More than just a singer in a rock & roll band

Happy Birthday, Justin Hayward, who 59 years ago Friday was born ... Justin Hayward.

Many years ago a delightful flower child from Rapid City, South Dakota, informed us in the most solemn of tones that not only were the Moody Blues the best rock n' roll band in the universe, but Justin Hayward was a "musician's musician."

At that particular moment in time anything she said was worth investigating, and thus the decision was made to pour massive resources into Moody Blues research, which of course meant spending $8 or $9 each month catching up on the LPs previously and about to be released. Later, of course, for purely research purposes the Oklahomilist wing of the Moody Blues Research Project was forced to spend even greater sums converting the entire catalogue onto Compact Disc. (Thank God we prognosticated the 8-track tape correctly and avoided that dead end.) Now we have added resources in DVD concert footage in DTS stereo for the home theatre system. In scientific terms, it's awesome.

Many years later we can still say that we agree with everything she said: Justin is a "musician's musician" and the Moody Blues remain at the top of a pantheon of great rock groups.

We know you're out there somewhere, Debbie. And somehow you can hear our voice ... saying "thank you" for the great tip.

And thank you too, Justin, for actually doing all the heavy lifting.