‘Melancholy Man’ by Moody Blues, from A Question of Balance, 1970
Heard this song on the radio and thought it was delightfully odd. To tell you the truth, I had been looking for a way to like Moody Blues once that song came on a random clear-channel radio station, just so I could break down and get one of their albums. I like the idea of a corny group of brits doing bombastic psychedelia.
Does a love of theatricality come with age and experience, when one lets go of the idea that music must be “authentic” and pure? An acquaintance of mine just blogged about shedding his DC punk roots when he went out and purchased Grateful Dead’s “American Beauty”. The store clerk said something smarmy but I would assume deeply gratifying: “congratulations! you’ve just purchased one the greatest rock records out there.”
Well, this is not to say that Moody Blues is the best there is (or even great), but I think they can be considered in leagues with Lee Hazlewood as far as quirk goes. The only thing I know about the MB nowadays is the craptastic live PBS special on repeat, oriented to soft-rock-loving boomers who contribute to the station to see either them or Michael McDonald croon their way out of a dangerous tailspin of nostalgic narcissism. I was very happy to hear my mom shares the same sentiment and she told off a PBS telephonic representative (rest assured, she has very good phone manners so I’m sure she was polite about it).
Anyways, the verdict on “Melancholy Man”? HOTT!!!1! I wouldn’t really look at the stupid images on the video - I post it only ‘cause I don’t have an MP3 of it, k? HAPPY NEW YEAR!
3 years ago • Notes