NIGHTS IN WHITE SATIN

The Justin Hayward composition 'Nights in White Satin' is without a doubt the most famous song by the Moodies, still regularly heard on radio. When first released as a single in 1967, it reached number 19 on the UK Singles Chart and number 103 in the United States in 1968. It was the Moodies' first significant chart entry since the r&b cover hit 'Go Now' (1964) and the band's recent lineup change, in which Denny Laine and Clint Warwick had resigned and both Hayward and John Lodge had joined.

The fact that everybody knows this song makes it rather trivial to try and describe it musically. Have to say I've heard it too many times in my life, but judged "objectively" (and subjectively, of course), without that heavy legacy, it's a marvelous song. I cannot even think of giving it less than five stars. As the album Days of Future Passed (1967) with the symphony orchestra backing and all was such a milestone in rock (and proto-prog), I prefer to take this song as part of the thematic album whole. So, for me it's a very, very different thing to haphazardly hear the song from the radio while riding a car, and to reach there in one of my favourite music DVD's in which The Moody Blues performs the whole album in its entirety.

The B side's non-album song 'Cities' (also by Hayward) has later been included on the MB compilations such as Prelude (1987). I actually thought it was one of the "plus 5" studio songs on the live double album Caught Live + 5 but it wasn't. The nice, if a bit depressive and worn-out little song paints a gloomy picture of a polluted and noisy city. Not necessarily a classic in itself, but a decent B-sider to this classic single.