Fact #96451
When:
Short story:
The M & B 5 play at The Carlton Ballroom, Birmingham, UK. The
group will later change their name to The Moody Blues, so this
stands as their debut gig.
Full article:
Clint Warwick (bassist) : I was playing with Danny King and The Dukes and latterly Gerry Day and The Dukes in and around Birmingham. It was Shadows-type stuff. I had been involved in various bands since the 50s and the skiffle boom. We never worried about money - just played for the fun of it. There was one street which had a whole line of pubs. We would go into each one, washboard and tea chest in tow, and persuade each landlord to let us play and then pass around the hat. We made a bit of pocket money. But we had fun and it was a good training ground.
We worked at Butlins, as so many bands did, and we were stars of the show for seven nights, even meeting Billy Butlin himself. Danny introduced Denny Laine and Graeme Edge but Danny didn't like the material and suggested we form another band. We were short of a pianist and found out that Mike Pinder had the offer of a sponsorship deal with the big local brewery Mitchell's and Butler's. We had a short residency at The Moathouse nightclub and painted 'MB5' on the side of our van but almost immediately the brewery decided they didn't like us. I can't imagine why! So we improvised the name The Moody Blues.
Carl Wayne (vocalist, The Move) : I had something to do with the very first days of the Moody Blues. Mike Pinder and I were once asked to form a band named the Mitchell And Butler Five, which was the name of famous beer brewery in Birmingham. They suggested Mike and I to form the band but I turned the offer down. I didn't want to do advertisements for the brewery. Instead, we formed a band named the MAndB Five after its initials. That was the origin of the Moody Blues name but the Moody Blues turned out to be successful much earlier than The Move did. (Strange Days magazine, issue 31)
Johnnie Walker (UK deejay) : I used to deejay at the Carlton Ballroom in Erdington which later became Mother's Club, a very famous venue. Carl Wayne and The Vikings played there, and they became The Move so I used to see a lot of those gigs.
(Source : not known)
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We worked at Butlins, as so many bands did, and we were stars of the show for seven nights, even meeting Billy Butlin himself. Danny introduced Denny Laine and Graeme Edge but Danny didn't like the material and suggested we form another band. We were short of a pianist and found out that Mike Pinder had the offer of a sponsorship deal with the big local brewery Mitchell's and Butler's. We had a short residency at The Moathouse nightclub and painted 'MB5' on the side of our van but almost immediately the brewery decided they didn't like us. I can't imagine why! So we improvised the name The Moody Blues.
Carl Wayne (vocalist, The Move) : I had something to do with the very first days of the Moody Blues. Mike Pinder and I were once asked to form a band named the Mitchell And Butler Five, which was the name of famous beer brewery in Birmingham. They suggested Mike and I to form the band but I turned the offer down. I didn't want to do advertisements for the brewery. Instead, we formed a band named the MAndB Five after its initials. That was the origin of the Moody Blues name but the Moody Blues turned out to be successful much earlier than The Move did. (Strange Days magazine, issue 31)
Johnnie Walker (UK deejay) : I used to deejay at the Carlton Ballroom in Erdington which later became Mother's Club, a very famous venue. Carl Wayne and The Vikings played there, and they became The Move so I used to see a lot of those gigs.
(Source : not known)