"Dancing in the Moonlight (It's Caught Me in Its Spotlight)" is a song by the Irish

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

band

Thin Lizzy Thin Lizzy are an Irish rock band formed in Dublin in 1969. The band initially consisted of bass guitarist, lead vocalist and principal songwriter Phil Lynott, drummer Brian Downey, guitarist Eric Bell and organist Eric Wrixon although Wr ...

. It appears on their 1977 album '' Bad Reputation'' and was also released as a single a few months before the album. The song reached No. 14 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1977, and No. 84 in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It should not be confused with a similarly named song, "

Dancing in the Moonlight "Dancing in the Moonlight" is a song written by Sherman Kelly, originally recorded in 1970 by Kelly's band Boffalongo, and then a hit single by King Harvest in 1972, reaching no. 5 in Canada and no. 13 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. In 2000, a ...

", recorded by

King Harvest King Harvest was a 1970s French-American rock band who was formed initially in Ithaca, New York, U.S., but broke up and reformed in Paris where they began recording their first songs. They are known for their 1972 hit single " Dancing in the ...

and

Toploader Toploader are an English Rock music, rock band from Eastbourne, East Sussex, formed in 1997, with over two million album sales and several top-20 hits both home and abroad. Their debut album, ''Onka's Big Moka'', sold over one million units a ...

, amongst others. The song builds on the introductory bass riff played by Phil Lynott, adding the vocal melody line sung by Lynott which contrasts and synergizes with the saxophone melodic counterpoint played by

Supertramp Supertramp were a British rock band formed in London in 1970. Marked by the individual songwriting of founders Roger Hodgson (vocals, keyboards and guitars) and Rick Davies (vocals and keyboards), the group were distinguished for blending p ...

's John Helliwell.

Covers

The Smashing Pumpkins The Smashing Pumpkins (also simply known as Smashing Pumpkins) are an American alternative rock band formed in Chicago in 1988 by frontman and guitarist Billy Corgan, guitarist James Iha, bassist D'arcy Wretzky and drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. The ...

covered the song for various live performances, turning the originally upbeat, overlaid melody of the original into a slow paced acoustic tune; it was recorded as B-side of the single " Disarm". British indie pop singer-songwriter

Diana Vickers Diana Vickers (born 30 July 1991) is an English singer, songwriter and actress. She was a semi-finalist on ''The X Factor (British series 5), The X Factor'' in 2008, finishing in fourth place. Vickers signed a record deal with RCA Records and, ...

covered the song as the first of several covers used as teasers leading up to the release of her second studio album. In 2012 the English indie rock band

Alt-J Alt-J (stylised as alt-J, real name Δ) are an English indie rock band formed in 2007 in Leeds. Their lineup includes Joe Newman (guitar/lead vocals), Thom Sonny Green (drums), Gus Unger-Hamilton (keyboards/vocals), and formerly Gwil Sainsbury ...

released a mash up of "Dancing in the Moonlight" for the compilation album, ''The Saturday Sessions from The Dermot O'Leary Show''. Later it was recorded at Spotify Studios NYC and released as part of their

Spotify Singles Spotify (; ) is a Swedish audio streaming and media service provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. , it is one of the largest providers of music streaming services, with over 678 million monthly active users com ...

project in 2017. In 2017 British singer Josh Dally released a reworked acoustic ballad version of the song. The American band

Cannons A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during t ...

released a dream pop-inspired cover in November 2023 as the final track on their ''Heartbeat Highway'' album.

In commercials

In 2005, this song was used as part of an advertising campaign to launch Magners Irish Cider in the UK. In 2021, this song was used in a
advertisement
for

Specsavers Specsavers Optical Group Limited is a Guernsey-based multinational optical retail chain, which operates mainly in the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and the Nordic countries. The chain offers optometry and optician services for ey ...

hearing aids in the UK.

Charts

Certifications

References

{{authority control 1977 songs 1977 singles Thin Lizzy songs Songs written by Phil Lynott Song recordings produced by Tony Visconti