Song of the Day 10/28: The Moody Blues, “Go Now”

As the days until the election dwindle, I find this tune going through my head — the “since you gotta go, you better go now” part, not the “I don’t want to see you go” part.

This was the first big hit for the Moody Blues in their first incarnation, with Denny Laine fronting the band on guitar and vocals. It reached No. 1 in the UK in January 1965 and debuted the next month in America, where it eventually reached No. 10. This promotional film is one of the earliest examples of a promotional music video; its influence on Queen’s “Bohemian Rhapsody” video is obvious.

As is so often the case with hits, the Moody Blues were not the first to record the song. That distinction went to Bessie Banks, whose vocal partner and ex-husband Larry Banks wrote it specifically for her, with an eye on breaking her nationally as a solo artist. A demo reached Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, who produced and released her single exactly a year before the Moodies, with Dee Dee Warwick and Cissy Houston on backing vocals. The record only reached No. 40 in Cashbox, but as soon as Laine heard it, he told the band he wanted to cover the song.