Songoftheday 7/21/12 - I never believed in things that I couldn't see, I said if I can't feel it, then how could it be...

America - "You Can Do Magic"

from the album View From The Ground (1982)

Billboard Hot 100 peak: #8 (five weeks)

Weeks in the top-40: 15

Today's Song of the Day marked the return of soft-rock group America. The band started out as a trio with the core of Gerry Buckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek, who were classmates and military sons living in England. In the early 70s, channeling a more mainstream version of Crosby, Stills, & Nash's folk-rock harmony style, America released their debut self-titled album, which was huge, reaching the top of the LP chart in the US for five weeks, and spawning the #1 pop hit "A Horse With No Name". They went on to score five more top-10 pop singles, including a second charttopper in 1975 with "Sister Golden Hair".

However, the band was another victim of the disco boom, as their late 70's output sold progressively less, and they missed the top-40 on the pop chart since 1976. Peek also left the group to start a Christian music career as well, leaving America a duo by the end of the decade.

Switching to Capitol Records from Warner Brothers, the Bunnell and Buckley started out slow, with two albums becoming minor hits and not having any single from either make the top-100. But in 1982, for their View From The Ground album, things changed, with some studio help from members of Toto, Beach Boy Carl Wilson, and Argent's Russ Ballard. It was the latter that wrote the first single from the album, "You Can Do Magic", which brought the act back in time for the music to be back again courtesy of "lite-rock" acts like Air Supply and Toto...

"You Can Do Magic" hung around in the US top-10 for six weeks, and made it top #5 on the adult-contemporary (soft-rock) chart as well. The album did exponentially better than their previous two, just missing the top-40 at #41. The song also was a minor hit in England as well (#59).

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In 2003, dance music producer Todd Edwards sampled the song for the single "You're The One"...

..and Disney tween star Drew Seeley did a version of the song for the soundtrack to Wizards of Waverly Place...

The original America, though, would go on to one more top-40 hit ("The Border"), and their 2007 release Here & Now made the top half of the albums chart.

Up tomorrow: German-born Army-brat rocker goes back to Ridgemont High.