page_title: Could It Be Magic
section_title: Featherbed and Barry Manilow versions
hierarchical_section_title: Could It Be Magic / Featherbed and Barry Manilow versions
caption_attribution_description: Publicity photo of Barry Manilow.
context_page_description: "Could It Be Magic" is a song with lyrics by Adrienne Anderson and music by Barry Manilow, based on Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C minor, Opus 28, Number 20. Initially released in 1971 by Featherbed, produced and co-written by Tony Orlando, it was later re-recorded as a Barry Manilow solo track, given a first album and single release in 1973 on Bell Records and - after being remixed - an album and single re-release in 1975 on Arista Records. The 1975 re-release became one of Manilow's first hits. The song has been recorded by a number of other artists over the years, most successfully by Donna Summer in 1976 and by Take That in 1992.
context_section_description: Not long after he signed Barry Manilow to Columbia's newly acquired Bell Records label in 1969, Tony Orlando, vice-president of Columbia/CBS Music, began to produce a number of tracks for Manilow.  Orlando contributed lyrics to Manilow's "Could It Be Magic," producing and arranging it as an uptempo pop single.  As Manilow had only composed or arranged commercial jingles up to that point,  he was unproven as a pop-song arranger, and, as such, was not permitted to arrange the backing track for the song's 1971 release. This early version of the song was released under the name of Featherbed, a "ghost" group consisting of session musicians including Manilow.
  Originally released on the Bell Records label, the composer hated the Tony Orlando arrangement so severely (see Sweet Life) that, as Manilow has said 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, but the original verse lyrics have nothing to do with the hit version Manilow himself released in 1973 and again in 1975.
  Manilow produced and co-arranged the next, Joe Renzetti arranged the strings, slower-tempo version on his debut album, Barry Manilow in 1973. 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 re-released as a single a year later—a full two years after it had been originally recorded, where it reached number 6 in the United States.
  The song also reached number 25 on the UK charts when it was issued as a single in 1978.
  The lyric "Sweet Melissa" is a tribute to singer Melissa Manchester, Manilow's label-mate who was also moved from Bell to Arista.
  The song was reworked 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".
caption: Manilow in a 1975 publicity photo
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