"Gemini Dream" is a 1981 single by the

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. In ...

band

The Moody Blues The Moody Blues were an English rock music, 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 g ...

. It reached number 12 on the

US Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

, as well as number 1 on the Canada ''RPM'' Top 100 Singles chart. It is ranked as the 28th biggest Canadian hit of 1981.

History

The song was the first of three singles released from the Moody Blues’ 1981 album ''

Long Distance Voyager ''Long Distance Voyager'' is the tenth album by the Moody Blues, first released in May 1981 on the group's Threshold record label. It was the group's first album featuring keyboardist Patrick Moraz (who previously had worked with bands such as ...

'', which also included "Painted Smile", another track from the album, on the B-side. Two more songs from ''Long Distance Voyager'', "

The Voice The Voice may refer to: Fictional entities * The Voice or Presence, a fictional representation of God in DC Comics * The Voice (''Dune''), a fictional ability in the ''Dune'' universe * The Voice, a character in the American TV series ''Cleo ...

" and " Talking Out of Turn", were subsequently released as singles after the album's release. "Gemini Dream" was written jointly by the band's lead guitarist

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 ...

and bassist John Lodge, both of whom won an ASCAP songwriting award for it. While Hayward and Lodge had collaborated on a duet album outside of the Moody Blues in 1975 called '' Blue Jays'', "Gemini Dream" was the first song performed by the Moody Blues that they had written together. On the studio recording, and most live performances, Hayward and Lodge sing lead vocals in harmony. "Gemini Dream" was the first Moody Blues single to feature

Patrick Moraz Patrick Philippe Moraz (born 24 June 1948) is a Swiss musician, film composer and songwriter, best known for his tenures as keyboardist in the rock bands Yes and The Moody Blues. Born into a musical family, Moraz learned music at a young age a ...

on keyboards. Moraz had replaced the original keyboardist

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 '' ...

, who left the band shortly after completion of their previous album '' Octave'' for personal reasons. Moraz was hired to take Pinder's place in time for the Moody Blues' 1979 Octave World Tour. After the tour, Moraz was then retained as a permanent member of the band, and he recorded with them until 1991.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Personnel

– electric guitars, lead vocals * John Lodge – bass guitar, lead vocals *

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 "Night ...

– backing vocals *

–

Yamaha CS80 The Yamaha CS-80 is an analog synthesizer released in 1977. It supports true 8-voice polyphony, with two independent synthesizer layers per voice each with its own set of front panel controls, in addition to a number of hardwired preset voice set ...

, Minimoog, Oberheim Custom double 8-voice synthesizer *

Graeme Edge Graeme Charles Edge (30 March 1941 – 11 November 2021) was an English musician, songwriter and poet, best known as the co-founder and drummer of the English band the Moody Blues. In addition to his work with the Moody Blues, Edge worked as ...

– drums, percussion

References

External links

* {{authority control 1981 singles 1981 songs RPM Top Singles number-one singles Song recordings produced by Pip Williams Songs written by John Lodge (musician) Songs written by Justin Hayward The Moody Blues songs