9.4 How did the band come up with its name?
At the time the band formed in its initial incarnation (Ray Thomas, Mike Pinder, Graeme Edge, Denny Laine and Clint Warwick), there was a large brewery in Birmingham called "Mitchell's and Butler's" and they had the letters "M" and "B" illuminated in large letters at the brewery. The brewery contained a large assembly room where dances were held and the band, hoping to be invited to play there frequently, chose the name "M and B 5" in the hopes of tying their name in with the brewery. When that didn't pan out, they decided to choose words to go with the letters, which they had already been known by. Since they were playing rhythm and blues at the time, the word "blues" was chosen for the letter "B."
According to Mike Pinder, the word "Moody" came from one of his favorite songs at the time, "Mood Indigo." According to Justin Hayward, the word came from an expression commonly used at the time to describe a "cool" sort of person ("he's a 'moody' kind of guy"). Initially, they went by the name "Moody Blues 5," but that was very short-lived and the "5" was dropped almost immediately.