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.
According to MacArthur.
If only I had some tales like that. I mean I have some, but they’re not as good.
Emerson, Lake, Palmer, and a whole bunch of violinists, flutists, and trumpists.
MacArthur performed miracles in occupying Japan.
While on my Youngster Cruise in 1973 aboard the LPD USS CORONADO, on our last night at sea before arriving back to Norfolk at the end of the cruise, the Captain gave permission for the crew to have a night-out on the flight deck. The Chiefs brought out their stereo set from their lounge/mess area and members of the crew brought out whatever albums they had. One of them must have been a Moody Blues fan because several of their albums were played that night.
I heard "Days of Future Passed", "Seventh Sojourn", "Every Good Boy Deserves Favor", "In Search of the Lost Chord", "A Question of Balance", and "To Our Children's Children's Children" for the first time that night, lying on my back on a blackened flight deck, the ship swaying gently back and forth in the waves, far out at sea with nothing but a brilliant river of stars above me. The two songs that I remember the most that night were "Nights in White Satin" and "For My Lady" ... the former because of the lyrics while looking up at the stars, and the latter because it sounded so much like a sea chanty ballad.
I'll never forget that night, and I've been a Moody Blues fan(atic) ever since ...
I think the most detestable lyric is part of “a horse with no name“ by America:
—-
“ In the desert, you can’t remember your name,
‘Cause there ain’t no one for to give you no pain.”
——
For me, it is the lyrical equivalent of fingernails on the chalkboard.
That brings up a story.
I moved a house of 30 years, sold it year and half ago, moved full time to a lake house. Went thru a *lot* of stuff.
Came across a little clay jewelry keeper, something you might keep on a vanity. It had been my mother’s, she had passed in 2019, and we hadn’t noticed this then, but on the back were the words “Made in Occupied Japan.” I’m sure my Dad had gotten it for Mom when he was in Korea for a year with the U.S. Army c. 1963. He was probably in Japan on leave for a short time.
So I took a picture and messaged it to a friend who is a former state house rep in GA, who is political advisor to the Japanese business community in GA. He is always meeting with the Japanese consul and the people he’s meeting with, that sort of thing. Well, apparently he got the pic of that when he was having lunch with a bunch of Japanese businessmen, he shared it around, they thought it quite funny and historically interesting, it was quite the conversation starter.
Makes sense and sounds wonderful.
Yep.... I remember them from way back when I was stationed in England and Germany in the early 70s. But I think their 1992 Red Rock Canyon concert with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra was outstanding. Timeless....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXXfgWmVAgw
Tuesday afternoon. Such a dreamy song it makes me want to sleep until Wednesday.
When we’re traveling we listen to oldies stations or old rock and roll stations. One of us can tell within the first 3-4 notes of a song intro the name of the song and who did it. Try that with today’s music.
Occupied Japan was how they labeled them for about 7 years after the war, I have some little table something from that era, my dad fought them but wasn’t part of the occupation.
Another oldie I’d liked but got a new refresher from is Blue Oyster Cult’s “Don’t Fear the Reaper.”
During one season of “Orange is the New Black” a character who’d escaped got the opportunity to run over one of her antagonists when escaping. They played “Reaper” while she was driving and accidentally came upon that person and ran them over. It was a pretty cool sequence as I recall. It just seemed to me at the time it was kinda Moody-esque with a dark side. :0)
That Moody Blues album is one of the best albums there is for a nice romantic “interlude”.
Please explain. MacArthur was one of America's greatest generals, and he is revered by veterans.
Amazing how things change in one generation. 8 track, cassette, FM radio is now appleplay, android play, spotify, pandora, sirius
IIRC Nights In White Satin, had a resurge in popularity in the early 70s. I didn’t recall ever hearing it until then.
The story of the album is actually pretty hilarious. So the Moodys were a so-so blues band who did mostly covers and their first album did no business. Then they changed some members and decided on a new direction. They went to the label to request some studio time to make a new album. Meanwhile their label had built a new studio in London in which they thought they might have finally solved the problem of recording orchestras in stereo, and knowing that some members of the band had gone to the Royal College of Music and therefore must know a bit about classical they asked the band to shake down the studio and make a demo LP mixing some rock covers and orchestral. Something they could send out to producers as advertising their new studio. And they’d count it to the record count in the band’s contract (a bad sign).
By luck that was kinda similar to the direction the band wanted to go. Except all their own music, but the mix of orchestral and rock was their goal. So on their way to London they decided to kinda screw the record company and made the album they wanted to. It was completely screwing them of course then they’d be doing the orchestral and rock and make it sound really good. But not exactly what the label asked for. 6 months later (breaking in studios is a pain) they emerged with these master tapes went to the label’s offices and said “here it is”. The record company was a little miffed that the band didn’t do what they were told, but they admitted it sounded really good, and by the time they heard Tuesday Afternoon and Nights they figured it might even have some hits. And they released it as a real album, and the Moody Blues became the Moody Blues, and the new studio was quite popular for a while because they actually had solved the stereo orchestra problem.
Looks like someone forgot to close their italians
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