The “Golden Hits Of The 70s”
Main MenuConcept Refinement The Author..Wayne JancikGolden Age Of The 50sGolden Age Of The 60s1970s and There After
KING HARVEST
“DANCIN’ IN THE MOONLIGHT”
(Ronald Altback)
Perception 515
No. 13 February 24, 1973
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The members of King Harvest came from diverse musical backgrounds. Tony Cahill (bass) had played
with the EASYBEATS, done some session work with R & B shouter Willie Mabon, and, with David
Montgomery (drums), had played on underground classic Python Lee Jackson’s In a Broken Dream
(1970). Davy “Doc” Robinson (keyboards, trombone) had recorded with United Artist act Boffalongo.
Ron Altback (keyboards), the band’s prime writer, had a heavy leaning toward the Beach Boys, ballads,
and jazzy musical structures. Completing the line-up were Sherman Kelly (keyboards), Rod Novack
(sax), and Ed Tuleja (guitar).
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Terry Phillips’ Perception label had been unsuccessful in the realm of hit-making. When Phillips heard
of the sounds that Altback and his Big Apple-based band were creating, he quickly offered them a
recording contract. “Dancin’ in the Moonlight,” a Boffalongo track revamped with jiggly keyboards and
tight vocal harmony, appeared as the group’s debut single. To the dismay of the more hard-rockin’
faction within the group, “Dancin'” cracked the charts. Harvest was promptly pegged as a “lite” group, a
purveyor of pop puffery.
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“A Little Bit of Magic” (#91, 1973) and later releases sold poorly, and members came and went. In 1976,
with the aid of Beach Boys Mike Love and Carl Wilson, a reconstructed band–featuring Altback, Novak,
Robinson, and Tuleja–was signed to A & M. Their lone self titled album died shortly after birth.
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Ed Tuleja did some session work on Dennis Wilson’s 1977 solo, lone and now collectable album. Ron
Altback and Doc Robinson joined Mike Love in the creation of his CELEBRATION band, which supplied
the soundtrack to the flick Almost Summer (1978), a mindless synopsis of the end-of term advanced
education frolics.