"This Magic Moment" is a song composed by lyricist

Doc Pomus Jerome Solon Felder (June 27, 1925 – March 14, 1991), known professionally as Doc Pomus, was an American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-writer of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hal ...

and pianist

Mort Shuman Mortimer Shuman (12 November 1938 – 2 November 1991) was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including " Viva Las Vegas". He also wrote and sang many songs in French, such as ...

. It was first recorded by The Drifters, with Ben E. King singing lead.

Original Drifters version

It was recorded first by Ben E. King and the Drifters, at Bell Sound Studios in New York City. The Drifters version spent 11 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and reached No. 16 on April 2, 1960.

Chart history

Jay and the Americans version

In 1968, Jay and the Americans released a version of the song, which became the song's most widely successful release. Their version spent 14 weeks on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, reaching No. 6 on March 1, 1969, while reaching No. 1 on

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

's "''

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 ...

'' 100"R.P.M. 100
, '' RPM Weekly'', Volume 11, No. 2, March 10, 1969. Accessed May 21, 2016 and No. 11 on ''

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 ...

'''s

Easy Listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to the 1970s. It is related to middle of the road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit s ...

chart.Jay & the Americans – Chart History – Adult Contemporary
''Billboard.com''. Accessed May 21, 2016 The song also debuted at No. 4 in the first issue of ''RPM'''s "Young Adult"

adult contemporary Adult contemporary music (AC) is a form of radio-played popular music, ranging from 1960s vocal and 1970s soft rock music to predominantly ballad-heavy music of the 1980s to the present day, with varying degrees of easy listening, pop, soul ...

chart.Young Adult
, '' RPM Weekly'', Volume 11, No. 4, March 24, 1969. Accessed May 21, 2016 The single earned

gold record Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

status from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

.Gold & Platinum

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. Accessed May 21, 2016

Chart history

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

In popular culture

The original version of the song was used in the following productions: * '' The Sandlot'', the 1993 sports comedy film directed by David M. Evans * " Soprano Home Movies", an episode of ''

The Sopranos ''The Sopranos'' is an American Crime film#Crime drama, crime drama television series created by David Chase. The series follows Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini), a New Jersey American Mafia, Mafia boss who suffers from panic attacks. He reluct ...

'' * "This Magic Moment", a documentary film from

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

's ''

30 for 30 ''30 for 30'' is the title for a series of documentary films airing on ESPN, its sister networks, and online highlighting interesting people and events in sports history. This includes four "volumes" of 30 episodes each, a 13-episode series und ...

'' about the

Orlando Magic The Orlando Magic are an American professional basketball team based in Orlando, Florida. The Magic compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the Southeast Division (NBA), Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference (NB ...

* "Selena Gomez/Post Malone", an episode from the 47th season of ''Saturday Night Live'', in a sketch about the invention of the whoopee cushion

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

's version, from a Doc Pomus tribute album, ''Till the Night is Gone'', was featured in

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (January 20, 1946 – January 16, 2025) was an American filmmaker, visual artist, musician, and actor. Widely considered one of the greatest filmmakers of all time, Lynch was often called a "visionary" and received acclaim f ...

's film '' Lost Highway'' (1997). Rick James released a version of the song as a single as part of a medley with "Dance With Me " in 1989. It reached No. 74 on the U.S. R&B chart.

References

External links

* http://aln2.albumlinernotes.com/Atlantic_-_Volume_Four.html {{Authority control 1960 singles 1969 singles Songs with lyrics by Doc Pomus Songs with music by Mort Shuman The Drifters songs Jay and the Americans songs Lou Reed songs 1960 songs United Artists Records singles Atlantic Records singles RPM Top Singles number-one singles