Blue Magic (album)

Last updated
Blue Magic
Bluemagic1.jpg
Studio album by
Blue Magic
ReleasedJanuary 1974
Studio Sigma Sound, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Genre Philadelphia soul
Length43:35(original version)
56:25 (expanded reissue)
Label Atco
Producer Norman Harris, Alan Rubens, Steven Bernstein
Blue Magic chronology
Blue Magic
(1974)		 The Magic of the Blue
(1974)
Singles from Blue Magic
  1. "Stop to Start"
    Released: November 6, 1973
  2. "Sideshow"
    Released: March 27, 1974
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Christgau's Record Guide B+ [2]
The Rolling Stone Record Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [3]

Blue Magic is the eponymous debut album by American soul group Blue Magic, produced by Norman Harris and released in 1974 on the Atco label.

Contents

History

Blue Magic's debut single "Spell" was released in November 1972 and work on the album began in early 1973. Two more singles, "Look Me Up" and "Stop to Start" were released during 1973; all performed respectably on the R&B chart with "Stop to Start" also crossing over into the lower reaches of the pop chart. The album was released on January 9, 1974, followed shortly thereafter by a fourth single, "Sideshow", the lush, dreamy and loss-filled atmosphere of which immediately caught on and became a major hit, topping the R&B chart and reaching No. 8 on the Billboard Hot 100. Another track on the album was the lengthy "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely", which Ronnie Dyson had taken into the R&B top 30 in July 1973, then became a bigger hit for New York group The Main Ingredient, whose version reached both the R&B and pop top 10 at around the same time Blue Magic was released. Blue Magic peaked at No. 4 on the R&B album chart and No. 45 on the pop chart.

Music for the album was provided by Sigma Sound Studios' legendary house band MFSB. Bobby Eli, co-composer of "Sideshow" and "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely", who worked as a guitarist on the album, stated in the liner notes of the 2007 reissue of the album that he believed that Harris was equally at home with uptempo material as with ballads and, citing the tracks "Look Me Up" and "Welcome to the Club" as classic examples of the proto-disco sound of 1973-74, expressed his opinion that Harris' expertise in this field gave Blue Magic the ability to deliver convincing uptempo tracks in a way which largely eluded other Philadelphia soul groups with whom they are usually bracketed, notably The Stylistics and The Delfonics.

Blue Magic was reissued by Rhino Records in 2007, including two B-sides previously unavailable on CD and a remix of "Look Me Up"

Track listing

Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sideshow" Bobby Eli, Vinny Barrett 4:06
2."Look Me Up" Norman Harris, Allan Felder 5:54
3."What's Come Over Me"Ted Mills4:09
4."Just Don't Want to Be Lonely"Bobby Eli, Vinny Barrett, John Freeman7:00
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Stop to Start"Jimmy Grant, Allan Felder3:18
6."Welcome to the Club"Norman Harris, Allan Felder5:05
7."Spell"Ted Mills4:15
8."Answer to My Prayer"Norman Harris, Allan Felder3:15
9."Tear It Down"Ted Mills, Allan Felder5:27
2007 remastered reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Guess Who" (B-side of "Spell")Mills3:37
11."Where Have You Been" (B-side of "Stop to Start")Mills, Felder3:20
12."Look Me Up" (Tom Moulton Remix)Harris, Felder5:56

Personnel

Blue Magic
Musicians

Production

Charts

Singles

YearSinglePeak chart positions
US US
R&B 		US
A/C 		CAN
1973"Spell"—30——
"Look Me Up"—36——
"Stop to Start"7414—59
1974"Sideshow"81355

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References

  1. ↑ Henderson, Alex. Blue Magic review at AllMusic. Retrieved October 21, 2011.
  2. ↑ Christgau, Robert (1981). "Consumer Guide '70s: B". Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies . Ticknor & Fields. ISBN   089919026X . Retrieved February 21, 2019.
  3. ↑ The Rolling Stone Record Guide. Random House. 1979. p. 39.
  4. ↑ "Blue Magic, TLP" . Billboard . Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Blue Magic, BLP" . Billboard . Retrieved July 9, 2021.
  6. ↑ "RPM Top Albums - February 17, 1969" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 1974". Billboard. Retrieved July 9, 2021.
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