"Moonglow" appears in jazz fake books and lead sheets in the key of G, though it is also thought to originally be in the key of C.[1] The melodic riff of the A section is composed of a repeated minor third interval followed by a major third interval and then a repeated note.
The tune has since become a jazz standard, performed and recorded numerous times by a wide array of musical talents.
[3] Other prominent vocalists who have recorded "Moonglow" include June Christy (1946), Billie Holiday (1952) and Sarah Vaughan (1962).
In the 1950s a medley of the song and George Duning's "Theme from Picnic", orchestrated by Johnny Warrington (1911–1978), became quite popular, especially in an instrumental recording by Morris Stoloff, conductor of the film version by the Columbia Pictures Orchestra.
In a 1961 episode of The Twilight Zone (S3/Ep08, "It's a Good Life"), 6-year-old Anthony Fremont enjoys hearing "Moonglow" played on the piano during a surprise birthday party for an ill-fated neighbor.
The evening country club scene in Caddyshack (1980) opens with the band playing "Moonglow".