“It’s definitely one of our coolest songs,” says Gorham. It would become a high point of the band’s live set, immortalised the following year on the magnificent Live And Dangerous album, and remains central to the Thin Lizzy live experience almost four decades on. “Thankfully they absolutely loved it.”Ī Top 20 hit in the UK, Dancing In The Moonlight helped propel its parent album to No.4 in the UK (their highest placing to date) and put them back in the US Top 40. “It seemed like a big gamble, and we did wonder what the fans were going to think, because it was way different from anything else that we’d brought out,” says Gorham. The producer’s stroke of genius was to bring in Supertramp saxophonist John Helliwell to provide the irresistible melodic counterpoint to Lynott’s breezy vocal.ĭropped into radio playlists at the height of punk rock in the summer of ’77, (as a double A-side seven inch backed with the album’s title track), Dancing In The Moonlight carried a twinkling sense of nostalgia, playfulness and innocence gleefully out of step with the times. I said: ‘Okay, I’ll go with your way, you’ve been right in the past.’”ĭespite initial concerns about working without his long-time foil Robertson, Gorham adapted quickly and thrived, his West Coast harmonic sensibilities bringing a lightness of touch to Lynott’s new composition, adding colour and shade without ever threatening to overpower the central bass riff. But he was pretty adamant that the way he was presenting it was the most commercial approach. I like that.’ I had another groove in my head that was different than the way he was presenting it – mine was tougher, whereas his was more ‘skippy’. “Phil said: ‘I’ve got this kinda groove… What do you think?’” says Gorham. “And by the way, that’s the single – Dancing In The Moonlight.”Ī jazzy, swinging, finger-snapping tale of teenage romance on the streets of South Dublin, the centrepiece of what became the Bad Reputation album was initially presented to Scott Gorham and drummer Brian Downey as just a simple bass line, Gorham recalls. “It’s a great record, it’s fantastic,” said O’Donnell. They’re falling down drunk.” The manager duly flew to Toronto to salvage the situation and to convince all involved that they were working on something special. The success of this song in the UK has been attributed to it being featured on a commercial for a brand of British steaks known as Sainsbury’s.Īs of this writing and since 2016, the core membership of Toploader consists of vocalist Joseph Washbourn, drummer Rob Green and guitarist Dan Hipgrave. All three of them, being co-founders of the band, participated on “Onka’s Big Moka”. And at the time, they were joined by guitarist Julian Deane and bassist Matt Knight, who have since left the group.One week into the recording, it appeared that Lizzy might not just be down a guitar player, but also a producer, when Visconti threatened to leave the session, telling O’Donnell: “I can’t work with these guys.
Toploader’s version of this song was produced by George Drakoulias. And it proved to be a pretty substantial international hit, charting in nearly 15 countries overall. But where it did best was in their homeland of the United Kingdom, as “Dancing in the Moonlight” reached number 7 on the UK Single Chart, on top of being certified triple-platinum ( as of 2021) by the BPI.
Toploader, a rock band from the UK, got around to dropping their cover on 11 November 1999. And they did so as part of their first studio album, “Onka’s Big Moka”, a product of S2 Records. The said release marked the first notable release of “Dancing in the Moonlight” (though another act called Boffalongo were the first to come out with this song, in 1969). The composition of this song dates back to 1969, as written by Sherman Kelly. It was his brother Wells Kelly (1949-1984) who brought the tune to King Harvest, a rock band based in Paris, who dropped their own rendition in 1972.
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