Watch the Making of Fish on Friday’s Black Rain

by | Feb 26, 2020 | New Releases, New Video, News

Black Rain is Fish on Friday’s fifth and arguably strongest album to date. On each of the album’s eleven songs, the production is flawless and the songs and arrangements are imaginative and creatively constructed. The band, featuring Nick Beggs, Frank Van Bogaert, Marty Townsend and Marcus Weymaere, sounds tighter and punchier than ever before.

As a response to the positive reactions to Lula Beggs’ vocal contributions to Fish on Friday’s previous album, Quiet Life, Lula was given a bigger guest role on Black Rain, appearing on four of the eleven tracks on the album.

Black Rain may perhaps be seen as a concept album about the fast changing, (for some, way too fast), world that we live in… Our changing environment, refugees fleeing from war, and global political madness. Although the album certainly has its dark sides, there is also room for sun and happiness.

The album is packaged in a beautiful six panel digipack with a sixteen-page booklet designed by Michal Karcz, which truly complements the music to make every aspect of Black Rain a true work of art and an album for our times.

TRACK LISTING

1. LIFE IN TOWNS
2. MURDEROUS HIGHLAND HIGHWAY
3. BLACK RAIN
4. MAD AT THE WORLD
5. LETTING GO OF YOU
6. ANGEL OF MERCY
7. WE’VE COME UNDONE
8. MORPHINE
9. WE CHOOSE TO BE HAPPY
10. TRAPPED IN HEAVEN
11. DIAMONDS

The Band
Nick Beggs : Bass, Backing vocals,
Marty Townsend : Guitars,
Frank Van Bogaert : Keyboards, Guitars, Vocals,
Marcus Weymaere : Drums

Fish on Friday Online
http://www.fishonfriday.be

Ray Thomas Founding Member Of The Moody Blues Has Passed Away

by | Jan 7, 2018 | News

It is with profound sorrow and sadness that Cherry Red Records and Esoteric Recordings regret to announce that Ray Thomas, founder member, flautist and vocalist of the Moody Blues, passed away suddenly at his home in Surrey on Thursday 4th January 2018.

We are deeply shocked by his passing and will miss his warmth, humor, and kindness. It was a privilege to have known and worked with him and our thoughts are with his family and his wife Lee at this sad time.

Born in Stourport-on-Severn on 29th December 1941, Ray was a member of various Birmingham Blues and Soul groups in the early 1960s, notably with El Riot and the Rebels, who also featured John Lodge and Mike Pinder at various stages in their existence. Ray formed The Krew Cats with Mike Pinder in 1963 and the group performed on the Hamburg club scene that year. Returning to Birmingham, Thomas and Pinder formed the Moody Blues with Denny Laine, Graeme Edge, and Clint Warwick. The band signed to Decca Records and enjoyed a worldwide hit with their cover of Bessie Banks’ “Go Now” in January 1965.

In October 1966 the Moody Blues line-up changed with the recruitment of Justin Hayward and John Lodge to replace the departing Denny Laine and Clint Warwick. The musical style of the group changed dramatically with the incorporation of the Mellotron into their sound, along with Ray’s evocative flute playing.

The band’s 1967 single “Nights in White Satin” (from the groundbreaking album “Days of Future Passed” – a number one album in the USA in 1972) was graced by a magical flute solo from Ray, contributing to the evocative arrangement of the song.
Over seven albums released between 1967 and 1972, the Moody Blues enjoyed major success, and each album was graced with compositions by Ray such as “Legend of a Mind” (about the psychedelic champion Timothy Leary), “Eternity Road”, “And the Tide Rushes In” and “For My Lady”.

In the mid-1970s, Ray recorded two successful solo albums; “From Mighty Oaks” (1975) and “Hopes Wishes and Dreams” (1976). The Moody Blues success continued into the 1980s. Ray’s song “Veteran Cosmic Rocker” (from 1981’s “Long Distance Voyager”) highlighted Ray’s marvelous sense of humor.

Ray remained with the Moody Blues until 2002 when he retired from the band due to health issues. Despite mobility issues, Ray continued to play and record occasionally, contributing a new song, “The Trouble with Memories” to a 2010 boxed set release of his two solo albums and more recently to the John Lodge album “10,000 Light Years Ago” in 2014. In 2017 it was announced that the members of the Moody Blues, including Ray Thomas, were to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2018.