Night Moves And Bob Seger Shares Real Reason for Silver Bullet Band

On October 22nd, 1976 Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band released “Night Moves” - his first album with the Silver Bullet Band on it. But where did the name “Silver Bullet Band” come from? It’s not as exotic as you’d think. 

David Letterman: Now listen to this, two days ago I was with some friends, and we were talking about you and the Silver Bullet Band. A friend of mine said, "Do you know how the name of the Silver Bullet Band came to be?" And I said, "I don't know." Then he told us this story. If you will tell us the story, then I'll know if my friend is lying. 

Bob Seger: He's probably not lying. We were all arguing about what our band name should be, and I was kind of letting the band pick it themselves. And they just kept arguing and arguing—it went on and on. Finally, my manager sent us our paychecks with "Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band" on them. He got tired of waiting for us, so he made it up himself.

David Letterman: Really?

Bob Seger: Yeah, yeah.

David Letterman: My friend's version of this was... to go to gigs, you guys had a stretch limousine that was painted silver and it was nicknamed the "Silver Bullet."

Bob Seger: No, no, I'm sorry. [Laughter]

David Letterman: No?

Bob Seger: No. [Laughs]

So their manager Punch Andrews came up with the name (now I’m wondering if there were different names being considered). But back to “Night Moves”...do you have a favorite track? It’s like picking a favorite child right? (I’ve always been partial to the title track…the way he stops in the middle of it). 

One more “Night Moves” did you know - Did you know Matt LeBlanc is in the music video for the title track? As a matter of fact, he laughs about getting drunk with Seger on Tequila during the filming (Bob wanted to explain to him what it was like in Ann Arbor).