Prolonging the Magic

Prolonging the Magic
Studio album by Cake
Released	October 6, 1998
Genre	Alternative rock, alt country
Length	48:13
Label	Capricorn
Producer	John McCrea
Cake chronology
Fashion Nugget (1996) Prolonging the Magic (1998) Comfort Eagle (2001)
Singles from Prolonging the Magic
"Never There" Released: 1999

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Piero Scaruffi	[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]

Prolonging the Magic is the third studio album by American band Cake. It was released on 6 October 1998. It was recorded after the departure of guitarist Greg Brown and features a rotating lineup of musicians to replace him. One of them, Xan McCurdy, became his full-time replacement.

The album was given a parental advisory sticker, although the lyrics contain no profanity. Some copies do not feature a sticker, with the only difference being that the song "Satan Is My Motor" has been retitled "Motor".

On its opening week, Prolonging the Magic sold about 44,000 copies, debuting at number 33 on the Billboard 200.^[4] On September 28, 1999 the album was certified platinum by the RIAA for shipments of one million copies.^[5]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by John McCrea, unless otherwise noted. 

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Satan Is My Motor"	McCrea, Gabriel Nelson, Tyler Pope	3:12
2.	"Mexico"		3:26
3.	"Never There"		2:44
4.	"Guitar"		3:40
5.	"You Turn the Screws"		4:13
6.	"Walk on By"		3:48
7.	"Sheep Go to Heaven"		4:44
8.	"When You Sleep"		3:58
9.	"Hem of Your Garment"		3:43
10.	"Alpha Beta Parking Lot"	Vincent DiFiore, McCrea	3:30
11.	"Let Me Go"	Jim Campilongo, McCrea	3:29
12.	"Cool Blue Reason"		3:27
13.	"Where Would I Be?"	McCrea, Nelson, Joe Snook	3:52

Japan bonus tracks
No.	Title	Length
14.	"Satan Is My Motor (Karaoke Version)"	3:14
15.	"Never There (Karaoke Version)"	2:46
16.	"Sheep Go to Heaven (Karaoke Version)"	4:49
17.	"When You Sleep (Karaoke Version)"	3:59

Personnel

• Xan McCurdy - Guitar (Electric)
• Rusty Miller - Guitar (Electric)
• Tyler Pope (!!!) - Arranger, Guitar (Electric)
• Chuck Prophet - Arranger, Guitar (Electric)
• Jim Campilongo - Arranger, Guitar (Electric)
• John McCrea - Organ, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Vocals, Moog Synthesizer, Producer, Design
• David Palmer - Keyboards
• Vince DiFiore - Trumpet
• Greg Vincent - Pedal Steel
• Mark Needham - Percussion, Engineer, Mixing
• Todd Roper - Percussion, Drums, Vocals (background)

Additional personnel

• Joe Johnston - Engineer
• Jay Bowman - Engineer
• Gabriel Shepard - Engineer
• Scott Reams - Engineer
• Rafael Serrano - Engineer
• Kirt Shearer - Engineer, Mixing
• Craig Long - Engineer, Mixing
• Greg Brown - Arranger
• Keara Fallon - Design
• Don C. Tyler - Mastering

Trivia

• "Hem Of Your Garment" was featured in the movie Me, Myself and Irene.
• The song "Never There" can be heard playing in the background in the Friends episode "The One Where Rachel Smokes".
• The Daria episode "Depth Takes a Holiday" featured the song "Never There", while "Sheep go to Heaven" was used in "The Lost Girls".
• The song "Never There" was featured in the 2001 movie Shallow Hal.
• "When You Sleep," "Sheep Go to Heaven," "You Turn the Screws," and "Never There" were featured on the soundtrack to the 2001 film Sidewalks of New York.
• The beginning of "You Turn The Screws" is featured occasionally as a buffer segment on National Public Radio, along with the song "When You Sleep".
• "Sheep Go to Heaven" was used in the pilot episode of USA's "Royal Pains" in 2009.

Charts

Album - Billboard (North America)

Year	Chart	Position
1998	The Billboard 200	33

Singles - Billboard (North America)

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1998	"Never There"	Adult Top 40	29
		Modern Rock Tracks	1
		The Billboard Hot 100	78
1999	"Let Me Go"	Modern Rock Tracks	28
	"Never There"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	40
	"Sheep Go to Heaven"	Modern Rock Tracks	16

External links

• Prolonging the Magic at Allmusic
• Prolonging the Magic on Last.fm

References

1. ^ http://www.allmusic.com/album/r378082
2. ^ http://www.scaruffi.com/vol5/cake.html
3. ^ http://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=Cake
4. ^ Grein, Paul (January 19, 2011). "Week Ending Jan. 16, 2011: Albums: Even Lower". Yahoo! News. http://new.music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart_watch/73781/week-ending-jan-16-2011-albums-even-lower/. Retrieved January 19, 2011. 
5. ^ "Gold & Platinum - Search Results: Cake". Recording Industry Association of America. http://riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?resultpage=1&table=SEARCH_RESULTS&action=&title=&artist=Cake&format=&debutLP=&category=&sex=&releaseDate=&requestNo=&type=&level=&label=&company=&certificationDate=&awardDescription=&catalogNo=&aSex=&rec_id=&charField=&gold=&platinum=&multiPlat=&level2=&certDate=&album=&id=&after=&before=&startMonth=1&endMonth=1&startYear=1958&endYear=2009&sort=Artist&perPage=25. Retrieved 2011-01-23.