The Foote Files: Al Jarreau
THE FOOTE FILES (CBSDFW.COM) — Today's featured song was the theme song for a 1980s network television show.
Al Jarreau — born Alwin Lopez Jarreau on March 12, 1940 — was an American singer/musician whose style was R&B/soul with a little pop and jazz. From 1981 to 1987, he charted three times on Billboard with his final one being the most successful.
"Moonlighting" was a TV show that aired on the ABC Television Network from March 1985 to May 1989 starring Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis. With Shepherd as a glamorous, but not-so-friendly fashion model (Maddie Hayes), who was down on her luck when her manager cheated her out of her wealth, and Willis (David Addison) as a detective with the Blue Moon Detective Agency that Maddie finds out that she owns. With two different personalities, the two "clicked" and became a detective team.
ABC scheduled it on Tuesdays at 9 p.m., then moved to Tuesdays at 8 p.m. 67 episodes were made during this time. By May 1989, the show had run its course. Behind the scenes, there were numerous production issues which contributed to the end of its run.
The theme song, "Moonlighting" was written by Lee Holdridge and Jarreau, produced by Nile Rodgers and released in 1987. It got to #23 on the Billboard Hot 100. It also earned two Grammy Award nominations for Best Pop Vocal Performance and Best Song Written Specifically for a Motion Picture or Television. And it was a #1 Adult Contemporary hit.
This song is so beautiful.