"Mainstreet" is a song written and recorded by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. It was released in April 1977 as the second single from the album Night Moves. The song peaked at number 24 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and has become a staple of classic rock radio; it also reached number one on the Canadian Singles Chart. Lyrics and music Seger has stated that the street he was singing about is Ann Street, just off Main Street in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he grew up. There was a pool hall there where they had girls dancing in the window and R&B bands playing on the weekends. He said, "Again, that's going back to the 'Night Moves' situation where I was writing about my high school years in Ann Arbor and what it was like — the discovery, the total naivete and fresh–faced openness that I went through. It was sort of an entire awakening of my life; before that I was kind of a quiet, lonesome kid." Seger later expanded on the origins of the song: Ultimate Classic Rock critic Jed Gottlieb cites "Mainstreet" as an example of Seger's love for "beautiful losers." He notes that Seger sings about a "dancer in a downtown dive" rather than the waitresses, prom queens or college girls who would be the subject of other singers' songs. And he notes that unlike in other singers' songs, the singer doesn't try to save or run away with the girl, but is content to just watch her walk by. Billboard felt that the imagery used by the singer to remember his love for the bar dancer was reminiscent of Van Morrison. Billboard also found the organ counterpoint to be "clever." Cash Box compared it to "Night Moves" saying that "this haunting ballad hits home with the same emotive chording, expressive vocalization and dramatic close." Record World said that it focuses on "Seger's mellower, more introspective side." Classic Rock History critic Janey Roberts rated it as Seger's 7th best song, calling it "an ode to the romantic backstreets of hope and despair found on Springsteen’s classic 1975 work [Born to Run]." It is in the key of D. During live performances the iconic Pete Carr guitar intro was replaced with a sax intro. Personnel Credits are adapted from the liner notes of Seger's 1994 Greatest Hits compilation. Bob Seger – lead vocals Muscle