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.

I don't think you know me (The Monkees) (LP 4426 - 4432)

The Monkees  Live 1967 (Vinyl, Rhino Records, 1987) *** 

The Monkees  Live in Japan 1968 (Vinyl, R&B Records, ?) ****  

The Monkees  Live! Summer Tour (2CD and DVD Grey Scale Records, 2001) ****  

The Monkees  Missing Links (Vinyl, Rhino Records, 1987) ***  

The Monkees  The Monkees Greatest Hits (Vinyl, EMI Records, 1977) ****  

The Monkees  The Definitive Monkees (CD, WEA Records, 2001) *****  

The Monkees  Good Times! (CD, Rhino Records, 2016) ***  

Genre: Pop 

Places I remember: JB Hi Fi, Vinyl Countdown

Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: Mary Mary (Live 1967)

Gear costume: I Was There (and I'm told I had a good time) (Good Times!)

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 live albums are interesting, but not crucial. Live 1967 is compiled from shows in Seattle, Portland and Spokane on their 1967 United States tour. The sound is pretty good for 1967. 

The screaming girls, the zany between song banter and the deep cuts are all there. I could live without Your Auntie Grizelda, it must be said, but Mary Mary is terrific.

Live in Japan 1968 continues with the screaming Japanese girls. The Monkees zap through their hits and even find a spot for Peter Percival Patterson's Pet Pig Porky!

They sound like a sixties garage band or even punkish on both of these live albums. It's crude, but effective.

The Missing Links album has some tasty outtakes and rarities. The bulk of the material is from 1968 and the sessions that produced The Birds, the Bees & The Monkees. 

The best songs are all Mike Nesmith songs. Nine Times Blue is a gem, but the others - Of You (although not written by him) and Carlisle Wheeling are also excellent songs. Mike later re-recorded Nine Times Blue for his Magnetic South album and Carlisle Wheeling (as Conversations) for his Loose Salute album.

The two compilations - the seventies single album Greatest Hits is good - all the biggest hits are there in 11 songs, but the Definitive Monkees set has 29 songs that range from the debut album until the late eighties album Pool It! so it's a lot more representative. That means all the hits and the best album tracks are on one album.

Unfortunately, my copy is without the bonus disc of over 30 rare Monkees songs.

In many ways the singles/hits only tell one story of this seminal sixties band. You really need the albums, particularly The Monkees (the debut), Head, Pisces etc.

The final album in my collection is Good Times! released in 2016 to commemorate their 50th anniversary. It was their first album without Davy, who passed away in 2012, although the surviving threesome included Davy posthumously.

It's way better than anyone had the right to expect from some aging rock stars of the sixties. The album contains a bunch of songs that continue the joyousness of The Monkees signature pop sound. It stands as a fitting tribute to Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith who passed away in 2019 and 2021 respectively.

Micky continues to be the voice of the band - indeed in 2026 he's still touring and having just had his 81st birthday he's clearly doing it because he loves it. 

Micky captures the reunion and farewell spirit on Good Times! with the final song - I Was There (And I'm Told I Had a Good Time). As AllMusic noted - 'he looks at the past not with sad reverence but with a smile, happy that he was there and happy to be able to sing about it still, and that's the vibe of Good Times!: it was a blast to live it then and it's a blast to relive those times too'. There are plenty of other highlights on the album, but I especially love Me and Magdelana.

Late inclusion: I forgot I had the Live! Summer Tour package in with my DVDs. It's from the 20th Anniversary Reunion tour and this set was from a concert in Anaheim, California in 2001. Micky, Peter and Davy (no Mike) go through their hits with enough fun and gusto that it makes for a very pleasant nostalgic experience.

As a final note - I'm so glad I saw Micky and Mike Nesmith with my two mates when they toured New Zealand a few years ago. It was a special night that will always be there in the memory banks.

Where do they all belong? I'm still missing a few albums from this post sixties era: Changes (1970); Pool It! (1987);   Justus (1996). I'm also missing Missing Links Vol 2 and Vol 3.