Story | The Time An Angry Fan Saved The Moody Blues

He Helped Them Realize

The Moody Blues started out playing rhythm and blues music but when they dropped their second album Days of Future Passed, they became forerunners in progressive rock. Interestingly, it was an angry fan who became the catalyst for the band’s departure from R&B.

In a published archive interview, guitarist Justin Hayward told Prog: “The first shows we did together were in Belgium. It was about the only place where there was still a demand for the band. When we got back to England, it looked like we had no future. We were getting dwindling crowds and decreasing money. It all came to a head when we did a show in Stockton during March 1967. We were so bad, a fan accosted us afterwards and told us we were the worst band he’d ever seen, and we’d ruined the night for him and his wife who’d paid £12 for a night out and had seen the dreadful Moody Blues!”

He continued, “It was about the only place where there was still a demand for the band. When we got back to England, it looked like we had no future. We were getting dwindling crowds and decreasing money. It all came to a head when we did a show in Stockton during March 1967. We were so bad, a fan accosted us afterwards and told us we were the worst band he’d ever seen, and we’d ruined the night for him and his wife who’d paid £12 for a night out and had seen the dreadful Moody Blues!”

It was then that they decided to shift to another musical direction. It was a risky move but one that paid off nicely for them in the end.

Drummer Graeme Edge recalled that they “took on board Justin’s folk influences. And began to evolve a style that was much more in that vein.”

And perhaps the watershed moment for them arrived when keyboardist Mike Pinder brought a Mellotron with him which he bought for £20 at the Dunlop Factory. The instrument would play a huge part in their new sound and style. “Days of Future Passed” would give them the critical and commercial success they truly deserved.