"The Magic Friend" is a song by Belgian/Dutch

Eurodance Eurodance (sometimes referred to as Euro-NRG) is a genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1980s in Europe. It combines many elements of Hip-hop, rap, techno and Eurodisco. This genre of music is heavily influenced by the use ...

band

2 Unlimited 2 Unlimited are a Belgian-Dutch dance music act, founded by Belgian producers/songwriters Jean-Paul De Coster and Phil Wilde in 1991 in Antwerp, Belgium. From 1991 to 1996, Dutch rapper Ray Slijngaard and Dutch vocalist Anita Doth fronted the ...

. It was released in August 1992 as the fourth and final single from their debut album, ''

Get Ready! ''Get Ready!'' is the debut studio album by Belgian/Dutch Eurodance group 2 Unlimited. The album includes 2 Unlimited's breakthrough worldwide hit single "Get Ready for This". Release and reception The album reached #12 in the Netherlands and #37 ...

'' (1992). The UK release once again omitted

Ray Slijngaard Raymond Lothar Slijngaard (born 28 June 1971) is a Dutch singer and rapper best known as one half of the Eurodance duo 2 Unlimited. Music career 2 Unlimited (1991–1996) 2 Unlimited is an electronic music project founded in 1991 by Belgian p ...

's rap, which lasted for 16 bars three times through, but did include some of the vocals from

Anita Doth Anita Doth (born 28 December 1971) is a Dutch singer and songwriter. She was the singer of the duo 2 Unlimited, which she formed together with rapper Ray Slijngaard. Personal life Anita Daniëlle Dels was born in Amsterdam to a Surinamese fat ...

, with the "mocking chorus echoes" being abandoned as only Ray's part remains, thus leaving Anita's sole vocals as "disembodied whispers" during the

middle eight The 32-bar form, also known as the AABA song form, American popular song form and the ballad form, is a song structure commonly found in Tin Pan Alley songs and other American popular music, especially in the first half of the 20th century. Th ...

. The single experienced chart success in many European countries, including Finland, where it topped the chart. The Dutch leading afternoon radio program on national pop outlet Radio 3 FM/

Hilversum Hilversum () is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Holland, Netherlands. Located in the heart of the Gooi, it is ...

renamed itself "The Magic Friend", after the single.

Critical reception

Larry Flick Larry Flick is an American journalist, former dance music columnist, single reviewer, and Senior Talent Editor for ''Billboard'' magazine, where he worked for 14 years. Now he produces and hosts Sirius XM radio shows. Flick started in the musi ...

from ''

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 ...

'' wrote, "One of the more successful

techno Techno is a genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempos being in the range from 120 to 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central rhythm is typically in common time ( ) and often ...

acts in Europe continues its bid for mainstream club and radio approval along these shores with a cute and NRGetic wriggler. The music is a bit harder than previous tracks, though the

rap Rapping (also rhyming, flowing, spitting, emceeing, or MCing) is an artistic form of vocal delivery and emotive expression that incorporates " rhyme, rhythmic speech, and ommonlystreet vernacular". It is usually performed over a backin ...

is a little too strained and silly for its own good." Kat Stevens of ''

Freaky Trigger ''Freaky Trigger'' is an Internet publication and e-zine that focuses on popular culture with topics varying from music to cinema. It was founded by the music critic Tom Ewing in 1999 and features Pete Baran and Mark Sinker as editors. From 2 ...

'' noted the track's "tasty ingredients" of "recogniseable pop stars, colourful boshing beats, catchy

chorus Chorus may refer to: Music * Chorus (song), the part of a song that is repeated several times, usually after each verse * Chorus effect, the perception of similar sounds from multiple sources as a single, richer sound * Chorus form, song in whic ...

, silly noises ndfervoured anticipation." Comparing parts of the track to settings on a

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: People * Torakusu Yamaha, a Japanese businessman and founder of the Yamaha Corporation Companies * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese musical instrument and audio equipment manufacturer ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organi ...

keyboard, she compared the track's main synth sound to the "Brass 1" setting and the "gutteral metallic swinging" to the "

Slap Bass Slapping and popping are ways to produce percussive sounds on a stringed instrument. They are primarily used on the double bass or bass guitar. Slapping on bass guitar involves using the edge of one's knuckle, where it is particularly bony ...

" setting.

James Hamilton James Hamilton may refer to: Dukes *James Hamilton, 1st Duke of Hamilton (1606–1649), heir to the throne of Scotland *James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton (1658–1712), Scottish nobleman *James Hamilton, 5th Duke of Hamilton (1703–1743), Sco ...

from ''

Music Week ''Music Week'' is a trade publication for the UK record industry distributed via a website and a monthly print magazine. It is published by Future. History Founded in 1959 as ''Record Retailer'', it relaunched on 18 March 1972 as ''Music We ...

s ''RM'' Dance Update deemed it as "'Start-Rite' techno for young "wannabe" ravers". Tom Doyle 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 ...

'' stated that "the insufferable duo return with another ropey techno effort".

Chart performance

"The Magic Friend" peaked at number one in Finland and entered top 10 in Belgium, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Spain. In the United Kingdom, the single reached number 11 during its third week at the UK Singles Chart, on 23 August 1992. On the

UK Dance Singles Chart The Dance Singles Chart and the Dance Albums Chart are music charts compiled in the United Kingdom by the Official Charts Company from sales of songs in the dance music genre (e.g. house, trance, drum and bass, garage, synth-pop) in record stores ...

, "The Magic Friend" reached number nine. Additionally, it was a top-20 hit in Germany and a top-30 hit in Sweden. 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 ...

, it peaked at number 11. Outside Europe, the single reached number one on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

'' Dance chart and number 26 on the ''RPM'' 100 Hit Tracks chart, number five in Zimbabwe, and number 16 in Australia.

Music video

The accompanying

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

for "The Magic Friend" was directed by British director David Betteridge. It was shot in The Pinnacles and

Wave Rock Wave Rock () is a natural rock formation that is shaped like a tall breaking ocean wave. The "wave" is about high and around long. It forms the north side of a solitary hill, which is known as "Hyden Rock". This hill, which is a granite ins ...

in Australia. Ray and Anita sing the song in the video while a mysterious character dances around in the background. Selina Webb from ''

'' complimented "the slightly surreal" video, adding that it is "in particular standing head and shoulders above the average dance video." Betteridge also directed the videos for "

Get Ready for This "Get Ready for This" is a song recorded by Belgian/Dutch music group 2 Unlimited. It was released on 23 September 1991 as the lead single from their debut album, '' Get Ready!'' (1992). Originally, the single was produced as an instrumental tra ...

", " Twilight Zone" and "

Workaholic A workaholic is a person who works Compulsive behavior, compulsively. A workaholic experiences an inability to limit the amount of time they spend on work despite negative consequences such as damage to their relationships or health. There is no ...

". "The Magic Friend" was later published on 2 Unlimited's official

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

channel in July 2014. By September 2020, it had more than 222,000 views.

Track listings

* 7-inch single # "The Magic Friend" (vocal edit) (3:43) # "The Magic Friend" (instrumental edit) (3:02) * 12-inch maxi # "The Magic Friend" (Automatic remix) (4:23) # "The Magic Friend" (Rio & Le Jean mix) (5:15) # "Automatic Megamix" (4:55) # "Murphy's Megamix" (5:40) * CD single, Belgium # "The Magic Friend" (vocal edit) (3:43) # "The Magic Friend" (instrumental edit) (3:02) # "The Magic Friend" (extended version) (5:14) # "The Magic Friend" (Rio & Le Jean remix) (5:15) # "The Magic Friend" (Automatic remix) (4:23) # "Murphy's Megamix" (5:40) # "Automatic Megamix" (4:55) * CD single, UK # "The Magic Friend" (7-inch edit) (3:02) # "The Magic Friend" (Automatic remix) (4:23) # "The Magic Friend" (Rio & Le Jean remix) (5:15) # "Automatic Megamix" (4:55) * CD maxi, Germany # "The Magic Friend" (vocal edit) (3:43) # "The Magic Friend" (instrumental edit) (3:02) # "The Magic Friend" (extended) (5:14) # "The Magic Friend" (Rio & Le Jean remix) (5:05) # "Murphy's Megamix" (5:40) # "Automatic Megamix" (4:55)

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Magic Friend, The 1992 singles 1992 songs 2 Unlimited songs Music videos directed by David Betteridge Number-one singles in Finland Songs written by Ray Slijngaard Byte Records singles