Monkey Magic

Way back in 1980, the BBC were still releasing TV themes as singles, and strangely enough 'Monkey Magic' made it as one of the select few. Released on their label as a 7 inch single RESL 81, it featured three tracks from the 'Magic Monkey' album, namely an edited version of 'Monkey Magic' on side 1, and 'Gandhara' and 'Thank You Baby' on Side 2. For Monkey purists, note that Gandhara has one verse sung in Japanese and the other in English.

Click here for the lyrics of "Monkey Magic"

[Download a MIDI file of "Monkey Magic" from the Monkey Sounds page!]

Click here for the guitar tabs for "Monkey Magic"

In 1995 Warren Pilkington was stumbling around some old records at a car boot sale and he managed to find a copy of this sacred single for a mere 50p! Unfortunately the previous owner was some little brat called 'Kurt' who insisted on writing his name on the sleeve and also defacing Monkey and Tripitaka with glasses as well as outlining Sandy's cleaver.

Warren is on the hunt for extra copies of the Monkey Magic single and is currently setting up a list of people who want one. If you do, then please e-mail Warren: wazzaw@freeuk.com and he will add you to the list of people who want one. First come first served, so get your name down early. I'm first on the list (after Warren of course) so he has to find at least 2 copies beforehand.

By the way, it's because of this song, and the nostalgia associated with it that lots of people are under the misconception that the series is called 'Monkey Magic', when in actual fact it was always called just 'Monkey'.

Originally, a touched-up image of Warren's defaced Monkey Magic sleeve was displayed below! However, thanks to Steve: junk@globalnet.co.uk, I now have a scanned picture of the sleeve without any markings on it. Ok, it's a bit worn, but bear in mind:

  • It's an extremely old record - nearly 20 years old now!
  • Steve says "The cover looks so worn cos we used to play monkey while listening to the tune when we were younger!!"

    So, without further ado, here's the front and back of this sacred sleeve (many, many thanks to Steve!)

    Monkey Magic single (front of sleeve) Monkey Magic single (back of sleeve)


    Where to buy it

    A good place to find this single in the UK is the rare record shop Screenthemes (which specialises in TV themes) which gets it in occasionally:




    Back to the Monkey Music - Individual Songs page