Shame on the Moon

"Shame on the Moon" is a song written by Rodney Crowell and first recorded for his eponymous 1981 album. It was subsequently covered by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, as the lead single from their 1982 album The Distance.

"Shame on the Moon"
Single by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band
from the album The Distance
B-side"House Behind the House"
ReleasedDecember 14, 1982
Format7"
GenreRock, country rock
Length4:22
LabelCapitol
Songwriter(s)Rodney Crowell
Producer(s)Jimmy Iovine
Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band singles chronology
"Feel Like a Number"
(1982)		 "Shame on the Moon"
(1982)		 "Even Now"
(1983)

Glenn Frey joins Seger on background harmony vocals on the song. The song spent four weeks at number two on the Billboard Hot 100 pop singles chart (blocked from the top spot by Patti Austin and James Ingram's "Baby, Come to Me" and by Michael Jackson's smash hit "Billie Jean") and topped the adult contemporary chart.[1] The song also went to number 15 on the country chart in early 1983, marking Seger's only Top 40 entry on that chart.[2] Tanya Tucker also covered the song, for her 1983 album Changes.

Critical reception

Billboard magazine reviewed the song favorably, saying that "his trademark acoustic guitar sets the tone, followed by an easygoing vocal and loping rhythm."[3]

Bob Seger's Comments

Speaking with Creem in 1983, Seger said: "It's more like a western song - a cowboy song - than it is a country & western song. And the track is flawless, the best and tightest track on the album. We cut it in like two hours, and everyone decided it was the miracle track. But then we had to decide whether to use it or not because The Distance was going to be a real rock album. I purposely didn't write any medium-tempo songs for this one because I wanted it to be hard rocking with a few ballads for pacing. But we figured we'd throw it on and see what happened. The next thing we know, the Capitol guys are saying, 'That's the single!' (laughs) Fine! Whatever it takes! So thank you, Rodney. It's a great song, and I'm beholden to the lad for writing it."[4]

Chart performance
Chart (1982-1983) Peak
position
Australian Kent Music Report 38[5]
Canadian RPM Top Singles 8
Canadian RPM Adult Contemporary 1
Canadian RPM Country Tracks 10
French Singles Chart 58
German Singles Chart 50
New Zealand Singles Chart 24
South African Singles Chart 15
Spanish Singles Chart 27
US Billboard Hot 100[6] 2
US Adult Contemporary (Billboard)[7] 1
US Hot Country Songs (Billboard)[8] 15
Year-end chart (1983)Rank
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[9] 14

Uses in pop culture

In 1989, the song was used in the Season One episode of the TV series Midnight Caller entitled "The Fall".

See also
  • List of number-one adult contemporary singles of 1983 (U.S.)

References
  1. Whitburn, Joel (2002). Top Adult Contemporary: 1961-2001. Record Research. p. 218.
  2. Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book Of Top 40 Country Hits: 1944-2006, Second edition. Record Research. p. 308.
  3. Billboard, December 18, 1982
  4. "Creem", May, 1983
  5. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  6. "Bob Seger Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.
  7. "Bob Seger Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard.
  8. "Bob Seger Chart History (Hot Country Songs)". Billboard.
  9. "Talent Almanac 1984: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 95 no. 52. December 24, 1983. p. TA-18.
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