Moodies’ Fans Find Love At First Site

It shouldn’t come as a big surprise that there are about a billion Web pages devoted to the Moody Blues.

Like an upscale Doobie Brothers, the Moodies have always been a band of the people - literate, upscale and devoted fans who keep scrapbooks, write letters to journalists who irritate them and create Web sites devoted to their heroes.

When the Moodies return to the Gorge this weekend, backed as usual by members of the Spokane Symphony, they’ll be extending a tradition that dates back nearly 30 years. In 1968, the group abandoned its R&B past and joined the art-rock future by adding strings to its breakthrough concept album, “Days of Future Passed.”

From that day forward, the Moody Blues were synonymous with richly orchestrated rock. Serious rockers were put off by the band’s poetic inclinations, but millions were drawn to its soothing romanticism.

Want proof that Moodies fans can’t get enough of their boys or of their favorite record, “Knights of White Satin”? The blockbuster single from “Days of Future Past” was re-issued not once, but twice. In 1972, just four years after its debut, the song hit No. 2 on the U.S. charts, passing the million-copy sales mark, and the album went to No. 3.

A 1979 re-issue didn’t fare as well, failing to chart in the United States, though it did go to No. 14 in Great Britain.

It’s instructive that the label would try a second re-release, though, because it reflects the fact that the Moodies have been able to regenerate their audience by attracting younger fans. It appears that the group’s themes are cross-generational as well as cross-gender - the Moodies were one of the few ‘60s “serious” rock groups to appeal equally to men and women.

While the younger crowd seems to have cooled to the group in the past few years, the Moodies continue to draw heavily from its original fans. Clearly, a good part of their appeal is nostalgic, but top-notch performances and the ability to connect with an audience keeps the group evergreen, despite its long hiatus from chart success.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: CONCERT The Moody Blues will perform at 8 p.m. Friday at the Gorge. Tickets are $49.90, $39.40 and $34.15, available at Ticketmaster outlets or call (509) 735-0500.