A good friend of Rod’s, Don Paul, already having success with his band The Viscounts had heard that the Moodies were looking
for a new bass player.  Don was asked to get Rod to visit the NEMS offices, near the Palladium, to discuss the position.

 

Having driven around the area of the offices for quite some time, looking in vain for somewhere to park up, he eventually
decided to give up and drove home!

 

With some determination, it was the Moodies themselves that arranged to call upon Rod. Turning up at Tiffany’s, Wimbledon,
in their new Chevy Impala, dressed in ‘gangster’ pinstripe suites, he was a little taken aback at the entourage that had come
to see him.  Ray, Denny & Graeme invited him into the car to have a chat about the vacancy and what plans the
band had for the future.

 

Interested, Rod agreed to go over to Mike’s flat in Putney to finalise the arrangements.  As luck would have it, the
stage clothes that were once Clint’s fitted him perfectly, so, up for the challenge,  they all agreed that Rod
would step up to the breach.

 

Hesitantly, Rod had some explaining to do to his current band however, but, to his surprise, Mark Loyd confided that
Brian was just about to ask Rod to leave the band anyway, to allow former member Pete Stanley to rejoin and advised
that he really should take up the position with the Moodies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engagements for the Moody Blues, still with Brian Epstein as manager, took a continental twist, with dates in France
and Belgium plus stints in Scotland (Dunfermline) and the Isle of Man.   Rod recalls the flight to Belgium from
Southend local airport on a ‘Pelican’ plane, carrying the band plus their tour van and car!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TV appearances followed including the popular Mike Pinder track
Really Haven’t Got The Time, occasionally still screened today and
on various DVD releases.

 

Between engagements, and probably
completely unbeknown to the band,
Rod still found time to fill-in on a
recording session for Simon
Hollywood in Sept 1966.

 

 

 

 

With a lot of the original #1 Moodies material still in the set-list,  Rod

kindly signed my copy of the US album, already bearing the

signature of his predecessor!   The picture, incidentally, taken at the
windmill in Lytham St. Annes.

 

Popular songs from the set-list at the

time included How Can We Hang On
To a Dream, Jago & Jilly and

Red Wine, unfortunately,  none of which
are known to still exist on record.   

(You can catch Rod’s resurrection of
Red Wine in the Top Rank Suite

Theatre)

 

 

 

 

With Clint gone however, Denny was increasingly restless,
and, the band was thrown into turmoil when he announced his
departure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Time to move again, this time for a short stint with The Mickey Finn, combining their Blue Beat roots with a classic psych style.   Although with them for only 4/5 gigs,  the door was kept open for his return a little later...

 

Quickly, opportunity came knocking once more when Geoff Turton departed the popular Rockin’ Berries
due to family commitments, Rod taking up lead vocals, a challenge of even greater proportions when
you appreciate the falsetto style embodying many of their hits at the time.

 

With pantomime dates at the ABC theatre,
Stockton already booked, the band were
kept very busy, their comedy / music
act providing perfect accompaniment

to the likes of Bill Maynard and Charles
Hawtree (of Carry On fame (infamy?)).
 

A highlight was an appearance at the
London Palladium on 1st January 1967,
supporting the legendary Big ‘O’ himself,
Roy Orbison.