Alex Hamilton's LUNA TUNE
A longform art exhibition about the moon and the music it has inspired.
Week 4 of 28: Dancing in the Moonlight - King Harvest (1969), Liza Minnelli (1972), Toploader (1999), Jubel (2018)
Yep, this one is exactly as old as me!...but has had many incarnations over the last 52 years.
It is obviously a classic party song and most people will recognise the opening cords easily. But the origin story of this song is quite obscure and a little bit darker than the happy vibes of this quintessential upbeat song.
Sherman Kelly, a band member of King Harvest, wrote this in 1969 after a gang attack left him injured and emotionally scarred. To cope with this violent incident he wrote "Dancing in the Moonlight" with an "Alternate reality and dream of a peaceful and joyful celebration of life" in mind.
I think he succeeded and has brought joy to a lot of people over many years. It is also interesting that the covers of this song have on many occasions topped the charts, with the Toploader version the most successful in 1999, 30 years after the original. True classic indeed.
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