Flower king of flies (The Nice) (LP 4455 - 4459)

The Nice  The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack (Vinyl, Columbia Records, 1968) ****  

The Nice  Ars Longa Vita Brevis (Vinyl, Intermediate Records, 1968) **** 

The Nice  Nice (Vinyl, Intermediate Records, 1969) *****  

The Nice  Five Bridges (Vinyl, Mercury Records, 1970) **** 

The Nice  Elegy (Vinyl, Charisma Records, 1971) *****  

Genre: Prog rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, Chaldon Books and Records, Amoeba Music

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: War and Peace (The Thoughts...), Hang on to a Dream (Elegy)

Gear costume: Rondo (The Thoughts...)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Before Emerson Lake & Palmer there was The Nice. They were a progressive rock band with one foot in the pop charts as well. Which is probably why Andrew Loog Oldham signed them to his label - Immediate Records.

For their debut, the awkwardly titled The Thoughts of Emerlist Davjack, they were a foursome: Keith Emerson – keyboards;   Lee Jackson – bass, guitar, David O'List – guitar; Brian Davison – drums. 

It's a heady mix of quirky psychedelic pop with prog rock moves. The vocals are 'of their time' (i.e. psychedelic). Rondo became a signature song for Keith Emerson, and it appears on The Nice's debut.

Second album, Ars Longa Vita Brevis, sees the band continuing to explore new territory. Side one is a continuation of the debut's shorter songs and side 2 is a suite (the title song). David O'List is on the album but was fired during it, and the band opted to continue as a keyboard led trio.

The third album, Nice, was their final studio album - although side 2 featured live versions of Rondo and a Dylan cover. In many ways it's the bands best album before Emerson left to form another keyboard led power trio. It's a brilliant dose of rock combining psychedelic rock, jazz, and classical approaches.

Two further (mostly) live albums remain on my list. Both released as Emerson Lake & Palmer got underway. Five Bridges was released in 1970. Most of the album was recorded live in concert at Fairfield Halls, London, in 1969. The last track, One of Those People, is a studio recording. 

The Five Bridges Suite is made up of five-parts. The Nice perform with the Sinfonia of London in the concert. It's an excellent combination of prog rock and classical music. I think it's the equal of ELP's similar approach on Pictures at an Exhibition.

Keith is an amazing musical talent. He can skip into different styles in a heartbeat so what may seem classical becomes jazz and then back to rock in the same movement. Remarkable, and all clearly Keith Emerson in feel.

Elegy was their final album. It's another live album and a stunning record of The Nice at their peak. The version of Tim Hardin's Hang on to a Dream features Keith on piano and is amazing. The twelve minutes fly by in the hands of the master. The rest of the album shows what a terrific band The Nice were and it's an appropriate sign off to end their career. 

Where do they all belong? Eclipsed by ELP, The Nice are superb in their own right.

Sweet honey dripper (The Neville Brothers) (LP 4453 - 4454)

Neville Brothers  Fiyo on the Bayou (CD, A&M Records, 1981) ****  

The Neville Brothers  Family Groove (CD, A&M Records, 1981) ****  

Genre: Funk, soul, R&B

Places I remember: The Hope collection

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Fiyo on the Bayou

Gear costume: Let Me People Go (Family Groove)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: These are not albums I'd buy if left to my own devices. New Orleans style rock and soul has never been my go-to. That said, I'm happy to have these albums in my collection.

The Neville Brothers are pretty famous but I'm struggling to name any of the brothers apart from the honey-voiced Aaron, who had a successful solo career. Research tells me that the four brothers include Art, Cyril and Charles.

Fiyo on the Bayou was their second album and it's got that funky New Orleans combo of Cajun rock and reggae down. The title track is an instant classic with those massed Chamber Brothers style vocals to the fore.

Family Groove is a lot rockier by comparison but it still has that funky beat and the same distinctive Neville Brothers sound. As AllMusic sums up - All the usual Neville elements are here: Charles Neville on the saxophone, Cyril Neville on the drums, Art Neville on piano, and the inimitable voice of Aaron Neville.

Where do they all belong? That will do me for The Neville Brothers.

Pulled along by love (The Mutton Birds) (LP 4451 - 4452)

The Mutton Birds  Envy of Angels (CD, EMI Records, 1996) ****  

The Mutton Birds  Rain, Steam & Speed (CD, shhhh! Records, 1999) ****  

Genre: NZ Music, pop rock.

Places I remember: The Warehouse, JB Hi Fi

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Come Around (Envy of Angels)

Gear costume: April, She's Been Talking (Envy of Angels)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: I have only scratched the surface of The Muttom Birds by owning these two albums. Maybe weirdly, I have far more of Don McGlashan's other work, either with Front Lawn or solo. He's a singular NZ talent and I should get their other albums at some point.

The band on Envy of Angels (their third album) is made up of Don, Ross Burge (drums), Alan Gregg (bass), and David Long (guitar, keyboards). They recorded the album in Wales, as they had relocated to England just prior. Therefore, many of the songs deal with the sense of being away from home. Something I can relate to. It's an excellent album - not every song is a masterpiece, but it's close.

Rain, Steam & Speed was their fourth and final album (there are plenty of compilations out there). It's not as consistently strong as Envy of Angels but it is a cut above loads of other bands (NZ or otherwise).

Where do they all belong? As I said, I probably need those first two Mutton Bird albums.

The voyage (The Moody Blues) (LP 4446 - 4450)

The Moody Blues  Caught Live + Five (Vinyl, London Records, 1977) ****  

The Moody Blues  Live at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970 (CD and DVD, Eagle Records, 2008) ****  

The Moody Blues  Hall of Fame (CD, Threshold/ Universal Records, 2008) ****  

The Moody Blues  Live at the BBC 1967 -1970 (CD, BBC Records, 1996) ****  

The Moody Blues  Transmissions 1966 - 1968 (CD, MCPS Records, 2008) ****  

Genre: Prog rock

Places I remember: Chaldon Books and Records (Caught Live), JB Hi Fi, Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Gypsy (Isle of Wight)

Gear costume: Legend of a Mind (Isle of Wight)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: Caught Live + Five was released in 1977 but it is made up of three sides live in 1969 at the Royal Albert Hall and five previously unreleased songs from 1967-1968.

The live versions are pretty faithful to the studio ones, albeit delivered with a musclier sound. The vocal blend is also a terrific feature of their live work in the late sixties. Amazing, given the comparatively primitive on stage monitors they had to use back then.

The five previously unreleased songs (one from Lodge, one from Pinder and three from Hayward) all sit very comfortably in the Moodies soundscape.

The Isle of Wight Festival in 1970 is an obsession of mine (I collect anything I can find from it) and I was thrilled that The Moody Blues were in the line-up. They are ragged and magnificent during their set - all jagged guitars and Graeme Edge is on fire! 

They start with an amped up version of Gypsy and then deliver a tight, focused, energised set. Ray's Legend of a Mind is particularly effective in a live setting. On both of these first two live selections Mike Pinder's mellotron is a real star turn - delivering all those orchestral flourishes without an actual orchestra. 

Side note - the expanded CD version is the better bet as the DVD has less songs. Still great to have the visuals though.

The Hall of Fame set is again from The Royal Albert Hall in London, but recorded in 2000, so it's great to compare it to Caught Live + Five. This time they had a real orchestra to help out (Mike Pinder was long gone by 2000). The versions are delightful on this live set and having an orchestra onboard certainly suits them.

The compilations of their BBC and radio broadcasts are the subject of two double CDs: Transmissions 1966 - 1968 and Live at the BBC 1967 - 1970. There is some duplication along the way on these two sets but they both present a terrific alternative sound/look to their studio output from those years.

Where do they all belong? As well as the above, my collection has some groovy DVDs of live shows: The Lost Performance - Live in Paris '70; A Night at Red Rocks (with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra); and a nifty documentary - Legend of a Band.

The voice (The Moody Blues) (LP 4441 - 4445)

The Moody Blues  Long Distance Voyager (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1981) ****  

The Moody Blues  The Present (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1983) ***  

The Moody Blues  The Other Side of Life (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1986) ***  

The Moody Blues  Sur La Mer (Vinyl, Polydor Records, 1988) **  

The Moody Blues  Keys of the Kingdom (CD, Polydor Records, 1991) **  

Genre: Synth pop, prog rock

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Voice (Long Distance Voyager)

Gear costume: Gemini Dream (Long Distance Voyager), Your Wildest Dreams (The Other Side of Life)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: With Mike Pinder departing, the Moody Blues brought in keyboardist Patrick Moraz as a replacement. Patrick had been in Yes as a replacement for Rick Wakeman and now he was charged with the same duties in The Moody Blues. Sadly, that meant more synths, no mellotron. I am consoled by the fact that the synth presence is quite understated.

That still means the band sound more like Electric Light Orchestra than The Moody Blues at times (Gemini Dream) but overall Long Distance Voyager is a strong opening statement with The Voice a clear highlight on their first album of the eighties.

The Present was their eleventh album, and Patrick Moraz's second album as a Moodie. His synths are a little more intrusive than they were on Long Distance Voyager and while it has the usual Moody Blues' catchy melodies, it's lacking in pizzazz.

The Other Side of Life came three years after The Present, which came two years after Long Distance Voyager. The album was now on Polydor Records, rather than their own Threshold imprint. Given it's 1986, and Patrick Moraz is again involved (for the last time as it happened), the band was heavily reliant on synthesizers, sequencers and drum machines.  

Tony Visconti is in the producer role for this album, and he does a great job. I can even move past the synths because the songs are good, kicking off with Your Wildest Dreams - another Justin Hayward pearler.

Sur La Mer starts off again with a Justin Hayward pop song that has a catchy hook - I Know You're Out There Somewhere. It's the clear standout on a sub-par album.  That takes nothing away from Justin Hayward though, as he is a terrific musician and composer (I've already written about his solo albums here). 

Tony Visconti is again involved and so was Patrick Moraz, so that means so were those pesky eighties sounds - even more so on Sur La Mer. While the songs are still recognisable (just) as Moodies songs, the synth pop sound is a long way from their sixties'/ seventies' prog pomp. It's pretty telling that Ray Thomas does not appear on this album, although he hadn't left the band.

The final album on my list is Keys of the Kingdom from 1991. Ray is back, and so too is the pop sound without the synth pop of the previous two albums. That said, there were no hit songs off the album, and even Sur La Mer had one of those!

Where do they all belong? That's it for the studio albums. I am missing their last two albums - Strange Times (1999) and December (their Christmas album from 2003). So, live Moodies and a couple of compilations are next.

The balance (The Moody Blues) (LP 4438 - 4440)

The Moody Blues  A Question of Balance (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1970) ***  

The Moody Blues  Every Good Boy Deserves Favour (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1971) **** 

The Moody Blues  Seventh Sojourn (Vinyl and CD, Threshold Records, 1972) ***** 

The Moody Blues  Octave (Vinyl, Decca Records, 1978) *** 

Genre: Prog rock, pop 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: The Story in Your Eyes (Every Good Boy...)

Gear costume: Question (A Question of Balance), I'm Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band) (Seventh Sojourn)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: The seventies started with the beginning of a move away from the lush arrangements of the sixties. Instead the band wanted to produce more straightforward songs that they could perform live. The first album with this intention was 1970's A Question of Balance. It still has some of the sixties characteristics but it is more stripped back overall.

A Question of Balance is again themed though - with the first side raising questions and the second looking for balance. It kicks off with the mighty Question - easily the best song on the album, although John Lodge's Tortoise and the Hare and Ray Thomas' And the Tide Rushes In are awesome as well. 

Every Good Boy Deserves Favour carries on the idea that the band's songs reflected the need to be easily transferable to a live setting. The Story in Your Eyes is a superb example - a real rocker from Justin Hayward. This time there was no unifying theme.

The album highlights all of the band's strengths: the mellotron sound, Justin's guitar, the inventive drumming from Graeme Edge, the melodic bass from John Lodge, catchy songs, strong vocal harmonies, the variety of voices and approaches by all five members - a gifted bunch of songwriters.

Seventh Sojourn was their eighth album overall, but seventh if you don't count The Magnificent Moodies album - the one pre Hayward/Lodge. It was actually the first album I bought by The Moody Blues while on a family holiday in Sydney, Australia. I've written about it before here, so I won't add this to the tally).

The band fell apart after Seventh Sojourn but regrouped with Octave, ironically in 1978, amidst the disco and punk wars. Steppin' in a Slide Zone was a reasonable song and a minor hit. Mike Pinder has a minimal presence on Octave, and he would quit the band during its recording. He brought a lot to the band - his distinctive vocals, keyboards (organ, piano and mellotron certainly, not the synths though) and songs and he would be missed! 

Octave doesn't hit the heights of the previous two albums, but it still sounds like The Moodies and has some spirited tracks, plus the gorgeous Driftwood.

Where do they all belong? The eighties are next...deep breath.

Fly me high (The Moody Blues) (LP 4433 - 4437)

The Moody Blues  A Dream  (Vinyl, Nova Records, 1976) ***  

The Moody Blues  Days of Future Passed (Vinyl and CD, Deram Records, 1967) ****  

The Moody Blues  In Search of the Lost Chord (Vinyl, Deram Records, 1968) ****  

The Moody Blues  On the Threshold of a Dream (Vinyl, Deram Records, 1969) ****  

The Moody Blues  To Our Children's Children's Children  (Vinyl, Threshold Records, 1969) ****  

Genre: Prog rock, pop 

Places I remember: Real Groovy Records, 

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Ride My See-Saw (In Search of the Lost Chord)

Gear costume: Legend of a Mind (In Search of the Lost Chord)

They loom large in his legend (The Album Collection playlists): Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Part 6; Part 7

Active compensatory factors: I tend to think of the Moodies catalogue like I do Coronation Street, or The Beatles. As in: there was life before Nights in White Satin (substitute Corrie or The Fabs), but it wasn't up to much. This first post will take in the sixties albums by The Moody Blues.

A Dream is a compilation - a double album no less, that (according to the cover) selects songs 'from several singles, EP's and compilation-LP's. We hope that we have found them all, the nuggets of the pre-'Nights In White Satin'-time'.

That means it has all of their 1965 debut album - The Magnificent Moodies, plus more in that same style from 1965 to 1967. The band at this point was made up of  Denny Laine (guitar/ vocals), Clint Warwick (bass/ vocals), Mike Pinder (keyboards/ vocals), Ray Thomas (flute/ harmonica/ percussion/ vocals) and Graeme Edge (drums). Lead vocals were shared by Laine, Pinder and Thomas.

There were some original songs amid the covers of songs by artist like James Brown and Willie Dixon, but the set is dominated by the chart success of Go Now, sung by Denny Laine. Their single From the Bottom of My Heart is also a worthy inclusion on A Dream.

After 1967's Love and Beauty single (included on A Dream), The Moody Blues replaced Laine and Warwick with two new members - Justin Hayward (guitar/ vocals) and John Lodge (bass/ vocals).

I guess the original band thought they'd exhausted the R&B possibilities and decided to take a leap of faith into orchestral rock. Justin and John certainly helped to move the band in that direction - as well as Mike Pinder's innovative use of a mellotron. Together with abandoning songs from the American deep south that they couldn't relate to and writing their own songs, it was a vastly different band to the old Denny Laine version that created their second album.

Days of Future Past holds up in 2026 (and will do beyond the now). The year of Sgt Pepper was responsible for a revolution in sound and The Moody Blues made a great contribution. Obviously there is Nights in White Satin but I would go for Tuesday Afternoon as the album's best song.

It was really on album number three that the band sound coalesced in a convincing way, so in many ways Days of Future Past was like The Magnificent Moodies - a stand-alone album. With In Search for the Lost Chord, the band found their distinctive sound.

Days of Future Past had a definite concept - the tracing of a day from dawn until nighttime. In Search of the Lost Chord also had a concept but a much deeper and richer one around the theme of quest and discovery, including both world exploration and the inner self. Very sixties. It also had another classic Moody Blues song - Ride My See-Saw. Legend of a Mind and Voices in the Sky are other highlights on the album.

On the Threshold of a Dream was their fourth album. Its concept centres around the feeling that, thanks to psychedelic stimulation and the late sixties Woodstock generation, mankind was on the brink of a new consciousness - that a new enlightened age was dawning.

Sadly, it proved a false dawn (look at the world and its leaders in 2026 - complete absence of enlightenment there) but it made for an interesting concept for this group of songs.

Their final album of the sixties was To Our Children's Children's Children, also of 1969. These guys really loved the studio! The theme for this one was about space travel, specifically to the moon. which happened around the time of the recording sessions, and the impact of time passing by.

It was the last of their big lush productions. Two highlights: Gypsy and Watching and Waiting.

Where do they all belong? Next up - the seventies albums.