For here, am I sitting in a tin can
Far, above the world
Planet Earth is blue
And there’s nothing I can do
David Bowie was born David Robert Jones on January 8, 1947, in Brixton, London, England, into a working-class family whose modest circumstances belied the creative intensity that would define his life. His father, Haywood Stenton Jones, worked in promotions for a children’s charity, while his mother, Margaret Mary Burns,
Breathe deep the gathering gloom
Watch lights fade from every room
Bedsitter people look back and lament
Another day’s useless energy spent
The Moody Blues were formed in Birmingham, England, in 1964, emerging from the fertile Midlands beat scene that had already produced The Spencer Davis Group and other rhythm-and-blues-inflected acts. Originally conceived as a harmony-driven R&B band, the group took its name from the Duke Ellington composition “Mood Indigo,” reflecting both their jazz awareness and their desire for a slightly more sophisticated image than many contemporaries.
