"Moonlight Shadow" | ||||
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Single by Mike Oldfield | ||||
from the album Crises | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 6 May 1983 | |||
Recorded | February –April 1983 [1] | |||
Studio | Denham, England [1] | |||
Genre | ||||
Length |
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Label | Virgin | |||
Songwriter(s) | Mike Oldfield | |||
Producer(s) |
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Mike Oldfield singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Mike Oldfield ft. Maggie Reilly - Moonlight Shadow (Official Video)" on YouTube |
"Moonlight Shadow" is a song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield,released as a single in May 1983 by Virgin Records,and included on his eighth album, Crises ,of the same year. [5] The vocals were performed by Scottish vocalist Maggie Reilly,who had collaborated with Mike Oldfield since 1980. It is Oldfield's most successful single,reaching number one on numerous charts around Europe. In the UK,it reached number four during a nineteen week chart run and was subsequently listed by the Official Charts Company as the 29th best-selling single of 1983. [6]
The single peaked at number four in the British charts, making it Oldfield's second-highest ranked single after "Portsmouth", which reached number three in 1976. "Moonlight Shadow" was successful throughout Europe; it reached number one in many countries, including Italy, Austria, Switzerland for four weeks and Norway for six weeks. It spent four weeks at number two in West Germany, reached number six in Australia, and peaked at number three in New Zealand and France. It was re-released as a maxi-CD single in 1993 to promote Oldfield's Elements box set, charting at number 52.
A 12-inch single (later reissued on a 3" CD single) featured an extended version of the song with an extra verse. The extended mix also appears on his compilation album The Platinum Collection . Both the 7 inch and 12 inch singles featured the B-side "Rite of Man", which was a rare instance of Oldfield singing lead vocal.
In 1991, the song was re-released in France, and in 1993 it was featured on promos for Elements in France and Spain. The 1993 reissue included "Bones" and "In the Pool" as B-sides, which had previously been released as B-sides with "To France". Furthermore, the name of the song was used for the 2013 Universal Music compilation album of Oldfield's music, Moonlight Shadow: The Collection .
Maggie Reilly sang "Moonlight Shadow" live when she toured with Oldfield in the 1980s. However, since then, other singers have performed the song live with Oldfield, including Anita Hegerland during the late 1980s, Pepsi Demacque at the Tubular Bells III premiere and at the Live Then & Now 1999 tour, Miriam Stockley at the Millennium concert and Nokia Night of the Proms in Germany, and Rosa Cedrón at Nokia Night of the Proms in Spain.
In 2020 Maggie Reilly released an updated version where she is the vocalist.
The original cover art is an enlargement of the lower right corner of the Crises album cover by UK artist Terry Ilott. This shows a man with his foot on a ledge with the sea and sky in the background. The moon, the tower and its shadow from the album cover cannot be seen on the single cover.
The artwork for the 1993 reissue followed the style of the Elements artwork in most countries.
An early version of the song was entitled "Midnight Passion" with vocals by British singer Hazel O'Connor. [7] Along with Maggie Reilly, a girlfriend of one of the roadies when Oldfield was on tour, Oldfield used a rhyming dictionary and recorded many of the lyrics word by word. [8]
According to bassist Phil Spalding the initial tracks recorded simultaneously for "Moonlight Shadow" were acoustic guitar (Oldfield), bass (Spalding), drums (Phillips) and electric guitar (Tim Renwick) in early February 1983 at Oldfield's studio in Denham, Buckinghamshire. [1] Renwick's guitar track was apparently not used in the final track. [1] The remaining tracks including the vocals and Oldfield on electric guitar were later overdubs. [1]
According to Oldfield, Virgin Records were immediately happy with the song and wanted more pieces similar to it.[ citation needed ] Reilly also sang on "Foreign Affair" on Crises. An unplugged mix of the song appears on the 2013 Mercury Records reissue of the Crises album.
Oldfield later sampled the drums from "Moonlight Shadow" for the song "Man in the Rain" on his 1998 album, Tubular Bells III . [9]
It has been suggested that the lyrics of the song are a reference to the murder of John Lennon, despite the fact that the events in the song do not correspond with those of Lennon's murder. [10] [11] Lennon was shot four times just before 11 pm, whereas in the song the time is 4 am and the number of shots is six. Also, the night Lennon was shot (8 December 1980) was a new moon, so there was no moonlight, [12] and in the song, it is Saturday night, while Lennon was killed on a Monday night. When asked whether "Moonlight Shadow" is a reference to John Lennon's murder in a 1995 interview, Oldfield responded:
Not really... well, perhaps, when I look back on it, maybe it was. I actually arrived in New York that awful evening when he was shot and I was staying at the Virgin Records house in Perry Street, which was just a few blocks down the road from the Dakota Building where it happened, so it probably sank into my subconscious. It was originally inspired by a film I loved – Houdini , starring Tony Curtis, which was about attempts to contact Houdini after he'd died, through spiritualism... it was originally a song influenced by that, but a lot of other things must have crept in there without me realising it.
— Mike Oldfield [13]
There are two versions of the video: the full-length original, and a shorter one which omits a verse. The reason for the shorter version was for the requirements of some TV broadcasters, and the way both versions are edited suggests that Oldfield's touring guitarist "Ant" (Anthony Glynne) performs the second, overdriven half of the guitar solo, which is not the case. Also in the video is Oldfield's touring drummer, Pierre Moerlen, miming the part played by Simon Phillips on the recording. The music video was directed by Keith McMillan and shot on location at Hatfield House and Brocket Hall in Hertfordshire, England (the band are seen performing in Brocket Hall's ballroom and the girl, played by Francesca Gonshaw, runs in through the door and up the staircase in Brocket's hallway). [14] [15]
(*: original B-sides for the 1984 "To France" single)
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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Denmark (IFPI Danmark) [45] | Gold | 45,000‡ |
Spain (PROMUSICAE) [46] | Gold | 25,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [47] | Silver | 250,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
"Moonlight Shadow" appeared on the soundtrack of the Italian comedy Vacanze di Natale (1983). [48] It is also the theme song for Dave Angel, Eco-Warrior, a character in the BBC TV comedy series The Fast Show . [49] The song was covered as the lead track on Annie Haslam's (lead vocalist of the progressive rock band "Renaissance") [50] eponymous 1989 album. [51]
"Moonlight Shadow" | ||||
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Single by Groove Coverage | ||||
from the album Covergirl | ||||
Released | 2002 | |||
Length | 2:52 | |||
Label |
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Songwriter(s) | Mike Oldfield | |||
Groove Coverage singles chronology | ||||
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Music video | ||||
"Groove Coverage - Moonlight Shadow (Official Video)" on YouTube |
In 2002, a cover by Groove Coverage peaked at No. 3 in the German Top 10 (simultaneously, a similar version of Oldfield's "To France" by Novaspace was in the German Top 30). "Moonlight Shadow" appeared on Groove Coverage's debut album, Covergirl . The vocals are by Melanie Munch, who is known by her stage name Mell. Aside from the single remixes, the album also contains a piano version, featuring piano by Verena Rehm.
A-side
B-side
Chart (2002–2007) | Peak position |
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Australia (ARIA) [52] | 39 |
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [53] | 5 |
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders) [54] | 50 |
Germany (GfK) [55] | 3 |
Hungary (Dance Top 40) [56] | 25 |
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40) [57] | 36 |
Netherlands (Single Top 100) [58] | 68 |
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade) [59] | 52 |
UK Singles (OCC) [60] | 100 |
Chart (2002) | Position |
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Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40) [61] | 31 |
Germany (Official German Charts) [62] | 19 |
Maggie Reilly is a Scottish singer best known for her collaborations with the composer and instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. Most notably, she performed lead vocals on the Oldfield songs "Family Man", "Moonlight Shadow", "To France", and "Foreign Affair", all of which were international hits in the early 1980s.
Crises is the eighth studio album by English musician and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 27 May 1983 on Virgin Records. Oldfield started recording the album towards the end of his 1982 tour supporting his previous record, Five Miles Out. It marked a continuation of Oldfield's experimentation with more accessible music which began in the late 1970s; side one contains the 20-minute "Crises" and side two contains a collection of shorter songs which feature vocalists Maggie Reilly, Jon Anderson, and Roger Chapman. Oldfield produced Crises with drummer Simon Phillips, who also plays on the album.
Groove Coverage is a German dance music group which consists of Axel Konrad, DJ Novus, Melanie Munch, better known as Mell, and Verena Rehm. Producers of the band are Ole Wierk and Axel Konrad. The project was founded in the summer of 2001 by DJ Novus, in co-operation with Suprime Music (Konrad). With eleven singles in the German Top 50 and over 13 million records sold worldwide, Groove Coverage is one of the most successful German dance artists.
Discovery is the ninth studio album by English multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Mike Oldfield, released on 25 June 1984 on Virgin Records. It comprises a number of pop songs, most notably the single "To France", as well as the instrumental "The Lake".
Islands is the 11th album by Mike Oldfield, released on 28 September 1987 by Virgin in the UK. Guest singers on the album are Bonnie Tyler, Kevin Ayers, Anita Hegerland, Max Bacon, and Jim Price. A different track list and cover was used for the American edition.
Tubular Bells III is the eighteenth studio album by English guitarist, songwriter, and producer Mike Oldfield. It was released on 31 August 1998 by Warner Music UK as the third instalment in his Tubular Bells album series. After relocating from England to the Spanish island of Ibiza in 1996, Oldfield started work on the album and gained inspiration to incorporate electronic music from the island's local bars and clubs.
"Fame" is a song by the English singer-songwriter David Bowie. It was released on his 1975 album Young Americans and was later issued as the album's second single by RCA Records in June 1975. Written by Bowie, Carlos Alomar and John Lennon, it was recorded at Electric Lady Studios in New York City in January 1975. It is a funk rock song that represents Bowie's dissatisfaction with the troubles of fame and stardom.
"Help!" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles that served as the title song for the 1965 film and the band's accompanying soundtrack album. It was released as a single in July 1965, and was number one for three weeks in the United States and the United Kingdom. Credited to Lennon–McCartney, "Help!" was written by John Lennon with some assistance from Paul McCartney. During an interview with Playboy in 1980, Lennon recounted: "The whole Beatles thing was just beyond comprehension. I was subconsciously crying out for help".
This is the albums discography of English musician Mike Oldfield.
"Man in the Rain" is a pop rock song written and performed by English multi-instrumentalist Mike Oldfield. It was included on the album Tubular Bells III and released as a single on 5 October 1998 by Warner Music. The vocals were performed by Irish folk singer Cara Dillon.
"In Dulci Jubilo"/"On Horseback" is a double A-side single and third overall by English musician Mike Oldfield, released in November 1975 by Virgin Records. It features an instrumental version of the German traditional Christmas carol "In dulci jubilo" and Oldfield's second version of the song following an earlier recording released as the B-side to his previous single, "Don Alfonso". The song "On Horseback" is the final and previously untitled section to "Ommadawn " from his third studio album Ommadawn, released just one month before. The single is certified silver by the British Phonographic Industry for selling 200,000 copies in the UK.
"Innocent" is a single by British musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1989. It is from the album Earth Moving and features vocals from Anita Hegerland.
"To France" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1984. It is from the album Discovery and features Maggie Reilly on vocals.
"Shadow on the Wall" is a single by musician Mike Oldfield, released in 1983 by Virgin Records. English rock singer Roger Chapman performs vocals on the song and it is taken from Oldfield's Crises album. The song was a hit single especially in Germanic countries.
The Platinum Collection is a 2006 Virgin Records compilation album written and mostly performed by Mike Oldfield. It contains most of Oldfield's best known work, and some rare mixes of songs that had previously only been available as B-sides to singles.
"Wonderful Land" is an instrumental piece written by Jerry Lordan and first recorded and released as a single by The Shadows in February 1962. It stayed at number one for eight weeks on the UK Singles Chart, a feat only Elvis Presley, the Shadows and the Archies managed in the whole of the 1960s.
This is the singles discography of English musician Mike Oldfield.
"The X-Files" is an instrumental written and produced by American film and television composer Mark Snow. On its parent album, The Truth and the Light: Music from the X-Files, the track is titled "Materia Primoris". It is a remixed version of the original theme Snow composed for the science fiction television series The X-Files in 1993. The composition was released as a single in 1996 and achieved chart success, particularly in France, where it reached number one on the SNEP Singles Chart. The composition has since been covered by many artists, including DJ Dado and Triple X; DJ Dado's version was a major hit in Europe while Triple X's version reached number two in Australia.
The Mike Oldfield Collection 1974–1983 is a compilation album by Mike Oldfield, released in 2009, to coincide with the reissue of Oldfield's debut album, Tubular Bells, by Mercury Records.
"Foreign Affair" is a song written by Maggie Reilly and Mike Oldfield, which first appeared on Oldfield's 1983 album Crises on Virgin Records.
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