Hi Everybody!
I have arranged a delightful journey through Life for You tonight (via You Tube!) A few surprises, of course!
Anyway, as we think about how amazing Creation and Life Is, we must admit that sometimes life can be quite strange!
Your photostudy tonight is a strange story from my courtyard garden between 2 cabins. Ten years ago my Mom gave me some beautiful resin birds (pelicans) to top the posts in my new Pelican Bay Garden! They were all so cute back then. I glued them on top of the posts with liquid nails so they would never come off. Ten years of Hot Texas Sun has fried the plastic birds to faded mush. The rains produced a nice algae green glow to the remains. Due to the super power of liquid nails, they have never fallen off the posts. One by one, I have been hand sawing the tops of the posts to remove the faded glories! As Mom has already gone, I found no harm in swearing as I sawed and promising I will never, ever, ever allow anyone to give me anymore plastic birds. (Thanks, but no thanks).
I am down to one left on a post in the corner. With trusty saw in hand, I had the goal of the last dead plastic bird in sight.
What happened next prevented me from cutting off the post. I am sharing it with You tonight as this certainly comes under the heading of "Isn't Life Strange"!!!!!!
So, anyway, You all have seen my little green friends that live here. (The Green Anoles). It appears that one of the males has fallen in love with the faded plastic bird. Is that Strange??? Is it even possible? This is your photostudy for tonight. You decide for yourself if it is lizard love or not! These photos were a few days ago yet the lizard still spends most of the day perched on his bird. Yes, life is Strange! The bird stays.
I still think death may be strange also. I strongly suspect my Mom somehow had something to do with stopping me from cutting down the stupid plastic bird! (I mean beautiful resin bird).!
Enjoy your strange photostudy!
(The lizard has a piece of dead skin hanging from his chin)
What are YOU looking at?
Enjoy the video lineup!
Through the Eyes of a Child
Just Push Play
Isn't Life Strange?
Just Push Play
New Horizons
Just Push Play
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moody_Blues
The Moody Blues
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Moody Blues are an English rock band. Among their innovations was a fusion with classical music, most notably in their 1967 album Days of Future Passed.
The Moody Blues have sold in excess of 70 million albums worldwide and have been awarded 14 platinum and gold discs. As of 2012 they remain active with one member from the original band from 1964 and two more from the 1967 lineup.
| The Moody Blues | |
|---|---|
 The Moody Blues in concert on September 12, 2011 at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester: Justin Hayward lead vocals and guitar, John Lodge vocals and bass, Graeme Edge on drums | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Birmingham, England |
| Genres | Progressive rock, psychedelic rock, art rock, symphonic rock, synthpop, R&B |
| Years active | 1964–1974 1977–present |
| Labels | Decca, Deram, Threshold, Polydor,Universal, Ark 21, Eagle, Image |
| Website | MoodyBluesToday.com |
| Members | |
| Justin Hayward John Lodge Graeme Edge | |
| Past members | |
| Ray Thomas Michael Pinder Denny Laine Clint Warwick Rodney Clark Patrick Moraz | |
Deram Records, Threshold Records, 1967–1972
[edit]Days Of Future Passed
The Moody Blues' contract with Decca Records was set to expire and they owed the label several thousand pounds in advances. They had the support, however, of Decca A&R manager Hugh Mendl, who had been instrumental in the recent establishment of London/Decca's new subsidiary imprint Deram Records. With Mendl's backing, The Moody Blues were offered a deal to make a rock and roll version of AntonÃn Dvořák's New World Symphony that would promote the company's new Deramic Stereo Sound (DSS) audio format[3] in return for which the group would be forgiven their debt.
The Moody Blues agreed, but they insisted that they be given artistic control of the project, and Hugh Mendl (as executive producer) was able to provide this in the face of Decca's notoriously tight-fisted attitude to their artists.[4] The group were unable to complete the assigned project,[citation needed] which was abandoned. However, they managed to convince Peter Knight, who had been assigned to arrange and conduct the orchestral interludes, to collaborate on a recording that used the band's original material instead.
Although Deram executives were initially skeptical about the hybrid style of the resulting concept album.[3] Days of Future Passed(released in November 1967) became one of the most successful pop/rock releases of the period, earning a gold record award and reaching No.27 on the British album chart. Five years later it was to reach No.3 in the U.S./Billboard charts. The album was a song cycle or concept album that (like James Joyce's Ulysses) took place over the course of a single day. In production and arrangement the album drew inspiration from the pioneering use of the classical instrumentation by The Beatles to whom Pinder had introduced the Mellotron that year. It took the form to new heights using the London Festival Orchestra,[5] a loose affiliation of Decca's classical musicians given a fictitious name adding the term "London" to sound impressive, to provide an orchestral linking framework to the Moodies already written and performed songs, plus overture & conclusion sections on the album including backing up Graeme Edge's opening & closing poems recited by Pinder. Strings were added to the latter portion of the album version of Hayward's "Nights in White Satin" (absent on the single hit version) as was Pinder's "The Sun Set". The orchestra and group never actually perform together on the recording with the band's rock instrumentation centred on Pinder's Mellotron. The album, despite being a lush concept album, was in fact cut in a very workmanlike manner, with the band recording a particular song, then the track being presented to Peter Knight who quickly composed a suitable "linking" orchestral portion which the Decca musicians ('London Festival Orchestral') then recorded. The album was as much an original work by Knight himself as the group. The composing credits were listed on the sleeve as: "Redwave-Knight", when in fact Hayward wrote "Nights..." and "Tuesday Afternoon", Thomas provided "Another Morning" and "Twilight Time", Lodge penned "Peak Hour" and "Evening (Time To Get Away)", and Edge contributed the opening and closing poems (the first 'Morning Glory' and the latter titled "Late Lament") read by Mike Pinder who composed both "The Sun Set" and "Dawn is a Feeling" (sung by Hayward, with Pinder himself singing the bridge section).
Decca staff producer Tony Clarke produced the album, and afterwards continued working with the band. Sometimes known to fans as "The Sixth Moodie" he went on to produce all of their albums and singles for the next eleven years. Engineer Derek Varnals would also contribute heavily to the creation of the early Moody's studio sound, working with Pinder & Clarke to create a more symphonic overlapping sound on the Mellotron as opposed to the sharp 'cut off' the instrument would normally give, partly achieved by removing all the "sound effects" tapes (trains, whistles, cockerel crowing, etc.) and then 'doubling up' the tapes of orchestral instruments' sounds, which combined with Pinder's ability and sensitivity at playing (Pinder having earlier worked for the company that manufactured the Mellotron) and Varnals' recording skills at creating an orchestral 'wave' sound that characterised their non-orchestra accompanied sound thereafter.
The album, plus two singles from it, "Nights in White Satin" and "Tuesday Afternoon" (as a medley with "Forever Afternoon," listed as "Forever Afternoon (Tuesday?)" on the album), took time to find an audience. In The Moody Blues' native UK, the two singles from the album didn't initially catch on; "Nights in White Satin" only made No.19 on the UK singles chart in early 1968, and "Tuesday Afternoon" didn't chart at all. However, the British public did learn to appreciate "Nights in White Satin" subsequently; it made No.9 on the UK singles chart on re-issue in December 1972, and No.14 on the charts on a subsequent reissue at the end of 1979, and is now regarded as The Moody Blues signature song by British audiences. In the US, "Nights in White Satin" did not make the Billboard Hot 100 in 1968 (although it would reach No.2 on re-release in 1972); "Tuesday Afternoon" however was more successful on initial release Stateside, peaking at No.24 on the Billboard Hot 100.
[edit]In Search of the Lost Chord
The 1968 follow-up LP, In Search of the Lost Chord included "Legend of a Mind", a song written by Ray Thomas in tribute to LSD guruTimothy Leary which encompassed a flute solo performed by Thomas – four members of the group had taken LSD together at the start of 1967. A promotional film for the song was filmed on location at Groot-Bijgaarden Castle near Brussels in Belgium. Lodge provided a two part song "House of Four Doors" set either side of this Thomas' epic piece. Justin Hayward began playing sitar and incorporating it into Moody Blues music ("Voices...", "Visions of Paradise", etc.), having been inspired by George Harrison. Hayward's "Voices in the Sky" charted as a single in the UK (No.27), as did Lodge's "Ride My See-Saw" (No.42, No.15 in France) – still their concert finale number today – which featured Pinder's non-album song "A Simple Game" as 'B' side. Pinder's "The Best Way To Travel" was another high point, as was his closing song "Om" (sung by Pinder and Thomas, again featuring Hayward on sitar). Graeme Edge found a significant secondary role in the band as a writer of poetry, and some of their early albums from the late Sixties begin with various band members reciting poems by Edge that were conceptually related to the lyrics of the songs that would follow. Edge himself narrating his brief "Departure" poem on "Lost Chord".
[edit]On the Threshold of a Dream
On 1969's On the Threshold of a Dream Hayward, Edge, & Pinder share the opening narration on Edge's "In The Beginning", leading into Hayward's "Lovely To See You". His "Never Comes The Day" was issued as a UK single, while Thomas' wry observations of life in "Dear Diary" and "Lazy Day" were striking features. Pinder contributed the closing track on side one, "So Deep Within You". Side two closes with the "Dream Sequence", Edge's poem "The Dream" leading into Pinder's "Have You Heard" parts I and II with the two parts separated by his classically themed instrumental piece "The Voyage".
[edit]To Our Children's Children's Children
The band's music continued to become more complex and symphonic, with heavy amounts of reverberation on the vocal tracks, resulting in 1969's To Our Children's Children's Children — a concept album inspired by the first moon landing. The opening track "Higher And Higher" saw Pinder simulate a rocket blast-off on keyboards, then narrate Edge's lyrics. Thomas' "Floating" and "Eternity Road" stood out, as did Hayward's "Gypsy" and a rare Pinder-Lodge collaboration "Out And In". Lodge provided his two part "Eyes of A Child" and "Candle of Life" while Pinder contributed "Sun is Still Shining". The album closes with "Watching and Waiting", composed by Ray Thomas and Justin Hayward and sung by Hayward. This song was issued as a single on the Threshold label but failed to chart.
[edit]A Question of Balance
Although the Moodies had by now defined a somewhat psychedelic style and helped to define the progressive rock (then also known as 'art rock') sound, the group decided to record an album that could be played in concert, losing some of their full-blown sound for A Question of Balance (1970). This album, reaching No.3 in the American charts and No.1 in the British charts, was indicative of the band's growing success in America. Hayward's "Question" (in a differing version) was issued as a single hitting No.2 in the UK (only kept from top spot by The England World Cup football team's novelty record "Back Home"). Justin Hayward began an artful exploration of guitar tone through the use of numerous effects pedals and fuzz-boxes, and developed for himself a very melodic buzzing guitar-solo sound. The Moody Blues had by now become a bill-topping act in their own right, they appeared twice at the famous "Isle of Wight Festivals" (A DVD of their 1970 performance has now been released). Pinder's "Melancholy Man" (a No. 1 single in France) stood out besides Hayward's "Question" on the 1970 album.
[edit]Every Good Boy Deserves Favour and Seventh Sojourn
For their next two albums, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (1971) – from which Hayward's "The Story in Your Eyes" was taken as a US Charting single (No.23), and Seventh Sojourn (1972) (which reached No.1 in the U.S.), the band returned to their signature orchestral sound which, while difficult to reproduce in concert, had become their trademark. The title "Every Good Boy Deserves Favour" was borrowed, tongue-in-cheek, from a mnemonic used to remember the musical notes that form the lines of the treble clef: EGBDF. The opening track "Procession" was the only item composed by all five band members, a fascinating track depicting the "evolution" of music, leading into Hayward's "Story in Your Eyes". Thomas's reflective "Our Guessing Game" and whimsical "Nice To Be Here" offset the deeper drama of Hayward's "You Can Never Go Home", Lodge's "One More Time To Live" and Pinder's "My Song". Edge, the long standing drummer-poet, started writing lyrics intended to be sung, rather than verses to be spoken – his "After You Came" (1971) featured each of the four Lead singers taking a vocal section. Then in 1972 Lodge's songs "Isn't Life Strange ?" (No.13) and "I'm Just A Singer (in A Rock 'n' Roll Band)" (No.36) were lifted from "Seventh Sojourn" as charting UK singles. "Sojourn" also saw Pinder using the new Chamberlain instrument in place of Mellotron and Edge use an electronic drum kit. Pinder's stirring lament "Lost in A Lost World" opened this last "Core Seven" outing, while his sympathetic ode to Timothy Leary "When You're A Free Man", Thomas's romantic "For My Lady", and Hayward's serene "New Horizons" all stood out. They each provided well known songs during this period,in addition to the singles, Pinder's songs "A Simple Game" (1968) & "So Deep Within You" (1969) were successfully covered by The Four Tops, Pinder winning an Ivor Novello Award for "A Simple Game", Elkie Brooks later covered Hayward's "Nights in White Satin". Pinder also appeared on John Lennon's "Imagine" album in 1971, providing additional percussion on "I Don't Wanna Be A Soldier (I Don't Want To Die)". The 1968 to 1972 album sleeves, plus several solo sets up to Ray Thomas's "Hopes, Wishes & Dreams" in 1976, were characterised by striking surreal scenic sleeve artwork (mostly gatefold sleeves) by artist Phil Travers.
In late 1972, a re-issue of the five-year-old Nights in White Satin became the Moody Blues' biggest US hit, soaring to number two on theBillboard Hot 100 and becoming a certified million-seller; the song had "bubbled under" the Hot 100 charts on its original release. The song also returned to the UK charts, reaching No.9, ten places higher than its original release in 1967
Latest work
The group continue to tour; they toured the US, Canada and the UK in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010. In addition, Hayward took part in the UK tour of Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds in April 2006, and a second tour in November 2007, also with dates in 2009. The Moody Blues also toured Australia and New Zealand in 2006. Their long-time producer, Tony Clarke, died in January 2010.
The Moody Blues added keyboardist Alan Hewitt for their 2010 North American and UK Tours.
The Moody Blues in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California in 2005.
L-R: Justin Hayward, Graeme Edge and John Lodge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moody_Blues
http://soundcheck.ocregister.com/2009/07/23/in-defense-of-pacific-and-the-still-strong-moody-blues/9699/
Goodnight Everybody! SWEET DREAMS
...this is brendasue signing off from Rainbow Creek. See You next time!
Love Ya!
Of course,one more Great Performance!
Have You Heard?
Just Push Play
O+O
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