Could It Be Magic

"Could It Be Magic"
Single by Barry Manilow
from the album Barry Manilow
Released	1975
Format	7" single
Recorded	1973
Genre	Pop
Label	Arista
Writer(s)	Barry Manilow, Adrienne Anderson
Producer	Barry Manilow

"Could It Be Magic" is a song by Adrienne Anderson and Barry Manilow. It was included on Manilow's 1973 debut album, Barry Manilow.

Due to its popularity, it was released as a single in 1975, two years after it had originally been recorded, where it reached #6 in the United States.

Manilow's recording begins and ends with an excerpt of Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C Minor, Opus 28, Number 20. The whole song is based on the harmonic scheme of Chopin's prelude. The "sweet Melissa" is a nod to singer Melissa Manchester.

The song has been covered by a number of other artists over the years, most successfully by Donna Summer in 1976 and UK boy band Take That in the early 1990s. Manilow himself re-recorded an up-tempo version of the song in 1993, using the original orchestration of brass and strings combined with new drums, bass and synthesizers, and included it on the album Greatest Hits: The Platinum Collection. An extended remix of the 1993 version was issued as a promotional 12" single.

Barry Manilow version

Charts

Chart (1975)	Peak position
Canadian Singles Chart	24
Irish Singles Chart	18
UK Singles Chart	25
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	6
U.S. Adult Contemporary	1

Donna Summer version

"Could It Be Magic"
Single by Donna Summer
from the album A Love Trilogy
B-side	Whispering Waves
Released	1976
Format	7" single
Genre	Disco, Pop, Soul, R&B
Length	5:20 (Album version) 3:15 (7" version)
Label	Oasis (U.S./Canada) GTO (U.K.) Atlantic (France/Germany) Groovy (The Netherlands) Durium (Italy)
Producer	Giorgio Moroder, Pete Bellotte
Donna Summer singles chronology
"Love to Love You Baby" (1975) "Could It Be Magic" (1976) "Try Me, I Know We Can Make It" (1976)

Just one year after Manilow's original version was released as a single Donna Summer recorded a disco version of the track and included it on her second international album, Love Trilogy, and took it to number three on the US Dance chart in 1976.^[1] The song also entered the UK single chart where it stayed for seven weeks (peak point #40)

Track listing

U.S. 7" single (Oasis OC 405) / Canada 7" single (Oasis OC 405X)

1. "Could It Be Magic" (3:15)
2. "Whispering Waves" (4:50)

U.K. 7" single (GTO GT 60)

1. "Could It Be Magic" (3:15)
2. "Whispering Waves" (?)

Germany 7" single (Atlantic ATL 10 775)

1. "Could It Be Magic" (5:20)
2. "Come With Me" (4:20)

Netherlands 7" single (Groovy GR 1219)

1. "Could It Be Magic" (3:15)
2. "Whispering Waves" (4:50)

France 7" single (Atlantic 10.770)

1. "Could It Be Magic" (4:13)
2. "Whispering Waves" (4:15)

Italy 7" single (Durium DE 2873)

1. "Could It Be Magic" (3:15)
2. "Whispering Waves" (3:35)

Charts

Chart (1976)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart[2]	14
Dutch GfK chart	5
Dutch Top 40	2
German Singles Chart[3]	23
UK Singles Chart[4]	40
U.S. Billboard Hot Soul Singles[5]	21
U.S. Billboard Hot 100[5]	52

Take That version

"Could It Be Magic"
UK Maxi-CD cover
Single by Take That
from the album Take That & Party
Released	November 30, 1992
Format	7" single, 12" maxi single, CD single, Cassette single
Genre	Pop
Length	4:28 (Album Version)
Label	RCA
Producer	The Rapino Brothers
Take That singles chronology
"A Million Love Songs" (1992) "Could It Be Magic" (1992) "Why Can't I Wake Up With You" (1993)
Alternative covers E.U. 7" vinyl cover

Produced and remixed by The Rapino Brothers, UK boyband Take That released their cover version, based on Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder's up-tempo arrangement of the track, on November 30, 1992^[6] as the final single from their debut album Take That & Party. The song does not appear on the cassette version of the album. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart.

The song won Best British Single at the 1993 Brit Awards.

During The Ultimate Tour in 2006, former member Robbie Williams appeared on a hologram with a pre-recorded section of his vocals.^[7]Gary Barlow sings lead vocals since Take That's reformation.

The song has received a Silver sales status certification and sold over 325,000 copies sold in the UK.

Music video

The music video shows a young woman leaving a garage before the lights are turned back on and Take That perform the song with many other dancers.

Track listings

UK 12" Vinyl (74321 12313 1)(Limited Edition w/ poster sleeve)

1. Deep In Rapino's Club Mix - 5:56
2. Take That Club Megamix - 7:03
3. Mr. F. Mix - 6:18

UK 7" Vinyl (74321 12313 7)

1. Rapino Radio Mix - 3:30
2. Take That Radio Megamix - 4:38

UK Cassette (74321 12313 4)

1. Rapino Radio Mix - 3:30
2. Take That Radio Megamix - 4:38

UK CD Single (74321 12313 2)

1. Rapino Radio Mix - 3:30
2. Deep In Rapino's Club Mix - 5:56
3. Acapella - 3:12
4. Ciao Baby Mix - 7:19
5. Rapino Dub - 3:44
6. Paparazzo Mix - 5:27
7. Deep In Rapino's Dub - 5:57
8. Club Rapino Mix - 3:43

EU CD Single (74321 12735 2)

1. Rapino Radio Mix - 3:30
2. Deep In Rapino's Club Mix - 5:56
3. Ciao Baby Mix - 7:19
4. Paparazzo Mix - 5:27

Japanese CD Single (TAKE8)

1. Rapino Radio Mix - 3:30
2. Take That Radio Megamix - 4:38

Charts

Chart (1992)	Peak position
Irish Singles Chart[8]	3
UK Singles Chart[9]	3
Chart (1993)	Peak position
Australian ARIA Singles Chart[10]	30
French SNEP Singles Chart[10]	42
German Singles Chart[10]	37
Swedish Singles Chart[10]	30

End of year chart (1992)	Position
UK Singles Chart	37

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
UK[11]	Silver	1 January 1993	200,000

Other official versions

• Album Version (4:28)
• Live Version (5:34)

Abigail version

"Could It Be Magic"
Single by Abigail
from the album Feel Good
B-side	This Is A Dream
Released	1993
Format	12" maxi single
Genre	Hi-NRG
Length	6:21
Label	Klone Records
Abigail singles chronology
"I Feel You" (1992) "Could It Be Magic" (1993) "Constant Craving" (1993)

This single was only available as a 12" Single. The B-side, "This Is A Dream" is a high upbeat dance music with the lyrics "This Is A Dream" will appear every so often in the song.

Other notable versions

• A jazz version of the tune was arranged into a trio setting by Filipino pianist/arranger Bobby Enriquez, then performed during a summer tour of Japan in 1982. A recording of the piece is on the album, "Bobby Enriquez: Live! In Tokyo." GNP Crescendo GNPD-2161

• A house remix of the song appears as the penultimate track on Hed Kandi: Disco Heaven 01.05, credited to "Andrea T. Mendoza & Tibet feat. Ife Corcoran".^[12]

• In 1993 British top-producer Trevor Horn remixed the song with Barry Manilow, who re-recorded his vocals. The release was only available on promo-12" ARISTA-COULD1993

• The song was recorded in Dutch by the singer Rob de Nijs, called Ontmoeting. Text was written by his former wife Belinda Meulendijk, and was released as a single in 1986. Taken from the album Vrije val.

• The Dutch group Lucifer also recorded the track in 1975, even before Donna Summer recorded hers. This version doesn't contain the Chopin-preludium, but has a falset-ladyvoice from Margriet Eshuys and mandolines instead.

• It was covered by The Puppini Sisters on their album The Rise and Fall of Ruby Woo.

• French singer Alain Chamfort released a French language version of the song under the title "le temps qui court" in 1975.

• Chamfort's version was later covered by Boy band Alliage in 1997. Their version peaked at number 13 in France and number 32 in Belgium (Wallonia).^[13] This version was covered by Les Enfoirés in 2006, reaching number four in France, number two in Belgium (Wallonia) and number 19 in Switzerland.^[14]

• In 2007, Lazlo Bane covered the song on their Guilty Pleasures album.

• Donald Braswell II recorded this song on his 2007 album New Chapter.

• Leona Lewis performed this song on the third series of The X Factor, which she eventually won.

• Regine Velasquez performed the song and released it in a live recorded album, Regine Live: Songbird Sings the Classics.

• Joe McElderry performed the song on the sixth series of The X Factor, which he eventually won.

• Mary Byrne performed this song on the 7th series of The X Factor.

• The Shirelles also recorded a version that was released on a bootleg album in the late 1970s.

References

1. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). Hot Dance/Disco: 1974-2003. Record Research. p. 249. 
2. ^ "Could It Be Magic" by Donna Summer, in Austrian Singles Chart Lescharts.com (Retrieved July 30, 2008)
3. ^ German Singles Chart Charts-surfer.de (Retrieved July 30, 2008)
4. ^ UK Singles Chart (Donna Summer version) Chartstats.com (Retrieved July 30, 2008)
5. ^ ^{a b} Billboard, Donna Summer version allmusic.com (Retrieved July 30, 2008)
6. ^ Take That Could It Be Magic UK Promo 5" CD SINGLE (15424)
7. ^ Take That Biography 2007 | Take That|Biography
8. ^ Irish Single Chart Irishcharts.ie (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
9. ^ UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
10. ^ ^{a b c d} "Could It Be Magic", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved April 10, 2008)
11. ^ UK certifications Bpi.co.uk (Retrieved 2 September 2008)
12. ^ amazon.co.uk
13. ^ ""Le temps qui court", Alliage version" (in French). Lescharts. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Alliage&titel=Le+temps+qui+court&cat=s. Retrieved 2010-02-19. 
14. ^ ""Le temps qui court", Les Enfoirés version" (in French). Lescharts. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Les+Enfoir%E9s&titel=Le+temps+qui+court&cat=s. Retrieved 2010-02-19.