John Charles Lodge (born 20 July 1945) is an English musician, best known as bass guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter of the longstanding

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

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 Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

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 Charles Hardin Holley (September 7, 1936 – February 3, 1959), known as Buddy Holly, was an American singer and songwriter who was a central and pioneering figure of mid-1950s rock and roll. He was born to a musical family in Lubbock, Texas ...

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 Clint Warwick (born Albert Eccles; 25 June 1940 – 15 May 2004) was an English musician known as the original bassist for the rock band the Moody Blues. Life and career Warwick was born in Aston, Birmingham, England. He was drawn to music du ...

had left the band, Lodge succeeded the temporary substitute bassist Rod Clarke as the permanent bassist and vocalist, rejoining Ray Thomas during the same period as the band recruited guitarist/vocalist Justin Hayward to replace

Denny Laine Denny Laine (born Brian Frederick Hines, 29 October 1944) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter, known as a founder of two major rock bands: the Moody Blues, with whom he played from 1964 to 1966, and Wings, with whom he played from 1 ...

. Lodge's distinctive falsetto ranged from a high harmonious voice and his solid lead vocals were a major asset to the revised Moody Blues from this point on. Lodge's prolific

songwriting A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

for the Moody Blues has created such songs as "

Peak Hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...

", " (Evening) Time to Get Away", "Gimme a Little Somethin'", "

Ride My See-Saw __NOTOC__ "Ride My See-Saw" is a 1968 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was written by the band's bassist John Lodge, and was first released on the Moody Blues' 1968 album ''In Search of the Lost Chord''. It was the s ...

", "

House of Four Doors A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condit ...

", " Eyes of a Child", "

Send Me No Wine ''On the Threshold of a Dream'' is the fourth album by The Moody Blues, released in April 1969 on the Deram label. Content The album begins with a poem accompanied by electronic sounds, and these sounds also appear at the close of the album ...

", "

To Share Our Love ''On the Threshold of a Dream'' is the fourth album by The Moody Blues, released in April 1969 on the Deram label. Content The album begins with a poem accompanied by electronic sounds, and these sounds also appear at the close of the album ...

", "

Candle of Life "Candle of Life" is a song by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues, from their album ''To Our Children's Children's Children'', a concept album about space travel. "Candle of Life" was written by bassist John Lodge, and features both Lodg ...

", "Tortoise and the Hare", "Minstrel's Song", "Emily's Song", " Isn't Life Strange" (which earned Lodge an

ASCAP The American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) () is an American not-for-profit performance-rights organization (PRO) that collectively licenses the public performance rights of its members' musical works to venues, broadca ...

songwriting award), " I'm Just a Singer" (which also won him an ASCAP songwriting award), "

Steppin' in a Slide Zone "Steppin' in a Slide Zone" is a 1978 single by the English progressive rock band the Moody Blues. It was the first single the Moody Blues had released in five years, after the band's temporary hiatus. It was written by bassist John Lodge, and was ...

","Survival", " Talking Out of Turn", "Nervous", " Sitting at the Wheel","Hole in the World", "Under My Feet", "It May Be a Fire", "Rock 'n' Roll Over You", "Love is on the Run", "Here Comes the Weekend", "Lean on Me (Tonight)", "Shadows on the Wall", "Magic","Wherever You Are", "Love Don't Come Easy", "Words You Say", "Forever Now", "On This Christmas Day","The Spirit of Christmas", and "

Gemini Dream "Gemini Dream" is a 1981 single by the progressive rock band The Moody Blues. It reached number 12 on the US Hot 100, as well as number 1 on the Canada ''RPM'' Top 100 Singles chart. It is ranked as the 28th biggest Canadian hit of 1981. Histo ...

" — the latter being a co-composition with Justin Hayward that won them jointly an ASCAP songwriting award. ''

Bass Player A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low br ...

'' magazine noted that Lodge was voted as one of the top ten bass players of all time. Lodge co-wrote "

Out and In "Out and In" is a 1969 song by the progressive rock band the Moody Blues, from their album ''To Our Children's Children's Children'', a concept album about space travel. Prior to its release on ''To Our Children's Children's Children'', "Out and ...

" with Mike Pinder, recorded on '' To Our Children's Children's Children'' in 1969. He also collaborated with fellow Moody Blues member Justin Hayward on the 1975 album '' Blue Jays'' released on Threshold Records, which in addition to Hayward's compositions included three songs written by Lodge; "Maybe", "Saved by the Music" and "You", together with two tracks co-written by Lodge & Hayward; "Remember Me (My Friend)" and "When You Wake Up", and later, Lodge released a solo album, '' Natural Avenue'', on

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in We ...

in 1977, from which the single, "Say You Love Me" was issued. During the 1970s, he produced music for the band Trapeze. In 1980, Lodge released a non-album solo single "Street Cafe" b/w "Threw It All Away" on

. This single featured Moody Blues keyboardist Patrick Moraz, who had joined the group two years earlier, replacing Pinder. Since 1981, Lodge has co-written songs for the band with Justin Hayward, such as: "Meet Me Halfway", "Talkin' Talkin'", "Running Out of Love", "Slings and Arrows", "Want to Be with You", "River of Endless Love", "Breaking Point", "Miracle", "Once Is Enough", "Highway", "Is This Heaven?", "Sooner or Later (Walking on Air)", "Strange Times", and "The One", and from ''December'', "In the Quiet of Christmas Morning (Bach 147)" amongst others. In 1985, the Moody Blues picked up the Ivor Novello Award for Outstanding Contribution to Music. Lodge participated in the 2011 bluegrass tribute album to the Moody Blues, ''

Moody Bluegrass Moody Bluegrass is a bluegrass music project that produced two tribute albums to the British progressive rock band the Moody Blues. The albums consist of bluegrass-style cover versions of Moody Blues songs performed by a variety of noted bluegra ...

TWO...Much Love'', as lead vocal his song "Send Me No Wine". Lodge joined other current and past members of the Moody Blues on this album. Two of Lodge's Moody Blues compositions, "Ride My See-Saw" and "I'm Just a Singer (In a Rock and Roll Band)" are featured on an earlier tribute album, ''

: A Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues'', released in 2004. In May 2015 John released a solo album titled '' 10,000 Light Years Ago'', which reunited him with Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder. He toured behind the album in 2017 & 2018. In February 2019, Lodge took his solo band onto the ‘Cruise to the Edge’ sailing out of Florida. Lodge and

Jon Davison Jon Davison (born January 16, 1971) is an American singer, musician and songwriter who has been the lead vocalist of progressive rock band Yes since 2012. He is also known as the former lead singer of progressive rock band Glass Hammer from 2 ...

of Yes became friends on board when Davison began dating his daughter Emily. Davison has since toured with John as ‘guest vocalist’ On 2 April 2019, it was announced that Lodge would join Yes on "The Royal Affair Tour" in the summer of 2019 which will also include

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

and

Carl Palmer Carl Frederick Kendall Palmer (born 20 March 1950) is an English drummer best known as founding member and the last surviving member of the progressive rock supergroup Emerson, Lake & Palmer. He was also a founding member of progressive rock s ...

's ELP Legacy. In September 2019, Lodge was given the 'Lifetime Achievement Award' at the Annual Prog Awards by Prog (magazine) in London. In February 2020, Lodge appeared on ‘Rock and Romance Cruise’ alongside

Don Felder Donald William Felder (born September 21, 1947) is an American musician who was the lead guitarist of the rock band Eagles from 1974 until his termination from the band in 2001. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998 with th ...

America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and other acts, before continuing on a 12 date tour.

again joined Lodge on stage. The tour ended on March 8th, just before the

COVID-19 lockdowns Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of non-pharmaceutical interventions colloquially known as lockdowns (encompassing stay-at-home orders, curfews, quarantines, and similar societal restrictions) have been implemented in numerous countri ...

began. During lockdown Lodge wrote and recorded in his home studio the song ‘In These Crazy Times’. Lodge recorded the track himself, and was joined by his son, Kristian, on lead guitar, his wife, Kirsten, on backing vocals, and

also provided backing vocals, whilst his daughter, Emily, managed the project.

Personal life

Lodge has been married to his wife, Kirsten, since 10 September 1968, and they are the parents of two grown children. Their first child, a daughter named Emily, was born in 1970; Lodge wrote "Emily's Song" for the 1971 Moody Blues album, '' Every Good Boy Deserves Favour''. His son Kristian was born two years later. Lodge has spoken on several occasions about being an

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual exper ...

Christian, and credits his faith with preventing him from sinking into the more dangerous elements of the rock music business. Lodge is a supporter of

Birmingham City F.C. Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first tea ...

He resides in Surrey.

Solo discography

Studio albums

*'' Blue Jays'' (1975) with Justin Hayward UK No. 4 *'' Natural Avenue'' (1977) *'' 10,000 Light Years Ago'' (2015)

Live albums

*''Live from Birmingham: The 10,000 Light Years Tour'' (2017) *''The Royal Affair and After'' (2021)

Compilation albums

*''B Yond - The Very Best of''

References

External links

John Lodge official site
* Allmusic {{DEFAULTSORT:Lodge, John 1945 births Living people English bass guitarists English male guitarists Male bass guitarists English rock bass guitarists Progressive rock bass guitarists English cellists English male singer-songwriters The Moody Blues members English record producers Alumni of Aston University English Christians English tenors Musicians from Birmingham, West Midlands British rhythm and blues boom musicians Ivor Novello Award winners Decca Records artists English rock guitarists