It is difficult to type this since my eyes are filled with tears. John Lodge passed away today unexpectedly. He was an English songwriter and musician and if you don't know that he was the bass player with The Moody Blues, then I hope you will search out their music! We are huge Moody Blues fans. I have made the joke that if I had seen the Moody Blues in concert before Christopher was born, he would have been "Justin John", and I would have called him JJ. (That is really not a joke, that would have happened!)
Richard and I saw them in concert several times when they were in Atlanta. (And each time, Christopher was with us!) Richard saw Justin Hayward and John Lodge in England in 1975 when they performed as "The Blue Jays".) In 1981 when I first met Richard, he invited me to his home, and he proudly showed me the new Moody Blues album that he had just purchased. Now, let us pause here and remember great album covers, shall we? This album was "Long Distance Voyager". Isn't it lovely? Wonderful songs too!
Richard got a poster when he went to the Blue Jays concert.... let's see if I can show it to you here....
When Christopher was five years old, we drove over to Birmingham, Alabama to see the Moody Blues perform. (And John Lodge was also from Birmingham except he was from the one in England!) This concert was most memorable for me as John Lodge waved to ME! Here is my story: We were on the second row in the balcony. There were two women in front of us, and they were waving and screaming at the band as soon as they got on stage. Now, they were waving not just their hands but their arms in a very wild fashion. Knowing what English folks are like, I reasoned that if I waved my hand in a very small way that I might be noticed. Sure enough, John Lodge looked right at me and mimicked the exact wave back at me! We had made friends with the couple sitting beside us and I said, "Look, he waved at us!". They said, "No, he waved to YOU". There, that is a wonderful memory and reading just a few things on Facebook, that story is not unusual for John Lodge.
John Lodge always ended concerts with these words, "Keep the faith"! He was a great bass player and singer, and his love of life and positive energy were always in evidence. Even though he is no longer with us, his music lives on forever. John had a stroke in 2023 but had recovered and was touring. I had just seen where he had scheduled new shows in California for December of this year. After his stroke he had written a song "Love Will Conquer All". I have it for you here.
Peace, love and music!
