"Could It Be Magic" is a song written by Adrienne Anderson and composed by American singer-songwriter

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

, inspired by

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period who wrote primarily for Piano solo, solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown ...

's Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20. The song was initially released in 1971 by Featherbed (a group of session musicians featuring Barry Manilow), produced and co-written by

Tony Orlando Michael Anthony Orlando Cassavitis (born April 3, 1944), known professionally as Tony Orlando, is an American Pop music, pop/Rock music, rock singer, songwriter, and music executive whose career spans nearly seven decades. He is best known for h ...

. It was later re-recorded as a Manilow solo track on his first album released in 1973 on

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

. It was then reworked in 1975 and released as a single from his eponymous album re-issued by

Arista Records Arista Records ( ) is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of Bertelsmann Music G ...

. The 1975 release became Manilow's third hit after " Mandy" and " It's A Miracle". The song has been recorded by a number of other artists over the years, most successfully by

Donna Summer Donna Adrian Gaines (December 31, 1948May 17, 2012), known professionally as Donna Summer, was an American singer and songwriter. She gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s and became known as the "Queen of Disco", while her music ...

in 1976 and by

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

in 1992. The version by Take That won the Brit Award for British Single in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

Composition and recordings

Manilow wrote "Could It Be Magic" one night while he was living in a studio apartment on 27th Street in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

. He had been playing Chopin on the piano that afternoon, and the tune inspired by Chopin then came to him. Manilow built the song by elaborating on part of Chopin's Prelude Op. 28, No. 20, and the source of the inspiration is made explicit in Manilow's own recording, which quotes directly eight bars of Prelude No. 20 at the start, and ends the same way by returning to the Prelude. The basic shape of the song is that of a single great

crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending ...

; as Manilow explained, he wanted the song to "build and build" like

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

's "

Hey Jude "Hey Jude" is a song by the English rock music, rock band the Beatles that was released as a non-album single in August 1968. It was written by Paul McCartney and credited to the Lennon–McCartney partnership. The single was the Beatles' fir ...

" "until you think you can't take it anymore. It should be a musical orgasm." Manilow sent a cassette tape of his tune to his collaborator Adrienne Anderson, who responded enthusiastically to the song, as did

, vice-president of Columbia/CBS Music, who also contributed lyrics to the version of the song he then produced for the Featherbed, which is significantly different from the solo version Manilow himself had envisioned.

Featherbed original version

Barry Manilow was signed by

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

-based

in 1969, and Orlando produced a few songs released under the name of Featherbed, a "ghost" group consisting of session musicians including Manilow. This ensemble had a minor success with "Amy" in 1971, a song written by Anderson and performed by Manilow. Manilow at that stage had only composed or arranged commercial jingles, and the arrangement of the backing track for "Could It Be Magic" was left to Orlando after they had a discussion about the song's arrangement. Although Manilow had envisioned a song that builds up like "Hey Jude", Orlando produced and arranged it instead as an uptempo

bubblegum pop Bubblegum (also called bubblegum pop) is pop music in a catchy and upbeat style that is marketed for children and adolescents. The term also refers to a more specific rock and pop subgenre, originating in the United States in the late 1960s, th ...

single with a dance beat and cowbells that more resembled Orlando's own " Knock Three Times". This early version of "Magic" was released as a song by Featherbed on the Bell Records label. Manilow hated the Orlando arrangement in Featherbed's version so severely that, as he has said in numerous subsequent interviews, he was appreciative of the fact that the song went nowhere on the charts. However, he has been quoted in recent years as having somewhat softened his opinion of the track, saying it's "kind of catchy". Apart from the chorus, the lyrics of Featherbed's recording have nothing to do with the version Manilow himself recorded for his debut album in 1973 and in 1975.

Barry Manilow solo versions

Manilow co-produced a slower-tempo version of the song with

Ron Dante Carmine John Granito (born August 22, 1945), known professionally as Ron Dante, is an American singing, singer, songwriter, Session musician, session vocalist, and record producer. Dante is best known as the real life lead singer of the fiction ...

. Although the chorus of this version is similar to the Featherbed version, the rest of the lyrics are completely different. The "Sweet Melissa" in the lyrics is said to refer to singer

Melissa Manchester Melissa Manchester (born February 15, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Since the 1970s, her songs have been played by adult contemporary radio stations. She has also appeared on television, in films, and on stage. Early li ...

, who was Manilow's label-mate and a back-up singer to

Bette Midler Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...

in the early 1970s. It was released on his debut album ''

'' in 1973, and it also served as the B-side to the single "Cloudburst". Six months later, former Columbia Records president

Clive Davis Clive Jay Davis (born April 4, 1932) is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000. From 1967 to 1 ...

took over Bell Records and merged it into Arista with all the other Columbia Pictures-owned labels. Most of the artists at Bell were dropped during the merger, but Manilow was brought over to Arista in the spring of 1974. Due to the success of Manilow second album ''

Barry Manilow II ''Barry Manilow II'' is the second studio album by Barry Manilow released in 1974. Propelled by the major success of its lead single " Mandy" and featuring a further international hit in " It's a Miracle", the album was a commercial breakthrough ...

'', it was decided that Manilow's debut album would be re-released under the Arista label, to be retitled ''Barry Manilow I''. Manilow and Dante reworked four songs in April 1975 for the re-release, including a slightly altered version of "Could It Be Magic", co-arranged with

Joe Renzetti Joseph Renzetti is an American film composer and session musician. He scores for films and television, currently active in scoring indie films, he composes works for orchestra, chamber groups, and solo artists. Career Born in Philadelphia, Renz ...

. Clive Davis heard the song and decided to release it as a single for the Arista re-release despite its length of nearly 7 minutes (most singles then were around 3 minutes long), reasoning that even if it failed to make an impact, people's attention would be diverted by Manilow's soon-to-be-released third album. To make the song radio-friendly, it was shortened to just over 4 minutes for its single release by cutting the bridge in half, deleting the first half of the second verse, and reducing the number of repeats in the final chorus. The single turned out to be successful, and it reached number 6 in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said that "a glowing arrangement by Manilow and Ron Dante grace the familiar melody which is augmented with a strong, vocal interpretation by Manilow" ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said that " Chopin's Prelude in C Minor gave Barry the original inspiration for this one" and that they expected it to go to the Top 10. The song also reached number 25 on the UK charts when it was issued as a single in 1978. The song was again reworked in 1993 using the earlier orchestration of brass and strings, combining it with new drums, bass and synthesizers. This version was included on the album ''Greatest Hits: The Platinum Collection''. An extended remix of the 1993 version was issued as a promotional 12" single and included on the 12" single of "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight".

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Donna Summer cover version

Just seven months after Manilow's original version was released as a single, American singer

recorded a disco version of the track and included it on her third studio album, '' A Love Trilogy'', and took it to number three on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Dance chart in 1976. The song also entered the UK Singles Chart where it stayed for seven weeks (peak point No. 40). Summer changed the lyrics of "sweet Melissa" to "sweet Peter" as an ode to her boyfriend at the time, Peter Mühldorfer.

Track listing

* US 7" single (Oasis OC 405) / Canada 7" single (Oasis OC 405X) # "Could It Be Magic" – 3:15 # "Whispering Waves" – 4:50 * UK 7" single (GTO GT 60) # "Could It Be Magic" – 3:15 # "Whispering Waves" – 4:50 * Germany 7" single (Atlantic ATL 10 775) # "Could It Be Magic" – 5:20 # "Come With Me" – 4:20 * Netherlands 7" single (Groovy GR 1219) # "Could It Be Magic" – 3:15 # "Whispering Waves" – 4:50 * France 7" single (Atlantic 10.770) # "Could It Be Magic" – 4:13 # "Whispering Waves" – 4:15 * Italy 7" single (Durium DE 2873) # "Could It Be Magic" – 3:15 # "Whispering Waves" – 3:35

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Take That version

Produced by Billy Griffin and

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, DJ, and prominent Doctor Who fan. A populariser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of hi-NRG, he has co-written and co-produced records with sa ...

and

remix A remix, also sometimes called reorchestration or rework, is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, poem, or photograph ca ...

ed by the Rapino Brothers, English boy band

released their cover version, based on Donna Summer/

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His work ...

's up-tempo arrangement of the track, on November 30, 1992 by

RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...

, as the final single from their debut album, '' Take That & Party'' (1992). The song does not appear on the cassette version of the album but was issued as a cassette single. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and was featured in that year's ''

Only Fools and Horses ''Only Fools and Horses'' (titled onscreen as ''Only Fools and Horses....'') is a British television sitcom that was created and written by John Sullivan (writer), John Sullivan. Seven series were originally broadcast on BBC One in the United Ki ...

'' Christmas special " Mother Nature's Son" in the background of one of the scenes. The single reached the top 10 in Belgium, Ireland, Israel, Portugal, and the United Kingdom. On the

Eurochart Hot 100 The European Hot 100 Singles was compiled by ''Billboard'' and ''Music & Media'' magazine from March 1984 until December 2010. The chart was based on national singles sales charts in 17 European countries: Austria, Belgium (two charts separately f ...

, "Could It Be Magic" peaked at number nine. Its music video was directed by Saffie Ashtiany. The song won Take That their first major award: Best British Single at the 1993 Brit Awards. During '' The Ultimate Tour'' in 2006, former member

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, launching a solo career in 1996. His debut studio album, ''Life thru a Lens'', was re ...

appeared on a

hologram Holography is a technique that allows a wavefront to be recorded and later reconstructed. It is best known as a method of generating three-dimensional images, and has a wide range of other uses, including data storage, microscopy, and interf ...

with a pre-recorded section of his vocals.

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, having writ ...

has sung lead vocals since Take That's reformation. The song has received a Silver sales status certification and has sold over 345,000 copies in the UK.

Critical reception

In his review of the '' Take That & Party'' album, Peter Fawthrop from

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

wrote, "Hearing

on the tracks here, especially his lead on the cover of

's "Could It Be Magic", brings back a feeling of lost innocence and a perspective on the changing of times." In his weekly UK chart commentary,

James Masterton James Masterton (born 2 September 1973) is a British music critic and columnist, his work focusing on the UK Singles Chart having been an online fixture on various sites since the 1990s. Masterton is also a producer for talkSPORT, and has worke ...

said, "Cleverly they change it from a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

into a medium-tempo pop/dance tune but although it is also fancied for Christmas No.1 it is just not as strong as songs like " A Million Love Songs", their last hit which may well have been a better choice for a Christmas single." David Bennun from ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. In January 2001, it was merged into "long-standing rival" (and IPC Media sister publicatio ...

'' complimented its "all puppyish enthusiasm and

Northern Soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

beats." Alex Kadis from ''

Smash Hits ''Smash Hits'' was a British music magazine aimed at young adults, originally published by EMAP. It ran from 1978 to 2006, and, after initially appearing monthly, was issued fortnightly during most of that time. The name survived as a brand ...

'' named it a "spectacular stomperama". Another ''Smash Hits'' editor, Sylvia Patterson, gave it two out of five, writing that "the That cannot sing like Barry Manilow". Wayne Garcia from '' St. Petersburg Times'' named it the "low point" of the album, describing the song as "a synth-disco remake".

Music video

A music video was produced to promote the single, directed by Saffie Ashtiany. It shows a young woman leaving a garage before the lights are turned back on and Take That perform the song with many other dancers. It was filmed at Bray Studios, Water Oakley, Windsor,

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

in 1992. David Bennun from ''Melody Maker'' felt that Take That videos as "Could It Be Magic" "were perfect. The image, the moment, the feeling. The way the boys perform, delighted, for each other's delectation on "Could It Be Magic" before the necessary intrusion of the girls."

Track listings

UK 7-inch vinyl and cassette (74321 12313 7; 74321 12313 4) # Rapino Radio Mix – 3:30 # Take That Radio Megamix – 4:38 UK 12-inch vinyl (74321 12313 1)(limited-edition w/ poster sleeve) # Deep In Rapino's Club Mix – 5:56 # Take That Club Megamix – 7:03 # Mr. F. Mix – 6:18 European CD single (74321 12735 2) # Rapino Radio Mix – 3:30 # Deep In Rapino's Club Mix – 5:56 # Ciao Baby Mix – 7:19 # Paparazzo Mix – 5:27 UK CD single (74321 12313 2) # Rapino Radio Mix – 3:30 # Deep In Rapino's Club Mix – 5:56 # Acapella – 3:12 # Ciao Baby Mix – 7:19 # Rapino Dub – 3:44 # Paparazzo Mix – 5:27 # Deep In Rapino's Dub – 5:57 # Club Rapino Mix – 3:43

Personnel

– lead vocals *

– backing vocals *

Howard Donald Howard Paul Donald (born 28 April 1968) is an English singer, songwriter, drummer, pianist, dancer, DJ and record producer. He is a member of the pop group Take That. He was also judge on the German reality talent show ''Got to Dance'' from 20 ...

– backing vocals * Jason Orange – backing vocals *

Mark Owen Mark Owen (born 27 January 1972) is an English singer and songwriter best known for being a member of pop group and band Take That; as of 2024, the group have sold 14.4 million albums and 14 million singles in the UK. In Owen's solo career, he h ...

– backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Other notable versions

* 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). This version was covered by Les Enfoirés in 2006, reaching number four in France, number two in Belgium (Wallonia) and number 19 in Switzerland.

Lynda Carter Lynda Jean Carter (born July 24, 1951) is an American actress, singer, and beauty pageant contestant, best known for her portrayal of Wonder Woman in the television series ''Wonder Woman'', aired on ABC and later on CBS from 1975 to 1979. Befo ...

performed the song on her 1980 television special ''Lynda Carter - Encore!'' with Donald Yung and the Value Youth Orchestra.

References

External links

* * {{authority control 1973 singles 1975 singles 1976 singles 1992 singles Barry Manilow songs Pop ballads Donna Summer songs Brit Award for British Single Abigail (singer) songs Take That songs American disco songs Songs written by Adrienne Anderson Songs written by Barry Manilow Song recordings produced by Giorgio Moroder Song recordings produced by Pete Bellotte Arista Records singles Bell Records singles GTO Records singles RCA Records singles Rock ballads 1971 songs 1970s ballads Popular songs based on classical music Music videos directed by Saffie Ashtiany Music videos shot in the United Kingdom