"That Old Black Magic" is a swing-era popular song with music by Harold Arlen and lyrics by Johnny Mercer. Written in 1942 for the film Star Spangled Rhythm, where Johnny Johnston sang it and Vera Zorina danced to it, it was composed with Judy Garland in mind, and Mercer wrote the whole song in about three hours. The song was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1943 but lost to "You'll Never Know".
The first recording was made by Gordon Jenkins and his Orchestra on 9 July 1942, followed by Judy Garland for Decca later that month. Glenn Miller and His Orchestra, with Skip Nelson and The Modernaires, recorded it on 15 July 1942 for RCA Victor. Their version reached number 1 on Billboard in May 1943, Miller's last number-one hit. Later recordings include versions by Margaret Whiting with Freddie Slack, Sammy Davis Jr., Louis Prima and Keely Smith, Bobby Rydell, and Frank Sinatra (1946 and 1961). Billy Daniels's recording became his trademark. Marilyn Monroe sang the song in Bus Stop (1956).
