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Magic Moments
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<h2 id="background">Background</h2> <p>In his 2003 book <i>Burt Bacharach, Song by Song</i>, Serene Dominic comments: </p> <blockquote> <p>Combined with the quizzical bassoon, the whistling and the ghastly white shadings of the <a href="/facts/Ray_Charles_Singers/UhRG6fRA">Ray Charles Singers</a>, these distant recollections must seem like occurrences on another planet to later generations.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> </p> </blockquote> <h2 id="chart-performance">Chart performance</h2> <p>The biggest <a href="/facts/Hit_record/cFBCe0aS">hit</a> <a href="/facts/Cover_version/77Teealn">version</a> of the song was recorded by <a href="/facts/Perry_Como/FdSmtw8x">Perry Como</a> and released by <a href="/facts/RCA_Victor/bp1jLxvU">RCA Victor</a> in December 1957, becoming a hit early in 1958. The record was produced by Joe Reisman.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> The peak position in the United States is hard to track precisely, due to the multiple charts used in <i><a href="/facts/Billboard_(magazine)/CVruQGq5">Billboard</a></i> magazine: On the <a href="/facts/Hot_100/gwKl8VL9">Most Played by Disc Jockeys</a> chart, it reached it highest peak of number four. <a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p><p>The song was also a 1958 hit in Italy, while in the United Kingdom it spent eight weeks at number one in the <a href="/facts/UK_Singles_Chart/s2yyGUlD">UK Singles Chart</a>, becoming Como's biggest ever hit there.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> </p><p>In Canada, the song reached number 12 on the <a href="/facts/CHUM_Chart/d1gd54kz">CHUM Charts</a>, February 3, 1958, co-charting with <i><a href="/facts/Catch_a_Falling_Star/bG7fA8zR">Catch a Falling Star</a></i>.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="other-recordings">Other recordings</h2> <ul><li>A less successful UK cover version recorded by <a href="/facts/Ronnie_Hilton/4S7Yuru9">Ronnie Hilton</a> reached No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart, in 1958.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> Hilton's version included some different lyrics from the original.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Bing_Crosby/NgDebwUh">Bing Crosby</a> recorded the song in 1958<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a> for use on his <a href="/facts/The_Ford_Road_Show_Featuring_Bing_Crosby/r6TlCww2">radio show</a> and it was subsequently included in the album <i>With All My Heart</i> (2012).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li><a href="/facts/Amanda_Lear/8g0f3YFC">Amanda Lear</a> recorded this song for her 1985 EP <i><a href="/facts/A_L/yIvPvkd0">A L</a></i>.</li> <li><a href="/facts/Synthpop/ejVwqcNb">Synthpop</a> duo <a href="/facts/Erasure_(duo)/3FWUaDm7">Erasure</a> recorded the song for their 1997 album <i><a href="/facts/Cowboy_(album)/PnBULzl0">Cowboy</a></i>.</li></ul> <h2 id="other-uses">Other uses</h2> <ul><li><i>Magic Moments</i> is also the name given to a <i><a href="/facts/Surprise%2c_Surprise_(TV_series)/jVhNNNhQ">Surprise, Surprise</a></i> style show within the <a href="/facts/BBC/qFateIz8">BBC</a> television film <i><a href="/facts/Pat_and_Margaret/zP84mo41">Pat and Margaret</a></i>. 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.</li> <li>This song was used in the television commercial for <a href="/facts/Quality_Street_(confection)/ufaxve8W">Quality Street</a>, a confectionery brand in the UK in the 1980s and continues to be used each year for the brand's Christmas advertisements.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </li> <li>The song is also occasionally sung by <a href="/facts/Ulster_Rugby/03XL17ha">Ulster Rugby</a> fans at away matches, particularly after 'magic moments' of play.</li> <li>The <a href="/facts/Perry_Como/FdSmtw8x">Perry Como</a> version is featured in the 1998 film, <i><a href="/facts/Fear_and_Loathing_in_Las_Vegas_(film)/Cf9K52lz">Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas</a></i>, when Raoul arrives at a Vegas hotel where Dr. Gonzo is located, briefly in <a href="/facts/Alex_Holeh_Ahavah/t84QQDdY">Alex Holeh Ahavah</a> (1986), <a href="/facts/Dogma_(film)/PTfsIXzm">Dogma</a> (1999), <i><a href="/facts/Police_Academy_(film)/TPYauV5D">Police Academy</a></i> (1984), <i><a href="/facts/Two_Weeks_Notice/qyLoK11m">Two Weeks Notice</a></i> (2002), <i><a href="/facts/Bridget_Jones%3a_The_Edge_of_Reason_(film)/rfNsAJ3p">Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason</a></i> (2004), <a href="/facts/The_Hitchhiker%2527s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy_(film)/X7yR2Sds"><i>The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy</i></a> (2005), Episode 3 of the first season of the 2012 BBC series <i><a href="/facts/Call_the_Midwife/o6725tey">Call the Midwife</a></i>, which is set in 1957, and episode 9 of the 2017 Netflix series <i><a href="/facts/GLOW_(TV_series)/ukMnLpxw">Glow</a></i>.</li> <li>The song was also used as background music for a segment on the 1998 <a href="/facts/HBO/gGSPvEEu">HBO</a> <a href="/facts/Miniseries/J7KVThLr">miniseries</a> <i><a href="/facts/From_the_Earth_to_the_Moon_(TV_miniseries)/xzMeRkNQ">From the Earth to the Moon</a></i> featuring a meeting of <a href="/facts/NASA_Astronaut_Group_2/eymG5Wh6">NASA Astronaut Group 2 – The New Nine</a> – all of whom booked into <a href="/facts/The_Rice_(Houston)/XJvEflaA">The Rice Hotel</a> in <a href="/facts/Houston/1v8AwQUN">Houston</a>, Texas, with the code name "Max Peck".</li> <li>The Erasure recording is featured in the <a href="/facts/Clive_Barker/bVNxtU56">Clive Barker</a> film <i><a href="/facts/Lord_of_Illusions/2gzb7xBG">Lord of Illusions</a></i>, providing the background music to a magicians' convention.</li> <li>Song used in the <a href="/facts/Grupo_Arcor/xJ6zetDS">Grupo Arcor</a> commercial in 2020–21.</li> <li>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 <a href="/facts/Wendy%2527s/M2e41nV1">Wendy's</a>.</li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Gilliland, John (1969). "Show 24 – The Music Men. [Part 2]" (audio). Pop Chronicles. University of North Texas Libraries. <a href="/wiki/John_Gilliland" target="_blank">/wiki/John_Gilliland</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Dominic, S. (2003), Burt Bacharach, Song by Song: The Ultimate Burt Bacharach Reference for Fans, Serious Record Collectors, and Music Critics, Omnibus Press, ISBN 978-0825672804, p.27. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 36. ISBN 0-85112-250-7. <a href="0-85112-250-7" target="_blank">0-85112-250-7</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Whitburn, Joel (2013). Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles, 14th Edition: 1955–2012. Record Research. p. 187. <a href="/wiki/Joel_Whitburn" target="_blank">/wiki/Joel_Whitburn</a> <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Rice, Jo (1982). The Guinness Book of 500 Number One Hits (1st ed.). Enfield, Middlesex: Guinness Superlatives Ltd. p. 36. ISBN 0-85112-250-7. <a href="0-85112-250-7" target="_blank">0-85112-250-7</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>"CHUM Hit Parade - February 3, 1958". Retrieved February 10, 2023. <a href="http://chumtribute.com/58-02-03-chart.jpg" target="_blank">http://chumtribute.com/58-02-03-chart.jpg</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 253. ISBN 1-904994-10-5. <a href="1-904994-10-5" target="_blank">1-904994-10-5</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>"A Bing Crosby Discography". BING magazine. International Club Crosby. Retrieved December 8, 2017. <a href="http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/CBS.html" target="_blank">http://www.bingmagazine.co.uk/bingmagazine/CBS.html</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>"allmusic.com". allmusic.com. Retrieved December 8, 2017. <a href="https://www.allmusic.com/album/with-all-my-heart-mw0002464752" target="_blank">https://www.allmusic.com/album/with-all-my-heart-mw0002464752</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Browne, Amy (November 1, 2016). "Remember these brilliant Christmas adverts from your childhood". Liverpool Echo. <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/tv/christmas-adverts-from-your-childhood-8063715" target="_blank">https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/tv/christmas-adverts-from-your-childhood-8063715</a> <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>