Writer: Bob Seger
Producers: Jack Richardson and Bob Seger
Recorded: Early 1976 at Nimbus Nine Studios in Toronto
Released: Fall 1976
| Players: | Bob Seger — vocals, guitar Chris Campbell — bass Charlie Allen Martin — drums Doug Riley — keyboards Joe Miquelon — guitar Laurel Ward, Sharon Dee Williams, Rhonda Silver — backing vocals |
| Album: | Night Moves (Capitol, 1976) |
Midwestern rocker Bob Seger made a big splash in 1969 with his single “Ramblin' Gamblin' Man,” but due to record company problems and various musical trends, he was relegated to regional favorite status until “Night Moves” came out.
“Night Moves” peaked at Number Four on the Billboard Hot 100 in the spring of 1977, giving Seger his first Top 10 single.
Night Moves peaked at Number Eight on the Billboard album chart, and has sold more than 5 million copies in the U.S. alone.
These successes made Seger one of America's top rock stars and a fixture on rock radio.
Seger says the song's story about emotionally-detached lovemaking is autobiographical. “It still has the exact same meaning it's always had for me — the freedom and looseness I had during high school. That romance actually took place after high school, and it actually was about a real person. Her boyfriend was in the service, and when he came back, she married him. My first broken heart!”
In the liner notes for his Greatest Hits album, Seger remembers, “It was 2 a.m. and our guitar player Drew Abbott and sax player Alto Reed had already left the studio to drive back to Detroit…I think we did five takes. The next day we added a local guitar player and piano player and then some female singers from Montreal who happened to be in town. When people ask, ‘Do you know when you've written a hit?' the usual answer is ‘no.’ This song was an exception.”
Country superstar Garth Brooks has often covered the song in concert.
“Night Moves” also appears on the soundtrack to the 1978 film FM, a movie that featured appearances by Linda Ronstadt, Tom Petty, and Jimmy Buffett as themselves.