10,000 LIGHT YEARS AGO
A CONVERSATION WITH JOHN LODGE OF THE MOODY BLUES
βI was never really interested in music. It was really strange. We used to have βquietβ periods in my school, where they used to put a record on, of classical music. I actually think the quiet period really was for the teachers to have a break β not for us! It never really intrigued me at all, music.β
Perhaps this seems an inauspicious beginning, for a person who would later achieve international fame and success, and induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in April of 2018 as a member of The Moody Blues (with bandmates Mike Pinder, Graeme Edge, Justin Hayward and the late Ray Thomas).
Growing up in post-WWII Birmingham, England, John Lodgeβs early passions and interests leaned more toward automotive design and mechanical engineering. Still, he was attracted to the rhythms of the skiffle craze, the DIY folk music trend that served as the introduction to music for so many β60s-era British musicians. Of that time, Lodge notes, βWhen skiffle came along, I was watching, and I thought, βThatβs the way to learn to play the guitar.β A lot of skiffle music just concentrated on holding one string down. The first chord I learned on my six-string guitar was a βGβ. Just the first finger on the thinnest string, at the third fret, and donβt play the bottom note. Skiffle came from that, and people like Lonnie Donegan. I think he had the first Number One in Britain, with βRock Island Lineβ. I started to learn from that. When I was at school, because I was learning all these skiffle songs, I was actually called βSkiffβ a bunch. But as soon as I got over the skiffle thing, when I was about fifteen, my name changed to βRockerβ. Everybody called me Rocker ever since. Ray Thomas, even right up to the last minute, Ray was still calling me Rocker.
After having learned guitar basics playing skiffle, the advent of rock βnβ roll fueled Lodgeβs musical passion. βAt the school I went to, they used to have a cafΓ© called Eddyβs CafΓ©. (I wrote about it on 10,000 Light Years Ago). They had a jukebox in there, filled with all the new rock βnβroll records from America: βLucilleβ, and Jerry Lee Lewis, and Fats Domino. It just grabbed a hold of me. I thought, βAh! I love this! This is who I am. I know this is who I am.β I didnβt know how to do it, or what to do about it, but I knew I just loved rock βnβ roll. When Buddy Holly came along, that was the magic. I was suddenly, βThatβs it!β I learned every Buddy Holly song there was, and I realized that was the way forward. Write your own songs. Find out how the song works, and how you can get emotion into the song, that people will enjoy.
John Lodge was invited by his old mate, Ray Thomas, to join The Moody Blues in 1966. The time of Lodgeβs joining marked a turning point for that band, as they moved into writing original songs and became pioneers of progressive rock. The author of such Moody Blues classics as βIβm Just A Singer (In A Rock and Roll Band), and βIsnβt Life Strange?β, Lodge employs an inspired and organic method when writing. βItβs a strange phenomenon, songwriting, for me. I canβt just sit down and say, βIβm going to write a song.β For me, that doesnβt work. I just hear something. It could be a snapshot of a few words that locks in my brain and becomes a melody. Thatβs where the creative part comes in. And when that happens I do, literally, go pick up a guitar, pick up a bass, pick up a piano β and start writing. Thereβs no particular way that I can actually force myself to do it.β
βSometimes Iβll just pick up a guitar and sing everybody elseβs songs for ages. And suddenly Iβll hit a harmonic or something that just opens up somewhere else, and then I go, βOh! Iβve got an idea.Β If you play someone elseβs song, they might use a strange chord configuration. You hear that, and go, βOoh, thatβs interesting! I wonder how that built up?β And then you start looking at it yourself, working on it. Itβs a great way of approaching something. And then you come up β not with the same idea β but you come up with something totally different. But, itβs built on the reason that someone else gave you a different way to look at something. Itβs like lateral thinking.β
Lodge is currently playing a run of shows in Las Vegas with The Moody Blues, at the end of a tour celebrating the 50th anniversary of their groundbreaking recording, βDays Of Future Passedβ, and he will embark on a 10-date solo tour of the eastern U.S., beginning on October 12th. At the age of seventy-three, one might wonder where he gets his energy. βSometimes you can arrive at a gig, and you might feel tired, and you think, βOh, no, not thisβ¦β But as soon as you get onstage, the audience is there. They give off so much energy and love β I know itβs a terrible word that people throw around these days β but it is true. It is true. It comes on you. You want to give it your best every night. I have an adage, every night I go onstage: I want to do these songs better than Iβve ever done. Thatβs what I try to do. It may not ever come off, but thatβs what I try to do, because then I know that Iβve given it my really best shot, and commitment.β
Lodge is keen to kick-start his solo efforts, and get his band back on the road. βIβll be doing songs from 10,000 Light Years Ago, the album we did live from Birmingham (in 2015). It allows me to do songs that weβve never done in The Moody Blues. Songs like βCandle of Lifeβ by The Moody Blues, and βSaved By The Musicβ, from Blue Jays (his 1975 album with Justin Hayward). It enabled me to do that, and look at them, because theyβre songs that I donβt want to disappear. I think those songs mean a lot to me, and mean a lot to an audience. On this tour, Iβm doing a couple of songs as tributes to Ray, and to Mike. They were an integral part, obviously, of us growing up together. Theyβre songs of The Moodies that weβll probably never do again. I donβt want those songs to disappear, so Iβm going to do a couple of songs β one for Ray and one for Mike.β
With a decades-long storied career, and recent hall of fame honours, John Lodge shows no sign of slowing down. βI just have this really positive thought of going forward all the while. The past is gone forever. The future is always in reach. I do not know whatβs going to be around the next corner. Iβm going to keep my eyes open, and just let it come to me, and see what it is. I wrote a song for the Moodies called βHouse of Four Doors,β and thatβs what that was about: opening a door, looking in, and saying, βYeah, okay. Thatβs cool, but itβs not for me.β My ambition in life is to be able to keep doing what Iβm doing. If Iβm truthful to what Iβm doing, all these other great things seem to happen. I think thatβs for everyone in life, as well. If you keep truthful to what youβre doing β donβt try to do something else thatβs not you β it doesnβt matter what it is. If you keep truthful to yourself, great things happen. They do!β
John Lodge Of The Moody Blues: The 10,000 Light Years Tour
October 12 – City Winery, Nashville, TN
October 14 – City Winery, Washington, DC
October 15 – Sellersville Theater, Sellersville, PA
October 17 – City Winery, New York, NY
October 19 – The Flying Monkey, Plymouth, NH
October 20 – Infinity Hall, Norfolk, CT
October 21 – Greenwich Odeum, Greenwich, RI
October 23 – Regent Theatre, Arlington, MA
October 25 – Music Box, Cleveland, OH
October 26 – Ludlow Garage, Cincinnati, OH