Dancing In The Moonlight

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Can you tell me who sang this song.I think it is from the 70s

― jean barbeau, Saturday, 27 August 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

3
Dog
Night

― RockistSciencedog, Saturday, 27 August 2005 14:47 (twenty years ago)

Erm, Thin Lizzy, surely.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Saturday, 27 August 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

King Harvest!

― Ward Fowler (Ward Fowler), Saturday, 27 August 2005 14:49 (twenty years ago)

THIN FUCKING LIZZY

― ddb (ddb), Saturday, 27 August 2005 14:56 (twenty years ago)

Assuming you're thinking of the huge US top 40 hit, it's King Harvest.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Saturday, 27 August 2005 16:24 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, King Harvest on all the U.S. oldies stations.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Saturday, 27 August 2005 17:53 (twenty years ago)

As covered by Toploader, but if Jean is looking for their version s/he'd do well to seek urgent psychiatric help.

― I Ain't No Addict, Whoever Heard of a Junkie as Old as Me? (noodle vague), Saturday, 27 August 2005 17:57 (twenty years ago)

KING HARVEST no more questions.

― The Original Jimmy Mod: Kind Warrior (The Famous Jimmy Mod), Saturday, 27 August 2005 18:04 (twenty years ago)

I think Dr. Morbius used to party with King Harvest, if I read his post correctly the other day.

― k/l (Ken L), Saturday, 27 August 2005 18:07 (twenty years ago)

Wait, did Three Dog Night not do this song? Since the early 70s I've thought this song was by them. I think I am thinking of the King Harvest version.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 27 August 2005 19:43 (twenty years ago)

Who is King Harvest?

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 27 August 2005 19:45 (twenty years ago)

I think the only reason I thought it was Three Dog Night is that someone must have told me.

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Saturday, 27 August 2005 19:46 (twenty years ago)

It's kind of tautological: King Harvest is the one-hit wonder that did "Dancing In The Moonlight." Although I seem to have read somewhere that only one member of the "real" King Harvest played on this particular song- the "real" KH being the group that recorded a bunch of songs nobody ever heard. But at least that one member wrote the song.

― k/l (Ken L), Saturday, 27 August 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

No, what I just said was my incorrect reading of some Amazon reviewers misperception. He was claiming that the song was a cover and then somebody else set him straight, it wasn't, it was written by one of the ( three) keyboard players. (Which one was also in doubt) What does seem to be true is that a few of the band members played on some Beach Boy solo projects.

― k/l (Ken L), Saturday, 27 August 2005 22:10 (twenty years ago)

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drd100/d110/d110351d69w.jpg

The first keyboardist for Denny Vertigo's band was in King Harvest, IIRC

― latebloomer: funky like a monkey and as cool as a cat (latebloomer), Saturday, 27 August 2005 22:19 (twenty years ago)

I know that this thread shoulda ended after the first person said "King Harvest," but I recall reading that "D.I.T.M." WAS a cover. A band called Boffalongo (on United Artists Records) reportedly did it first. Unless this keyboard player was in both bands...

And it's ironic that K/L mentions an "Amazon reviewers misperception," since "Dancing..." was released on the Perception label.

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Saturday, 27 August 2005 22:43 (twenty years ago)

Hmm. You are right. It seems that Boffalongo did do it first, and there was some overlap between the two bands, but I can't figure out exactly what it was.

― k/l (Ken L), Saturday, 27 August 2005 22:55 (twenty years ago)

smashing pumpkins fags!

― Jamey Lewis (Jameys Burning), Sunday, 28 August 2005 05:05 (twenty years ago)

Just to clarify: Thin Lizzy did a song called "Dancing in the Moonlight," but it's a different one from the KH one.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Sunday, 28 August 2005 05:10 (twenty years ago)

So we're sure this doesn't refer to the Scooter song of the same name?

― alext (alext), Sunday, 28 August 2005 07:09 (twenty years ago)

OK, just checking...

― alext (alext), Sunday, 28 August 2005 07:09 (twenty years ago)

The thin lizzy song is so great! Like a weirdo version of Van Morrison.

― deej.., Sunday, 28 August 2005 08:28 (twenty years ago)

deej is both right about how good the TL song is and really spot-on about the Van Morrison similarity, nice one there!

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Sunday, 28 August 2005 10:08 (twenty years ago)

(the TL similarity in the King Harvest one I mean)

― Banana Nutrament (ghostface), Sunday, 28 August 2005 11:25 (twenty years ago)

My new favorite part of this beloved oldie is the chords at the transition from intro to first verse.

― k/l (Ken L), Sunday, 28 August 2005 13:03 (twenty years ago)

Somebody in another thread (something like "Songs That Turned Out To Be By A Different Band Than The One You Thought It Was" or some such) said that they always thought the band that did "D.I.T.M." (King Harvest) and the band that did "Brandy" (Looking Glass) were one and the same. It didn't hit me until fairly recently, but both songs have the exact same ingredients: Fender Rhodes electric piano, macho-man lead vocals, background singing that sounds like the crowd at the corner bar. And I still have this old Ronco compilation album from when I was a kid that had both tunes.

I guess you'd be tempted to say that both bands were one-hit wonders, too, except that Looking Glass had a followup that no one remembers ("Jimmy Loves Mary Anne").

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Sunday, 28 August 2005 15:01 (twenty years ago)

Haha, you mean this thread, don't you, Rev. Hoodoo? I am always pushing "Jimmy Loves Mary Anne," but you're the first fellow traveler I've seen on this board. I have to admit that I had long forgotten it until a friend played the Josie Cotton version for me.

― k/l (Ken L), Sunday, 28 August 2005 17:56 (twenty years ago)

Indeed, both "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" and "Dancing In The Moonlight" occupy positions of honor as leadoff tracks in the Rhino Have A Nice Day Super Hits Of The Seventies series- Volumes 9 and 17 respectively, I believe.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 29 August 2005 14:13 (twenty years ago)

(x-post) Ha ha, parallel lives! I, too, knew "Jimmy Loves..." from my top 40 youth, forgot all about it until Josie Cotton's re-do. Great song!

Now, who remembers The Buoys' followup to "Timothy"?

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Monday, 29 August 2005 15:19 (twenty years ago)

I just meant I'm old enough to have heard it when it was a hit.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 29 August 2005 15:38 (twenty years ago)

it's such a fine and natural sight

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Monday, 29 August 2005 16:45 (twenty years ago)

> Now, who remembers The Buoys' followup to "Timothy"?

It was a song about a shoot-out, but I'm blanking on the title. Barry Scott plays it once in a while on his "Lost 45s" show in Boston (which really should be syndicated nationwide). Not a bad song at all!

― Joe McCombs, Monday, 29 August 2005 19:32 (twenty years ago)

Hm. Looks like it never charted, whatever it was. Whereas JLMA made it all the way to No 33.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 29 August 2005 19:36 (twenty years ago)

About a shootout, yes. It peaked at #84 in Billboard; I would have thought much higher, since I did hear it on top 40 radio back then and bought it based on that. I'll leave the guessing open a while longer...

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Monday, 29 August 2005 19:51 (twenty years ago)

I've never heard the Buoys' followup to "Timothy," but I'm definitely acquainted with "Absolutely Right," which was the Five Man Electrical Band's followup to "Signs." To quote the late Wesley Willis, it was a "quick rocking" tune with the bass turned up louder than everybody else! I believe the singles columnist in Rolling Stone (they actually had a column devoted to 45's in the early seventies) actually compared "Absolutely Right" to Paul Revere & the Raiders!

Not that it has a Raiders-ish sound, but I could easily hear them doing this number...

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:36 (twenty years ago)

K/L: the thread I was referring to was recent, and people were still responding as of last week. It wasn't the one you provided the link to, it was actually what I had said (I just forgot how it was worded).

Basically, people were writing in about songs they heard for the longest time thinking it was another artist altogether. (Mine was "Brother Louie" by Stories - as a kid, I thought that was the new Staple Singers 45).

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Monday, 29 August 2005 21:41 (twenty years ago)

the same theoretical band that would have done both "d.i.t.m." and "brandy" could also have done "how do you do," another fabulous who-the-hell-is-that hit from 1972, by the dutch duo mouth & macneal. the vocal on theirs is gruffer than the "d.i.t.m" and "brandy" voice, but it easily could've been handled by the same theoretical lost pop genius. all three were big hits in 1972 by bands that had never charted before, and that all charted exactly one more time, with a much less successful followup, and then disappeared.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 29 August 2005 22:09 (twenty years ago)

I was using my ancient copy of Joel Whitburn's Top 40 book for chart info which, obviously, only shows the top 40- what are you guys using?

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 29 August 2005 23:24 (twenty years ago)

"Brother Louie" is a Hot Chocolate cover!

― J (Jay), Monday, 29 August 2005 23:28 (twenty years ago)

Rev. Hoodoo - K/l actually had the right thread, and in fact, I was the one who had posted that I'd thought "DITM" and "BYAFG" were by the same group. :)

To get back on point, what a lovely electric piano sound on that record. I could listen to that opening on loop for hours and be enthralled. Is there a particular make/model of keyboard that generates that particular sound? (Same sound I hear on the "Nanny & the Professor" theme, another of my all-time favorites.)

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Monday, 29 August 2005 23:33 (twenty years ago)

k/l, you need whitburn's "top pop singles," which gives you the full top 100, and which may be the greatest pop music book ever. the most recent edition ends in 2002, though; not sure when the next one comes out.

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Monday, 29 August 2005 23:42 (twenty years ago)

Whitburn's the best resource to have. But in a pinch, AMG offers Hot 100 peak positions and other chart activity to those who have logins. (I say "in a pinch" b/c the site has a lot of bad data, I'm afraid.)

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 00:24 (twenty years ago)

Joseph McCombs - you were asking about the electric piano sound on the King Harvest and Looking Glass hits? Sounds to me like the ubiquitous Fender Rhodes, which was real big with jazz guys who had crossover dreams (Deodato, Herbie Hancock, etc.).

K/L - I, too, am going by the Billboard Top 40 books. Yes, I think the Hot 100 tomes are essential as well, but personally I don't feel a song was an actual HIT unless it makes the upper forty. (And even then, there might be some songs that charted that no one remembers as being a hit - example: any Grand Funk before 1973's "We're An American Band.")

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 02:10 (twenty years ago)

there might be some songs that charted that no one remembers as being a hit - example: any Grand Funk before 1973's "We're An American Band."

b-b-b-but "closer to home"!

― fact checking cuz (fcc), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 02:14 (twenty years ago)

Mouth & MacNeal did "How Do You Do?". And that tune always sounded like some slick UK session pros, to me - Looking Glass and King Harvest, on the other hand, sounded like real live working US rock bands.

Good thang that Stories covered "Brother Louie." I've heard the original by Hot Chocolate, with those offkey unison vocals, and it's not so hot. Even though that band had some killers in their time, that song never woulda made it Stateside had it not been for Stories. Their version was catchier.

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 02:17 (twenty years ago)

Fact-Checking Cuz: I don't mean to downplay "Closer To Home" (or "Rock & Roll Soul" or "Footstompin' Music" - all of which made the Top 40), but it seems like every article I've ever read on Grand Funk always made it sound like they never sold any singles until they added a fourth member and recorded "We're An American Band." I don't mean just in modern-day reference books, I'm talking about rock magazines from back in that time! Of course, that contradicts Whitburn's books, so who do we believe?

― Rev. Hoodoo (Rev. Hoodoo), Tuesday, 30 August 2005 02:23 (twenty years ago)

two weeks pass...

i know about looking glass band my wifes father was the drummer for looking glass his name was originaly larry robinson he died last year we still have the drums he played when they played dancin in the moonlight and brandy do some research the looking glass you here about now is wrong looking glass is nothing without larry robinson he also played drums for the four seasons onced or twiced please dont forget him and the real looking glass

― ronnie_ jordan89, Thursday, 15 September 2005 13:51 (twenty years ago)

i also need to know if anyone has any of the first looking glass albums with larry robinson if so ill pay top dallor for them

― ronnie jordan, Thursday, 15 September 2005 13:55 (twenty years ago)

I'm still against mandatory registration, by the way.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, 15 September 2005 19:29 (twenty years ago)

B-b-but that guy gave away the answer to the next big trivia question!

― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 15 September 2005 19:30 (twenty years ago)

Get one period, ronnie!

Another fun fact: The Buoys "Timothy" was written by Rupert "Pina Colada Song" Holmes, if memory serves.

― nickn (nickn), Thursday, 15 September 2005 21:28 (twenty years ago)

It won't be long now before Ron Dante gets a mention here, by either Joe McCombs or myself, most likely.

― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 15 September 2005 23:06 (twenty years ago)

I believe your father-in-law also tightened up on the drums for Archie Bell, is that right, ronnie?

― k/l (Ken L), Thursday, 15 September 2005 23:34 (twenty years ago)

I have a friend who once taught the daughter of Barry Manilow's touring drummer.

― Joseph McCombs (Joseph McCombs), Friday, 16 September 2005 00:15 (twenty years ago)

seven months pass...

There is a rumor on the internet that Van Morrison covered DITM. Can anyone confirm or disprove?

― Steve DeHaven, Wednesday, 10 May 2006 19:06 (nineteen years ago)

Uh-huh. And Bob Dylan covered "Stuck in the Middle with You".

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Wednesday, 10 May 2006 19:23 (nineteen years ago)

two years pass...

http://www.wfmu.org/podcast/SH.xml See December 27, 2008.

― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 00:43 (seventeen years ago)

When I was a kid, I was sure "Dancing in the Moonlight" was about partying werewolves.

― Hideous Lump, Monday, 5 January 2009 01:12 (seventeen years ago)

I wonder if the looking glass son-in-law gets subscription emails for this thread?

― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 01:13 (seventeen years ago)

I'm still against mandatory registration, by the way.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, September 15, 2005 7:29 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark

me toooooo. great thread.

― ian, Monday, 5 January 2009 01:34 (seventeen years ago)

please dont forget

― ilx chilton (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 5 January 2009 01:36 (seventeen years ago)

four years pass...

i also need to know if anyone has any of the first looking glass albums with larry robinson if so ill pay top dallor for them
― ronnie jordan, Thursday, September 15, 2005 9:55 AM (7 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm still against mandatory registration, by the way.
― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, September 15, 2005 3:29 PM (7 years ago) Bookmark

― 乒乓, Tuesday, 14 May 2013 22:13 (twelve years ago)

For years I'd hear this song come on in some random fashion, usually via Muzak at some store, and think "I like this, who sings this?", always forgetting to Google it when I got home. Apparently I wasn't the only one wondering.

― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 23:50 (twelve years ago)

...this song being DitM by King Harvest.

― Rod Steel (musicfanatic), Tuesday, 14 May 2013 23:51 (twelve years ago)

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