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Higher And Higher (The Moody Blues Song)
"Higher and Higher" is the opening track of the Moody Blues 1969 album ''To Our Children's Children's Children'', a concept album about space travel. The verses of the song are spoken by Mike Pinder, rather than sung. Sound effects of a rocket launching begin the song and last for the first minute. "Higher and Higher" was also the Moody Blues' first full length song that was written by the band's drummer Graeme Edge. Edge was usually the writer of short spoken-word interludes that appeared at the beginning and end of previous albums. In the recordings, they were usually recited by Mike Pinder. The album was one of those listened to, on cassette tape, by the crew of Apollo 15 in 1971. Personnel * Mike Pinder – Mellotron, Hammond Organ, EMS VCS 3, vocals * Justin Hayward – acoustic and electric guitars, backing vocals * John Lodge – bass guitar, backing vocals * Ray Thomas – tambourine, backing vocals * Graeme Edge Graeme Charles Edge (30 March 1941 – 11 N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Moody Blues
The Moody Blues were an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1964, initially consisting of keyboardist Mike Pinder, multi-instrumentalist Ray Thomas, guitarist Denny Laine, drummer Graeme Edge and bassist Clint Warwick. The group came to prominence playing rhythm and blues. They made some changes in musicians but settled on a line-up of Pinder, Thomas, Edge, guitarist Justin Hayward and bassist John Lodge, who stayed together for most of the band's "classic era" into the early 1970s. Edge was the group’s sole continuous member throughout their entire history. Their second album, ''Days of Future Passed'', which was released in 1967, was a fusion of rock with classical music which established the band as pioneers in the development of art rock and progressive rock. It has been described as a "landmark" and "one of the first successful concept albums". The group toured extensively through the early 1970s, then took an extended hiatus from 1974 until 1977. Founder Mike Pi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Apollo 15
Apollo 15 (July 26August 7, 1971) was the ninth crewed mission in the United States' Apollo program and the fourth to Moon landing, land on the Moon. It was the first List of Apollo missions#Alphabetical mission types, J mission, with a longer stay on the Moon and a greater focus on science than earlier landings. Apollo 15 saw the first use of the Lunar Roving Vehicle. The mission began on July 26 and ended on August 7, with the lunar surface exploration taking place between July 30 and August 2. Apollo Commander, Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin landed near Hadley–Apennine#Rima Hadley, Hadley Rille and explored the local area using the rover, allowing them to travel further from the Apollo Lunar Module, lunar module than had been possible on previous missions. They spent 18 hours on the Moon's surface on four extravehicular activities (EVA), and collected of surface material. At the same time, Command Module Pilot Alfred Worden orbited the Moo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1969 Songs
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants. * January 14 – An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS ''Enterprise'' near Hawaii kills 27 and injures 314. * January 19 – End of the siege of the University of Tokyo, marking the beginning of the end for the 1968–69 Japanese university protests. * January 20 – Richard Nixon is sworn in as the 37th President of the United States. * January 22 – An assassination attempt is carried out on Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev by deserter Viktor Ilyin. One person is killed, several are injured. Brezhnev escaped unharmed. * January 27 ** Fourteen men, 9 of them Jews, are executed in Baghdad for spying for Israel. ** Revere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Thomas
Raymond Thomas (29 December 1941 – 4 January 2018) was an English multi-instrumentalist, flautist, singer, founding member and composer in the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. His flute solo on the band's 1967 hit single "Nights in White Satin" is regarded as one of progressive rock's defining moments. In 2018, he was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues. Career Early years Thomas was born at an emergency maternity unit set up during the Second World War in Lickhill Manor, Stourport-on-Severn, Worcestershire, England. His father's family was from the southwest corner of Wales. His grandfather was a Welsh miner and went on to become a carpenter and a wood-carver, at one stage working on the church where Thomas later got married. His father taught him at the age of nine to play harmonica, and this sparked his interest in music. He joined the school choir a year later. He quit schooling at the age of 14, and bri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Lodge (musician)
John Charles Lodge (born 20 July 1945) is an English musician, best known as bass guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter of the longstanding rock band the Moody Blues. He has also worked as a record producer and has collaborated with other musicians outside the band. In 2018, Lodge was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues. Biography Early years John Charles Lodge was born in Erdington, Birmingham on 20 July 1945. He attended school at Birches Green Junior School, Central Grammar School and later went to college at the Birmingham College of Advanced Technology for engineering. His early influences were musicians like Buddy Holly and Jerry Lee Lewis. By age 14, Lodge had met future bandmate Ray Thomas. Career Lodge was initially involved in the Birmingham music scene, although he temporarily dropped out to continue his studies. In 1966, however, after the Moody Blues' original bassist Clint Warwick had left the band, Lodge succeeded the tempor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Justin Hayward
David Justin Hayward (born 14 October 1946) is an English musician best known as the lead singer, songwriter and guitarist of the rock band the Moody Blues. Hayward became the group's principal lead guitarist and vocalist over the 1967–1974 period, and the most prolific songwriter and composer of several international hit singles for the band. Hayward wrote singles for the Moody Blues including " Nights in White Satin", " Tuesday Afternoon", " Voices in the Sky", "Never Comes the Day", "Question", "The Story in Your Eyes", "Driftwood", "The Voice", " Blue World", "Your Wildest Dreams", "I Know You're Out There Somewhere" and "English Sunset"; in all, writing 20 of the group's 27 post-1967 singles. He also has a solo career. His first album outside the Moody Blues, '' Blue Jays'', a collaboration with John Lodge, reached the UK top five in 1975. The single "Blue Guitar", recorded with 10cc as the backing band, reached the UK top ten in 1975, and his 1978 recording of " Forev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
EMS VCS 3
The VCS 3 (or VCS3; an initialism for ''Voltage Controlled Studio, version #3'') is a portable analog synthesizer with a flexible modular voice architecture introduced by Electronic Music Studios (London) Limited (EMS) in 1969. EMS released the product under various names. Logos printed at the console's front left (see photos) say "V.C.S. 3" on the most widely sold version; "The Putney (VCS 3)" on the earlier version; and "The Synthi (VCS 3) II" on the later version (Synthi VCS 3 II). History The VCS 3 was created in 1969 by Peter Zinovieff's EMS company. The electronics were designed largely by David Cockerell, and its distinctive appearance was the work of electronic composer Tristram Cary. It was one of the first ''portable'' commercially available synthesizers, in the sense that it was housed entirely in a small wooden case, unlike synths from American manufacturers such as Moog Music, ARP and Buchla, which had large cabinets and could take up ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hammond Organ
The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated sound by creating an electric current from rotating a metal tonewheel near an electromagnetic pickup, and then strengthening the signal with an amplifier to drive a speaker cabinet. The organ is commonly used with the Leslie speaker. Around two million Hammond organs have been manufactured. The organ was originally marketed by the Hammond Organ Company to churches as a lower-cost alternative to the wind-driven pipe organ, or instead of a piano. It quickly became popular with professional jazz musicians in organ trios—small groups centered on the Hammond organ. Jazz club owners found that organ trios were cheaper than hiring a big band. Jimmy Smith's use of the Hammond B-3, with its additional harmonic percussion feature, inspired a g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which pushes a length of magnetic tape against a capstan, which pulls it across a playback head. As the key is released, the tape is retracted by a spring to its initial position. Different portions of the tape can be played to access different sounds. The Mellotron evolved from the similar Chamberlin, but could be mass-produced more efficiently. The first models were designed for the home and contained a variety of sounds, including automatic accompaniments. Bandleader Eric Robinson and television personality David Nixon helped promote the first instruments, and celebrities such as Princess Margaret were early adopters. It was adopted by rock and pop groups in the mid to late 1960s. One of the first pop songs featuring the Mellotron was Manfred Mann's " Semi-Detached, Suburban Mr. James" (1966). The Beatles used it on tracks includ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette or Musicassette (MC), also commonly called the tape cassette, cassette tape, audio cassette, or simply tape or cassette, is an analog magnetic tape recording format for audio recording and playback. Invented by Lou Ottens and his team at the Dutch company Philips in 1963, Compact Cassettes come in two forms, either already containing content as a prerecorded cassette (''Musicassette''), or as a fully recordable "blank" cassette. Both forms have two sides and are reversible by the user. Although other tape cassette formats have also existed - for example the Microcassette - the generic term ''cassette tape'' is normally always used to refer to the Compact Cassette because of its ubiquity. Its uses have ranged from portable audio to home recording to data storage for early microcomputers; the Compact Cassette technology was originally designed for dictation machines, but improvements in fidelity led to it supplanting the stereo 8-track cartridge and reel ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
To Our Children's Children's Children
''To Our Children's Children's Children'' is the fifth album by the Moody Blues, released in November 1969. " Watching and Waiting" was released as a single to promote the album, but sold poorly. On the other hand, " Gypsy (Of a Strange and Distant Time)" became a fan and album oriented rock radio favourite, despite never being released as a single, and remained in the band's concert setlist through the 1970s. Background The album was the first released on the group's newly formed Threshold record label, which was named after the band's previous album from the same year, ''On the Threshold of a Dream''. It was inspired by the 1969 moon landing. In the opening track, " Higher and Higher", sound effects of a rocket launching begin the song and last for the first minute. Release While the extracted single, " Watching and Waiting," did not do well in that market, ''To Our Children's Children's Children'' was critically well-received and sold well, reaching number 2 in the UK alb ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mike Pinder
Michael Thomas Pinder (born 27 December 1941) is an English rock musician, and is a founding member and original keyboard player of the British rock group the Moody Blues. He left the group following the recording of the band's ninth album ''Octave (album), Octave'' in 1978. He is especially noted for his technological contribution to music. In 2018, Pinder was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Moody Blues. The Moody Blues Early years Pinder was born in Erdington, Birmingham. With Thomas and members of other successful Birmingham bands (singer/guitarist Denny Laine, singer/bassist Clint Warwick and drummer Graeme Edge) formed The Moody Blues in 1964. Their initial Single (music), single, "Steal Your Heart Away" on Decca Records, Decca, failed to chart. Their second release, "Go Now" however became UK No.1 in January 1965. The band went on to have a further UK hit with "I Don't Want To Go On Without You" and then release their first album ''The Ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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