Music Friday: '74 Class Ring Makes Cameo in Starbuck's 'Moonlight Feels Right'

When Starbuck’s “Moonlight Feels Right” hit the airwaves in the spring of 1976, it became one of the most unforgettable summer anthems of the decade. The smooth, synth-driven track rose to #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and has since become a yacht rock classic. And jewelry lovers may perk up at one very specific lyrical detail: the girl in the song is said to be “from Ole Miss with a class of ’74 gold ring.”

That image — the college sweetheart, proud of her alma mater, flashing her gold class ring — adds a very personal touch to the song’s breezy romance. It’s a small detail that has given the song a unique sparkle for nearly 50 years.

Interestingly, songwriter Bruce Blackman explained in his 2018 memoir The Road to Moonlight Feels Right, that the object of his affection "wasn’t from Ole Miss at all — she went to Mississippi Delta Community College. But ‘Ole Miss’ just sang better.” Likewise, the couple didn’t meet in Baltimore, as the lyrics claim.

The real woman behind the lyric was Peggy, a local beauty queen from Greenville, MS. Blackman first spotted her photograph on a dorm room wall, enrolled in her school just to meet her, and worked up the courage to ask her out. After being turned down twice, he finally scored a yes — on a breezy, moonlit night after a pep rally.

“I wasn’t writing a documentary,” Blackman later recalled. “I was writing a song. Some words just feel right.” Peggy would eventually become his wife, making the class ring lyric a playful nod to the romance that inspired it all.

The song is remembered not only for its evocative imagery but also for one of the most unusual instrumental breaks in pop history: a 32-second marimba solo performed by Starbuck's co-founder Bo Wagner. The record label wanted it cut, but Blackman refused. Wagner recorded the take in one go — what he thought was just a rehearsal — and it has since been hailed as one of the most iconic marimba solos ever captured on vinyl.

Starbuck’s rise was hardly overnight. After releasing the single in December 1975, Blackman and Wagner packed their car with records and personally visited 200 radio stations across the South and Midwest. Most DJs turned them away. Their big break came when WERC in Birmingham, Alabama finally spun the record in springtime, reasoning that it was “a summer song.” From there, momentum snowballed, and “Moonlight Feels Right” became one of 1976’s defining hits.

Today, the song endures as a breezy, romantic time capsule of the 1970s — moonlight, marimbas and, yes, a flash of gold jewelry. For fans who grew up cruising with their car radios turned up loud, few songs better capture the carefree magic of a summer night.

Please check out the video of Starbuck performing "Moonlight Feels Right." The lyrics are below if you'd like to sing along…

"Moonlight Feels Right"
Written by Bruce Blackman. Performed by Starbuck.

The wind blew some luck in my direction
I caught it in my hands today
I finally made a tricky French connection
You winked and gave me your okay
I'll take you on a trip beside the ocean
And drop the top at Chesapeake Bay
Ain't nothing like the sky to dose a potion
The moon'll send you on your way

Moonlight feels right
Moonlight feels right

We'll lay back and observe the constellations
And watch the moon smiling bright
I'll play the radio on southern stations
'Cause southern belles are hell at night

You say you came to Baltimore from Ole Miss
A class of '74 gold ring
The Easter moon looks ready for a wet kiss
To make the tide rise again

Moonlight feels right
Moonlight feels right

You see the sun come up on Sunday morning
And watch it fade the moon away
I guess you know I'm giving you a warning
'Cause me and you are itchin' to play
I'll take you on a trip beside the ocean
And drop the top at Chesapeake Bay
Ain't nothing like the sky to dose a potion
The moon'll send you on your way

Moonlight feels right
Moonlight feels right
Moonlight feels right
Moonlight feels right

Credit: Screen capture via Youtube / sergol.