Magic

About Magic

"Magic" is a song recorded by English-born Australian singer Olivia Newton-John for the soundtrack to the 1980 film Xanadu. Written and produced by John Farrar, it was released as the lead single from the soundtrack on 23 May 1980. The single was number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks beginning on August 2, 1980. On August 30, it was displaced from the top by "Sailing" by Christopher Cross. It was Newton-John's 25th US chart hit, and her tenth of 12 records which went Gold or higher. "Magic" was also Newton-John's biggest pop hit until "Physical" ruled the Hot 100 for ten weeks beginning in November 1981. Billboard magazine ranked "Magic" as the third most popular single of 1980, behind only "Call Me" by Blondie and "Another Brick in the Wall, Part II" by Pink Floyd. In Canada, the single spent two weeks at number one. It also reached number four in Australia and number 32 in the United Kingdom. The single also became Newton-John's biggest Adult Contemporary hit to date, spending five weeks at the top of the US chart, and also topped the Canadian AC chart for a week. John Lennon named "Magic" and "All Over the World" as two recent songs he liked in a Newsweek interview in September 1980, shortly before his death. The B-sides vary, depending on the label: "Fool Country" (also from Xanadu but not on the soundtrack) is the B-side of the MCA release; "Whenever You're Away from Me" (with Gene Kelly) is the B-side of the Jet release. more »