Dusty Springfield was born in 1939 and christened Mary Isabel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien. She came from Scottish Irish descent and her brother Tom, and Tim Filed made up a folk trio called The Springfield’s.

Robert Stigwood was born in 1934 in Adelaide, South Australia and was educated at Sacred Heart College. He began his career as a copywriter for a local advertising agency but in 1955, aged 21 he moved to England. At first, he took odd jobs including working as an assistant in the institution for "teenage boys" in East Anglia.

Blues shouters were blues singers, usually men, capable of singing unamplified with a band. Their voice projected fervour and energy and got audiences to their feet, driven by the power of the music.

Ray Thomas (harmonica, vocals), John Lodge, and Michael Pinder keyboards, vocals) were members of El Riot & the Rebels in Birmingham in the early 60s. The group disbanded when John Lodge went to technical college and Mike Pinder left to join the army. Mike Pinder and Ray Thomas later formed the Krew Cats and recruited Denny Laine, Graeme Edge and Clint Warwick. They appeared as the Moody Blues in 1964 for the first time in Birmingham.

Janis Lyn Joplin was born in Port Arthur, Texas, in 1943. She had two younger siblings, Michael and Laura Growing up her parents felt Janis needed more attention than their other children and at school, she was never part of the crowd and proved to be a misfit.