{"id":293257,"date":"2025-10-11T00:11:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-11T00:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/293257\/"},"modified":"2025-10-11T00:11:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-11T00:11:11","slug":"4-memorable-moody-blues-hits-written-by-john-lodge-in-commemoration-of-the-icons-passing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/293257\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Memorable Moody Blues Hits Written by John Lodge, in Commemoration of the Icon\u2019s Passing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Longtime Moody Blues<\/a> singer\/bassist John Lodge<\/a> passed away suddenly at age 82, his family announced<\/a> on Friday, October 10. Lodge, along with singer\/guitarist Justin Hayward, joined The Moody Blues in 1966, after the band had released its debut album.<\/p>\n

After Lodge and Hayward joined the group, The Moody Blues evolved from an R&B outfit to a more experimental psychedelic and melodic rock band, starting with the group\u2019s landmark 1967 symphonic concept album Days of Future Passed. Lodge became a major songwriting contributor to band, and shared lead and backing vocal duties with most of the group\u2019s other members.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Dies \u201cSuddenly and Unexpectedly\u201d: Remembering Moody Blues Bassist John Lodge]<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Although most of The Moody Blues\u2019 biggest hits were written and sung by Hayward, quite a few of Lodge\u2019s tunes also enjoyed chart success. John remained a member of the band until it retired at the end of a 2018 tour. That same year, Lodge was inducted the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Moody Blues.<\/p>\n

Since 2018, John had focused on a solo career, touring with a solo group called the 10,000 Light Years Band. His shows were made up mostly of Moody Blues songs. Yes frontman Jon Davison, who is married to Lodge\u2019s daughter, Emily, regularly made guest appearances at is concerts.<\/p>\n

In February 2025, Lodge released a new solo EP titled Love Conquers All<\/a>, which featured two songs he wrote after suffering a serious stroke in 2023.<\/p>\n

John continued touring into 2025, and he had a brief U.S. trek scheduled for this December.<\/p>\n

In commemoration of Lodge\u2019s death, here are four classic Moody Blues songs he wrote or co-wrote and sang:<\/p>\n

\u201cRide My See-Saw\u201d (1968)<\/p>\n

\u201cRide My See-Saw\u201d appeared on The Moody Blues\u2019 third studio, In Search of the Lost Chord. The psychedelic rock tune was written by Lodge, who shred lead vocals with Hayward, Ray Thomas, and Mike Pinder.<\/p>\n

\u201cRide My See-Saw\u201d was the first Moody Blues song written by John to break into the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at No. 61. At also reached No. 42 on the U.K. singles chart.<\/p>\n

The song remained a staple in The Moody Blues\u2019 live set throughout the band\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)\u201d (1972)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)\u201d was a standout track from The Moody Blues\u2019 eighth studio effort, Seventh Sojourn.<\/p>\n

Written and sung by Lodge, the rock anthem was the second single released from Seventh Sojourn, which topped the Billboard 200 album chart for five weeks in late 1972 and early \u201973. \u201cI\u2019m Just a Singer (in a Rock and Roll Band)\u201d peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n

John\u2019s 2025 solo tour was called the Singer in a Rock and Roll Band trek in honor of the song.<\/p>\n

Lodge also wrote and sang Seventh Sojourn\u2019s lead single, the soaring introspective ballad \u201cIsn\u2019t Life Strange.\u201d That tune reached No. 31 on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n

\u201cGemini Dream\u201d (1981)<\/p>\n

\u201cGemini Dream\u201d was an upbeat pop-rock tune featured on The Moody Blues\u2019 10th studio album, Long Distance Voyager. The song was co-written by Lodge and Hayward, who also shared lead vocals, harmonizing throughout the track. It was the first Moody Blues song Lodge and Hayward wrote together.<\/p>\n

\u201cGemini Dream\u201d peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100.<\/p>\n

\u201cSitting at the Wheel\u201d (1983)<\/p>\n

\u201cSitting at the Wheel\u201d was an upbeat pop-rock song featured on The Moody Blues\u2019 11 studio effort, The Present. Lodge wrote and sang the tune, which reached No. 27 on the Hot 100. The song\u2019s popularity was bolstered by a music video that received moderate airplay on MTV.<\/p>\n

\u201cSitting at the Wheel\u201d was the last Moody Blues song composed by John that had any major commercial success.<\/p>\n

Bonus Song: \u201cWhispering Angels\u201d (2025)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhispering Angels\u201d was one of two new originals that appeared on Lodge\u2019s final solo EP, Love Conquers All. In the message announcing John\u2019s passing, his family included a link to \u201cWhispering Angels\u201d for fans to enjoy.<\/p>\n

The song was co-written Lodge and his son-in-law, Yes\u2019 Jon Davison. Yes keyboardist Geoff Downes is featured on the track.<\/p>\n

In a February 2025 interview with American Songwriter<\/a>, Lodge said he was \u201creally pleased\u201d with the song.<\/p>\n

\u201c[It\u2019s] the progressive-rock side of John Lodge or whatever,\u201d he noted. \u201cFor me, I like songs which enlighten you. Something happens [that] you don\u2019t expect, but melodically and musically it\u2019s correct for the song. And I like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lyrically, the ethereal \u201cWhispering Angels\u201d seems to find Lodge reflecting on his mortality.<\/p>\n

(Photo by Gary Miller\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Longtime Moody Blues singer\/bassist John Lodge passed away suddenly at age 82, his family announced on Friday, October…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":293258,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[976,171,150153,975,150154,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-293257","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-music","8":"tag-classic-rock","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-john-lodge","11":"tag-music","12":"tag-the-moody-blues","13":"tag-united-states","14":"tag-unitedstates","15":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115352638963236083","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293257","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=293257"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/293257\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/293258"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=293257"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=293257"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=293257"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}