Used to love the hell out of this band. Days Of Future Passed still gets play today for moi and selected songs from other Moody albums. You brought us some great sounds. RIP.

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RIP Terrible news. I knew he was ill for awhile. I loved the core 7 albums of The Moody Blues with Mike. King of the mellotron! No one was better than him.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-25 20:52 by More Hot Rocks.

RIP

RIP Mike

RIP Mike. Always seemed like he kinda got the raw end of the deal, even though he was there from the beginning. I always appreciated and enjoyed his contributions but they seemed like they got less and less. By Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, he was relegated to just one song, My Song which is very unambiguous lyrically. By Octave he was barely present on the cover, and then I believe he left the band for family reasons but seems like they kinda pushed him out a bit. No idea, just how it seems. He never guested with them again to my knowledge and they seemed to downplay his participation.

I was happy to see him present at their Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction, though sad that he didn't speak or play with them. I believe he or a different member said he had slight dementia at that point, so they wanted to avoid him potentially speaking and losing his place. Either way, a lovely contributor to that band and he will be missed. Huge part of that sound that only the Moody Blues have, and those albums still hold up. Every time I put them on I 1. usually have to listen to the whole 7 album run, 2. love that its not really about specific songs but more the whole mood of the record. Totally transports you somewhere else for 40 minutes.

Quote
RollingFreak
RIP Mike. Always seemed like he kinda got the raw end of the deal, even though he was there from the beginning. I always appreciated and enjoyed his contributions but they seemed like they got less and less. By Every Good Boy Deserves Favor, he was relegated to just one song, My Song which is very unambiguous lyrically. By Octave he was barely present on the cover, and then I believe he left the band for family reasons but seems like they kinda pushed him out a bit. No idea, just how it seems. He never guested with them again to my knowledge and they seemed to downplay his participation.

I was happy to see him present at their Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame induction, though sad that he didn't speak or play with them. I believe he or a different member said he had slight dementia at that point, so they wanted to avoid him potentially speaking and losing his place. Either way, a lovely contributor to that band and he will be missed. Huge part of that sound that only the Moody Blues have, and those albums still hold up. Every time I put them on I 1. usually have to listen to the whole 7 album run, 2. love that its not really about specific songs but more the whole mood of the record. Totally transports you somewhere else for 40 minutes.

Mike left voluntarily on 1978 after the recording of Octave. He was living in California at the time and had applied for his USA citizenship. The pressure of the road and the music business let them to disband in 1973. Rumor had it that Mike couldn’t deal with it anymore. When time came to reunite and tour Mike bowed out because of what he felt in the past. Hayward has stated that for many many years the only contact they had with him was through his lawyer. Mike stayed in California over the last 45 years taking care of his family and making music for himself. It wasn’t until about 20 years where he started giving interviews again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2024-04-25 23:05 by More Hot Rocks.

RIP. He was such an integral part of their 'cosmic' sound, and they were never the same without him.

Very sad news. RIP