"Magic Moments" is a popular song with music by

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...

and lyrics by

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

, one of the first compositions by that duo. The song was published in 1957. The song was recorded by

Perry Como Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signi ...

as the B-side of his "Catch a Falling Star". It reached No. 1 in the UK in 1958.

Background

In his 2003 book ''Burt Bacharach, Song by Song'', Serene Dominic comments:

Chart performance

The biggest hit version of the song was recorded by

and released by

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Ar ...

in December 1957, becoming a hit early in 1958. The record was produced by Joe Reisman. The peak position in the United States is hard to track precisely, due to the multiple charts used in ''

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 ...

'' magazine: On the Most Played by Disc Jockeys chart, it reached it highest peak of number four. The song was also a 1958 hit in Italy, while in the United Kingdom it spent eight weeks at number one in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming Como's biggest ever hit there.

Other recordings

*A less successful UK cover version recorded by

Ronnie Hilton Ronnie Hilton (born Adrian Hill; 26 January 1926 – 21 February 2001) was an English singer and radio presenter. According to his obituary in ''The Guardian'' newspaper, "For a time Hilton was a star – strictly for home consumption – with ...

reached No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart, in 1958. Hilton's version included some different lyrics than the original. *

Bing Crosby Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...

recorded the song in 1958 for use on his

radio show A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode. Radio netwo ...

and it was subsequently included in the album ''With All My Heart'' (2012). *

Amanda Lear Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model. She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...

recorded this song for her 1985 EP ''

A L ''A L'' is an EP by French singer Amanda Lear released in 1985 by Italian label Five Records. Background ''A L'' was released by minor Italian label Five Records, closely related to Canale 5, when Lear was at the peak of her television career in ...

''. *

Synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

duo

Erasure Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a member ...

recorded the song for their 1997 album '' Cowboy''.

Other uses

*''Magic Moments'' is also the name given to a '' Surprise, Surprise'' style show within the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

television film ''

Pat and Margaret ''Pat and Margaret'' is a British television film written by comedian Victoria Wood. The story follows sisters Margaret, a cook, and Pat, a successful actress in the United States, after they are reunited on a television programme after spending ...

''. Its theme music is the song itself and as the coach carrying various members of the audience sets off at the start of the film, they start singing it. *This song was used in the television commercial for Quality Street, a confectionery brand in the UK in the 1980s and continues to be used each year for the brand's Christmas advertisements. *The song is also occasionally sung by

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Unio ...

fans at away matches, particularly after 'magic moments' of play. *The

version is featured in the 1998 film, ''

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream'' is a 1971 novel in the gonzo journalism style by Hunter S. Thompson. The book is a '' roman à clef'', rooted in autobiographical incidents. The story foll ...

'', when Raoul arrives at a Vegas hotel where Dr. Gonzo is located, briefly in

Alex Holeh Ahavah ''Alex Holeh Ahavah'' ( he, אלכס חולה אהבה, Alex Is Lovesick) is a 1986 Israeli cult film directed by Boaz Davidson. It stars Eitan Anshel, Sharon Hacohen, and Uri Kabiri. The film, set in the 1950s, features a boy (Anshel) as the ma ...

(1986),

Dogma Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Islam ...

(1999), ''

Police Academy A police academy, also known as a law enforcement training center, police college, or police university, is a training school for police cadets, designed to prepare them for the law enforcement agency they will be joining upon graduation, or ot ...

'' (1984), ''

Two Weeks Notice ''Two Weeks Notice'' is a 2002 American romantic comedy film written and directed by Marc Lawrence and starring Hugh Grant and Sandra Bullock. Although critical response was mixed, the film was successful at the box office. Plot Lucy Ke ...

'' (2002), '' Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason'' (2004), ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'' (2005), Episode 3 of the first season of the 2012 BBC series ''

Call the Midwife ''Call the Midwife'' is a BBC period drama series about a group of nurse midwives working in the East End of London in the late 1950s and 1960s. The principal cast of the show has included Jessica Raine, Miranda Hart, Helen George, Bryony H ...

'', which is set in 1957, and episode 9 of the 2017 Netflix series '' Glow''. *The song was also used as background music for a segment on the 1998 HBO

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

From the Earth to the Moon ''From the Earth to the Moon: A Direct Route in 97 Hours, 20 Minutes'' (french: De la Terre à la Lune, trajet direct en 97 heures 20 minutes) is an 1865 novel by Jules Verne. It tells the story of the Baltimore Gun Club, a post-American Civil W ...

'' featuring a meeting of NASA Astronaut Group 2 – The New Nine – all of whom booked into

The Rice Hotel The Rice, formerly the Rice Hotel, is an historic building at 909 Texas Avenue in Downtown Houston, Texas, United States. The current building is the third to occupy the site. It was completed in 1913 on the site of the former Capitol buildin ...

Houston Houston (; ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in Texas, the Southern United States#Major cities, most populous city in the Southern United States, the List of United States cities by population, fourth-most pop ...

, Texas, with the code name "Max Peck". *The Erasure recording is featured in the

Clive Barker Clive Barker (born 5 October 1952) is an English novelist, playwright, author, film director, and visual artist who came to prominence in the mid-1980s with a series of short stories, the ''Books of Blood'', which established him as a leading h ...

film '' Lord of Illusions'', providing the background music to a magicians' convention. *Song used in the Grupo Arcor commercial in 2020–21. *The main melody and whistling section was also sampled by rapper Shotgun Willy for his song "Wendy", a love song he wrote about the animated spokeswoman Wendy from

Wendy's Wendy's is an American international fast food restaurant chain founded by Dave Thomas (1932–2002) on November 15, 1969, in Columbus, Ohio. Its headquarters moved to Dublin, Ohio, on January 29, 2006. As of December 31, 2018, Wendy's was ...

References

{{authority control Perry Como songs 1957 songs 1958 singles UK Singles Chart number-one singles Songs with music by Burt Bacharach Songs with lyrics by Hal David 1950s jazz standards Songs about nostalgia