Posted on 11/21/2024 4:47:07 PM PST by nickcarraway
It was no instant success, but gradually, the group’s new marriage of pop and orchestral ingredients began to turn heads.
In the timeless flight of the Moody Blues, “Nights In White Satin” is such a classic that it’s strange to recount the slow, almost faltering progress of this epic ballad when it was first released.
Justin Hayward’s song, and its parent album, the Moodies’ career-changing Days Of Future Passed, were both released on November 10, 1967 — and for the first few weeks of their lives, the sum total of their UK chart presence was precisely nil.
But gradually, the group’s new marriage of pop and orchestral ingredients began to turn heads. With the additional attractions of Mike Pinder’s keyboard effects on the Mellotron, little-used in popular music to that point, and Ray Thomas’ flute, both the single and the album began to capture the imagination of both the public and the media.
“Satin” may have had an uncertain start, but few singles have gone on to such recurring and multi-faceted success, both in the UK and around the world. After attracting radio support, the single on Decca’s Deram label finally made the British Top 50 in the first week of 1968, some seven weeks after release.
It was the first chart appearance of the Moodies’ new line-up, retooled with the addition of Hayward and John Lodge. This was also the first time the group name had been on the UK singles list for more than two years, since “Everyday” limped to No.44.
Even then, “Satin” only just clambered onto the bottom rung of the Top 50, as The Beatles continued at No.1 into the new year with “Hello Goodbye.” The ballad then climbed to No.35, making less than spectacular progress over the coming weeks before coming to a halt at No.19 on the February 20 chart. It fared much better elsewhere, going all the way to No.1 in 1968 in Holland, and reaching the Top 10 in Austria, Belgium and Switzerland, and the Top 20 in Germany.
A continuing chart story
The initial UK activity was enough to kick-start Days Of Future Passed, which showed up on the bestsellers for the first time in late January 1968 and got as high as No.27 in both February and March. The album reappeared from time to time over the next few years, making its last showing in 1973. By then, with the Moodies established as a major album and touring force, “Nights In White Satin” had belatedly become a massive hit, reaching No.2 in Billboard and No.1 in the rival Cash Box countdown.
That transatlantic success, in turn, prompted the first reissue of “Satin” in the UK, where it charted anew and became a much bigger hit second time around. The song spent three weeks in the Top 10 in late 1972 and early 1973, landing at No.9. In 1979, it rose once again, in a new 12-week run that gave it another five weeks in the Top 20 and a No.9 peak.
This historic recording even managed one further chart week in 2010, prompted by a performance of the song by the eventual winner of that year’s X Factor series, Matt Cardle. Those satin sheets that inspired Justin Hayward were made of the most enduring material.
Cool
The song starts out good, then goes downhill.
Ooof. I listened to the first few bars of Universal Soldier, that’s BAD. I hope that was something the record company made him do before he made it big.
Someone posted this on a thread in the last couple days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDPuK_tqG-Y
Glen Campbell doing Wichita Lineman with the Stone Temple Pilots. Relatively recent, and solid.
There’s a great clip of Richard Harris, WASTED on Merv Griffin, calling the song “Sheer Poetry!! Bigger than the both of us!!” Priceless.
Was never a Moodies fan, and hated that song back in the day. It kind of grows on you as you get older, though - kind of like warts.
You'll like this one better.
The Universal Coward--Jan & Dean (1965)
My wife and I were in Provincetown, MA about thirty years ago, and we went to the Governor Bradford Restaurant for dinner and drinks. It is a pub style place, occasionally with live entertainment and such.
We were sitting at a high table, and there was an older couple milling about because there were no seats, and I think we asked them if they wanted to sit down with us and share our table (I don’t remember exactly how, but I suspect this is how we came to be sitting at the table with them)
Anyway, they sat down, and somehow we started playing Trivial Pursuit, and we were having a lot of fun. He had a heavy British accent, and she was animated, and we were feeling the socially lubricating effects of our drinks.
At some point, we began just chit-chatting, and he said he was a musician, and played the drums.
We were with them for an hour or so, and had not even introduced ourselves to each other. As we got up to leave, I offered my hand and told him my name, and he said “Graeme Edge”. The name stuck in both of our brains, not because we thought he was a musician, but because he was pretty bushy and very animated with that heavy British accent and wide eyes with humor when he was amazed or trying to be funny, and we laughed a lot with them. Americans are often suckers for British accents!
Anyway, his name didn’t register with me at all even though we remembered it for years and would occasionally talk about how much fun we had at that table in the Governor Bradford with a couple of strangers that night.
Like many people, though I enjoyed the music of The Moody Blues, I couldn’t have named a member of the band. It was only until some time a few years later when we were talking about that night, that I looked up the guy’s name and saw a picture of him, realized he was the drummer for The Moody Blues.
So did Emerson, Lake, and Palmer for a while. Remember “Piano Concerto Number One by Keith Emerson”?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3JEaXQ18kA&ab_channel=ShoutFactoryMusic
Of course, one of the greatest fusions of classical and rock is one of Rush Limbaugh’s favorite bands, Mannheim Steamroller. Check out Fresh Aire and Fresh Aire 2.
They spent the night in white satin (as in sheets)
Not to mention one of the worst lyrics, I Am, I Said (Neil Diamond.)
I am, I said
To no one there
And no one heard at all,
Not even the chair
I liked the line about the old men playing checkers by the trees. That probably doesn't happen much anymore. It's no longer safe for senior citizens to play checkers in the park as the Westlake neighborhood has become infested with crime and homelessness. Langer's Delicatessen, a fixture in the area since 1947 that's across the street from MacArthur Park, has threatened to close its doors, thanks to the deteriorating environment.
Douglas MacArthur, who was one of our greatest generals.
Tehre’s a town in upstate New York called Vestal. Too bad they don’t call their teams the Virgins.
Herman’s Hermits?
Yes
Love the entire album.
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