#20: The First Night Of The Full Moon by Jack Jones
City: Kingston, ON
Radio Station: CKWS
Peak Month: August 1964
Peak Position in Kingston ~ #9
Peak position in Vancouver ~ did not chart
Peak Position on Billboard Hot 100 ~ #59
YouTube: “The First Night Of The Full Moon”
Lyrics: “The First Night Of The Full Moon”
Jack Jones was born in 1938 in Hollywood. In 1957, he released his first single “Good Luck Good Buddy” on Capitol Records. Two four singles on Capitol in the late 50s failed to chart. Meanwhile, in 1959 Jones debuted in his first film getting top billing in the Columbia Pictures musical Juke Box Rhythm. In 1961, Jones was hired to perform at Facks nightclub in San Francisco after the owner heard Jones song “This Could Be The Start Of Something Big”. At Facks nightclub, Jones was heard by Pete King, a producer and artist for Kapp Records, who quickly signed him to the label. Jack Jones was still working at his ‘day job’ as a gas station attendant when his first album on Kapp was released. While washing a customer’s windshield, Jones was surprised to hear one of his cuts playing on the car radio. He could now legitimately hope that his work as a gas station attendant would soon be over.
Jack Jones plays a college student who dates a princess in Juke Box Rhythm
In the winter of 1961-62, Jones released “Lollipops and Roses”. In Canada it was a Top 30 hit in Toronto, and made the Top 40 in Hamilton and Vancouver. In 1962, Jack Jones received a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Lollipops and Roses”. In 1963, Jones was one of several artists to record “Call Me Irresponsible”, a song which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song. It was featured in the film Papa’s Delicate Condition. The film starred Jackie Gleason. Jones version peaked at #75 on the Billboard Hot 100, with Frank Sinatra’s version stalling at #75. In addition, that year Jack Jones sang the theme song for the film Love With the Proper Stranger. In 1964, Jack Jones “Love with the Proper Stranger” peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, and #12 in Montreal.
Later in 1964, Jones’ “Wives and Lovers” climbed to #14 on the Billboard Hot 100. It reached #11 in Hamilton (ON), #12 in Montreal and Lethbridge (AB), In ’64, Jones received a Grammy Award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for “Wives and Lovers”. Another single release that year was “The First Night Of The Full Moon”.
“The First Night Of The Full Moon” was cowritten by Hal David and Alfred “Al” Kealoha Perry. Harold “Hal” David was born in 1921 in New York City. In 1949, his song “The Four Winds and The Seven Seas” was a #3 hit for Swing and Sway with Sammy Kaye. In 1959, he cowrote “My Heart Is An Open Book”, a #3 hit for Carl Dobkins Jr. Later that year Sarah Vaughan had a Top Ten hit with “Broken Hearted Melody”. In 1961, David cowrote “Sea Of Heartbreak” for Don Gibson. The following year, his song “Johnny Get Angry” was a Top Ten hit for Joanie Sommers.
With Burt Bacharach, Hal David became a force as part of a songwriting team working in the Brill Building starting in the late 50s. They co-wrote “The Story Of My Life” which became a #1 hit for Michael Holliday in 1958 in the UK, and “Magic Moments” for Perry Como another #1 hit in the UK and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 later that year. Bacharach and David had a banner year in 1962 with hits that included “(The Man Who Shot) Liberty Valance” (Gene Pitney), “Make It Easy On Yourself” (Jerry Butler), “Don’t Make Me Over” (Dionne Warwick) and “Only Love Can Break A Heart” (Gene Pitney). In 1963 the songwriting team enjoyed more accolades with “Wishing And Hoping” (Dusty Springfield), “Blue On Blue” (Bobby Vinton), “(They Long To Be) Close To You” (The Carpenters, #1 in 1970), “Blue Guitar” (Richard Chamberlain), “Wives And Lovers” (Jack Jones), and “Anyone Who Had A Heart” (Dionne Warwick). 1964 continued their winning ways with “Walk On By” (Dionne Warwick) and “There’s Always Something There To Remind Me” (Sandie Shaw, #1 UK).
In 1965, David and Bacharach wrote “Trains, And Boats And Planes” (Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Dionne Warwick), “What’s New Pussycat?” (Tom Jones, #3 US), and “What The World Needs Now Is Love” (Jackie DeShannon, #7 US). In 1966, the songwriting team wrote “Alfie” a #9 hit for Cilla Black in the UK. Other notable hits they wrote include “The Look Of Love” (Dusty Springfield, Sérgio Mendes), “I Say A Little Prayer” (Dionne Warwick – #4 US, Aretha Franklin – #4 UK), “One Less Bell To Answer” (Fifth Dimension, #2 US), “Do You Know The Way To San Jose” (Dionne Warwick, #10 US), “This Guys In Love With You” (Herb Alpert, #1 US), and “I’ll Never Fall In Love Again” (Dionne Warwick, #6 US). They won an Academy Award for “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” (BJ Thomas, #1 US) in the Best Song category.
In 1966, the songwriting team won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Arrangement for “Alfie”. In 1970, Bacharach and David won a Grammy Award for Best Score from an Original Caste Album for Promises, Promises. The pair also received five other Grammy Award nominations. Hal David died in 2012 at the age of 91.
Perry was born in 1901 in Kohala on the Island of Hawaii. In 1929, Perry performed with the Aloha Temple Shrine Chanters (1929). From 1933 onward, he was affiliated with the Willows Restaurant, where he sometimes performed. It was owned by his spouse, Kathleen Perry. From 1935, he led the Honolulu Hale Glee Club. Alfred Perry was musical director for at least 25 Hawaii Calls releases, starting with Decca Records in 1940, and with Capitol Records from 1954 onward. Al Perry was inducted into the Hawaii Entertainers Hall of Fame in 1974. He died in 1979 at the age of 78.
“The First Night Of The Full Moon” is a song about a guy who is on his last trip on the ocean. When he returns, he won’t leave his sweetheart again. The last verse details the gifts he plans to bring her:
I will bring you a lamp to light your room,
rare perfume and yards of silk and satin’.
And an ocean of pearls upon a string,
’round your fingers I’ll place a wedding ring.
The instrumental accompaniment makes it clear the song is set in Hawaii. The ocean blue the man to sailing away in is the Pacific.
“The First Night Of The Full Moon” peaked at #4 in Bakersfield (CA), #5 in Winnipeg (MB), #8 in Gallup (NM), #9 in Kingston (ON), #11 in Chicago and Vancouver (BC), and #13 in Toronto.
Later in ’64, Jones recorded “Dear Heart”, originally recorded by Andy Williams and nominated at the Academy Awards for Best Original Song from the film Dear Heart. It peaked at #30 on the Billboard Hot 100, and the Top 20 in both Vancouver and Montreal. While Andy Williams version peaked at #24 on the Hot 100. In 1965, “The Race is On” became Jack Jones first number-one hit on the Adult Contemporary (Middle-Road) chart. The following year, “The Impossible Dream (The Quest)” became Jack Jones second number-one Adult Contemporary chart hit in the USA. On the Hot 100, the single stalled at #35. For his performance, Jack Jones received a Grammy Award nomination for
In the 1960s, Jack Jones appeared on the A-list of many variety shows. These included The Dinah Shore Chevy Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, The Andy Williams Show, The Dick Cavett Show, The Hollywood Palace, The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour, The Carol Burnett Show, The Jerry Lewis Show, American Bandstand, This is Tom Jones, The Dean Martin Show, The Judy Garland Show, The Jack Benny Show, The Steve Allen Show, Hullabaloo and others.
In 1967, Jones “Lady” became his third and final number-one hit on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. In 1968, Jack Jones charted his last single into the Adult Contemporary chart Top Ten titled “If You Ever Leave Me”.
In 1969, Jack Jones received the Male Recording Artists of the Year (Foreign Division) award, at the Philippines Awit Award ceremonies. In the 1960s, Jack Jones appeared as a guest in TV shows The Rat Patrol, Police Woman, McMillan & Wife, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Match Game, Night Court, Password and others.
In the mid-1970s, Jones appeared in an “It’s the Talk of the Town” campaign ad for the Chrysler New Yorker automobile. On October 30, 1972, he performed at the London Palladium before members of the Royal family. From 1977 to 1984, Jones sang the opening theme in the TV series The Love Boat. Jones also performed “Little Prince” from the film The Little Prince at the Academy Awards on April 8, 1975.
On April 13, 1989, he was honored with his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In 1999, Jack Jones received a Grammy Award nomination in the
Between 1957 and 1980, Jack Jones released over forty singles. Between 1959 and 2002, Jones released sixty studio albums.
Between 2000 and 2020, Jack Jones appeared in numbers of musical productions. These include Guys and Dolls, South Pacific, Pajama Game, and Man of La Mancha. In 2013, Jones appeared as himself as the nightclub singer in the film American Hustle.
December 9, 2024
Ray McGinnis
References:
“Jack Jones bio,” jack jones.lollipop.jp
Richard Williams, “Hal David Obituary: Lyricist Behind Some of the Greatest Pop Hits of the 20th Century,” Guardian, September 2, 2012.
“Al Kealoha Perry – bio,” discogs.com.
Juke Box Rhythm, Columbia Pictures, 1959.
CKWS 960-AM Kingston (ON) Top Ten | August 4, 1964
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