"Magic Moments" is a
popular
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* Popular culture
* Popular fiction
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song with music by
Burt Bacharach
Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gra ...
and lyrics by
Hal David
Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick.
Early life
David ...
, one of the first compositions by that duo.
The song was published in 1957. The song was recorded by
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...
as the B-side of his "Catch a Falling Star". It reached No. 1 in the UK in 1958.
Background
In his 2003 book ''Burt Bacharach, Song by Song'', Serene Dominic comments:
Chart performance
The biggest
hit
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version
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Music
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* ''Ve ...
of the song was recorded by
Perry Como
Pierino Ronald "Perry" Como (; May 18, 1912 – May 12, 2001) was an Italian-American singer, actor and television personality. During a career spanning more than half a century, he recorded exclusively for RCA Victor for 44 years, after signing ...
and released by
RCA Victor
RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...
in December 1957, becoming a hit early in 1958. The record was produced by Joe Reisman.
The peak position in the United States is hard to track precisely, due to the multiple charts used in ''
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 advertise ...
'' magazine: On the
Most Played by Disc Jockeys chart, it reached it highest peak of number four.
The song was also a 1958 hit in Italy, while in the United Kingdom it spent eight weeks at number one in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, becoming Como's biggest ever hit there.
Other recordings
*A less successful UK cover version recorded by
Ronnie Hilton
Ronnie Hilton (born Adrian Hill; 26 January 1926 – 21 February 2001) was an English singer and radio presenter. According to his obituary in ''The Guardian'' newspaper, "For a time Hilton was a star – strictly for home consumption – with ...
reached No. 22 on the UK Singles Chart, in 1958.
Hilton's version included some different lyrics than the original.
*
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby Jr. (May 3, 1903 – October 14, 1977) was an American singer, musician and actor. The first multimedia star, he was one of the most popular and influential musical artists of the 20th century worldwide. He was a ...
recorded the song in 1958 for use on his
radio show
A radio program, radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series. A single program in a series is called an episode.
Radio networ ...
and it was subsequently included in the album ''With All My Heart'' (2012).
*
Amanda Lear
Amanda Lear (; born 1939) is a French singer, songwriter, painter, television presenter, actress, and former model.
She began her professional career as a fashion model in the mid-1960s, and went on to model for Paco Rabanne, Ossie Clark, and ...
recorded this song for her 1985 EP ''
A L''.
*
Synthpop
Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...
duo
Erasure
Erasure () is an English synth-pop duo formed in London in 1985, consisting of lead vocalist and songwriter Andy Bell with songwriter, producer and keyboardist Vince Clarke, previously known as co-founder of the band Depeche Mode and a membe ...
recorded the song for their 1997 album ''
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the '' vaquer ...
''.
Other uses
*''Magic Moments'' is also the name given to a ''
Surprise, Surprise'' style show within the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''. 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.
*This song was used in the television commercial for
, a confectionery brand in the UK in the 1980s and continues to be used each year for the brand's Christmas advertisements.
'', when Raoul arrives at a Vegas hotel where Dr. Gonzo is located, briefly in
, Texas, with the code name "Max Peck".
*The Erasure recording is featured in the
'', providing the background music to a magicians' convention.
*Song used in the
commercial in 2020–21.
*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
.