William's Song a Day Blog - est. September 2007

From: Days of Future Passed ; Year: 1967; Genre: Progressive Rock/Symphonic Rock Whilst driving around this morning I had this song come on and it has stuck in my brain ever since, which is certainly not expected from genres such as from this record. I believe that I have stated before that the 'Moodies were my "gateway drug" into all music progressive and I've never wavered in my love of the band. It is kind of superficial to say with all of the amazing and beautiful songs on the record, but this is one of the prettiest, especially with the orchestral accompaniment, which I believe was actually Mike Pinder overdubbing all of the "instruments" played on the Mellotron , but there was a proper orchestra on the record as well, mostly in the interludes. Pinder's Mellotron was one of the main cornerstones for the band's emerging sound and those contributions really show why Days of Future Passed and their subsequent songs are such landmarks in studio reco...

From: Among the Stars ; Year: 1994; Genre: Psychedelic Rock/Progressive Rock Last night I learned of the passing of original keyboardist/mellotronist/vocalist... just about any instrumentalist, etc, Mike Pinder. In the last few years a lot of the 'Moody's have been passing; of "the core," I believe, Justin Heyward, John Lodge, and Patrick Moraz are the only surviving members. He played with the Moody Blues from their inception through to their 1978 Octave record and was subsequently replaced by Patrick Moraz. Anyway, Mike Pinder released a few solo albums, including this one back in the mid 1990s, which this is the title-track. Whilst I absolutely love his material and work with the Moody Blues, Among the Stars I thought would be a very apropos track to mark his passing.   Hear Among the Stars on YouTube.       My song pick 1 year ago today: War - All Day Music   My song pick 2 years ago today: Earth, Wind & Fire - Side By Side   My song pick 3 yea...