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4. Dua Lipa: “Houdini”
My choice, on the subject of the 2 current “Houdini” releases (Houdinii?), is that this kinetic dance-floor anthem during which Dua Lipa challenges a suitor to offer her one good cause not to vanish. I discover it superior to Eminem’s “Houdini” for 2 causes. First, I’ve a deep-seated private aversion to the Steve Miller Band’s “Abracadabra” and, thus, to any tune that samples it. However, way more vital, Dua Lipa understands that on the finish of a refrain it’s simply very enjoyable to yell, “Houdini!”
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5. Siouxsie and the Banshees: “Spellbound”
I needed to embody this frenetic tune from Siouxsie and the Banshees’ 1981 album, “Juju,” not solely as a result of it’s an occult traditional in its personal proper, but in addition as a result of Gaga interpolates its melody in the course of the pre-chorus of “Abracadabra,” giving it an additional layer of wild-eyed magic.
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6. The Police: “Each Little Factor She Does Is Magic”
Although not as creepy as that different Police tune that in the first place appears to be a couple of mutually reciprocated love however on nearer inspection seems to be a couple of man obsessive about somebody from afar (and which additionally occurs to have a title that begins with the phrase “each”), this one is definitely the extra magical of the 2.
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7. Pilot: “Magic”
This Alan Parsons-produced 1974 hit from the Scottish band Pilot is technically about supernatural forces, although lately you’d been excused for pondering it’s truly an ode to a sure omnipresent diabetes drug. (Sing it with me: “Oh, oh, oh, Ozempic!”) Final yr, Craig Marks wrote a extremely entertaining story for The Instances about this earworm’s second life as an promoting jingle. Shrugged the tune’s vocalist and co-writer David Paton, “Lots of people don’t know the identify Pilot, however they know the Ozempic tune.” The magic of promoting!
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8. The Drifters: “This Magic Second”
Maybe essentially the most romantic of all of the love-as-magic tunes in existence, the Drifters’ luxurious harmonies give this ballad its otherworldly atmosphere. (For a very totally different sort of atmosphere, see Lou Reed’s sparse cowl, which was featured prominently in David Lynch’s nice “Misplaced Freeway.”)
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9. The Lovin’ Spoonful: “Do You Consider in Magic?”
Lastly, on this upbeat 1965 traditional, the Lovin’ Spoonful posits that music itself possesses the ability to forged a spell: “It’s magic,” the band sings, “if the music is groovy.” However, having reached the top of this playlist, you’ve definitely discovered that by now.