Mike Pinder

Mike Pinder, 1974

Michael Thomas Pinder (born December 27, 1941 in Birmingham , England ) is an English rock musician. He is one of the founders of the Moody Blues , where he played keyboards and sang.

Life

Mike Pinder began his musical career with the Rockin 'Tuxedos , spent 13 months with the British Army in Germany and was later associated with El Riot & the Rebels , who had small successes at the local level. In this band played Ray Thomas and John Lodge , with whom Pinder would later meet again in the Moody Blues . El Riot (Thomas) disbanded the Rebels in 1963. Pinder and Thomas then formed the Krew Cats .

In 1964, Pinder and Thomas played in the original line-up of the Moody Blues . As additional musicians they had recruited Denny Laine , Graeme Edge and Clint Warwick , who had previously been active in various other Birmingham groups. The Moody Blues got a record deal with Decca Records and after their first single was not very successful, the group achieved hit parade success in 1965 with their successor Go Now . In the same year, Pinder purchased a Mellotron from Streetly Electronics ; he first used the instrument on the single Love and Beauty . He was probably one of the first musicians to use the Mellotron for a recording. According to his own statement, he also brought the Beatles to this instrument.

While the band - as the founder and inventor of the name he sees himself - paused from 1974, Pinder moved to California . He pursued a solo career and released his album The Promise in 1976 . When the rest of the group reunited in 1977, Pinder also took part in the recordings for the album Octave , which was released in 1978. However, he did not take part in the following tour. The timing and circumstances of his final exit from the group are controversial and were the subject of a legal dispute in 1981. At the latest after the appearance of Long Distance Voyager in the same year, Pinder was considered a former member and Patrick Moraz was a new member.

Pinder worked intermittently as a consultant for Atari . Not much was heard from him until the mid-1990s. In 1994 his second solo album entitled Among the Stars was released with moderate success on his own label . A Planet With One Mind was released a year later .

Pinder now lives with his family in Grass Valley , California. Two sons are also musicians.

Remarks

1. ↑ cf. Interview Justin Hayward, John Reed Talks to the Moody Blues Frontman, in: Record Collector (1996, gen.date unknown), p. 70

Web links

• Official website of Mike Pinder