Their only 80's hit and made a video for it.


Also who was the guy singing lead in this song and what was the name of the other man who sung the other songs like Tin Man and Horse With No Name?

I believe the lead singer on "You Can Do Magic" is Gerry Beckley, and the man who sang lead on "Tin Man" and the others is Dewey Bunnell.

Dewey Bunnell and Gerry Beckley ?

I've always loved the music but don't know much about them.

Bill :)

sorry, didn't see that I was beaten to it, LOL

Did they ever name the dang horse ? I never understood how they could have used it to get through the desert, yet failed to name the horse.

No...no name for that horse! :D

America carried on into the 80s as a duo (despite in performances seeing 3 guys singing). Original member Dan Peek left to do Christian oriented music.

"You Can Do Magic" was a good step into the decade but they never did anything as good following it. As we know,in the 80s,a lot of great 70s acts took a back seat to the "new wave". Not just the,then,new,British acts coming in but the younger American groups also.

In all (including singles not making the Hot 100,America had 19 singles in all. Dotted lines indicate next LP.

From Wikipedia:

AMERICA:
A Horse With No Name #1

I Need You #9 (sometimes mistaken as C,S & N.)
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"Homecoming":
Ventura Highway #8 (Alligator lizards in the air is a reference to cloud shapes).

Don't Cross The River #35
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"Hat Trick":
Only In Your Heart #62

Muskrat Love #67 (still heard on light rock stations)
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"Holiday":
Tin Man #4

Lonely People #5
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"Hearts":
Sister Golden Hair #1 (on my birthday in '75)

Daisy Jane #20

Woman Tonight #44
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"Hideaway":
Today's The Day #23

Amber Cascades #75 (neat title though)
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"Harbor":
California Dreamin' #56 (also from movie sndtk)
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"Silent Letter":
Only Game In Town #107
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"View From The ground":
You Can Do Magic #8

Right Before Your Eyes #45
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"Your Move":
The Border #33 in 1983
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"Perspective":
Special Girl #106 1984

[ May 05, 2007, 18:54: Message edited by: Borderstone ]

I heard somewhere that the members of America were all US Air Force serving in England in the early 1970's, they formed a band. That would explain "Sandman." I have all their albums, and their music is closely related to many of my memories of the 1970's. My favorite is their first album,untitled but known as "Horse with no name." Attended their concert in Reno in 1998.Also, here's an odd fact: all of America's albums start with the letter "H."

If anyone's ever heard Janet Jackson's Let's Wait a While, the melody sounds like a take off of Daisy Jane.

Touhy,I have Janet's 1986 "Control" album and you are quite correct. The two are very similar,in fact it says that they are @ Wikipedia.

I'd never have known that at all in 1986 though.

Actually Rick,their first album is named after the group. :) After that they get into that habit of naming each LP with an "H" word. It started out accidentally but then when they noticed,thewy did it unpurpose. :D

Actually, RenoRick, they were all SONS of US Air Force personnel stationed in the UK. They met as teenagers. You were very close, though.

Rick,hopefully youread my above list of LPs,but only their '70s LPs have the H in the titles. (Except for their debut LP and Silent Letter). ;)

OK, sorry if I'm not 100% accurate, but that's great that I can be corrected with grace. This site rocks!

I saw them at Rockfest in Cadott, Wisconsin a few years ago. As they were playing some of their beautiful music, a plane or planes circled overhead. It was such a nice moment.

[ May 11, 2007, 22:32: Message edited by: Patti ]