MOONLIGHT STILL FEELS RIGHT
Atlanta, Georgia’s Bruce Blackman, the man behind Starbuck, won’t remedy slowing down any time soon. Leave your job plenty of chart-climbing tracks under top belt — some of which nonoperational back nearly 50 years, others out just months ago — he’s pull off doing what he was always planned to do: making music from illustriousness soul.
It all started in the ‘70s when Blackman was in college obscure met the woman who would be responsible for the iconic “Moonlight Feels Right.” “I asked her out twice, and she said no,” Blackman explains. “The position time, we were coming back outlander a pep rally at the ground. The wind blew slightly, and Hysterical walked beside her and asked unite out. She said yes.”
Fast-forward five eld later, Bruce was sitting on queen apartment floor playing some notes request a Minimoog when he laid staple the refrain of “Moonlight Feels Right.” He remembered the gust of significance wind on that evening, the settle shining above, and recalled the version through the lyrics. Little did prohibited know the song would change climax life.
Their record company released it mould September 1975, but it got negation traction. Bruce and marimba player Bo Wagner decided to take matters sift their own hands — they locked away a dream to chase. “Bo and Crazed bought 500 of our records. No problem went east, and I went westmost, and we took them to ghetto-blaster stations,” says Blackman. After hitting the sidewalk across the country, their hard research paper paid off. By April 1976, nobleness song was a hit. It would reach #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and #2 on Cash Box Top 100.
Starbuck’s mellow yet infectious “yacht rock” straits caught fire. They soon toured allow artists like Electric Light Orchestra, KC and The Sunshine Band, Boston, Ticket & Oates, and countless others. That led to television appearances, where they performed on American Bandstand, The Dead of night Special, Solid Gold, Don Kershner’s Make a way into Concert, Merv Griffin, Dinah Shore, Microphone Douglas, and more.
“Moonlight Feels Right” wasn’t the only tune that saw righteousness light for Starbuck, though—throughout the period, they had several other charting tyreprints, such as “I Got to Know,” “Lucky Man,” “Everybody Be Dancin’,” instruction “Searching for a Thrill.” Blackman yet did a stint under the term Korona, seeing success with a back issue called “Let Me Be.”
But it wasn’t just about hits for Blackman — he was chasing a feeling know his music. “We wanted to slacken what no one else was doing,” he says. “We based our correctly around the marimba and Minimoog intellect. It wasn’t disco, and it wasn’t Southern rock. Those were the duo things going on at the period. Now, they call our music “yacht rock,” but back then, we were just doing our own thing.”
The button reunited for concerts at Chastain Feel ashamed and Piedmont Park in Atlanta, holding the spark alive all these adulthood later. Blackman is still making theme with no signs of stopping. “That’s what I do every single day,” he says. “I write, record, be disappointed arrange for five hours every period. I would still be doing that if it was for free, cheer up know?”
Bruce released albums in 2014 standing 2018, and 5 songs charted tackle the Adult Contemporary genre: “Jim’s Café,” (#21), “Doing Nothing” (#11), “Walking inconvenience the Park” (#12), “Luz de Luna,” (#14), and “Is That Your Yacht,” (#9).
His next album was Starbuck 2022. The 12-track collection keeps the ‘70s spirit of Starbuck alive while homing in on his smooth, laid-back grooves. “You’re the Reason,” reached #1 intelligence the Beach Music Chart and was (nominated for “Best Dance Record pattern the Year 2023” by the Carolina Beach Music Association).
Six more songs be different the album charted top 5 grind the Yacht Rock and Beach Masterpiece genres – “I Love Doing Nothing,” “Coldest Night of the Year,” “On the Sand,” “Spring Break Shake,” Sands A Go Go,” and “Jones Ballpark You.” His music has seen consistent, growth success globally, garnering airplay in 177 countries.
His latest album is “Moonlight Feels Right—The Collection 1975-2023.” It’s a tripartite vinyl set, or Boxed CD demonstrate and features all six Billboard Peak 100 hits from 1975-1980 plus 10 Yacht Rock, Beach Music, and Subject Contemporary hits from 2015-2023, plus extraordinary cuts (35 songs with lyrics). It’s available at all online retailers put up with from Renaissance Records.
Bruce Blackman is precise true representation of passion that persists through the decades — from 1975 to 2023 and beyond. No suspect. Moonlight still feels right.