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"Magic"
German single picture sleeve
Single by Pilot
from the album From the Album of the Same Name
B-side	"Just Let Me Be"
Released	September 1974 (UK) April 1975 (US)
Recorded	1974, Abbey Road Studios, London
Genre	Soft rock glam rock
Length	3:03
Label	EMI
Songwriter(s)	David Paton Billy Lyall
Producer(s)	Alan Parsons
Pilot singles chronology
"Just a Smile" (1974) "Magic" (1974) "January" (1975)

"Magic" is a 1974 song by Scottish pop rock band Pilot and was the first hit single for the group. It was written by band members David Paton and Billy Lyall for their debut album, From the Album of the Same Name.

Background

According to Paton, the song is inspired by the sunrise on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. In a 2012 interview with Hotdisc Television, Paton also stated that at the time, his wife said she had "never seen a daybreak", which also inspired the song.

Personnel

Pilot

• David Paton – lead vocals, bass, electric guitar
• Billy Lyall – keyboards, synthesizer, piano, backing vocals
• Stuart Tosh – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Ian Bairnson – additional electric guitar (uncredited)

Chart performance

"Magic" charted most successfully in Canada, where it topped the RPM national singles chart on 19 July 1975, and received a gold certification. It climbed as far as number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and reached number 5 during the summer of 1975 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100.

Certifications

Selena Gomez version

A version by Selena Gomez was released as a single on 21 July 2009. It peaked at No. 61 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, No. 80 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart, No. 5 on the Norwegian Singles Chart and at No. 90 on the UK Singles Chart. It has sold 563,000 copies in the United States. Gomez covered "Magic" for the soundtrack of the Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place; it was marked with an asterisk (*) as "Magic*" due to two other songs on the album having identical names (the other two performed by Meaghan Martin and Honor Society). The song was featured in the television film Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie. The music video premiered on the Disney Channel on 24 July 2009, and was directed by Roman Perez.

Charts

Certifications

Ozempic television advertisement

In 2018, pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk began using the song in its ads for Ozempic, an injectable drug originally intended for people with type 2 diabetes, but which became popular for its off-label use as a weight-loss drug. David Paton was asked to return to Abbey Road Studios to record a new version of the song, which from a vocal standpoint is little more than his singing the opening line, replacing the words "It's magic" with "Ozempic" and otherwise adding nonverbal singing.

See also

• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

References

1. "Soft Rock: AM Radio Hits". AllMusic.
2. Breithaupt, Don; Breithaupt, Jeff (15 October 1996). "Born To Be Mild: Soft Rock". Precious and Few – Pop Music in the Early '70s. St. Martin's Griffin. p. 32. ISBN 031214704X.
3. "Glam Rock". Ooocities.org. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
4. "Pilot – Magic". Discogs. 1974. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
5. Johnstone, Neil. "Edinburgh songbook: 11 of the best songs by Edinburgh bands and artists from Callum Beattie to Pilot". Edinburgh News. Retrieved 22 September 2023.
6. "DAVID PATON OF PILOT INTERVIEW ON RADIO BORDERS - 6 MAY 2012". YouTube. 10 May 2012. Archived from the original on 14 December 2021.
7. "Top Singles – Volume 23, No. 21, July 19 1975". Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
8. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Pilot – Magic". Music Canada. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
9. Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)". Australian-charts.com. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
10. "RPM - Library and Archives Canada - RPM - Bibliothèque et Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca. Archived from the original on 1 August 2016. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
11. "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts". www.offiziellecharts.de.
12. "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Magic". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 22 June 2017.
13. Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Pilot - Magic". Top40.nl.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
14. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989". Retrieved 1 September 2018.
15. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 28 July 2020.
16. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2002.
17. "Cash Box Top Singles - 1975". tropicalglen.com. Archived from the original on 12 July 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
18. "National Top 100 Singles for 1975". Kent Music Report. 29 December 1975. Retrieved 15 January 2022 – via Imgur.
19. "Top Singles – Volume 24, No. 14, December 27, 1975". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Archived from the original on 29 March 2017. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
20. Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1975". Top40.nl.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
21. "Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975". musicoutfitters.com.
22. "American single certifications – Pilot – Magic". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
23. Trust, Gary (14 May 2017). "Ask Billboard: Selena Gomez's Career Album & Song Sales". Billboard.
24. "Selena Gomez Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 22 December 2009.
25. "Éxitos discográficos de la semana". La Opinión. 1 January 2010. Archived from the original on 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
26. "Selena Gomez – Magic". VG-lista. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
27. "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
28. "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
29. "Selena Gomez Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 19 December 2009.
30. "American single certifications – Selena Gomez – Magic". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
31. Marks, Craig (9 April 2024). "How Ozempic Turned a 1970s Hit Into an Inescapable Jingle". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
32. "The Ozempic® Song | Ozempic® (Semaglutide) injection".

External links

• Lyrics of this song
• Selena Gomez – Magic on YouTube
• Magic (2003 Remaster) on YouTube

• 1974 songs
• 1974 singles
• 1975 singles
• 2009 singles
• Pilot (band) songs
• Selena Gomez songs
• RPM Top Singles number-one singles
• Song recordings produced by Alan Parsons
• Songs written by David Paton
• EMI Records singles
• Walt Disney Records singles