RIP Tony Clarke...the Sixth Moody
Posted: Thu Jan 07, 2010 8:35 pm
Posted from a newsletter received in an email from Mike Pinder from the Moody Blues....
"We've, all the Moody Blues, reached that certain age when friends and family begin to leave us. Clint Warwick left us in 2004 and Nicky James in 2007. Our lives don't always touch on a day to day basis, sometimes it's even years, but the time we spent together, worked and played together, the bond of friendship are always there in our memories. Last August, I had the pleasure of sitting down with my old mates, Mike Pinder and Tony Clarke and talking about old times. An evening that means more than ever now. It was a great shock when Mike rang on Monday afternoon to tell me that Tony had passed away, another mate lost to us.
We first met Tony Clarke when he was junior producer working for Decca Records. Tony, along with Peter Knight, had been asked by Decca to make a demo LP incorporating their new deramic sound system. At the time the Moody Blues were working on a stage show which was literally just about a day. At this time we were having trouble getting studio time from Decca. When we spoke with Tony for the first time we told him what we were working on and that we were desperate to record it. He was very enthusiastic about the idea and literally put his job on the line in producing it. For this we will always be very grateful. We went on to make another seven albums with Tony, with great success and giving a lot of people dreams of love and peace - which was what our music was all about. I think that in itself will get him into heaven. "Gweddill mewn tangnefedd hen ffrind" - Rest in peace, my old friend.
Ray Thomas"
"We've, all the Moody Blues, reached that certain age when friends and family begin to leave us. Clint Warwick left us in 2004 and Nicky James in 2007. Our lives don't always touch on a day to day basis, sometimes it's even years, but the time we spent together, worked and played together, the bond of friendship are always there in our memories. Last August, I had the pleasure of sitting down with my old mates, Mike Pinder and Tony Clarke and talking about old times. An evening that means more than ever now. It was a great shock when Mike rang on Monday afternoon to tell me that Tony had passed away, another mate lost to us.
We first met Tony Clarke when he was junior producer working for Decca Records. Tony, along with Peter Knight, had been asked by Decca to make a demo LP incorporating their new deramic sound system. At the time the Moody Blues were working on a stage show which was literally just about a day. At this time we were having trouble getting studio time from Decca. When we spoke with Tony for the first time we told him what we were working on and that we were desperate to record it. He was very enthusiastic about the idea and literally put his job on the line in producing it. For this we will always be very grateful. We went on to make another seven albums with Tony, with great success and giving a lot of people dreams of love and peace - which was what our music was all about. I think that in itself will get him into heaven. "Gweddill mewn tangnefedd hen ffrind" - Rest in peace, my old friend.
Ray Thomas"
