On April 14, 2018, Lodge and his band, The Moody Blues, will be formally inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio, along with Bon Jovi, The Cars, Dire Straits and the late songstresses Nina Simone and Sister Rosetta Tharpe (who will posthumously receive the award for “Early Influence”).
Lodge shared that he was inspired musically by Link Wray and Billy Vaughn Orchestra, among countless other musicians. “Of course, I loved ‘Rumble’ and ‘Raunchy.’ I was influenced by all of the original people in America. They all had something that triggered a musical emotion in me. I may not have used what they did, but it triggered an emotion for me to do that in a different way. That’s what I was trying to do all these years,” he said.
Aside from “Rumble” and “Raunchy,” he also liked the 1959 instrumental tune “Crossfire” from Johnny and the Hurricanes. “The song ‘Crossfire’ had something in the bottom end of the guitar, that I started to use, and I transferred that idea to bass, and it was very interesting,” he said. “‘Crossfire’ was an iconic record, and an iconic milestone.”
In January of 2018, The Moody Blues will be touring North America. They announced their tour dates for next month, as part of their “Days of Future Passed – 50th Anniversary Tour.”
For the dedicated Moody Blues fans, Lodge expressed his sincere gratitude for their support. “Our fans are rock solid! They are absolutely incredible. I love the strength and the love that has come across from the fans over the years. It has just been tremendous. When the fans come out and they support you, it is just amazing,” he said, effusively.
Lodge defined the word success as “the ability to do what I love.” “I fell in love with playing bass in 1959. That became my world, really, and that’s what I wanted to do: play bass, write songs and perform them on stage. Success is the ability to be able to do that 50 years later. The monetary side is a whole different thing. I never ever got into this to make money. I got into this to perform music. Everything else that has happened, has been another door that has opened for me, such as given the opportunities to travel the world,” he explained.
Speaking of traveling the world, Lodge shared that he has been to Greece. “I have been to Greece,” he admitted. “I was actually in Mykonos last year for a couple of weeks, and I also visited Santorini.”
Read More: John Lodge of The Moody Blues chatted with Digital Journal about the digital transformation of the music industry, as well as his “The 10,000 Light Years Tour.”
