"Moonlight Feels Right" is the debut single recorded by the American band
Starbuck. Written and produced by Bruce Blackman, the song was released in December 1975 but did not chart until April 1976.
Background
On the ''
American Top 40
''American Top 40'' (previously abbreviated to ''AT40'') is an internationally syndicated, independent song countdown radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds, and Ron Jacobs. The program is currently hosted by Ryan Seacr ...
'' radio program of August 14, 1976,
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem (April 27, 1932 – June 15, 2014) was an American disc jockey, actor, and radio personality, who created and hosted several radio countdown programs, notably '' American Top 40''. He was the first actor to voice Nor ...
reported the group's difficulties in promoting their single. Over the winter they had hand-delivered the record to 400 radio stations, 95 percent of which had told them they would play it, but did not. One of those stations,
WERC in Birmingham, Alabama, told them that it sounded like a spring song to them, so they would play it but would wait until spring to do so. Discouraged, the group re-entered the recording studio. However, WERC kept their promise and became the first to do so, because "Moonlight Feels Right" became a hit immediately following its first airing. The song debuted on the U.S. charts the week ending April 17, 1976, with a chart run of over five months.
Blackman detailed the story of the song in his 2018 book, ''The Road to Moonlight Feels Right - the story behind one of the most popular songs of the '70s''.
Marimba solo
The song features a prominent
marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
solo by co-founding band member Bo Wagner, who in the early 1970s worked as a studio musician in Los Angeles, appeared on ''
The Lawrence Welk Show
''The Lawrence Welk Show'' is an American televised musical variety show hosted by big band leader Lawrence Welk. The series aired locally in Los Angeles for four years, from 1951 to 1955, then nationally for another 16 years on ABC from 195 ...
'' for three years and toured with
The 5th Dimension
The 5th Dimension is an American popular music vocal group, whose repertoire includes pop, R&B, soul, jazz, light opera, and Broadway.
Formed as the Versatiles in late 1965, the group changed its name to "the 5th Dimension" by 1966. Betwee ...
,
Roger Williams
Roger Williams (21 September 1603between 27 January and 15 March 1683) was an English-born New England Puritan minister, theologian, and author who founded Providence Plantations, which became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantation ...
and
Liberace
Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...
. Wagner claimed the performance that ended up on the record was his first attempt, really just a rehearsal. But everyone seems to have realized they wouldn’t get it any better. Wagner went on to set up a performing arts school and taught music and dance. He then shifted careers into health care for the entertainment industry, where he established himself over the course of thirty years as “Dr Bo”. At a 2013 revival performance in
Chastain Park
Chastain Memorial Park (originally known as the North Fulton Park, commonly known as Chastain Park) is the largest city park in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a park near the northern edge of the city. Included in the park are jogging paths, playgrou ...
, Atlanta he used an electronic instrument (a
MalletKAT Pro). Wagner died on June 20, 2017 in Santa Monica, California, aged 72.
Television performances
Starbuck performed "Moonlight Feels Right" on ''
The Midnight Special'' television program on July 23, 1976 (season 4, episode 37). The show was hosted by
The Spinners. They also performed it on ''
American Bandstand
''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...
'' with
Dick Clark
Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 198 ...
on August 28, 1976.
Chart performance
"Moonlight Feels Right" was a major American hit, reaching number three on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100, number two on the ''Cash Box'' chart,
and number four on ''
Record World
''Record World'' magazine was one of the three main music industry trade magazines in the United States, along with '' Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 under the name ''Music Vendor'', but in 1964 it was changed to ''Record Wo ...
''. It is ranked as the 34th biggest US hit of the year. On the Canadian chart, the song peaked at number three in early August 1976. It is ranked as the 51st biggest Canadian hit of 1976.
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
External links
Lyrics of this song*
{{authority control
1975 songs
1976 debut singles
Starbuck (band) songs
American soft rock songs
Private Stock Records singles