"Could It Be Magic" - Barry Manilow
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Topic: "Could It Be Magic" - Barry Manilow
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Subject: "Could It Be Magic" - Barry Manilow
Date Posted: 27 April 2005 at 10:28am
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At the present time, I don't have the equipment to do a direct A/B comparison between a CD and a vinyl 45. But as far as I can tell, the 4:16 45 version of Barry Manilow's "Could It Be Magic" is now available on CD for the first time on the new 2 CD best-of compilation The Essential Barry Manilow (Arista 68227) released yesterday (4/26). (The song can be downloaded for $0.99 at I-Tunes if anyone wants to check it out first before spending over $20 on the set!)
This remastered 34 song package contains all of the crooner's Top 40 hits except for "Let's Hang On" and "Oh Julie", the latter of which for some reason continues to not see the light of day on a U.S. CD release. It's my understanding the only way to get "Oh Julie" on CD is on the Japanese import of Barry Manilow's 1982 album Here Comes the Night. |
Replies:
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 27 April 2005 at 11:54am
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<It's my understanding the only way to get "Oh Julie" on CD is on the Japanese import of Barry Manilow's 1982 album Here Comes the Night.>
That is correct, Todd, but it's not the same mix as what appears on the US 45 or "Oh Julie" EP. It has extra background voices and maybe even an added keyboard part, if I recall. I've grown to like the version quite a lot, but still, it would be nice to have the regular (US?) mix come out on CD. I wonder if Barry hates this record and keeps refusing to have it reissued. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 27 April 2005 at 12:02pm
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By any chance does "Essential Manilow" also have the single mix/edit of "It's a Miracle", or am I asking for too much? :)
I believe it clocks in around 3:15. It's never been on CD anywhere. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 27 April 2005 at 7:46pm
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EdisonLite:
It looks as though "It's a Miracle" on The Essential Barry Manilow disc is the 3:43 edit that first surfaced on Manilow's Greatest Hits CD on Arista 8039. In other words, it's not the 45 version running 3:15. Interestingly, many websites such as www.allmusic.com and some paid download sites list "It's a Miracle" as being the "single edit" on Essential. I'm wondering... was there ever another vinyl 45 pressing out there containing this 3:43 version? |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 28 April 2005 at 12:16am
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I checked allmusic.com. Interestingly, they wrote "single edit" next to "It's a Miracle" and NOT next to the next song "Could It Be Magic" which IS the single edit. So I wonder if that's a typo. I've never come across a 3:43 45 of "Miracle" but that doesn't mean there isn't one.
Also, Todd -- Is "Ready To Take a Chance Again" finally the stereo version, or still mono? Every US CD is mono. It appeared in stereo on 1 Japanese CD (which I do not own.) |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 29 April 2005 at 8:07am
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EdisonLite:
"Ready to Take a Chance Again" on The Essential Barry Manilow CD is the usual mono version found on all other U.S. CD releases. |
Posted By: JMD1961
Date Posted: 06 May 2005 at 3:11am
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Just a quick question.
Are we sure that this is the true 45 version of "Could It Be Magic"? The reason I ask is that my Whitburn's lists the time as 3:37, not the 4:18 that the current version runs. Now, I know that Whitburn has been wrong before. Is that the case here as well? |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 06 May 2005 at 8:05am
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Yes. I have the 45. It's listed as 3:37, and it runs 4:18. This was Arista's usual style of making a song look shorter than it really was so that presumably more DJ's would play it.
I checked this mix closely when I bought the CD a couple days ago and it is definitely the 45 version. |
Posted By: JMD1961
Date Posted: 06 May 2005 at 1:26pm
| Thanks a lot. I've been looking for this version for a while for a personal project. Thanks again. I'm off to get it right now. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 09 May 2009 at 6:23pm
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An update on "Oh Julie": As I previously reported, the only place this song has appeared on CD - albeit in an alternate mix -- is on the Japanese CD of Barry's "Here Comes The Night" album. The alternate mix has lots of extra background vocals and keyboards. I bought this CD in 1987, when it first was released in Japan.
And btw, the mix on the Japanese CD isn't even the original Japanese mix either. I have the Japanese 45 and it has the same exact mix as the US 45 and the US EP (the song never appeared on an LP.) So what was used on the Japanese CD can best be described as an alternate mix, not even the original Japanese 45 mix. Well, I happened to be in a used CD store this week, and they had a used copy of the Japanese "Here Comes the Night" CD for $3.99, and this one said 1994 on it (my previous one I bought in 1987) -- so I figured, 'I might as well buy it at this price. I can always re-sell it on ebay (it probably fetches a high price), and maybe it will actually have the original mix of "Oh Julie." Well, as it turns out ... to my shock, it had the original mix of "Oh Julie" on it. So it can now be reported for the first time on the Downey chat board that the top 40 hit "Oh Julie" IS available on an import CD - in its proper (original) mix -- and it only took 15 years since its CD release for one of us to find out :) Makes me wonder if I'm missing other single mixes because I already have the import CD but not a later pressing of the CD. Who would ever think to re-buy "Here Comes The Night" in hopes of it actually correcting the problem? Until I saw this CD, I didn't even know there was a 1994 AND 1987 printing of this Japanese CD. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 10 May 2009 at 1:52am
| BTW, does anyone else have the "Here Comes the Night" CD and was anyone aware that there were 2 different pressings of the CD? |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 10 May 2009 at 1:50pm
| Very valuable info, Gordon! I see there are Japanese pressings of Manilow's Here Comes the Night CD still in print, so if they have a 1994 copyright date then it would appear we're in business as far as obtaining the correct hit version of "Oh Julie" goes! |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 10 May 2009 at 1:58pm
| And if anyone has a 1994 version with the alternate mix or a 1987 with the original mix (the reverse of what I have) please let us know. I'm only assuming my 1987 and 1994 versions have one pressing each. But we can't say for sure that there aren't other versions of these 2 CDs floating out there (for instance, maybe some 1987 CDs have fixed the problem and used the original mix.) After all the versions of Whitney Houston's first album on CD, anything goes. |
Posted By: edtop40
Date Posted: 04 September 2009 at 12:43pm
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my japanese cd copy that contains "oh julie" is identical to the 45 version... ------------- edtop40 |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 04 September 2009 at 6:19pm
| You must have the 1994 CD. |
Posted By: cmmmbase
Date Posted: 09 March 2012 at 9:46am
| Just curious - has the original version of Could It Be Magic ever appeared on cd? I'm not talking about the Featherbed feat. Barry Manilow version from 1971, but rather the version from the original release of Barry's debut lp Manilow on Bell 1129 (as opposed to the 1975 remix/reissue on Arista as Manilow I). I have the lp, and it times out to 7:15 and has different vocals... |
Posted By: AndrewChouffi
Date Posted: 09 March 2012 at 11:11am
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To Cmmmbase:
Wow. I never knew there was an original mix of the album version of Manilow's "Could It Be Magic". Even if it's in poor shape, I would love to hear it if you ever have the chance to digitise it... Andy |
Posted By: Bill Cahill
Date Posted: 09 March 2012 at 12:58pm
| Yes there are a bunch of versions of that track. Featherbed was the first, recorded again for the Barry Manilow album on Bell records, (I believe that's identical to the version on the B Side of the Bell 45 Cloudburst that came from that album, this version has an electric guitar in it. Of course that is a mono mix, probably a dedicated one), Then the Arista Barry Manilow I reissue, (I believe it's more than a remix, I think it was totally redone) and of course the hit single contains some instrumentation not found on the Arista Barry Manilow I album so it's yet another mix. |
Posted By: Yah Shure
Date Posted: 09 March 2012 at 1:00pm
Andy, the original mix (and length) was also issued as a single B-side on http://i257.photobucket.com/albums/hh240/YahShure/BarryManilow-CouldItBeMagic1973BellDJ.jpg - Bell 45422 in 1973. Perhaps due to the B-side's length, the DJ 45s were Monarch pressings on real vinyl. I have multiple copies of the mono promo 45, and there are two label variations: the first (linked above) with no designated A-side and the second, with "Cloudburst" starred as the A-side and "MONO" shown on both sides in the normal bold Monarch font. With space at a premium in the trail-out area, the normal "MR"-in-a-circle Monarch logo was hand drawn in more of a squashed oval shape. |
AndrewChouffi wrote:Posted By: prisdeej
Date Posted: 09 March 2012 at 2:58pm
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Just to clarify; the 7:15 and 6:47 cuts are the LP versions, and all 45's run at
4:16? If this is so, should the database be modified to alert readers? ------------- DJ L. |
Posted By: Pat Downey
Date Posted: 14 March 2012 at 3:42pm
| Are the 45 version and LP version comments not showing up in the database for "Could It Be Magic"? |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 17 March 2012 at 12:04am
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What they're saying is the original LP version of "Could It Be Magic" was issued on the Manilow vinyl LP by Bell records with a run time of 7:15. (This lengthier version also appeared as the B-side of a promo 45 release.) Shortly after, the song was re-worked and released by Arista records on the Barry Manilow I vinyl LP in the more common LP version running 6:47. So I believe the question is whether this new information should warrant a general mention in the database?
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Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 17 March 2012 at 12:27am
| I think it warrants a mention in the description section of "Could It Be Magic". After all, the Bell LP is a US release. Also, this version may show up on CD someday. So I think this should all be pointed out succinctly in the intro/heading of CIBM. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 17 March 2012 at 1:15am
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If my history is accurate, Barry Manilow first released his debut album under Bell records in 1973. After Clive Davis founded Arista records in late 1974, Bell folded shortly after and Davis acquired Manilow just as young artist's career had finally started to take off with his #1 smash "Mandy". No doubt, Davis saw the star power in his new protege and oversaw the remixing and re-release of Manilow's debut LP for stronger production value and commercial appeal.
So I would agree that a database mention is probably helpful here for the two different LP versions of "Could It Be Magic". We've seen a similar case like this with Eric Clapton's self-titled debut LP, which spawned different LP lengths on two separate labels for the Top 40 hit "After Midnight". |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 17 March 2012 at 8:52am
Not quite the story. Davis didn't acquire Manilow just as Manilow's career starting taking off with his #1 smash, "Mandy". He FOUND "Mandy" for Manilow and told him he had to record it! So he actually kept on Manilow, Manchester and Bay City Rollers before any of them had chart hits. And he was President of Bell for a bit before he changed it over to Arista. |
Posted By: Todd Ireland
Date Posted: 17 March 2012 at 8:58am
| I didn't realize Davis had also been the president of Bell records for a brief time before the label folded. Thanks for clearing this up, Gordon. |
Posted By: Steve Carras
Date Posted: 16 December 2014 at 12:30am
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Glad to see this thread..! ------------- You know you're really older when you think that younger singer Jesse McCartney's related in anyway to former Beatle Paul McCartney. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 21 October 2018 at 1:39pm
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Since the 45 version has only appeared on one domestic CD,
was there an import that featured the edit without the tape glitch at :55 in? ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 22 October 2018 at 6:06am
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That's a great catch, John. My copy came from a cassette single reissue and did not have a glitch. ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 22 October 2018 at 11:12am
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Can the LP version be edited to match the 45? ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 22 October 2018 at 12:41pm
No. The 45 was completely remixed. ------------- |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 23 October 2018 at 9:53pm
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The one CD with the single mix/edit of Could It Be Magic does indeed have a glitch at 0:55, right during the transfer between verse 1 and chorus 1. I believe it's 'cause they spliced the tape there. I have the 45 and it has the same exact glitch, which would make sense if it's on the master tape, and is there because they literally spliced the tape between the verse section and chorus. (The 1st verse may come from the original mix, and chorus 1 may be where the mix radically changes.)
So I don't understand how a cassette single reissue wouldn't have the glitch. Did you listen closely under headphones? It's not really noticeable on speakers or the radio. It's possible that they digitally removed the click, like I did from the CD, but I really doubt they'd go to that trouble. |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 24 October 2018 at 8:31am
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I will forward you what I have sometime tonight. ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: eriejwg
Date Posted: 25 October 2018 at 9:06am
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Gordon, your custom edit removing the glitch sounds
fabulous. Too bad the record company didn't do the same. The only video I could find of the 45 being played on YouTube is from WABC77 and he has added compression to his audio chain. But, you can hear some sort of glitch at :55 so, like you said, it's on the master tape. ------------- John Gallagher Erie, PA https://www.johngallagher.com" rel="nofollow - John Gallagher Wedding & Special Event Entertainment / Snapblast Photo Booth |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 25 October 2018 at 3:19pm
I hear now what you mean. However, the glitch is much more pronounced on the Essential version. I could hear that one without the headphones. It's a little smoother on my cassingle. ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |
Posted By: MMathews
Date Posted: 25 October 2018 at 4:56pm
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BTW, the glitch you are referring to is the tape splice
where it switches from the LP mix to the 45 mix. The intro and first verse are taken from the LP version. Then at :55 they spliced on the word "come" to the remixed portion which is the rest of the 45. MM |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 25 October 2018 at 10:22pm
| I thought I remembered that being the case, Mark. I'm glad you confirmed it. |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 25 October 2018 at 10:28pm
Doug, I listened to your cassette version. Interesting. You're right. The splice is there, too. You can hear it. But there's no click after the "baby I love you", like there is on the "Essential" CD. At the time I got the "Essential" CD, I recall checking my 45 and hearing it had the same loud click. Your cassette, though edited at the same spot, sounds like a much smoother edit. The edit on the cassette just sounds like one of those things where he came back on another day and the vocal tone didn't match up on the next spot, whereas my 45, and the Essential CD, has a definite click in that spot. As Mark points out, this is where the LP mix gets spliced into the new 45 mix. So maybe there are 2 single master tapes at Sony (??) ... that only differ in this one spot. Seems hard to believe. But I can't understand why your cassette would sound so much better. I'm sure it was released before we had all this digital software to clean things. So if it was released long ago, the only conclusion I can come to is that maybe there are 2 master tapes. Even though I'm working on a potential Barry Manilow digital release with Sony right now, unfortunately I can't ask my contact to search for an alterate single mix. |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 27 October 2018 at 4:50pm
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There may either be two masters, or Sony repaired one edit
for the Essential CD. The edit i'm talking about is at 1:56 on the piano hit starting at the beginning of the bar before he sings "I could love you.". On the 45, you can plainly hear an edit with a dropoff in volume at that point, whereas it's a smooth, seamless transition on the CD. ------------- |
Posted By: EdisonLite
Date Posted: 27 October 2018 at 7:34pm
| Are you saying this is the case for your 45 and the single version on the Essential CD?? |
Posted By: aaronk
Date Posted: 28 October 2018 at 11:23am
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Is it possible that there is only one master tape, but the click is more
pronounced based on which tape machine its being played on? Just a theory. ------------- Aaron Kannowski http://www.uptownsound.com" rel="nofollow - Uptown Sound http://www.919thepeak.com" rel="nofollow - 91.9 The Peak - Classic Hip Hop |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 28 October 2018 at 2:02pm
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What's crazier Aaron is that I heard the click only after
I read this thread. Then, I played it again and didn't hear or notice the click. LOL! ------------- |
Posted By: The Hits Man
Date Posted: 28 October 2018 at 2:05pm
If you are talking to me, yes. The edit is obvious on the 45, but not on the Essential CD. It sounds very much to me like someone smoothed it out. ------------- |
Posted By: sriv94
Date Posted: 03 July 2020 at 5:47pm
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OK, here's one for the class. Listening to SiriusXM Top 700 of the 70s on 7, and they just played "Could It Be Magic" (checked in at 549, if you're
scoring at home or even if you're alone :) ). However, what they played was the LP version edited to try to the match the 45 (which is impossible, given how much remixing and extra instrumentation the 45 has, although whoever did it did a fairly nice job--but it seems they to insert a part of the actual 45 near the end to make it work). What I'm trying to figure out is what the source is of this version (if I had to guess, it'd be something that originated with TM Century). ------------- Doug --------------- All of the good signatures have been taken. |