About this item
The startling and endearing stories behind the Moodies rich musical past are now in your future. This meticulously researched book is over 700 pages with hundreds of photos and interviews. The accomplishments of the Moody Blues are many. They started at the top in 1965, with a No. 1 U.K. hit single, "Go Now" (Top 10 around the world, including in the U.S.) , and touring with the Beatles, and managed by the Beatle's Brian Epstein. But their true coming began on November 10, 1967, with the release of the classic Days of Future Passed, the first LP to combine rock music with orchestral music, in concept album form. Almost overnight, a new genre of popular music was born: "Symphonic Rock." Other groups would embrace the genre, including King Crimson; Pink Floyd; Genesis, Jethro Tull, Emerson, Lake & Palmer; Yes; the Electric Light Orchestra, and Queen.
About the Author
Marc Cushman is an author and Los Angeles based screenwriter and director. His television writing assignments include scripts for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction, and Diagnosis: Murder. His feature film credits include Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney, The Magic of Christmas, and In The Eyes Of A Killer. As a writer/producer, Marc created and served as show runner for two TV series: the cult comedy Channel K and its spin-off, the original Bachelor Pad. Marc is the author of the "biography of a TV show," I Spy: A History Of The Groundbreaking Television Series (McFarland & Co., 2007) , and the definitive examination of the making of the original Star Trek series, with his 1,700 page, three-volume set,These Are The Voyages, TOS. The first volume -- Season One -- was published in August 2013 by JacobsBrown Press, with Season Two due in late 2013 and Season Three in early 2014.
An interview with Marc Cushman about the writing of "These are the Voyages..."
Marc, what lead you to write "These are the Voyages..? "
I interviewed Gene Roddenberry for a TV special about the Star Trek phenomenon in 1982. He gave me all the scripts and showed me the immense amount of documents he had saved from the production of the series and suggested I take the research for the TV special, expand on it by utilizing the gigantic "show files" and turn it into a book. I interviewed him at that time and again in 1989 when I pitched the story for the episode "Sarek" to him for Star Trek: Next Generation. I was too busy with my own career as a screenwriter and director to begin work on the book until after Gene had passed, but, during those years, I continued to collect interviews from the creative staff (Bob Justman, D.C. Fontana, John D.F. Black) , as well as members of the production crew, the cast, and guest players. I finally began writing the Star Trek book in 2007. And it was meant to be one book. Six years later it was roughly 1,700 pages in length, and had to be divided into three books (one for each season of TOS) .
What are the most amazing facts that you uncovered?
I'd say that about 30% of the info out there on TOS -- on the internet, in other books and articles -- is false. There is a remarkable amount of folklore about the history of Star Trek, which has been reported in other sources as if true, while so many unknown facts have been left unreported. For one, the writers whose names appear on the screen often did less than 50% of the work on particular episodes. Gene Roddenberry rewrote the first 13 episode of TOS almost entirely. Gene Coon handled much of the rewriting after that and, between himself and Dorothy Fontana, and Roddenberry, a good percentage of the dialogue we heard in every episode came from their typewriters, without credit. It is fascinated to see the memos that flew back and forth bet