Forty-six years ago, the song “Moonlight Feels Right” by Starbuck was exploding. On the charts for over five months, the song went to number one in Canada, and number two in the U.S. Only Elton John kept it from the top spot. Appearances on American Bandstand, Midnight Special, Merv Griffin, Mike Douglas, and Solid Gold and tours with ELO, Hall and Oates, KC and the Sunshine Band, and Boston followed. The song, and the band, were everywhere. Had the music, and the band, not survived a series of numerous close calls along the way, we could have easily never heard of either.
Lead singer and co-founder of Starbuck, Bruce Blackman, was born in Greenville, Mississippi. He got his musical start in college bands and was a founder of the band Eternity’s Children. They had a minor U.S. hit in 1968 with the song Mrs. Bluebird. Unhappy with management, he soon left the band.
Bruce and his wife were headed to Tampa to connect with a DJ who had promised to open doors for him in the music world. But, as Bruce recalls, “We ran out of money in Atlanta.”, so he planted his roots in the emerging Atlanta music scene, resuming writing, playing, and looking for a record deal.
Bo Wagner joined Eternity’s Children after Bruce departed. He loved Bruce’s songs. Sometime later, Bo was touring with Liberace as drummer and music director. When that tour visited Atlanta, Bo contacted Bruce, invited him to the Liberace show, and talked afterward. They decided to form a band, which became the first version of Starbuck.
Bruce had written “Moonlight Feels Right” about his pursuit of the lady that would become his wife, Peggy. He had seen a newspaper photo of her and enrolled in her college, hoping to meet her. Her school, in the song, was changed to Ole Miss because “it sounded better.”
Bruce was advised to connect with famed producer Bill Lowery, who had created Studio One outside of Atlanta, where tracks like Free Bird and Sweet Home Alabama were recorded. After months of unreturned phone calls, a friend told Bruce that he needed to reach Mike Clark, Lowery’s right-hand man. Calls to Clark were also not successful, so Bruce decided to drop by their office with a demo tape.
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Entering the doorway of their complex, a former school in metro Atlanta, he walked directly into a meeting with 10-12 people, including Mike Clark. They went into a side room, listened to part of the tape, and Clark took him into Lowery’s office. Lowery listened offered a publishing contract then and there.
Days later, the band was in Studio One, cutting an album, including Moonlight Feels Right. When the basic track was complete, the band tried various solos using various instruments to add to the song, but they just didn’t seem to fit. Bo suggested trying a marimba solo. Bruce recalls, “We mic’ed up his marimba with five mics. He did an ad-lib, one-take solo. There was silence in the studio afterward. It was incredible”.
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The band finished the album, then made the rounds with prospective record companies. Southern rock was becoming huge, which was what the companies were seeking. That wasn’t the Starbuck sound. After dozens of pitches, only one label, Private Stock, offered them a deal. They loved Moonlight, but wanted the marimba solo removed to shorten the song time. Bruce dug in his heels, and the solo stayed.
The next challenge was getting the record on the air. In the fall of 1975, Bruce and Bo hit the road, visiting dozens of radio stations. Smaller stations added Moonlight to their playlists, but they weren’t having any luck with the large markets, and the song stalled.
Bruce visited WERC in Birmingham, Alabama, and met DJ Mike St. John, who listened to Moonlight and loved it. He felt it was a spring/summer song and promised to play it the following year. Thinking he was finding a nice way to blow them off, Bruce and Bo returned to Atlanta.
