Posted on 01/07/2018 9:15:11 AM PST by Oshkalaboomboom
Moody Blues singer Ray Thomas has passed away after a battle with prostate cancer.
The English rock hero, 76, died at his home in Surrey on Thursday, January 4.
His record label have since released a statement confirming his death.
In a statement, they said: 'It is with profound sorrow and sadness that Cherry Red Records and Esoteric Recordings regret to announce that Ray Thomas, founder member, flautist and vocalist of the Moody Blues, passed away suddenly at his home in Surrey on Thursday.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Nights In White Satin....As haunting and emotionally evocative tune as ever written. Not a lot of bands can say that. RIP.
Moraz replaced Wakeman at Yes before he played for the Moodies...
its a shame what happened to Moraz- he didn’t seem to make his involvement in the Moody Blues a priority (maybe in part he wanted guarantees he’s be with the band forever)...i saw him play live with the Moodies from 1981 through that entire decade and he was great...
1- you can find EVERYTHING on Youtube...there is live footage of the Moody Blues concert I saw at Madison Square Garden in 1981...i’ve also listened to a lot of bootlegs of concerts i attended but didn’t know existed (like the first four Genesis concerts I attended starting back in 1978)..
2- I love the Moody Blues but Led Zeppelin is my band...every diehard fan of the mighty Zeppelin will tell you Presence is the most underrated album of the collection...any album with the song Achilles Last Stand does not qualify for the worst of anything...
Big misconception as some are very fast and aggressive. Mine went from 7 to 12 to 18 to 24 in 18 months when it was removed. Lucky they got it all, No radiation or chemo.
One of my top favorites. I’ve turned others into life long MB fans. There was nothing more magical than seeing them here at Red Rocks Amplitheater. Loved his voice. :(
As the rest of the album describes “a day” in your life, the Nights in White Satin is death (sleeping at the end of your day) in your white satin-lined casket ...
The Captain gave permission for the crew (and us Middies) to use the helicopter flight deck as a relaxation area and allowed use of the ship's stereo system from the wardroom to play music. Either the ship or the crew had a very good selection of Moody Blues albums .. Days of Future Past, In Search of the Lost Chord, On the Threshold of a Dream, A Question of Balance, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, and Seventh Sojourn .. and they played every single one of them that night.
All of the ship's external lights .. except for those required for navigation .. were turned off. Blackness except for the wake and the clear sky just overwhelmed with stars. General silence except for the music. All of the music was just so right for that situation that it gave me goosebumps. "For My Lady" from Seventh Sojourn, was appropriate .. "My boat sails lonely seas, battles oceans filled with tears ..". The guitar and bass intro to "The Story in Your Eyes" just blew me away. And "Nights in White Satin" almost brought me to tears.
Laying flat on my back on the flight deck, gazing up at the Milky Way, listening to The Moody Blues ... it was an experience that I will never forget.
I think the song that you’re thinking of is “I Know You’re Out There Somewhere”...
I remember the guitar on that, Justin Hayward is criminally underrated as a guitarist.
Prostate cancer is effectively treatable if caught early. It’s normally a slow growing cancer that can be detected with a PSA test that is part of a yearly wellness exam.
Amen. I know three guys who got prostate cancer, all of whom neglected the digital exam their whole adult lives. Out of embarrassment, I'm assuming.
One is dead. The other two had to have the surgery that renders them impotent.
All three outcomes were avoidable if they had done yearly checks where it would have been detected.
Mellow head trips of midshipmen on a USS warship in the Viet Nam era, who would have thought? /s
The rock and roll band that went the furthest into the possibilities of the genre. They are without peer.
no- Justin Hayward stated many times NIWS was written about a bad break up he had with someone he didn’t want to break up with...
the Moodies are a generational band...
I’ve seen them about a half dozen times with my mom (now 76YO- last saw them about 8 years ago)) who is a lifelong Moodies fan and my daughter (14YO) has seen the Moodies 3 times with me, the first time when she was 6YO...
You will literally see three generations of families at a Moody Blues concert- families bring young kids to the concerts (I’ve seen women with tolders in arms) while adults in the 50’s bring elderly parents (it’s kind of sad but the handicap space is usually full at MB concerts as older “kids” usually wheel in their parents to the shows)...
Oh, how I LOVED the Moody Blues. From early years on through, these guys had their own sound.
Ray Thomas, Rest in Peace, and thank you for the music and the memories.
great story!!!
I saw the Moody Blues at the Oakland Colesium in ‘76
and I liked them a bunch. Much later, Mike Pinder, a
founding member of the band quit the group and moved
to my rural California community. Roger Hodgson of
Supertramp and Jim Tucker of the Turtles are also
locals now here in Hicksville.
Anyway, RIP Ray Thomas.
Being a die-hard fan since the ‘60s, this is heart-breaking news.
“Nights in White Satin” is probably their best song but I never liked the longer version where they bring in the strings and spoken word poetry. That seemed a bit melodramatic and over the top to me.
...
The record company thought the Moody Blues were on their way out, so they let them do a demo album to demonstrate a new recording method to fulfill their contract. But this was also the time that Ray Thomas had just hired Justin Hayward and John Lodge. They ended up being the stars of the band and Days of Future Past was a big hit.
The album wasn’t released in the United States for another 4 or 5 years, though.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.