Song History
In 1965, Sebastian's group, The Lovin' Spoonful, released the song as the first single from their debut album Do You Believe in Magic. The song was well received by the public and became a top ten hit on the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #9. According to the lyrics, the magic referenced in the title is the power of music to supply happiness and freedom to both those who make it and those who listen to it.
The song became a top forty Hot 100 hit again in 1977 when Shaun Cassidy released his cover as a single. Other notable artists who have remade the song include John Mellencamp, who released his version as a track on his 1976 album Chestnut Street Incident, Bud Shank, and Randy VanWarmer.
A cover from the song was used in The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! episode "Mighty McMario and the Pot of Gold".
In the 1987 show Barbie and The Rockers episode "Out Of This World", Barbie and The Rockers sing a cover of the song as they prepare to do a concert in outer space.
In a 2007 DVD entitled "The Lovin' Spoonful with John Sebastian - Do You Believe in Magic," author Sebastian illustrates how he sped up the three-chord intro from Martha and the Vandellas' "(Love Is Like a) Heat Wave" to come up with the intro to "Do You Believe in Magic."
Indie pop/rock band, The Format released a cover of the song on their popular compilation album B-Sides & Rarities
In 1992, McDonald's used a rewritten version of the song for one of their commercials, replacing all of the lyrics except for the first line with ones pertaining to their talking Happy Meal items and Ronald McDonald.
In 1989 Kids Incorporated sang "Do You Believe In Magic" in the episode "Stop the Presses".
In 2002, the song was later recorded by BBMak for the score of Return to Never Land, a sequel to Disney's 1953 classic Peter Pan.
Also in 1989, Steve Tyrell performed a cover of the song for the film Second Sight.
On September 4, 1993 when Jim Abbott of the New York Yankees pitched a no-hitter, the song was played after Twisted Sister song, "We're Not Gonna Take It".
The song is also significantly featured in the Jim Sheridan movie In America, as an Irish-immigrant family, having entered the U.S. on false pretenses, enters New York City for the first time, and was also the theme song to the ABC Family series State of Grace.
Do You Believe in Magic also featured in Disney's The Parent Trap, with Lindsay Lohan (1998), the 1999 comedy, American Pie, Date Movie, Temple Grandin and 2002 movie, Rolie Polie Olie.
The original version was the theme song for the short-lived TV series State of Grace. In 2010 a few bars from the song was used as background music to a television commercial for the Chase Bank iPhone app which allows remote check deposits using the iPhone camera.
The Lovin' Spoonful's version was ranked #216 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
In 2012, the Lovin' Spoonful's version was used in the official "Meet the Pyro" trailer for the first-person shooter video game, Team Fortress 2.
Read more about this topic: Do You Believe In Magic (song)
Famous quotes containing the words song and/or history:
“Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away; for now the winter is past, the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth; the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land. The fig tree puts forth its figs, and the vines are in blossom; they give forth fragrance. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come away.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Song of Solomon 2:10-13.
“The whole history of civilisation is strewn with creeds and institutions which were invaluable at first, and deadly afterwards.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)