Song:Theme From Moonlighting
Album:The Very Best Of: An Excellent Adventure
Jazz singer Al Jarreau had some mainstream success in the 80s. One of his more successful songs was the 1987 theme from the TV series Moonlighting. He never had a top ten pop hit but he came close a couple of times. Jarreau was born Mar. 12, 1940 in Milwaukee. His father was a minister and his mother played piano in church. He earned a master's degree in vocational rehabilitation at the University of Iowa. While working as a rehabilitation counselor in San Francisco, Jarreau moonlighted in a jazz trio with pianist George Duke. Then he had a duo with guitarist Julio Martinez and the two moved to Los Angeles in 1969. While playing clubs, Jarreau recorded a few demos until he signed with Warner Bros. in 1975. He appeared on Saturday Night Live and his debut album We Got By was released. He had success on the jazz charts. But then he had mainstream success with the 1981 album Breakin' Away produced by legendary session guitarist Jay Graydon. The album topped the jazz and R & B charts and reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 200. The single We're In This Love Together reached #15 on the Billboard Hot 100. It's probably Jarreau's signature song. He also reached #16 on the Billboard Hot 100 with a 1982 duet with Randy Crawford Your Precious Love from the various artists live album Casino Lights. By 1987, Jarreau is starting to fade a bit. So Warner Bros. had him record a new theme for the third season of the successful TV series Moonlighting starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Sheppard. Jarreau wrote the song with veteran film composer Lee Holdridge. It reached #23 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped the Adult Contemporary chart. The song was not on one of Jarreau's albums but on a Moonlighting soundtrack album released by MCA Records. The album has some oldies and a couple of songs performed by Shepherd. She's actually recorded some jazz vocal albums. You can get the song on this 2009 Rhino comp. Jarreau left Warner Bros. in 1992 and didn't record again until 2000 for GRP and then Concord. But he always toured and still tours. He is off to Japan and England in 2014. His latest CD Al Jarreau and the Metropole Orkest Live was released by Concord in 2012. Here's the video for Theme from Moonlighting by Al Jarreau.
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