The only truly nice, funny and down to earth man in this group was Ray Thomas. Glad he retired and had some good years to truly enjoy the real life. Too bad he's gone.
Ive been a fan since 1970. But never got to see the moodys. Had a chance to see them in prim back in 2009. But had to fly home just a day shy of the concert. Darn it. I live in grand rapids, mich. Had chances to see you guys again but it was all sold out in seconds. Im trying to get tickets to see you at the frederik mieijer gardens aug. 21, 2014. My son joel was born in 1974. (A product of love and listening to your nights in white satin one evening. Joel loves music too.:) hope to see you then. Im 62. Love you guys and ray.
That’s a rare one with Ray and Patrick....lots of water gone under the bridge since then and Ray we lost him, RIP Ray 😢 and Patrick too we lost him in a different setting as he left the band on a sour note, it’s a shame they fell out of love and parted company, Patrick’s contributions to the band were cosmic, so to speak. He should have been with them in the RARHOF awards ceremony....seen him twice out of the 3 times I’ve seen the band perform live...and Ray in all performances, enjoyed all performances, found no fault in Patrick’s contributions to these performances or albums he appeared on 🧚🏻🧚🏻💖🧚🏻🤩 no offence to the Moodies I didn’t know of the court proceedings Patrick embarrassed them with until last year...despite that he added a certain amount of fairy dust to the band, as Ray would say in his own sweet way. 🧚🏻♂️
Chastain Park, Atlanta, Georgia, wonderful place to see the Moody's, sat down front, table area twice, about ten feet from the stage. While playing, Ray busted his tambourine/broke through the head skin, he looked at me, I gestured, may I have that, his eyes, as he tilted his head, said you want it ?, I nodded yes, Ray tossed it to me, best souvenir I've ever gotten at a concert. What ah night, will never forget, R.I.P. Ray, Thanks Brother.
@wendybattley In 1991, Patrick Moraz made some comments in an article in Keyboard Magazine that suggested dissatisfaction with his role in the Moody Blues. He also was spending long amounts of time planning a music concert to celebrate his native Switzerland's 700th anniversary, instead of rehearsing with the Moodies so they released him as keyboardist. Moraz later sued the group in the United States, which he won, but was then awarded only a nominal sum.
The Moodies won really, as Patrick sued them for a couple of million, they offered him a large sum, of which he refused when he demanded a settlement, of which his court award never touched anywhere near the offer the Moodies made, it was a generous offer....he lost out really as his court award barely covered legal costs.
They are still going, Ray's retired, but Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge are still there plus they add extra artists along the way. Frankly they are still my all time fave band bar none.
Like the progressive stuff like Human Interface and coexistence. Flags and Music For Piano and Drums. Wish they could have stayed together and made more music.
I think Moranz added that virtuoso type of big keyboard player that Mike Pinder gave them when he was there. Mike was so big with his mellotron that really gave them that orchestral and cosmic ethereal sound. I really miss Mike in the harmonies and mellotron/synthesizer over the years...He and Justin were like Lennon and McCartney in writing and collaborating on songs. Evidently Mike said something nasty to Graeme and that is the rift between them...so sad...
This is weird Moraz says he was in the band from 1978 but that was when the Moody Blues released their album Octave, and I doubt that he was on that record because Mike Pinder was on that album. Pinder came back from the bands hiatus and his solo album The Promise, to rejoin the Moodies for one last album Octave, before leaving permanently and going solo. A small extra point Graeme Edge mentions the album 7th Sojourn coming out in 1977, but I’ve seen it shown as being released in 1972.
@@barrycross2585 Mike Pinder did brought the huge MELLOTRON 's sound and colors to all prog bands ,and to he did mastered it LIVE ,he really know how to play it ," others people recorded instruments" he did told ,Moraz used it as gadget keys without any feeling ,what Mike said with some notes and feeling ,Moraz had to explain it gossipy and useless...
In reality, every year Patrick signed a new contract with the Moodies which defined his responsibilities and compensation. The contracts also explicitly stated that he was not a member of the band.
howie9751 I agree, it was pretty f’ed-up. They had everyone fooled that Patrick was a full member of the band. But in retrospect, the Moodies were protecting their financial interests and didn’t want to dilute their ownership of “The Moody Blues Incorporated”.
Agreed. Mike did not like the commercialized sound of the 80s and probably would have left the band anyway. Moraz just played what the record companies wanted along with the rest of the band.
But they were really much more Blue Jays after Mike left then the traditional Moody's that took you on a musical journey. To me the Other Side of life was the worse album they ever did.
Pinder & Moraz were just two different styles of keyboardists. Mike Pinder really defined their classic sound via the Mellotron and did a great deal of the songwriting - but when Patrick Moraz came in, his style of playing gave the MBs music from that point on a more modern feel that updated their sound and made them relevant again for that time period. Both of them played a big role in shaping the band's music and I appreciate them both.
Interesting that Ray Thomas is happily giving an interview here when plugging material from an album he later said he played no part on (no songwriting credits, no flute and his vocals are nowhere to be heard)
I did a Moody Blues Cruise this year with the three remaining members. The shows they played made up of 40% or more of the material that Patrick not only contributed to but was the major influence on there biggest hits of that time period. I found it interesting the extreme fans of their music, which they all were at $2000+, responded with higher applause to the songs when Patrick was a a member of the band. Patrick not only revived their careers in the 80's which when Mike left was musically was in a downward spiral, but has led to keeping them alive and touring today. I find it ironic that Patrick has been removed from all existence of being a 20% member of a five member band and shunned historically on all material currently released by the Moodies. As Mike was a very good player at least Patrick was able to fill Mikes shoes technically and have a charisma that was lacking on in their live performances. There is no feeling in the live music or performances anymore without the contribution of Mike, Patrick and Ray. Even being in the 5th row didn't help. Like it or not if Patrick had not been one of the top rock/jazz 5 keyboardist of the 70s and 80s there would have been no Moodies in the mid to late 80's onward. With all this being said I am a huge Mike Pinder fan.
Patrick had more training and knowledge than Mike. Mike worked at the music store that sold early Mellotrons, they were tape machines, now they are all solid state and computer controlled. Wonder what Rick Wakeman would be like in the Moodies. but then look at all the great keyboard players that have been in YES.
Jag Mag- Rick would have been a great replacement. Patrick has a bit of a jazz influence- I saw the Moody Blues twice with Pinder- he really put the sound that the core 7 albums had with more of the symphonic sound. It was unfair to Patrick how he was considered more of a session player yes he recorded two or three albums with them. It was almost like when Rick Wakeman first play with Yes, you would see a credit line on the records liner notes saying Rick Wakeman appears courtesy of A&M Records. Leader of coarse he became an integra part of the band. Back in 1997, there was a concert in Philadelphia featuring Annie Haslam and Patrick Moraz. I had just been uprooted in a disasterous relocation and missed the show. I heard Moraz accompanied Annie on piano. That must have been incredible, and after seeing Patrick with both Yes (Relayer tour) and the moody blues, that's where he does best- vocals. Although I didn't see this live- he also played along with Bill Bruford- there's the jazz influence again. I think he did great with the Moody Blues. They may not have had the successful comeback that they did had it not been for him.
Justin Hayward is on one of Rick Wakeman’s albums singing, the album being Centre of the 🌏 Earth. They are all friends with Yes, probably how they met Patrick...they may have asked Rick to join as a keyboardist or may have thought he was too powerful an artist in his own right to join the Moodies. I would think the latter would be their thoughts on that.
Michale Pinder had a fantastic voice and was a good song writer and could sing with a soulful heart and voice. Plus he made the mellotron sound better than any synthesizer. Comparing Pinder and Moraz is like comparing apples and oranges. The Moodies were never the same after Mike Pinder left, but yes they still were a great band, just never the same without Pinder.
I wonder why Ray didn't contribute to this album. It suffers as a result. It sounds a bit monotonous and needs a couple of Ray's tracks: a mournful ballad with flute and a jaunty, whimsical track.
why do people do this , why did patrick sued the moody blues ? can any one answer please . as I 'm finding this very hard to understand , as in my thoughts I thought that they where where one with the earth
Wendy, moraz sued the Moodies because he was hopeless with money. He was always scrounging off the Moodies when he was with them and asking for advances from threshold When the Moodies fired him he was in America working on soundtracks for movies, but he frittered his wealth away within a few months and tried to screw them for easy money. It didn't work, he lost the case and was hardly paid anything after expecting nearly four million
The Moody Blues probably earned some instant karma for that, or maybe it was building over the years. First they denied Ray a significant input, then Patrick (one song composition??). Interestingly, Justin himself did say he had an ego. Spirituality is easier on paper ... or record.
Moraz was all show, and no substance. He probably sequenced most of his parts live. He was never really part of the band. You really can't replace Pinder's contribution. His work was brilliant.
Alban Pfisterer Patrick went missing doing film scores for cinema during vital band rehearsals and studio work.....after umpteen warnings the band sacked him, he later regretted it and wanted to return, they refused and they offered him £500,000 but he asked for a couple of million and he lost and only received £77,000 Patrick should have accepted the Moodies generous offer that surpassed the courts awards. They sure fell out big time, but not any worse than any other band who have conflicts amongst members. The Moodies weren’t mean they were a conscientious bunch and didn’t like being messed about. Art Garfunkel fell out with Paul Simon for much less when Paul did a music score out of the band without permission, that’s what started their quarrelsome ways. Paul says Art never forgave me for that and Paul just kept digging to find fault with Art since. 🥺😩 No the Moodies were never mean, but hurt that they were dragged to court over something that was better settled out of court.
Patrick assumed himself as a full member of the band. The original members never considered him to be that and felt he was asserting himself that way before they were ready.
I don't think she's snarky or arrogant, but unintelligent and foolish, definitely. She obviously knows nothing about the band and did a quick shallow bit of research to write on that card she's using. The first big give-away is how she breezes past Days of Future Past with a "wonderful" tra-la-la-let's-move-on attitude, completely not understanding the monumental achievement that album was, and how unlikely and miraculous it was that it ever got to be made. Thomas was trying to get that point across to her when she decided to skip down the lane like a 12 year old with a puppy and a lolly pop.
R.I.P. Ray Thomas, we miss you and thank you for all of your talent as a musician.
Thanks sooo much MoodyJill2! Never mind the quality...you have saved it, which is amazing, and we are eternally grateful. You rock! xx
The only truly nice, funny and down to earth man in this group was Ray Thomas. Glad he retired and had some good years to truly enjoy the real life. Too bad he's gone.
And he had the finest mustache, too! 😉
Ray got the greatest applause from the crowd at the concert I attended. He did comes across as a genuine guy. RIP, Ray.
Ive been a fan since 1970. But never got to see the moodys. Had a chance to see them in prim back in 2009. But had to fly home just a day shy of the concert. Darn it. I live in grand rapids, mich. Had chances to see you guys again but it was all sold out in seconds. Im trying to get tickets to see you at the frederik mieijer gardens aug. 21, 2014. My son joel was born in 1974. (A product of love and listening to your nights in white satin one evening. Joel loves music too.:) hope to see you then. Im 62. Love you guys and ray.
That’s a rare one with Ray and Patrick....lots of water gone under the bridge since then and Ray we lost him, RIP Ray 😢 and Patrick too we lost him in a different setting as he left the band on a sour note, it’s a shame they fell out of love and parted company, Patrick’s contributions to the band were cosmic, so to speak. He should have been with them in the RARHOF awards ceremony....seen him twice out of the 3 times I’ve seen the band perform live...and Ray in all performances, enjoyed all performances, found no fault in Patrick’s contributions to these performances or albums he appeared on 🧚🏻🧚🏻💖🧚🏻🤩 no offence to the Moodies I didn’t know of the court proceedings Patrick embarrassed them with until last year...despite that he added a certain amount of fairy dust to the band, as Ray would say in his own sweet way. 🧚🏻♂️
Chastain Park, Atlanta, Georgia, wonderful place to see the Moody's, sat down front, table area twice, about ten feet from
the stage. While playing, Ray busted his tambourine/broke through the head skin, he looked at me, I gestured, may I have that,
his eyes, as he tilted his head, said you want it ?, I nodded yes, Ray tossed it to me, best souvenir I've ever gotten at a concert.
What ah night, will never forget, R.I.P. Ray, Thanks Brother.
@wendybattley In 1991, Patrick Moraz made some comments in an article in Keyboard Magazine that suggested dissatisfaction with his role in the Moody Blues. He also was spending long amounts of time planning a music concert to celebrate his native Switzerland's 700th anniversary, instead of rehearsing with the Moodies so they released him as keyboardist. Moraz later sued the group in the United States, which he won, but was then awarded only a nominal sum.
The Moodies won really, as Patrick sued them for a couple of million, they offered him a large sum, of which he refused when he demanded a settlement, of which his court award never touched anywhere near the offer the Moodies made, it was a generous offer....he lost out really as his court award barely covered legal costs.
They are still going, Ray's retired, but Justin Hayward, John Lodge and Graeme Edge are still there plus they add extra artists along the way. Frankly they are still my all time fave band bar none.
Oh man, ray’s retired for real now :(
Moraz is a great keyboardist. You should hear his solo classical piano album
Like the progressive stuff like Human Interface and coexistence. Flags and Music For Piano and Drums. Wish they could have stayed together and made more music.
Hé was never able to wrote a pop song , Justin said, and Moody Blues are a " pop group"....
i saw maraz in 74 Hemel pavillion uk Herts when he was in Refugee with ex members of the Nice and he was Brillant!
They offered Moraz $500,000 severance pay . He refused and sued. Got awarded $40,000 .
Oof.
I think Moranz added that virtuoso type of big keyboard player that Mike Pinder gave them when he was there. Mike was so big with his mellotron that really gave them that orchestral and cosmic ethereal sound. I really miss Mike in the harmonies and mellotron/synthesizer over the years...He and Justin were like Lennon and McCartney in writing and collaborating on songs. Evidently Mike said something nasty to Graeme and that is the rift between them...so sad...
Mike told Graeme that he was only a drummer and added nothing to the band.
@@timetryp422 It was an offhand careless remark "You're just the drummer." He didn't say Edge added nothing to the band.
@@howie9751 Mike did apologize for that caustic remark.
@@renegomez568 Yes, I know
This is weird Moraz says he was in the band from 1978 but that was when the Moody Blues released their album Octave, and I doubt that he was on that record because Mike Pinder was on that album. Pinder came back from the bands hiatus and his solo album The Promise, to rejoin the Moodies for one last album Octave, before leaving permanently and going solo. A small extra point Graeme Edge mentions the album 7th Sojourn coming out in 1977, but I’ve seen it shown as being released in 1972.
Mike Pinder didn’t want to go on tour to support Octave in 1978, which is when they hired Moraz.
PATRICK MORAZ was way too Talented for this band. They played pop rock.
@@stevenhollingsworth733 Each to their own, but they helped change rock music far beyond that
They did not play pop rock until Patrick Moraz joined the band. @@stevenhollingsworth733
@@barrycross2585 Mike Pinder did brought the huge MELLOTRON 's sound and colors to all prog bands ,and to he did mastered it LIVE ,he really know how to play it ," others people recorded instruments" he did told ,Moraz used it as gadget keys without any feeling ,what Mike said with some notes and feeling ,Moraz had to explain it gossipy and useless...
So he was an actual member of the band and not just a backup. Hmm...
In reality, every year Patrick signed a new contract with the Moodies which defined his responsibilities and compensation. The contracts also explicitly stated that he was not a member of the band.
@@wyganter And yet he represented the Moodies on TV with Ray Thomas.
howie9751 I agree, it was pretty f’ed-up. They had everyone fooled that Patrick was a full member of the band. But in retrospect, the Moodies were protecting their financial interests and didn’t want to dilute their ownership of “The Moody Blues Incorporated”.
Moraz , although a very good player technically ,was not Mike Pinder..who's innovative use of the mellotron defined the Moodies classic sound
Agreed. Mike did not like the commercialized sound of the 80s and probably would have left the band anyway. Moraz just played what the record companies wanted along with the rest of the band.
Very true. Along the same lines, Kurt Cobain was not Lydia Lunch. ;)
But they were really much more Blue Jays after Mike left then the traditional Moody's that took you on a musical journey. To me the Other Side of life was the worse album they ever did.
Pinder & Moraz were just two different styles of keyboardists. Mike Pinder really defined their classic sound via the Mellotron and did a great deal of the songwriting - but when Patrick Moraz came in, his style of playing gave the MBs music from that point on a more modern feel that updated their sound and made them relevant again for that time period. Both of them played a big role in shaping the band's music and I appreciate them both.
Pinder gave them the Montovani Sound@@TheArchiveVideos
Interesting that Ray Thomas is happily giving an interview here when plugging material from an album he later said he played no part on (no songwriting credits, no flute and his vocals are nowhere to be heard)
Ray was like their manager at that point.
I did a Moody Blues Cruise this year with the three remaining members. The shows they played made up of 40% or more of the material that Patrick not only contributed to but was the major influence on there biggest hits of that time period. I found it interesting the extreme fans of their music, which they all were at $2000+, responded with higher applause to the songs when Patrick was a a member of the band. Patrick not only revived their careers in the 80's which when Mike left was musically was in a downward spiral, but has led to keeping them alive and touring today. I find it ironic that Patrick has been removed from all existence of being a 20% member of a five member band and shunned historically on all material currently released by the Moodies. As Mike was a very good player at least Patrick was able to fill Mikes shoes technically and have a charisma that was lacking on in their live performances. There is no feeling in the live music or performances anymore without the contribution of Mike, Patrick and Ray. Even being in the 5th row didn't help. Like it or not if Patrick had not been one of the top rock/jazz 5 keyboardist of the 70s and 80s there would have been no Moodies in the mid to late 80's onward.
With all this being said I am a huge Mike Pinder fan.
Steve Kraatz I really don't get your post? Moody Blues was a great band up until the mid 70ies and you're talking about the 80'es???
Nice comment. And I agree.
The band Yes used call Patrick Moraz "The French Poodle"...🤣
Every band has drama don't be deceived they all only play nice on TV and on the big Screen when everyones watching. We're human
Terrible video quality, but nice enough audio to hear the interview responses from Ray and Patrick.
Moraz was a great progressive keyboardist. Love all of his solo music
Incorrect, they weren't the first musical act to reconcile classical, jazz and rock influences, it was Brian Wilson with Pet Sounds and Smile.
They were the first rock group to record WITH a classical orchestra.
@@howie9751 They didn't record with the London Festival Orchestra on DOFP, though. Recorded their parts separate for the album.
@@AJ-tp9bk Yes but not the point.
@@howie9751 Well, alright then. First to use classical orchestra on their album.
@@AJ-tp9bk :)
Ray "what... we didn't have to do this?... fackin 'ell..."
Patrick had more training and knowledge than Mike. Mike worked at the music store that sold early Mellotrons, they were tape machines, now they are all solid state and computer controlled. Wonder what Rick Wakeman would be like in the Moodies. but then look at all the great keyboard players that have been in YES.
Jag Mag- Rick would have been a great replacement. Patrick has a bit of a jazz influence- I saw the Moody Blues twice with Pinder- he really put the sound that the core 7 albums had with more of the symphonic sound.
It was unfair to Patrick how he was considered more of a session player yes he recorded two or three albums with them.
It was almost like when Rick Wakeman first play with Yes, you would see a credit line on the records liner notes saying Rick Wakeman appears courtesy of A&M Records. Leader of coarse he became an integra part of the band.
Back in 1997, there was a concert in Philadelphia featuring Annie Haslam and Patrick Moraz. I had just been uprooted in a
disasterous relocation and missed the show. I heard Moraz accompanied Annie on piano. That must have been incredible, and after seeing Patrick with both Yes (Relayer tour) and the moody blues, that's where he does best- vocals. Although I didn't see this live- he also played along with Bill Bruford- there's the jazz influence again.
I think he did great with the Moody Blues. They may not have had the successful comeback that they did had it not been for him.
Justin Hayward is on one of Rick Wakeman’s albums singing, the album being Centre of the 🌏 Earth. They are all friends with Yes, probably how they met Patrick...they may have asked Rick to join as a keyboardist or may have thought he was too powerful an artist in his own right to join the Moodies. I would think the latter would be their thoughts on that.
Never mind that Mike has been playing the piano since the age of 4, and that he redid the inner workings of the mellotron...
Michale Pinder had a fantastic voice and was a good song writer and could sing with a soulful heart and voice.
Plus he made the mellotron sound better than any synthesizer. Comparing Pinder and Moraz is like comparing apples and oranges. The Moodies were never the same after Mike Pinder left, but yes they still were a great band, just never the same without Pinder.
@@sososo2445 Agreed!
I wonder why Ray didn't contribute to this album. It suffers as a result. It sounds a bit monotonous and needs a couple of Ray's tracks: a mournful ballad with flute and a jaunty, whimsical track.
That is a great description of Ray's music and songs!
Patrick Moraz Later Sued The Moodys
And the Monkees.
why do people do this , why did patrick sued the moody blues ? can any one answer please . as I 'm finding this very hard to understand , as in my thoughts I thought that they where where one with the earth
Wendy, moraz sued the Moodies because he was hopeless with money. He was always scrounging off the Moodies when he was with them and asking for advances from threshold
When the Moodies fired him he was in America working on soundtracks for movies, but he frittered his wealth away within a few months and tried to screw them for easy money. It didn't work, he lost the case and was hardly paid anything after expecting nearly four million
@@rosemaryscott9704 He liked fine wines and fancy caviar.
Moraz brought nothing to moodies sound ,a virtuoso with such poor gain ,Pinder did brought their colors and spiritisme!!!
Patrick came from YES
Patrick left Yes in 1976 and went solo,.
The Moody Blues were lucky to have Patrick Moraz in the band. It's a shame they parted ways. They went dry after he left.
The Moody Blues probably earned some instant karma for that, or maybe it was building over the years. First they denied Ray a significant input, then Patrick (one song composition??). Interestingly, Justin himself did say he had an ego. Spirituality is easier on paper ... or record.
Moraz was a monumental ego. He thought he was one of the group, but he was only a poser.
I don't believe John Lodge sued the Moody Blues, since he has never left the Moody Blues.
It was Moraz who sued.
It was Moraz who sued.
Moraz was all show, and no substance. He probably sequenced most of his parts live. He was never really part of the band. You really can't replace Pinder's contribution. His work was brilliant.
and yet they were happy to send him out with Ray as spokesperson for the band ..
@@richardtofts8546 They liked him enough to keep him is more like it. But he was trying assert himself with equality and wasn't really fitting in.
@@richardtofts8546 Probably to keep him happy for now as he was getting demanding.
Alban Pfisterer Patrick went missing doing film scores for cinema during vital band rehearsals and studio work.....after umpteen warnings the band sacked him, he later regretted it and wanted to return, they refused and they offered him £500,000 but he asked for a couple of million and he lost and only received £77,000 Patrick should have accepted the Moodies generous offer that surpassed the courts awards. They sure fell out big time, but not any worse than any other band who have conflicts amongst members. The Moodies weren’t mean they were a conscientious bunch and didn’t like being messed about. Art Garfunkel fell out with Paul Simon for much less when Paul did a music score out of the band without permission, that’s what started their quarrelsome ways. Paul says Art never forgave me for that and Paul just kept digging to find fault with Art since. 🥺😩 No the Moodies were never mean, but hurt that they were dragged to court over something that was better settled out of court.
Patrick was all substance. He generated his keyboard parts faster than the other guys generated their parts. Patrick is a keyboard virtuoso.
Patrick assumed himself as a full member of the band. The original members never considered him to be that and felt he was asserting himself that way before they were ready.
If that were true he wouldn't have been at this interview.
@@howie9751 and he wouldn't have been featured on all the album covers, etc. as a band member either. But he was...
@@stratplayr6997 And the videos.
@@howie9751 And his picture was all over the Tour Programs with the others and in the group photos.
Of course PM was just a sideman according to management.
Patrick should have only received 75 dollars from the law suit. He did not have a clue that he was only a contract player.
If that were true he wouldn't be at this interview. Look at the videos and albums from that period, he is featured prominently with the others.
Patrick Moron...................what a pratt.......................
He's no more of a prat than Hayward and Lodge can be.
Interviewer’s a snarky, arrogant, and irritating woman. Her questions are unintelligent and foolish-sounding.
I don't think she's snarky or arrogant, but unintelligent and foolish, definitely. She obviously knows nothing about the band and did a quick shallow bit of research to write on that card she's using. The first big give-away is how she breezes past Days of Future Past with a "wonderful" tra-la-la-let's-move-on attitude, completely not understanding the monumental achievement that album was, and how unlikely and miraculous it was that it ever got to be made. Thomas was trying to get that point across to her when she decided to skip down the lane like a 12 year old with a puppy and a lolly pop.