Saturday, November 1, 2008

That Old Black Magic On Halloween 2


I saw this version endlessly as a kid to the point that I couldn't stand it. Now I have a greater appreciation for Prima and Keely, especially Keely.
"That Old Black Magic" is a popular song. The music was written by Harold Arlen, with the lyrics by Johnny Mercer. The song was published in 1942 and has become an often-recorded standard.
The Glenn Miller recording was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 1523. It charted in 1943, spending 14 weeks on the Billboard magazine charts, peaking at position #1.
The Margaret Whiting recording (with the Freddie Slack Orchestra, which got top billing on the label) was released by Capitol Records as catalog number 126. It charted in 1943, spending 1 week at #10 on the Billboard chart.
The Frank Sinatra recording originally appeared on the album Frank Sinatra Remembers the Movies. This album seems to have disappeared, but the recording is on several "Greatest Hits" compilations of his Capitol recordings.
A 1950 recording on Mercury Records by Billy Daniels gave him the moniker "The Old Black Magic Man" for the rest of his career.
The Sammy Davis, Jr. recording was released by Decca Records as catalog number 29541. It charted in 1955 and spent 6 weeks on the Billboard charts, peaking at position #16.
Marilyn Monroe famously sang the song in her film Bus Stop, in 1956. Her character Cheree is singing the song (somewhat out of key) to an audience who is not listening and talking loudly, until Don Murray quiets them all down.
The duet recorded by Louis Prima and Keely Smith was released as a single in 1958 on the Capitol label. It reached a peak of eighteen on the Billboard Hot 100.
Bobby Rydell had his version released as a single on Cameo in 1961. It reached number twenty-one on the Hot 100.
Johnny Mercer recorded his version in 1974 for his album My Huckleberry Friend.
The tune was featured as background music in the movie, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.
It was featured twice on Star Trek: Voyager. It was sung by Seven of Nine during a simulation of World War II on the first part of the Episode The Killing Game. The second time it was performed by The Doctor and Harry Kim and his jazz band called 'Harry Kim and the Kimtones' in the episode Virtuoso.

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