1973 Soft Rock Hit, Written After a Brutal Beach Attack, Became a Timeless Summer Anthem

In June 1973, King Harvest took the stage on The Midnight Special and delivered a legendary performance of their smash hit, “Dancing in the Moonlight.”

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The foursome’s infectious groove, shimmering electric keyboards, and feel-good harmonies perfectly captured the golden era of 1970s soft rock. But few watching at home — or swaying in the studio audience — could have known that the song’s carefree spirit was born from a traumatic beachside assault that left its writer hospitalized. 

In a 2018 interview, via American Songwriter, keyboardist Sherman Kelly shared the horrific tale. Prefacing the story, he said he and his girlfriend got seasick on their boat trip to the island of St. Croix. Thankful to be ashore, they decided to sleep on the beach rather than on the boat to avoid further illness. Shockingly, they were later awoken by a gang of violent attackers. 

“I remember being hit really hard, and five guys were attacking us with baseball bats,” he said, adding that he thought his girlfriend was going to be sexually assaulted and killed. 

Fortunately, the pair survived, and while Kelly was recovering from the brutal attack, he wrote “Dancing in the Moonlight” with lyrics inspired by an “alternate reality” as a dream of peace and joy.

One of the most feel-good songs of all time, the track was originally recorded in the late ’60s by Kelly’s band Boffalongo, with Kelly on vocals and his brother, Wells Kelly, on the drums. It was included on their debut album, Beyond Your Head. The song didn’t catch lightning, though, until it was introduced to another band. 

Founded in 1969, King Harvestformed while its core four  — Dave “Doc” Robinson, Ron Altbach, Ed Tuleja, and Rod Novak — were attending Cornell University. Following a brief breakup in 1971, the group reformed in Paris, France, where Wells Kelly joined. It’s around this time when the drummer brought the band his brother’s song. 

Once the track took hold, peaking at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100, King Harvest relocated to Olcott, New York, where Sherman got on board and helped the track further become a global phenomenon. The glory was short-lived, though: The band called it quits in 1976. They reunited for another brief effort, from 2012 to 2016, but today, King Harvest is no more. 

That said, there is still dancing. And there will forever be moonlight. Thanks to a resurgence on screens big and small, with “Dancing in the Moonlight” featured in the Guardians of the Galaxy video game, Netflix’s The Umbrella Academy, and Riz Ahmed‘s brilliantly dark, satirical indie comedy Four Lions, the soft rock band’s signature track continues to win over new generations of listeners. 

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Covers by Young Generation, Baha Men, and Toploader have only helped cement its status as one of pop-rock’s most enduring feel-good summer anthems.

For a song inspired by one of the darkest moments of a man’s life, “Dancing in the Moonlight” has spent the last half-century doing the exact opposite: giving listeners a reason to smile.

Related: 1989 Ballad, the Supergroup’s Second-Best Hit, Became a Timeless Arena Anthem