Al Jarreau -- Moonlighting

 

Yes, Virginia....there was a Bruce Willis who had hair and a lot of jokes cracking out of him.

Indeed, decades before all of those action films where he's played deadly serious military officers and cops on the big screen, Willis used to play a wisecracking detective from New Jersey transplanted to Los Angeles on television for a few years in the 1980s. "Moonlighting" on ABC was a show that I first heard about from my brother during my university age; at the time, I was watching some episodes of "Remington Steele" on NBC, that other detective show (which I'll have to write about as well some time) with a distinctly different tone, and the star from that series went onto his own fame and fortune as an action star.

Although I did watch an episode of "Miami Vice" where he had played a monstrous gangster before he got his star-making role on "Moonlighting", Willis will always be detective David Addison even over his role of John McClane from the "Die Hard" franchise. I didn't much like the really mean fights between David and his partner-in-crimefighting, former model Maddie Hayes (played by Cybill Shepherd), but the ongoing banter of irritation between the two was fun to watch due to their very different personalities. Of course, I also adored the Blue Moon Detective Agency's receptionist, Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley) and her iambic pentameter patter.

But I have to remember that this is the weekly Reminiscings of Youth article and not Reminiscings of "Moonlighting". That shouldn't be difficult, though, since after all, the theme song was by the one-and-only Al Jarreau. The opening credits with Jarreau's smooth-as-satin vocals and the smooth soulful melody by the singer and Lee Holdridge obviously weren't the only thing that brought me over to the series but they sure made it very inviting with those lovely scenes of LA. "Moonlighting" was both downtown and uptown, and I'm not surprised that YouTube commenters have been waxing and mooning over the 1980s on listening to it again.

Strangely enough, the actual single of "Moonlighting" with Al Jarreau wasn't released until 1987, so we basically had to rely on reruns of episodes to get our fix of the song. I was so happy when this got onto the radio, and I think a lot of listeners were, too, since it managed to reach No. 23 on America's Billboard and No. 38 on Canada's RPM, and No. 1 on the Adult Contemporary charts in both countries. The late Jarreau has had a lot of memorable songs on his plate, and I've already included his "Breakin' Away" as a ROY tune, but "Moonlighting" is probably the next song after that one that I've always cherished.

Although that single came out in 1987, we were hearing the theme since the show began in March 1985 so we'll go for that date in terms of what was hitting the top ranks of Oricon back then. Incidentally, the March debut for the show is an interesting one. Usually new and continuing seasons of programs begin in the fall in the United States, but I gather that "Moonlighting" was initially put in as a mid-season replacement for a show that had gotten cancelled, and I know that the first season was a trial run of only six episodes. But the half-dozen did the trick.

1. C-C-B -- Romantic ga Tomaranai （Romanticが止まらない）

2. Momoko Kikuchi -- Sotsugyo （卒業）

3. ALFEE -- Cinderella wa Nemurenai (シンデレラは眠れない)

In recent months, I've been aware that Willis has been having some medical issues so that he will have to probably end his long career. I hope that he can overcome them and have a successful recovery.