Dancing in the Moonlight

"Dancing in the Moonlight" is a song by French-American rock group King Harvest. The song was written by Sherman Kelly, produced by Jack Robinson, originally recorded in 1970 by Kelly's band Boffalongo, and then released as a single by King Harvest in 1972, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. In 2000, a cover by English band Toploader became a worldwide hit and achieved multi-Platinum status in the United Kingdom.

For other uses, see Dancing in the Moonlight (disambiguation).

"Dancing in the Moonlight"
Single by King Harvest
from the album Dancing in the Moonlight
B-side	"Lady, Come On Home"
Released	July 9, 1972 (1972-07-09)
Recorded	1972
Genre	Pop rock
Length	2:57
Label	Perception (P-515)
Songwriter(s)	Sherman Kelly
Producer(s)	Dave Robinson

History

The song[1] was written in 1969 by Sherman Kelly. While recovering from a vicious attack by a gang he “envisioned an alternate reality, the dream of a peaceful and joyful celebration of life”.[2] He recorded it with his band Boffalongo, singing lead.

The song was also recorded by High Broom and released in 1970 on Island Records (catalog no. WIP 6088; vinyl 7").[3][4] It failed to reach the UK Singles Chart.

Sherman Kelly's brother Wells Kelly introduced the song to the Paris-based band King Harvest in which he was drummer and former Boffalongo member Dave "Doc" Robinson was lead vocalist, bassist and keyboardist. King Harvest recorded and released "Dancing in the Moonlight" as a single with "Lady, Come On Home" on the B-side. Steve Cutler, a jazz drummer from New York City (standing on the base of the pole in the cover picture), played drums on the tracks and toured France and the UK with the band. The group disbanded after six months and the single languished for a year until it was bought and released worldwide by Perception Records.

In Canada, the song made number 5 in the weekly charts and number 71 in the year-end chart for 1973.[5]

Cover versions

In 1973 the singing and dancing act Young Generation released a cover version; despite airplay, it failed to chart. In 1980, King Harvest themselves recorded a cover known as the "Olcott Version", featuring improved background vocals and a Rhodes piano. It was officially released in 2015 on their album Old Fiends. In 1994 the Baha Men released the song as a single, but it also failed to chart. Their version was later used in the film Fat Albert. The song finally charted in the UK in March 2000, after being covered the previous year by Toploader. Goose began covering the song in December 2014. The Yonder Mountain String Band made a cover version on their album “Love Ain’t Love.” Jubel and Neimy released a dance cover in 2020, which has so far reached number 16 on the UK Singles Chart.

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1972–73) Peak position Canada RPM Top Singles 5 Italy (Hit Parade)[6] 39 US Billboard Hot 100 [7] 13 US Cash Box Top 100[8] 10 US Billboard Easy Listening chart [9] 22 Year-end charts Chart (1973) Rank Canada[10] 71 US Billboard Hot 100[11] 36 Toploader version "Dancing in the Moonlight" Single by Toploader from the album Onka's Big Moka Released February 2000 Recorded 1999 Genre Alternative rock Length 3:52 3:30 (Stargate Official Mix) Label S2 Producer(s) George Drakoulias Toploader singles chronology "Let the People Know" (1999) "Dancing in the Moonlight" (2000) "Achilles Heel" (2000) In 2000, English band Toploader released a cover of "Dancing in the Moonlight". It was originally released in February 2000 as the third single from their debut studio album Onka's Big Moka (1999) and peaked at number 19 on the UK Singles Chart. It was then re-released in November of the same year with new production from Stargate and reached number seven on the same chart. The song has been certified 2× Platinum by the British Phonographic Industry for sales of over 1,200,000 copies. Worldwide, the song reached the top 20 in Australia, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain. Critical reception In 2007, the song was placed at number 17 on BBC Three's list of "The 100 Most Annoying Pop Songs...We Hate to Love". Track listing UK CD single reissue "Dancing in the Moonlight" – 3:52 "Dancing in the Moonlight" (Stargate Radio Mix) – 3:30 "Dancing in the Moonlight" (Alliance DC Vocal Remix) – 6:30 "Dancing in the Moonlight" (Live) – 4:31 Charts Weekly charts Chart (2000–2013) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[12] 12 Belgium (Ultratip Flanders)[13] 3 Belgium (Ultratip Wallonia)[14] 10 Germany (Official German Charts)[15] 15 Ireland (IRMA)[16] 7 Italy (FIMI)[17] 21 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18] 16 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[19] 52 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[20] 24 Norway (VG-lista)[21] 11 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[22] 14 Spain (PROMUSICAE)[23] 7 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 44 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 53 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[26] 7 Year-end charts Chart (2000) Position Germany (Official German Charts)[27] 84 Chart (2001) Position Australia (ARIA)[28] 70 Ireland (IRMA)[29] 59 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[30] 49 Certifications Region Certification Certified units/sales Australia (ARIA)[31] Gold 35,000^^ Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[32] Platinum 90,000 Italy (FIMI)[33] Gold 25,000 United Kingdom (BPI)[34] 2× Platinum 1,200,000 ^^shipments figures based on certification alone sales+streaming figures based on certification alone Other versions Liza Minnelli on her 1973 album The Singer Johnny Rivers on his 1975 New Lovers and Old Friends album Joe "Bean" Esposito on his 1996 album Treated and Released Baha Men on 1994's Kalik Masters of the Obvious The Keane Brothers — who created a disco version in 1979 Aswad on their 2002 album Cool Summer Reggae Orleans My Morning Jacket Jack Wagner Ted Raimi (in the Xena: Warrior Princess musical episode "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire") Alyson Stoner for the 2009 Disney movie Space Buddies. Jumping Jacks (named "Jumping in the Moonlight") Japanese singer ohashiTrio on his 2010 album Fake Book Yonder Mountain String Band on their 2017 album Love, Ain't Love. Jubël (feat. NEIMY) - Over 100 million plays on Spotify See also List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States References "Dancing in the Moonlight – King Harvest : Listen, Appearances, Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved May 22, 2013. "Sherman Kelly". Sherman Kelly. Retrieved December 27, 2019. "High Broom - Dancing In The Moonlight (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs. Retrieved April 25, 2014. "Images for High Broom - Dancing In The Moonlight". Discogs. Retrieved April 25, 2014. Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". Italy Chart Position Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X http://tropicalglen.com/Archives/70s_files/19730217.html Archived January 3, 2017, at the Wayback Machine CASH BOX Top 100 Singles, February 17, 1973 Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 137. Canada, Library and Archives (July 17, 2013). "Image : RPM Weekly". Musicoutfitters.com "Australian-charts.com – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". ARIA Top 50 Singles. "Ultratop.be – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight" (in Dutch). Ultratip. "Ultratop.be – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight" (in French). Ultratip. "Offiziellecharts.de – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". GfK Entertainment Charts. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Dancing in the Moonlight". Irish Singles Chart. "Italiancharts.com – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". Top Digital Download. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 30, 2000" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40 "Dutchcharts.nl – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. "Charts.nz – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". Top 40 Singles. "Norwegiancharts.com – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". VG-lista. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. "Spanishcharts.com – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight" Canciones Top 50. "Swedishcharts.com – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". Singles Top 100. "Swisscharts.com – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". Swiss Singles Chart. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. "Top 100 Singles - Jahrescharts 2000" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved November 29, 2018. "ARIA Charts - End Of Year Charts - Top 100 Singles 2001". ARIA. Retrieved November 29, 2018. "Ireland - Top Singles For 2001". Allcharts.org. Archived from the original on May 5, 2012. Retrieved December 16, 2018. "The Official UK Singles Chart 2001" (PDF). UKChartsPlus. Retrieved May 24, 2018. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Singles". Australian Recording Industry Association. "Danish single certifications – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". IFPI Denmark. "Italian single certifications – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved September 2, 2019. Select "2019" in the "Anno" drop-down menu. Select "Dancing in the Moonlight" in the "Filtra" field. Select "Singoli online" under "Sezione". "British single certifications – Toploader – Dancing in the Moonlight". British Phonographic Industry. Select singles in the Format field. Select Platinum in the Certification field. Type Dancing in the Moonlight in the "Search BPI Awards" field and then press Enter.