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"Could It Be Magic" is a song with lyrics written by Adrienne Anderson and music composed by Barry Manilow, based on chord and melodical progressions of Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C Minor, Opus 28, Number 20. Initially released in 1971, it was later rerecorded, given an album release in 1973 and a single release in 1975. This became one of Manilow's first hits. The song has been covered by a number of other artists over the years, most successfully by Donna Summer in 1976 and by Take That in 1992. == Barry Manilow version == As Manilow had only composed or arranged commercial jingles up to that point, he was unproven as a pop-song arranger and was therefore not permitted to arrange the original backing track himself upon its first release in 1971, (see composer's autobiography ''Sweet Life'') Instead, this early version of the song was produced under the hand of Tony Orlando and recorded by Featherbed, a "ghost" group consisting of session musicians. Originally released on the Bell Records label, the composer hated the Tony Orlando arrangement so severely (see ''Sweet Life'') that, as he says in numerous subsequent interviews, he was appreciative of the fact that the song went nowhere on the charts. However he has been quoted in recent years as having somewhat softened his opinion of the track, saying it's "kind of catchy." Featuring a bubblegum pop beat, cowbells and a ''Knock Three Times'' feel, the chorus is the same, however the original verse lyrics have nothing to do with the hit version released in 1973. That year, Manilow would come to be signed to Bell Records in his own right, immediately after which a completely reworked version with Manilow's own arrangement was included on his debut album, ''Barry Manilow'' released that fall. Six months later, former Columbia Records president Clive Davis would take over Bell Records and merge it into Arista with all the other Columbia Pictures-owned labels such as Amy Mala Colpix and Colgems to name a few. Most of the artists at Bell were dropped during the merger, but due to the song's popularity, Manilow was brought over to Arista in the spring of 1974 and ''Could It Be Magic'' was released as a single a year later - a full two years after it had been originally recorded, where it reached #6 in the United States. The lyric "Sweet Melissa" is a tribute to singer Melissa Manchester, Manilow's then-Arista label-mate. The song was remixed in 1993 using the original orchestration of brass and strings combined with new drums, bass and synthesizers, and was included on the album ''Greatest Hits: The Platinum Collection''. An extended remix of the 1993 version was issued as a promotional 12" single and included on the 12" single of "I'd Really Love to See You Tonight." 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Could It Be Magic」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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