By Louis-Auguste Bisson, very old and poor copy, completely restored and remastered by Amano1 - Ernst Burger: Frédéric Chopin. München 1990, S. 323, Public Domain, Link
I did know that the basis for the tune was not original with Manilow, who used Frédéric Chopin's Prelude in C Minor as a starting point for the music. With that classical base, the song itself had an understandably classic feel.
But not initially.
You see, back when Manilow was just a jingle writer and arranger, he managed to score a recording contract. However, his initial records were arranged by the vice president of the label.
One Tony Orlando.
By CBS Television - eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain, Link
So when Manilow provided his music for "Could It Be Magic," Orlando not only credited the piece to the fictional band Featherbed, but he wrote the lyrics himself - and arranged the song. The result, according to the Wikipedia writer(s), was "a bubblegum pop beat, cowbells and a 'Knock Three Times' feel."
When Manilow got more control of his career, he created his own, more classic arrangement that did much better than Orlando's version.
So much better that it began to be covered - most notably by Donna Summer (with Giorgio Moroder) and much later by the British band Take That, who used the Summer/Moroder disco version as their template.
Fast forward to 2013, and Barry Manilow is invited to a BBC-televised fundraiser, Children in Need. Manilow sits at the piano, playing the familiar Chopin introduction and singing the first verse of "Could It Be Magic" before saying, "Come on, fellas!"
The "fellas," Gary Barlow and Robbie Williams, upped the tempo.
However, no one thought to invite Tony Orlando.
