Their most notable songs included smooth soul ballads such as "Sideshow", "Spell", "What’s Come Over Me", "Three Ring Circus", and "Stop to Start".
[1] Blue Magic was formed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1972 when former member of The Delfonics, Randy Cain, brought in singer-songwriter Ted Mills to do some writing with the Philly-based WMOT production company to create a new band.
A short time later the group Shades of Love, featuring Keith Beaton, Richard Pratt, Vernon Sawyer and his brother Wendell, came in to audition.
(According to Marc Taylor in his book A Touch of Classic Soul of the Early 1970s, "although the group performed admirably, they lacked a standout lead singer".)
They inserted Shades of Love (which they owned contractually) with Ted Mills and retitled the group Blue Magic.
[3] Their second release was the uptempo "Look Me Up"; which reached number 36, stayed on the R&B chart for 11 weeks, and was popular on the early disco scene.
The song "What's Come Over Me" from their debut album was re-worked as a duet with Margie Joseph dubbed in alongside Mills' original lead vocals.
They have shared the stage with other performers such as The Jacksons, Lionel Richie, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Natalie Cole, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Spinners, Earth, Wind & Fire, New Edition, The Stylistics, Mick Jagger and others.
After sibling singers Vernon and Wendell Sawyer left, the remaining two members Mills and Beaton hired two other singers and traveled to Los Angeles, California, to record with Skip Scarborough and some members of the popular group Earth Wind & Fire on the album Message from the Magic.
[9] Mills appeared and gave two concerts for the audiences at the 2014 Soul Train Cruise in February 2014 on the Holland America Eurodam.
On March 11, 2018, Blue Magic reunited to appear on the television series, Unsung on TV One season 12, episode 4.
Vernon Sawyer has his own version of the group, while Richard Pratt led another one at the time of his death in 2022.