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Strange Magic (song)

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"Strange Magic"
Single by Electric Light Orchestra
from the album Face the Music
B-side
  • "Showdown (Live)" (UK)
  • "New World Rising" (US)
ReleasedFebruary 1976 (US)[1]
Recorded1975
StudioMusicland Studios, Munich
GenrePsychedelia
Length
  • 4:29 (Album version)
  • 4:06 (UK single edit)
  • 3:22 (US single edit)
LabelJet
Songwriter(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
8 tracks
Side one
  1. "Fire On High"
  2. "Waterfall"
  3. "Evil Woman"
  4. "Nightrider"
Side two
  2. "Poker"
  3. "Strange Magic"
  4. "Down Home Town"
  5. "One Summer Dream"

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

The 'weeping' guitar lick was provided by keyboardist Richard Tandy while Jeff Lynne played a 12-string acoustic guitar fed through a phase shifter. The song has been described as psychedelic.[2]

Versions

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The song has a complicated history with a number of different versions — most by ELO and one by Jeff Lynne alone — released both as a single and as a track on a number of different albums.

After its initial appearance on Face the Music, it was released as a single in 1976 in two versions, one for the US and one for the UK, both different from the original. The US single was more edited than the UK single which appeared as it was originally in Face the Music, but without the orchestral intro.

Also in 1976, "Strange Magic" was included as the final track in the United Artists Records promotional ELO album, Olé ELO.

In 1978, the song was included on the band's The ELO EP.

A remastered version was included on the box set Flashback in 2000.

In September 2006, a remastered Face the Music album was released; it contained the US edit version from the 1976 single releases.

Finally, 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.[3]

Critical reception

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AllMusic's Donald A. Guarisco considered it one of the best tracks on their "breakthrough" album Face the Music, praising Jeff Lynne's skill at "creating ballads that are as memorably hook-laden as his uptempo pop tunes", noting the "stunning intro full of swirling strings, some George Harrison-styled slide guitar riffs".[2] Billboard considered it to be an "easy rocker" with "smooth vocals and skillful string arrangements."[4] Record World said that "an immaculate production by Jeff Lynne maintains the high calibre of the group's recorded work."[5]

Stereogum contributor Ryan Reed rated it as ELO's 3rd best song, saying that it shows "Lynne's mastery of tension and release" and noting the "odd arrangement" with "ascending and descending strings, random jazz accents of the keys" and drums that enter halfway through the song but without stereotypical bluster.[6]

Chart performance

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Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
United States (RIAA)[16] Gold 500,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "ELO singles".
  2. ^ a b Guarisco, Donald A. "Electric Light Orchestra – Strange Magic – Song Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 26 January 2020.
  3. ^ "Mr. Blue Sky – The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra". Elo.biz. 5 October 2012. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  4. ^ "Billboard's Top Single Picks" (PDF). Billboard. 6 March 1976. p. 66. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  5. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 6 March 1976. p. 1. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  6. ^ Reed, Ryan (7 January 2016). "The 10 Best ELO Songs". Stereogum. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  7. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  8. ^ "Top RPM Adult Contemporary: Issue 4139." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Top RPM Singles: Issue 4116a." RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  10. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 20 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Electric Light Orchestra – Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
  12. ^ Whitburn, Joel. "Electric Light Orchestra". Top Adult Contemporary 1961-2001. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research Inc. p. 86.
  13. ^ "CASH BOX Top 100 Singles – Week ending MAY 8, 1976". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 2 September 2012.
  14. ^ "The Singles Chart" (PDF). Record World. 29 May 1976. p. 35. ISSN 0034-1622. See last week peak position. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  15. ^ "The CASH BOX Year-End Charts: 1976". Cash Box. Archived from the original on 25 August 2012.
  16. ^ "American single certifications – Electric Light Orchestra – Strange Magic". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
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