Magic (Pilot song)

Background

According to Paton, the song is inspired by the sunrise on Blackford Hill in Edinburgh. In a 2012 interview with Hotdisc Television, Paton also stated that at the time, his wife said she had "never seen a daybreak", which also inspired the song.

Personnel

Pilot

• David Paton – lead vocals, bass, electric guitar
• Billy Lyall – keyboards, synthesizer, piano, backing vocals
• Stuart Tosh – drums, backing vocals

Additional personnel

• Ian Bairnson – additional electric guitar (uncredited)

Chart performance

"Magic" charted most successfully in Canada, where it topped the RPM national singles chart on 19 July 1975, and received a gold certification. It climbed as far as number 11 on the UK Singles Chart and reached number 5 during the summer of 1975 in the US on the Billboard Hot 100.

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Selena Gomez version

• David Paton
• Trey Vittetoe

The cover version by Selena Gomez was released on 22 July 2009 as part of the Radio Disney iTunes Pass, serving as a promotional single for the soundtrack of the Disney Channel television series Wizards of Waverly Place. It debuted and peaked at no. 61 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart with 42,000 downloads. It also peaked at No. 80 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart, No. 5 on the Norwegian Singles Chart and at No. 90 on the UK Singles Chart. It has sold 563,000 copies in the United States. The song was featured in the television film Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie. The music video premiered on the Disney Channel on 24 July 2009, and was directed by Roman Perez.

Charts

Certifications

Ozempic television advertisement

In 2018, pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk began using the song in its ads for Ozempic, an injectable drug originally intended for people with type 2 diabetes, but which became popular for its off-label use as a weight-loss drug. David Paton was asked to return to Abbey Road Studios to record a new version of the song, which from a vocal standpoint is little more than his singing the opening line, replacing the words "It's magic" with "Ozempic" and otherwise adding nonverbal singing.

References

References

1. "Soft Rock: AM Radio Hits".
2. (15 October 1996). "Precious and Few – Pop Music in the Early '70s". [[St. Martin's Press.
3. "Glam Rock". Ooocities.org.
4. (1974). "Pilot – Magic".
5. Johnstone, Neil. "Edinburgh songbook: 11 of the best songs by Edinburgh bands and artists from Callum Beattie to Pilot".
6. (10 May 2012). "DAVID PATON OF PILOT INTERVIEW ON RADIO BORDERS - 6 MAY 2012".
7. "Top Singles – Volume 23, No. 21, July 19 1975". Library and Archives Canada.
8. Steffen Hung. "Forum - 1970 (ARIA Charts: Special Occasion Charts)".
9. "RPM - Library and Archives Canada - RPM - Bibliothèque et Archives Canada". collectionscanada.gc.ca.
10. "Suche - Offizielle Deutsche Charts".
11. Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Pilot - Magic".
12. "SA Charts 1965–March 1989".
13. Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–2002.
14. "Cash Box Top Singles - 1975". tropicalglen.com.
15. (29 December 1975). "National Top 100 Singles for 1975". [[Kent Music Report]].
16. "Top Singles – Volume 24, No. 14, December 27, 1975". [[Library and Archives Canada]].
17. Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1975".
18. "Top 100 Hits of 1975/Top 100 Songs of 1975". musicoutfitters.com.
19. "Radio Disney iTunes Pass". [[Apple Inc..
20. (13 August 2009). "Black Eyed Peas, Jason Mraz Tie Records on Billboard Hot 100".
21. Trust, Gary. (14 May 2017). "Ask Billboard: Selena Gomez's Career Album & Song Sales".
22. (1 January 2010). "Éxitos discográficos de la semana". La Opinión.
23. Marks, Craig. (9 April 2024). "How Ozempic Turned a 1970s Hit Into an Inescapable Jingle".
24. "The Ozempic® Song | Ozempic® (Semaglutide) injection".