thing you should mention the Moody Blues, but firstly I must agree about the charts back then. Ken Dodd famously kept The Beatles off No1 with "Tears", we used to call it mums & dads music. Matt Munro, Frankie Vaughan, not to mention novelty acts like The Chipmunks. Teenagers had to fight spending their hard earned pennies on even one single a week, and would usually share their collections so it was fairly easy for a mainstream entertainer to headline. Here in the UK, we didn't have the specialist charts of the US.
Back to the Moodys, I think the negativity to them at the time was largely 'from the streets'. Their 'symphonic' style was largely seen as too highbrow by half. After all, if you took an album to a party you wanted to dance, drink beer and hope to get laid, (well steal a kiss at least!), sitting around 'appreciating' music was definitely for the "hippies in the corner" who largely sat around looking miserable!! )
Of course now, I am very grateful that I bought all the 'Magnificent Seven' on vinyl at the time. Apparently the master tapes have been lost and the remastered CDs now available have been remixed. Very good they are, but not the originals. I've always loved that the very last track on the last album is "I'm just a singer in a rock and roll band". Says it all when we start taking all this stuff too seriously.

[EmbryonicRabbit68]

I agree, I think some people forget that the youth who would've been buying albums by the Airplane, Dead, Janis, Doors, ect probably didn't have a whole lot of money, and artistic integrity was more important than money, from their image (although that wasn't 100% true). And people would share albums, often bootleg them, a lot of people just went to their concerts for the experience, rather than buy albums. If everyone, and I mean everyone, did buy all of the albums and singles from all of the artists that they liked, who knows who would truly be dominating the charts.

And by the way, it's nice to know there's another Moodies fan on here! I was feeling a bit alone.

[plasticfantastic]

I'm a little bit late in this conversation, but I think an important point is that only a band with at least a little bit of maturity can work through personal differences to make really good music. Often times, I am in awe of the fact that so many bands can do that, what with so many difficult people in the business. And that isn't exactly a stereotype either. Well, it is really a stereotype, just not an entirely falsified one.

Ego is legendary in rock and roll, and it is true that one really needs it to get anywhere in such a highly competitive industry, one that is sometimes abrasively so (what an awful sentence... well, it's late and I'm tired). As much as rock bands get love, they get a whole lot of hate to boot. And when egos clash.... we all sort of know what happens when egos clash.

A lot of times though, musicians can work through ego clashes and personal dislike for one another in order to create music, and that is a highly admirable thing. Other times, bands explode when they can't do that. Some bands go between the two. Other bands don't really have many personal problems with one another and don't have to deal with it anyway.

Wow, I just realized this has nothing at all to do with the topic at hand... since I already wrote it though, I'll put it up anyway. Feel free to ignore if you'd like. Just a random little tangent.

[EmbryonicRabbit68]

Aw, but we love your random little tangents! Not that you have many random tangents, but you always have something nice and intelligent to say.

As for the topic you brought up, I often think about that, and I'm also amazed at how some line-ups just stick together for so long, even if they hate each other. Considering how hard the music business is, especially back then, it's expected that a band goes through numerous members. But I'm also amazed at how some bands can go through so many changes, and still be the same band. That's one of the reasons I'm so obsessed with it all.

[SaturdayAfternoon]

Music tends to unite people despite their differences. That is the beautiful thing about music, but people often underestimate the power of music. It's a fucker when bands start breaking up but its incredible how long they can hold together through music. Some really great music can come out of these situations, you know what I mean, real stuff.

[Susan Butcher]

Really? Decca threw the tapes away? That's hard to believe. The Moodies may not have had "underground" cred, but they went for a audience that could well afford to buy albums.

[nicktecky]

Decca/Moodys:

The fine detail is out there on the Interweb thingy, but I suspect the original mix down tapes had deteriorated more than the sub master. They got Justin Hayward in to do the remastering, and found some virgin vinyls to compare with, but still there are 'mistakes'. Sorry, I found this out only a few days ago, but I can't find the reference with all the details.
Still, Polydor did a great job with with the late-90s reissues.

[EmbryonicRabbit68]

I just have the records. Sadly though, I had to pass up seeing them for the first time live a few days ago. I don't get too heartbroken about missing concerts, but that was a disappointment. Oh well, at least I'll have food and shelter for a bit longer now.

[redrabid]

Why on earth, does anyone want to see a coverband, masquerading as the original thing, just because one or two "original" musicians are member of that coverband? Support local talent, spend your money on new, young bands. Otherwise there will never be a new, vibrant music scene. Be young, think young, buy young!

[EmbryonicRabbit68]

Actually, I can see completely where you're coming from red. It does seem a bit embarrassing, thinking that they are now not even the shell of what they formerly once were, but the point is, is that they aren't going to be around forever, and youngsters like me never got to see them back in the day so this is the best I'll get, and I doubt they'll be around much longer. I'm not a big concert-goer that much anymore though, I'm looking forward to my own music career now. That's where I can see your point about thinking young, going to see new bands to give them a chance, I'll be in one of them eventually, so I might as well support myself. Yet... There's only one Moody Blues touring, so what if I wanna see the Moody Blues??

How I can contradict myself so much, I'll never understand.

[okeedoe]

I would listen only to what my heart tells me if I were you.(in this case anyway )

Only morons and fanatics never contradict themselves.

[nicktecky]

Cover band?????

Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graham Edge are doing the current tour.
If you're a Moodys fan and want to see them, you spend your hard earned cash how you like.

If only complete originality in a line up will do, JA should have disbanded about 1968!