The real progenitors of a whole genre of rock music called symphonic rock were the Moody Blues. After an early hit in the mid-60s (‘Go Now’) they hit their stride when Justin Heyward became their lead singer answering a want ad in the Times! By 1970 they had already had an enormous number one hit ‘Night’s in White Satin’ ( a song that was to be no. 1 three separate times, including 20 years apart), which was the featured song on an album they recorded with the London Symphony. Both ELO and ElP not to mention King Crimson in its early years were deeply indebted to the Moodies who kept on putting out remarkable concept albums of symphonic rock. Without question something was lost when Mike Pender, the mellotron player (the precursor to the synthesizer, Moog or otherwise)quit the band, but the group has soldiered on into the present with a remarkable discography and lots of memorable songs. I have seen them on several occasions, and they were always marvelous, even if now they are a bit long in the tooth. The first few clips are from when they were just hitting their stride in 1970, taken from a long lost memorable concert they did in a little club in Paris. Enjoy.