Then in the mid-'70s, the band was signed by major label A&M and hooked up with legendary songwriter Jeff Barry as producer. tour, but eventually their record company went out of business. Now relocated to Olcott Beach, N.Y., on the shore of Lake Ontario, King Harvest embarked on a U.S. labels, eventually signing King Harvest to the small New York City label Perception Records. It was Jack Robinson, the hands-on producer of the track, who suggested playing the giddy intro to the tune up in the higher octaves, and Robinson who pitched the song to several U.S. Lead singer Doc Robinson had to sing out in the stairwell of the small Parisian studio, which was a natural echo chamber (as long as the neighbors didn't come out during the recording), and the peculiar percussion sound they got was the result of using a toilet brush instead of some more modern percussion instrument. Recording 'Dancing in the Moonlight' proved to be a logistical challenge. and our illustrious record company in France (Musidisc) gave the tapes that they had to the little American company (Perception Records) that leased DITM and Voila!, our first American album.' Rod added the band quickly put together 'the album which should have been', but unfortunately Perception 'went bankrupt before we could release it.' 'In the short couple months we were incommunicado, DITM started up the charts in the U.S. 'We recorded 'Dancing in the Moonlight' in Paris in the fall of 1971 and after it flopped in Europe, we disappeared to lick our wounds,' says saxophonist/vocalist Rod Novak. 1993, Collectables Records reissued the 10-track album, also featuring the standout track 'Think I Better Wait Till Tomorrow,' on CD (above). pop hit title track, peaked at #136 on the Billboard Hot 200 and remained on the album charts for 10 weeks. 1973, King Harvest's Dancing in the Moonlight album, featuring its #13 U.S. After performing under such names as E Rodney Jones and the Prairie Dogs, the four musicians - David (Doc) Robinson, Eddie Tuleja, Rod Novak and Ronny Altbach - decided to call themselves King Harvest, a nod to The Band's song 'King Harvest Has Surely Come.' An old friend, drummer and future Orleans founding member Wells Kelly, visited the band at their villa in the Paris suburb of Orgeval, France, bringing along not only albums by such popular American bands as Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, but also 'Dancing in the Moonlight,' a song he had composed with his brother, Sherman Kelly.įirst released in Jan. The quartet would split up for the first time only two years later, then in 1971 they regrouped in Paris, France, playing clubs and, by now, their own material. John and The Band at local pubs, fraternities and nearby colleges. N 1969, four students at the prestigious Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., banded together to perform cover songs by such contemporary artists as Sly and the Family Stone, Traffic, Jimi Hendrix, Dr.

Dancing in the moonlight