163: The Moody Blues - The Present (1983)
“I wasn’t even stoned in the ‘80s that much.”
You might think we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel by choosing The Present for our annual Moody Blues episode, but that’s not true at all. Even though the band themselves hated it, and it’s quite polarizing among Moody Blues fans, all of us here at Discord and Rhyme think it’s terrific. As with Long Distance Voyager, you need to be prepared for the ultra-slick ‘80s production, but underneath that gloss there are some top-notch Moody Blues songs and super great instrumental details, including Patrick Moraz’s keyboards. If you’re a The Present skeptic, we hope you’ll listen to this episode and end up convinced that it’s a truly great album.
Miscellany
A “Hayward Special” is what we call the Justin Hayward songs where he just repeats the same verse and chorus, usually with one word changed. Notable examples are “Tuesday Afternoon,” “The Land of Make Believe,” and “The Other Side of Life.”
After The Present, the band ditched Pip Williams and took up with Tony Visconti, who was a much more efficient producer but far less tasteful, at least when it came to the Moody Blues.
That concert recording we mentioned is very hard to find nowadays, but if you desperately want to hear it, email discordpod@gmail.com and we will point you in the right direction.
The Time Traveller box set is also long out of print, but it’s not too hard to find used copies. If you come across one, it’s definitely worth buying.
The podcast Amanda mentioned in which she forced the hosts to listen to “Meet Me Halfway” is the excellent Careless Whispod, specifically this episode from August 2023.
If Amanda had clocked the joke Rich was making, she would have mentioned “It’s Cold Outside,” one of her favorite songs from Nuggets.
John didn't think to mention this in the episode, but the line “It’s easier to try than to prove it can't be done, and it’s easier to stay than to turn around and run” from “Blue World” was one of his high school senior yearbook quotes.
Def Leppard’s excellent album Pyromania was still in the charts when The Present was released, so clearly the record-buying public wasn’t totally turned off by Lange-esque production.
The court hearings that John mentioned are from the time Patrick Moraz sued the Moody Blues for back royalties in 1991. The whole thing was aired on Court TV and can be seen on YouTube. We’ll warn you, it’s very boring, but also worth watching just for Patrick Moraz in his little reading glasses. Ray Thomas looks absolutely murderous the whole time, but we think he just suffered from a bad case of Resting Murder Face.
We’re working on a scale of Embarrassing John Lodge Rockers that runs from Listen Proudly to Crawl In A Hole And Die. At one end is “Ride My See Saw,” at the other end is “Here Comes the Weekend.” The midpoint is “Steppin’ In a Slide Zone.”
Other links
The official Moody Blues website (moodybluestoday.com)
Higher & Higher feature on The Present (TapaTalk)
Discord & Rhyme’s The Present playlist (Spotify)
Discord & Rhyme’s merch store (TeePublic)
Discord & Rhyme Roll Call
Amanda Rodgers (moderator)
Rich Bunnell
Phil Maddox
John McFerrin
The Present tracklist
Blue World
Meet Me Halfway
Sitting at the Wheel
Going Nowhere
Hole in the World
Under My Feet
It’s Cold Outside of Your Heart
Running Water
I Am
Sorry
Other clips used
The Moody Blues:
Veteran Cosmic Rocker (Live at the Forum, 1983)
Blue World (Live at the Forum, 1983)
Sitting at the Wheel (Steven Greenberg remix)
Here Comes the Weekend
Steppin' in a Slide Zone
Hole in the World/Under My Feet (Live at the Forum, 1983)
Slings and Arrows
Burning Gas, Smoking Grass (demo)
Visions of Paradise
Others:
Def Leppard - Animal
Jackson Browne - Running on Empty
ABBA - Hole in Your Soul
Los Bravos - Going Nowhere
Elton John - Funeral for a Friend
Elton John - Island Girl
Justin Hayward - It's Cold Outside of Your Heart
Mike Oldfield - Moonlight Shadow
The Beach Boys - Endless Harmony
Casio MT-40 - Rock
The Easybeats - Sorry
Aztec Camera - The Boy Wonders
Justin Hayward - I Heard It
Roxy Music - More Than This
Brak - De Der Down
Band/album personnel
Justin Hayward – vocals, guitar
John Lodge – vocals, bass guitar
Ray Thomas – vocals, harmonica, flute
Graeme Edge – drums
Patrick Moraz – keyboards
Pip Williams – producer
Greg Jackman – engineer
Credits
“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:
Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
The Moody Blues - Hole in the World (this episode only)
You can buy or stream The Present and other albums by the Moody Blues at your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Instagram, Threads, and BlueSky @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and keep as cool as you can.