I’ve got a spring soother for you. I love this song. For some reason, perhaps other XTC fans can explain it to me, I was under the misapprehension that this was an XTC song.
And all I knew about The Moody Blues came from that “Freedom Rock” commercials (probably only shown in America) where they played snippets of late ’60s/early ’70s song. They played a mere snippet, actually the titular line, in the lineup. “Nights in white satin…”
There were other more exciting snippets, lines from Cream’s “White Room,” Jefferson Airplane’s “Don’t You Want Somebody To Love” and America’s “Horse With No Name.” Even a few seconds of the good songs left you wanting to say, like the hippie-costumed host of the record compilation infomercial, “Turn it up, man.”
Back to my misapprehension. I think The Moody Blues’ Justin Hayward, who wrote and sang “Wildest Dreams,” sounds similar to XTC’s Andy Partridge when engaged in a wistful synth-pop song. Of course, Andy Partridge applies a bit more endearing self-production and goofiness to songs like “Mayor of Simpleton.”
So Moody Blues it is. Good on them, because I can’t resist songs of bittersweet romance, looking back to those halcyon salad days before heartbreak and cynicism
–Sarah Torribio
Listen to more songs of the day HERE
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