''Magic'' is the sixth and final studio album by English rock band Gillan, released in September 1982. It features eight original songs, mostly co-written by

Ian Gillan Ian Gillan (born 19 August 1945) is an English singer who is best known as the lead singer and lyricist for the rock band Deep Purple. He is known for his powerful and wide-ranging singing voice. Initially influenced by Elvis Presley, Gillan ...

and

Colin Towns Colin William Towns (born 13 May 1948) is an English composer and keyboardist. He was noted for playing in bands formed by ex-Deep Purple singer Ian Gillan, and later worked extensively in composing soundtracks for film, television and commercial ...

, and a cover of

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris (; Judkins; born May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American and Ghanaian singer-songwriter, musician, and record producer. He is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th c ...

's 1973 hit single "

Living for the City "Living for the City" is a 1973 single by Stevie Wonder from his '' Innervisions'' album. It reached number 8 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and number 1 on the R&B chart. ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the song number 104 on their 2004 list of ...

". This cover was released as a 7" single, in both picture-bag and picture-disc editions, and was accompanied by a promotional video. Although the album was generally accepted by Gillan's staunch UK following, it failed to achieve the chart success of ''

Glory Road ''Glory Road'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (July – September 1963) and published in hardcover the same year. It was nominated for ...

'' or ''

Future Shock ''Future Shock'' is a 1970 book by American futurist Alvin Toffler, written together with his wife Adelaide Farrell, in which the authors define the term "future shock" as a certain psychological state of individuals and entire societies, and a ...

'', peaking at No. 17 in the UK chart. Allegedly, many of the album's lyrics cryptically predict the end of the band. ''Magic'' was reissued in 1989 and in 2007 with seven bonus tracks, including cover versions and B-sides.

Track listing

*All songs written by

and

except where noted. ;Side one # "What's the Matter" ''(Gillan, John McCoy,

Janick Gers Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1990. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith (musician) , Adrian ...

)'' – 3:33 # "Bluesy Blue Sea" ''(Gillan, Gers)'' – 4:48 # "Caught in a Trap" – 3:34 # "Long Gone" – 3:59 # "Driving Me Wild" – 3:05 ;Side two #

"Demon Driver" – 7:15 # "Living a Lie" – 4:27 # "You're So Right" ''(Gillan, McCoy)'' – 2:55 # "

" ''(

)'' – 4:27 # "Demon Driver (reprise)" – 0:42

1989 Re-release bonus tracks

In 1989 Virgin re-released the album in CD format. The revised track listing was as follows: #

"Breaking Chains" ''(Gillan, Gers)'' – 3:28 # "Fiji" ''(Gillan, McCoy)'' – 5:21 # "Purple Sky" ''(Gillan, McCoy)'' – 3:24 # "

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

" ''(

Bernie Marsden Bernard John Marsden (7 May 1951 – 24 August 2023) was an English rock and blues guitarist. He is primarily known for his work with Whitesnake, having written or co-written with David Coverdale many of the group's hit songs, such as " Fool f ...

)'' – 4:03 # "John" ''(Gillan)'' – 4:44 # "South Africa" (12" extended version) ''(Marsden)'' – 7:18 # " Helter Skelter" ''(

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained global fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and the piano, and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John ...

)'' – 3:26* # "

Smokestack Lightning "Smokestack Lightning" (also "Smoke Stack Lightning" or "Smokestack Lightnin'") is a blues song recorded by Howlin' Wolf in 1956. It became one of his most popular and influential songs. It is based on earlier blues songs, and numerous artists l ...

" ''(

Chester Burnett Chester Arthur Burnett (June 10, 1910January 10, 1976), better known by his stage name Howlin' Wolf, was an American blues singer, guitarist and harmonica player. He was at the forefront of transforming acoustic Delta blues into electric Chica ...

)'' – 4:08* Total running time 74:50 * Previously unreleased

2007 Re-release bonus tracks

In 2007 the album was re-released in CD format again on the

Edsel Records Demon Music Group Limited (DMG; formerly Object Enterprises Limited from 19821991 and Music Collection International Limited from 19912000) is a record company owned by BBC Studios that is mainly concerned with back-catalogue rights and re-iss ...

label. #

"Breaking Chains" – 3:28 # "Fiji" – 5:21 # "Purple Sky" – 3:24 # "Helter Skelter" – 3:26 # "Smokestack Lightning" – 4:08 # "South Africa" – 4:03 # "John" – 4:44 # "South Africa" (12" extended version) – 7:18

Personnel

;Gillan *

– vocals, harmonica, producer on "South Africa" *

– guitar *

– keyboards * John McCoy – bass guitar *

Mick Underwood Michael John Underwood (5 September 1945 – 28 July 2024) was an English drummer. He first played drums at the age of 14 and was a professional musician by the time he left school. Underwood collaborated with a number of notable musicians an ...

– drums ;Production *

Mick Glossop Mick Glossop is an English record producer and recording engineer best known for long-term collaboration with Van Morrison, as well as his work with Frank Zappa, The Waterboys, The Wonder Stuff, Public Image, LLoyd Cole and others, as well as bein ...

– producer, engineer * Bob Broglia – assistant engineer * Kingsway Recorders Ltd. – executive producer * Paul "Chas" Watkins – producer and engineer on "Purple Sky" * Nick Davis – engineer on "South Africa" * James "Jimbo" Barton – remix on "South Africa" * Dave Dragon – illustration * Bitter & Twisted – design

Track listing

1989 Re-release bonus tracks

2007 Re-release bonus tracks

Personnel

Charts

Album

Singles

References