"Dancing in the Moonlight" is a song by the rock group King Harvest that was released as a single in 1972 and reached #13 on the Billboard Hot 100. The band released other singles, but they were never able to match the success of "Dancing in the Moonlight". The track used a Wurlitzer electric piano throughout.
The song was written in 1968 by Sherman Kelly, whose brother, Wells Kelly – King Harvest's drummer in the early 1970s – introduced the song to the band. It was originally recorded in 1969 by the American band, Boffalongo, which included Sherman Kelly (who sang lead on this original recording of his own composition) and future King Harvest frontman, Doc Robinson. Wells Kelly later became the original drummer for Orleans. Meanwhile, King Harvest recorded and released "Dancing in the Moonlight" as a single, with "Lady, Come On Home" on the B-side, while the band was based in Paris. Steve Cutler, a jazz drummer from New York City (standing on the pole in the cover picture), played drums on the tracks and toured with the band in France and the UK. The group disbanded after six months, and the single languished for a year, until it was bought and released worldwide by Perception Records.
The song is often wrongly primarily attributed to Van Morrison, Elvis Costello, or "Kink Harris", due to incorrect labeling on various digital download services. Neither Morrison nor Costello has recorded a version of "Dancing in the Moonlight", and "Kink Harris" does not exist. A musical number of the song is featured in Richard Wenk's comedic short, Dracula Bites the Big Apple.
