Strange Magic

This article is about the Electric Light Orchestra song. For the ELO greatest hits album, see Strange Magic: The Best of Electric Light Orchestra. For the 2015 computer-animated film, see Strange Magic (film).
"Strange Magic"
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Face the Music
B-side
  • "Showdown (Live)" (UK)
  • "New World Rising" (US)
Released
  • February 1976 (US)
  • June 1976 (UK)
Format 7" single
Recorded 1975 at Musicland Studios, Munich
Genre
Length
  • 4:29 (Album version)
  • 4:06 (UK single edit)
  • 3:20 (US single edit)
Label Jet
Writer(s) Jeff Lynne
Producer(s) Jeff Lynne
Electric Light Orchestra singles chronology
"Evil Woman"
(1975)		 "Strange Magic"
(1976)		 "Nightrider"
(1976)
Face the Music track listing

"Strange Magic" is a song written and performed by the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). It was released on their 1975 Face the Music album.

Released as a single in 1976, the single was edited in the US, whereas in the UK the song appeared as the album cut minus the orchestral intro. The US single edit can be found on the remastered Face the Music released in September 2006. The song was also included on the band's 1978 The ELO EP. A remastered version was included on the box set Flashback in 2000. The 'weeping' guitar lick was provided by keyboardist Richard Tandy while Jeff Lynne played a 12-string acoustic guitar fed through a phase shifter.

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1976) Peak
position
Australia (Kent Music Report)[1] 85
Canada (CHUM)[2] 20
Canada Adult Contemporary (RPM)[3] 41
Canada Top Singles (RPM)[4] 42
Italy (FIMI)[5] 8
UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[6] 38
US Billboard Hot 100[7] 14
US Billboard Top 50 Easy Listening[8] 24
US Cash Box[9] 14
US Record World[10] 20

Year-end charts

Chart (1976) Rank
US Cash Box[11] 77

Jeff Lynne version

"Strange Magic"
Song by Electric Light Orchestra from the album Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra
Released
  • 8 October 2012 (UK)
  • 9 October 2012 (US)
Recorded 2001–2012 Bungalow Palace
Length 3:53
Label Frontiers
Writer(s) Jeff Lynne
Producer(s) Jeff Lynne
Mr. Blue Sky: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra track listing

Jeff Lynne re-recorded the song in his own home studio in 2012. It was released in a compilation album with other re-recorded ELO songs, under the ELO name.[12]

Other uses

The song appears in the film The Virgin Suicides featuring the song in the homecoming dance scene but is not on the soundtrack album.

Part of this song, sung by Darren Hayes, was featured on the film Ella Enchanted, but only the chorus that sings "Strange Magic" is heard when dealing with the lyrics.

The song was performed as part of the 2007 Broadway musical Xanadu.

Steve Rushton covered the song for Wizards of Waverly Place.

The song can be heard on an episode of the sitcom That '70s Show.

The song is also featured in the film Hunky Dory (2012).

Protagonist Danny Castellano from The Mindy Project puts on a record of the song in an episode from the third season.

The song is also featured in the film Strange Magic (2015).

References

  1. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  2. ↑ CHART NUMBER 1008 – Wednesday, May 12, 1976 at the Wayback Machine (archived 29 July 2007). CHUM.
  3. ↑ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 4139." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  4. ↑ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4116a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  5. ↑ "Indice per Interprete: E" (in Italian). Hit Parade Italia. Creative Commons. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  6. ↑ "Archive Chart: 1976-07-10" UK Singles Chart. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  7. ↑ "Electric Light Orchestra – Awards". AllMusic. All Media Network. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Whitburn, Joel. "Electric Light Orchestra.". Top Adult Contemporary 1961-2001. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research Inc. p. 86.
  9. ↑ CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending MAY 8, 1976 at the Wayback Machine (archived 2 September 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  10. ↑ RECORD WORLD 1976 at the Wayback Machine (archived 14 May 2005). Record World. Geocities.com.
  11. ↑ The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1976 at the Wayback Machine (archived 25 August 2012). Cash Box magazine.
  12. ↑ "Mr. Blue Sky – The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra". Elo.biz. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
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