Burning The Ground Exclusive 1986
NEW 2023 Transfer!
NEW Meticulous Audio Restoration!
Originally posted January 16, 2016
“Magic Dance” (also known as “Dance Magic”) is a song written and recorded by the English singer David Bowie for the Jim Henson musical fantasy film Labyrinth (1986). It was released as a single in limited markets worldwide in January 1987.
Bowie wrote and recorded five songs for Labyrinth, in which he also starred as Jareth, the king of the goblins. “Magic Dance” was written for a scene in which Jareth and his goblins entertain a crying baby that has been wished away to them by the film’s heroine, Sarah Williams. In the film, Bowie performs the number with Toby Froud as the baby, and 50 puppets and 12 costumed extras as the goblins.
Described as a “simple dance number that’s driven by electric bass and emphatic drums” “Magic Dance” includes song lyrics that refer to the film The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer (1947) starring Cary Grant and Shirley Temple, in which the two have a call and reply verse: “You remind me of a man.” “What man?” “The man with the power.” “What power?” “The power of hoodoo.” “Who do?” “You do!”. In “Magic Dance,” “man” is replaced with “babe” and “hoodoo” with “voodoo”. According to Nicholas Pegg, the verse is an “old playground nonsense chant” that was originally popularized by The Bachelor and the Bobby-Soxer.
Bowie performed the baby’s gurgles in the song recording of “Magic Dance”, as backing vocalist Diva Gray’s baby, the intended vocalist, wouldn’t gurgle on the microphone. In the actual scene of the film, baby vocals were dubbed in by a more cooperative infant. During the movie’s production, and in the end credits, the song was referred to as “Dance Magic.”
Magic Dance” is the third track on the Labyrinth soundtrack, released in July 1986 to coincide with the film’s US premiere. In 1987 the song was released on 12″ in limited markets, including the US. A single version was mixed but never released, and an edit of the “Dance Mix” (incorrectly labeled as the ‘single mix’) was released on the New Zealand edition of Best of Bowie (2002). The single was not released commercially in the UK until the digital download version was made available in early 2007.
In 1986, “Magic Dance” peaked at #40 in New Zealand. At the time of Bowie’s death in 2016, “Magic Dance” was the 19th highest selling Bowie song digitally downloaded in the United Kingdom.
SIDE A:
Magic Dance (A Dance Mix) 7:15
Producer [Additional], Remix – Steve Thompson And Michael Barbiero*
SIDE B:
Magic Dance (Dub) 5:30
Producer [Additional], Remix – Steve Thompson And Michael Barbiero*
Within You 3:29
VINYL GRADE:
Vinyl: Near Mint
Sleeve: Near Mint
RELEASE INFORMATION:
Label: EMI America – V-19217
Format: Vinyl, 12″, 33 ⅓ RPM, Single, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1986
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Pop Rock, Synth-pop
CREDITS:
- Art Direction – Henry Marquez
- Design – Carol Chen
- Photography By [Front] – Davies And Starr
- Producer – Arif Mardin, David Bowie
- Written-By – D. Bowie*
NOTES:
From the motion picture soundtrack “Labyrinth”
Printed in U.S.A.
Buy the 12″ at DISCOGS
VINYL TRANSFER & AUDIO RESTORATION:
-DjPaulT
burningtheground.net
THE GEAR:
Turntable: Technics SL-1200MK7
Cartridge/Stylus: Ortofon 2M Black PnP MkII
Turntable Isolation Platform: ISO-Tone™ Turntable Isolation Platform
Platter: Pro Spin Acrylic Mat
Stabilizer: Pro-Ject Record Puck
Phono Pre-amp: Pro-Jec Tube Box DS2
Tubes: Genalex Gold Lion 12AX7 ECC83/B759 Gold Pins Vacuum Tube – Matched Pair
DAC: Alpha Design Labs GT40a USB DAC
Record Cleaning: VPI HW 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine
Artwork Scans: Epson Workforce WF-7610 Professional Printer/Scanner
SOFTWARE:
Recording/Editing: Adobe Audition 3.0 (Recording)
Down Sampling/Dither: iZotope RX Advanced 2
Artwork Editor: Adobe Photoshop CS5
Click Removal: Manual
FLAC/MP3 Conversion: dBpoweramp
M3U Playlist: Playlist Creator
RESTORATION NOTES:
All vinyl rips are recorded @ 32bit/float
FLAC (Level Eight)
Artwork scanned at 600dpi
**24bit FLAC Only Available For Seven Days!
Password: burningtheground
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