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The Moody Blues - On The Threshold of a Dream
**** 4 Stars Rating In the late sixties The Moody Blues were often labeled the cosmic stockbrokers, because of their love of making mystical music, whilst not adverse to filling the coffers. But I digress, in 1966 The Moody Blues were washed up, after a solitary hit (mind you it was a number one, on both sides of the Atlantic with “Go Now”). They were playing the scampi & chips northern England club scene for a pittance. Original lead singer Denny Laine had left the band for greener pastures (finally joining up with ex-Beatle Paul McCartney in Wings), and replacements Justin Hayward & John Lodge were not having an easy ride settling in. The situation reached its nadir when one club promoter offered them some advice, “Don’t come back here lads, you’re the worst outfit I’ve ever booked”. On the lonely Transit Van (a necessity to any aspiring band in the sixties) ride home, the two new members actually burst into tears. But two years later The Moody Blues mark two were selling millions and touring the world. Begging the indulgence of their record label Deram, they disappeared into the studio and transformed themselves as a caterpillar to a butterfly, from a pop singles band into a progressive rock albums band. The band themselves reject the pigeon hole, when Justin Hayward was asked whether he felt any affinity with the progressive rock movement he replied, “I don’t think we feel any affinity with anybody”. The critics certainly saw something dodgy in their cosmic makeover & when the band admitted holding regular business meetings in their stately homes, they were judged terminally unhip. But unfazed by this the Moodies concentrated on turning up on time for gigs & performing well, their ability to duplicate their intricately recorded material live on stage could be phenomenal, just ask anyone who saw them live in the late sixties or early seventies. Following the tentative orchestral explorations of “Days of Future Past” & “In Search of The Lost Chord”, “On The Threshold Of a Dream” finds the band in confident mood, starting off the dream sequence of “In The Beginning” with the wonderfully over the top lyrics of “I think, I think therefore I am, I think. There you go lad, keep it cool” before the band break into the riff laden “Lovely To See You” and the band take you on a wonderful 40 minute journey of layered vocals & excellent musicianship. Thirty three instruments were used, none more prominently than the mighty Mellotron, Mike Pinder’s rare ability to master this temperamental beast along with a superb sense of counter melody, gave the Moodies their instantly distinctive sound. T.V. appearances from the time show a band visually in traumatic transition from Cabaret circuit to Superstardom with Flautist Ray Thomas in black velvet jacket & ruffs looking as if he never really made up his mind. I leave you with my favorite drummer quote of the time, when radio D.J. Johnny Moran asked drummer Graeme Edge if the Moodies might be regarded as pretentious, after due consideration, he replied, “Well, I suppose we do pretend quite a lot”. Mike Pinder Track Listing 1. In The Beginning
By Poppy
In the story we have five hardened criminals who are residents at the experimental minimum security Edgefield Prison. We have the usual selection a big guy named Raw (Adam Fogerty), Tony (Danny Dyer) the playboy, Fergus Wilks (David Kelly) the ‘long termer’, and Jimmy (Paterson Joseph), who is desperate to win the love of his son. One of the prisoners (Colin) has just been transferred to the minimum-security prison after serving a long term for the accidental murder of his brother. Colin (Clive Owen) meets the rather eccentric Fergus, who has accepted that his remaining days will be spent in prison. Colin gets a packet of seeds for Christmas from Fergus, he plants them and to the surprise of everyone the seeds grow. The prison governor (Warren Clarke) is impressed and decides that they should cultivate a proper garden. Their somewhat unconventional gardening methods win results and attract the attention of Georgina Woodhouse (Helen Mirren). So our hardened prisoners become gifted gardeners, and are allowed to enter their prize flowers in the Hampton Court Garden Show, sponsored by Georgina. Needless to say there has to be a girl, this is Georgina’s daughter Primrose (Natasha Little) who attracts the attention of Colin. This is a middle of the road lightweight British comedy. Cast: Clive Owen as Colin Briggs
Updated every Friday Updated by
Chinnaporn Sungwanlek, assisted by Boonsiri Suansuk. |
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This is a newly released first novel by Wei Hui, the
daughter of a Chinese army officer. According to the back cover it has
reached cult status in repressed China, where the measure of success of an
avant garde literary work is to count how many of your publications have
been confiscated and burned. It was first published in Chinese two years
ago and the English translation has only been published this year.
Mott’s CD review:
by Mott the Dog
This is a typical British comedy, but it will never be
‘The Full Monty’.