The Song
After a lean year in the singles and album charts, Under The Moon Of Love propelled Showaddywaddy to the top of the charts, and set the band on the road to the most successful 2 year period in their career, the first of a run of seven consecutive top 5 hits.1976 began as the previous year left off, with Showaddywaddy in much demand as live artists. After a break for Christmas, gigs were booked in the diary from the back end of January. There was a gap in the bands live commitments from mid-April to mid-July 1976, save for the odd gig, and it would appear that Under The Moon of Love was recorded during this period. The Trocadero album and accompanying single was released in the spring of 1976, the single reaching #32, the follow-up single Take Me In Your Arms failing to dent the charts at all. So the third single release of the year was important for Showaddywaddy, and who knew it was to bring so much success!
Under The Moon Of Love was released on 15th October 1976, becoming the last single on the Bell Records label before Bell was subsumed under the Arista banner. (The Bell label was briefly revived however in 1981/1982).
Showaddywaddy recorded the song after hearing Leicester DJ Mick Stacey play it at a Leicester night club. The DJ put the song on a tape with a number of other tracks that were also recorded by Showaddywaddy, including some that became hit singles.
For many years, Under The Moon Of Love was cited to have sold 958,000 copies, but eventually officially ticked over the the 1 million mark in the 2010s courtesy of 21st century downloads.
UTMOL subsequently featured on Showaddywadddy's blue Greatest Hits album released on 6th December 1976 and has featured on almost every Showaddywaddy compilation album ever since.
In 1986, Under The Moon Of Love was released a remix (not much difference to the original recording) on the Genie Records label for the band's 10th anniversary, which also marked a 12" single being released under the Showaddywaddy name for the very first time.
Chart Run
UTMOL first entered the charts on 31st October 1976 a fortnight after its release, debuting at #36, climbing to #19 the week after, and breaking into the top 10 at #3 on 14th November. The week after it climbed one place to #2 before reaching #1 on 28th November 1976, a position which it held for 3 weeks, before being knocked off the top spot on 19th December by Johnny Mathis - this chart ran until 25th December, so SWW were denied the Christmas #1 by the skin of their teeth. UTMOL remained in the charts until the second week in February 1977.TV Appearances
A re-recorded version of UTMOL was broadcast on Arrows (ITV Granada) 19th Oct 1976, just 4 days after the single was released, followed by Multi-Coloured Swap Shop (BBC) 30th Oct 1976. A live performance then followed on Supersonic (ITV LWT) on 1st November, with the first Top Of The Pops (BBC) performance being broadcast on 4th November (recorded the day before); then Blue Peter (BBC) on 15th November. Further Top Of The Pops appearances were made on 18th November, 2nd December (repeat footage), 9th December (recorded the day before), 16th December, and the Top Of The Pops Christmas Special on 26th December (recorded at the BBC on 23rd Dec).Swap Of The Pops featured Showaddywaddy performing UTMOL on Boxing Day, but this was repeat footage from the Multi-Coloured Swap Shop broadcast from a couple of months before.
An appearance was made on Jim'll Fix It on 22nd Jan 1977, and there were two other appearances on German TV around the same time courtesy of Szene, and Disco.
On 14th October 1978, Under The Moon Of Love was performed on Ein Kessel Buntes in East Germany, two years after the single was originally released, followed by another performance on home turf on the Little & Large Show on 19th October, preferred for some reason to the current single at that time, Pretty Little Angel Eyes. The Little & Large performance featured a guitar solo from Russ Field instead of a saxophone break.
UTMOL later featured as a live performance on the band's BBC TV special Showaddywaddyshow on 30th December 1980, the Big Top Variety Show on 5th August 1981, a truncated performance on Game For A Laugh on 25th December 1981, and The Jim Davidson Show 6th September 1984.
In the 1990s, UTMOL featured on Surprise Surprise on 20th June 1993, Live from the Lilydrome 11th March 1995, The Brian Conley Show 3rd June 1995, Noel's House Party 2nd March 1996, Clive James on TV 12th April 1998, with further sporadic appearances into the 2000s including Weekend Watchdog and Jim Davidson's Generation Game.
Some TV appearances showed Trevor miming with a saxophone, although in reality the sax on the recording was played by a session musician, Jeff Daly.
Personnel
Vocals: Dave BartramGuitar: Russ Field
Bass: Rod Deas
Drums: Malcolm Allured
Timpani Drums: Romeo Challenger
Trumpet: Mike Davis
Saxophone: Jeff Daly
Composer
UTMOL is credited to Tommy Boyce and Curtis Lee. The original song was recorded by Curtis Lee in 1961. It did not chart as a single in the UK, but reached #46 in the US Billboard singles chart. The song was only 15 years old at the time of Showaddywaddy's recording!Records & Sleeves
UK factory sample, cat. no BELL 1495. The B-side was Lookin' Back, an album track from the Trocadero LP released earlier in 1976.
UK demo, issued to radio stations for broadcast. 
Many of SWW's UK singles did not come in a picture sleeve, Under The Moon Of Love being no exception.
Many of SWW's early Bell-issued singles were available on the Arista label in the years following the initial release to keep up with demand. UTMOL was in production until November 1979 at which time it was deleted.
New Zealand issue (Bell BL 331), no picture sleeve. The b-side was Lookin' Back.
New Zealand issue - slightly different to the previous pic.
Australian demo (Bell AT-11329) showing a release date of 7th Feb 1977, some 4 months after the single was issued in the UK. The b-side was Lookin' Back.
Turkish issue, Bell BELL 1495.
German picture sleeve, with Rod Deas and Malcolm Allured cropped from the bottom of the picture! The b-side was Lookin' Back.
The German release of UTMOL was issued on Arista Records (006-98 370) rather than Bell. There were at least two centre label variations with the German releases, this one being white.
This German issue featured a black centre label.
Danish issue, BELL 1495. The b-side was Lookin' Back.
Centre label of Danish issue.
Belgian issue, (Bell 006 98 555), with Showboat on the B-side.
Netherlands picture sleeve, Arista Records NG 790. The b-side was Showboat.
B-side of the Netherlands issue featuring Showboat rather than Lookin' Back. In the UK, Showboat was the b-side to You Got What It Takes, released in July 1977.
French picture sleeve.
Spanish picture sleeve, the b-side was Showboat.
Centre label of Spanish release.
Japanese picture sleeve, Arista Records IER-20168.
Centre label of Japanese release. 
USA demo of Under The Moon Of Love (Arista AS 0221) featuring the same song on both sides, one being mono, the other stereo.
USA issue, with Lookin' Back as the b-side.
Canadian issue in company sleeve.
Italian picture sleeve. The b-side was Lookin' Back.
1986 "remix" on the Genie Records label.
Lyrics
Let's go for a little walk, under the moon of love,Let's sit down and talk, under the moon of love,
I wanna tell ya that I love ya, and I want you to be my girl,
Little darling let's walk, let's talk under the moon of love.
You were looking so lovely, under the moon of love,
You're eyes shining so brightly, under the moon of love
I wanna go, all the time, and be my love tonight
Little darling let's walk, let's talk under the moon of love.
I wanna talk (sweet talk), and whisper things in your ear,
I'm gonna tell you lots of things I know you've been longing to hear,
Come on little darling take my hand.
Let's go for a little walk, under the moon of love,
Let's sit down and talk, under the moon of love,
I wanna tell ya that I love ya, and I want you to be my girl,
Little darling let's walk, let's talk under the moon of love.
I wanna tell ya that I love ya, and I want you to be my girl,
Little darling let's walk, let's talk under the moon of love.
I'm gonna talk (sweet talk), and whisper things in your ear,
I'm gonna tell you lots of things I know you've been longing to hear,
Come on little darling take my hand.
Let's go for a little walk, under the moon of love,
Let's sit right down and talk, under the moon of love.