Magic (Pilot song)

Not to be confused with Magic (Olivia Newton-John song).
"Magic"
Single by Pilot
from the album From the Album of the Same Name
B-side "Just Let Me Be"
Released 2 November 1974
Recorded 1974
Genre Pop rock, funk rock
Length

3:06 (Album version)

2:22 (Single edit version)
Label EMI
Writer(s) William Lyall, David Paton
Producer(s) Alan Parsons
Certification Gold
Pilot singles chronology
"Just a Smile"
(1974)		 "Magic"
(1975)		 "January"
(1975)

"Magic" is a popular 1974 song by Scottish pop rock band Pilot, and was the first hit single for the group. It was written by band members Billy Lyall and David Paton for their debut album, From the Album of the Same Name.

It charted most successfully in Canada, where it reached #1, topping the RPM national singles chart on 19 July 1975,[1] and received a gold certification.[2] It climbed as far as #11 on the UK Singles Chart and reached #5 during the summer of 1975 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100.

The song was used in the films Happy Gilmore, Herbie: Fully Loaded, The Magic Roundabout, Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, and Eve and the Fire Horse, as well as the trailer for Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. The song was used in a scene cut from Guardians of the Galaxy; the scene is included on the home media release of the film. It also appears in the video game Sleeping Dogs. Manchester United supporters sing a different version of the song regarding Michael Carrick. The lyrics are as follows: 'It's hard to believe it's not Scholes. It's Carrick you know.'

Sheffield Wednesday supporters sing a version of this song about defensive midfielder Jose Semedo singing "He's magic, you know. You'll never get past Semedo".

Wolverhampton Wanderers fans recently adopted the song as a chant in tribute to forwards Nouha Dicko, Benik Afobe, and Bakary Sako changing the lyric "Never believe it's not so" to the three's respective surnames.

In Australia, the song was once used to promote a now defunct amusement park in Sydney called "Magic Kingdom" as a television commercial through out the 80's.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1974–75) Peak
position
Australia[3] 12
Canadian RPM[4] 1
UK 11
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5] 5
U.S. Cash Box Top 100[6] 5

Year-end charts

Chart (1975) Rank
Australia[3] 61
Canada[7] 16
UK[8] 100
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[9] 35

Other versions

"Magic" was covered by Sally Boyden on her 1976 album The Littlest Australian.[10] The song was sampled by Girl Talk on his 2006 release Night Ripper on the track "Summer Smoke". The song is also heavily sampled in a song titled "It's Magic" by rap artist J.R. Writer. It was then sampled again by rapper Flo Rida in 2009. The alternative rock band Barenaked Ladies has been known to sometimes close live shows by playing the song as part of a medley.[11] It has also been covered by Patrick Juvet.[12]

Selena Gomez version

"Magic"
Promotional single by Selena Gomez from the album Wizards of Waverly Place
Released 21 July 2009
Format Digital download
Recorded 2009
Genre Pop rock
Length 2:49
Label Walt Disney
Writer(s) William Lyall, David Paton
Producer(s) Ted Bruner, Trey Vittetoe
Music video
"Magic" on YouTube

Selena Gomez covered "Magic" for the soundtrack of the Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place, was released as a single on 21 July 2009. The song was featured in the television film Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie.

Commercial performance

It has sold over 558,000 copies in the United States as of July 19, 2015.[13]

Chart performance

Gomez's version peaked at No. 61 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, at No. 80 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart, at No. 5 on the Norwegian Singles Chart and at number 90 on the UK Singles Chart. It has sold 558,000 copies in the United States.[14]

Music video

The music video premiered on Disney Channel on 24 July 2009. The video was directed by Roman Perez.

Charts

Chart (2009) Peak
position
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[15] 80
Norway (VG-lista)[16] 5
Scotland (Official Charts Company)[17] 72
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[18] 90
US Billboard Hot 100[19] 61

References

  1. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  2. ↑ "Gold Platinum Database". Archived from the original on 16 June 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
  3. 1 2 Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 2016-07-25.
  4. ↑ "RPM - Library and Archives Canada - RPM - Bibliothèque et Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  5. ↑ [Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955-2002]
  6. ↑ "Cash Box Top Singles - 1975". tropicalglen.com.
  7. ↑ "Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  8. ↑ "Top 100 1974". top-source.info.
  9. ↑ "Top 100 Hits of 1976/Top 100 Songs of 1976". musicoutfitters.com.
  10. ↑ The Littlest Australian by Sally Boyden : Reviews and Ratings. Rate Your Music.
  11. ↑ Barenaked Ladies performing musical montage, starting with Oh, Oh, Oh It's Magic. YouTube (8 August 2010).
  12. ↑ Patrick JUVET – MAGIC. YouTube (17 April 2010).
  13. ↑ "Ask Billboard: Is There an Unusually High Number of New Acts in the Hot 100's Top 10?". Billboard.
  14. ↑ Trust, Gary (July 19, 2015). "Ask Billboard: Are There an Unusually High Number of New Acts in the Hot 100's Top 10?". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
  15. ↑ "Selena Gomez – Chart history" Canadian Hot 100 for Selena Gomez. Retrieved December 22, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Selena Gomez – Magic". VG-lista. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2009-10-11". Scottish Singles Top 40. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  18. ↑ "Archive Chart: 2009-10-18" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Selena Gomez – Chart history" Billboard Hot 100 for Selena Gomez. Retrieved December 19, 2009.
Preceded by
"Listen to What the Man Said" by Wings		 Canadian RPM number-one single
19 July 1975 (1 week) 		Succeeded by
"The Hustle" by Van McCoy
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