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Walter Egan — Magnet and Steel
Album: Not Shy
Avg rating:
6.4

Your rating:
Total ratings: 873









Released: 1978
Length: 3:18
Plays (last 30 days): 0
Ooh, ooh, ah
Now I told you so you ought to know
Ooh, it takes some time for a feelin' to grow
Ooh, you're so close now I can't let you go
Ooh and I can't let go

With you I'm not shy to show the way I feel
With you I might try my secrets to reveal
For you are a magnet and I am steel

I can't hope that I'll hold you for long
Ooh, you're a woman who's lost to your song
Ooh but the love that I feel is so strong
Ooh and it can't be wrong

With you I'm not shy to show the way I feel
With you I might try my secrets to reveal
For you are a magnet and I am steel
Ooh, ooh, ooh
Comments (100)add comment
This came out when I was in high school. I liked it then and it still sounds good to me today. After all these years I still recognize it right away from those opening strums in that triplet rhythm.

According to the man himself, this song is about Stevie.
Killin' me Bill!  Hahahahaha...
 slaskey wrote:
I can hear the radio playing back in the day    Magnet and Steel, leading into Gold- Jon Stewart - the RIde Like the Wind Christopher Cross
 
This song and Gold both feature vocals by Stevie Nicks. Great 70s MOR radio staples.
I can hear the radio playing back in the day    Magnet and Steel, leading into Gold- Jon Stewart - the RIde Like the Wind Christopher Cross
Always loved this song as a kid, thanks for playing!
i love this so much. thank you for the memory!! 
Enunciation: "You are a magnet, I am stee-yul."
 jelgator wrote:
10 all day for this song.

Suck it for all y'all who didn't grow up in the 70's!



You said it Jelgator!!!
 EdEastridge wrote:

Considering it was produced by Lindsey Buckingham with Stevie and Lindsey singing backup, it wasn't too far off from a FM song of that era.


Now, that is an interesting piece of trivia.  As Johnny Carson used to say, "I did not know that."    Now that I have this piece of info, I can hear her voice in the background fer sure.  I always thought this was an awful song and thought that RP was trying to play a joke on us, just for grins, ya know?  No, they are begging us to remain open minded and git an educashun!
"It's couples skate. Couples only on the rink floor for this song. Guys grab you gal. Ladies grab your guy ... "
I remember at the 1978 Texxas Jam at the Cotton Bowl, of about 12 acts, this guy was one of the first two.  Reading the audience, he boomed up the bass and drums to try to turn this, his one known song, into a rocker.  It didn't quite work, but he tried.
Big hit back in the day...Still sounds pretty darn good.
 EdEastridge wrote:

Considering it was produced by Lindsey Buckingham with Stevie and Lindsey singing backup, it wasn't too far off from a FM song of that era.


I was 18 when this was released and it was certainly FM dreck then. 

Now? 

Not much has changed. 
Oh so moody in that photo. So pained and angst ridden. 

Was probably popular at high school dances way back when.

Really bad today. Sorry RP.
Good lord, I love this song. It's not one I'll seek out and play on my own, but when I hear it, I get a big smile on my face.
Good old good one. Fell in love with this playing in the background. Sweet memories.
On the AM station it was this or Debbie Gibson...I will take this...
A darned good pop record for when it came out on the radio. I liked it then and I guess I still do.
Won't go sucko barfo on it, but I've always thought this is one of the worst songs that ever climbed the charts. Boring melody, stupid lyrics. Nothing going for it.

One of the most disappointing selections for RP. Can't imagine why some of my submission haven't been picked up when this one made it.

To each his own. Walter Egan's forgotten more about singing and song writing than I ever knew or will know.
Now, who thought of putting a toy piano in the chorus?
The song is certainly fluff but it has a great hook. Deserves a 7.
And I had almost forgotten ~
10 all day for this song.

Suck it for all y'all who didn't grow up in the 70's!

Never liked this overplayed song and I give it a 1.  I give Bill a 10 for playing it.
Cheese!
I’ll go 9 on this one Always enjoy it !
Okay, just gave this the 5 that it deserves.  It even seemed catchy but bland when I was a teenager.  But...thank you for putting this out there.  Nothing wrong with Radio Paradise doing a little nostalgia tour on occasion.
Waaaa! I haven't heard this in forever! Love it!
 Baby_M wrote:
I've never been particularly attracted to "Magnet and Steel."  I suppose it's ferrous to say that the song can be quite polarizing.
 
Great comment! You can really hear the alchemy workings of Lindsey and Stevie turning this into gold. Otherwise I suspect there would have been a negative attraction. 
why isn't there a rating below "SUCKO BARFO"?

cuz this would be it
guilty pleasure...
Bill, you're on a roll here!  So many good songs in a row I can't bring myself to leave the room with the good stereo!  Haven't heard this in an age.  What a great blast from the past!  
This song is kind of corny. But I really like it!
Seriously?  OK, sure.
Yacht Rock!
anything with Stevie
 thewiseking wrote:
such poetry! 
You are Ring Around the Collar, I am the Wisk
 
Thanks. Made me laugh out loud.
Man,
time traveler sweet spot Thank You Spontaneity  adoration!
Seriously.....?
 Hoosfoos wrote:
Stainless steel is non-magnetic.
 
It depends; there are several different types of steels - a number of which are stainless and magnetic.
Stainless steel is non-magnetic.
I've never been particularly attracted to "Magnet and Steel."  I suppose it's ferrous to say that the song can be quite polarizing.
Reminds me of 8th grade.  He worked with Lindsey Buckingham.
now That's a guitar solo! and I love the toy piano
I could have gone another decade without hearing this.
 pfreet wrote:
Solid 6, but gets a bump for awesome nostalgia. Thanks for playing this.

 
I give it a 5 for nostalgia.


The harmonies are very nice. Something lacking today. 
K-tel records at their finest!
Perhaps it's nostalgia, but I love this song.
Wow! The worst of the 70s.  So bad, I can't stop listening to it! {#Roflol}
 SmackDaddy wrote:
Seriously?

 
Yes, for serious.
 SchoepTone wrote:
I can see myself slow dancing with that girl at the 9th grade dance, trying not to step on her feet. Memories . . . 

 
aww
One of my favorite songs from the 70's.
such poetry! 
You are Ring Around the Collar, I am the Wisk
By all measures of taste I should hate this, but I don't. Nostalgia for you.
Seriously?
 haresfur wrote:
Yep, I still hate it.
 
That's possibly because you never listened to it while inside a Faraday cage.  Electromagnetic euphoria!!  Plus there's the irony (pun intended) of an album titled "Not Shy" which has a picture of a guy who looks like a frightened teenager on its cover.
A late 70's rock/pop nugget not normally seen on this part of the dial; but I still love this song, for sentimental reasons. Another thing that it's nice to hear Bill play occasionally, just another add to the mix. Ahhhhh, Greensboro 78, long-gone days and people.
I can see myself slow dancing with that girl at the 9th grade dance, trying not to step on her feet. Memories . . . 
disliked it then, dislike it now.
Yep, I still hate it.
Solid 6, but gets a bump for awesome nostalgia. Thanks for playing this.
'70s song and production corn. 
 ploba wrote:
thought it was fleetwood mac....i remember loving this song when i was in highschool!

 
It was probably pointed out earlier in this thread, but Lindsey Buckingham produced this song - he and Stevie sing back-up vocals on it as well.
 xtalman wrote:

Yep, I thought the same thing.  Good memories, song is dated though.

 
Considering it was produced by Lindsey Buckingham with Stevie and Lindsey singing backup, it wasn't too far off from a FM song of that era.
Thank you ... this transported me back to 1978 in my aunt & uncle's living room in Orange Co, CA.  It was a lovely trip on this cold and rainy Ohio day.
from a time when everything with a Mac would be played on the radio.
Wow, haven't heard this in a long time. Haven't missed it,
Am I listening to Radio Paradise or "cheerful tunes for elderly ladies"**?
 
**(with all due credit to Grant Naylor for that turn of phrase)
 ploba wrote:
thought it was fleetwood mac....i remember loving this song when i was in highschool!

 
Yep, I thought the same thing.  Good memories, song is dated though.
I love the guitar solo! So swarmy
One of my first buys. I was 12.
It really has some nice harmonies and a woozy melody. Cool.  i wish I could sing like that, 
Good memories with this one. Met the wife-to-be, finishing up college. 
Just the kind of flashback to bring me to my childhood in the middle of my "second shift" at work.  Whoo-ooo-ooo-ooo!!
 nutrod42 wrote:
Great blast from the past. I heard this was written about Stevie.

 
Flash back indeed.  Didn't remember the child piano sound in the background on the chorus.
aye carumba!  '78! this was on the jukebox while I had my first deep french tongue-wrestling match with Claire whats-her-name, whoa man that was super fun   : p
Great blast from the past. I heard this was written about Stevie.
 ploba wrote:
thought it was fleetwood mac....i remember loving this song when i was in highschool!

 
He was the "5th" Mac member.
I have always loved this silly song...especially that "guitar solo"
This qualifies as a 'dashboard' song--one of those memories when you could still sit in the front seat of your parents car yet not see over the dashboard. 
You probably weren't buckled up either.  
 jocelynsart wrote:
Omg I haven't heard this song since I was in grade school lol! I forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me! :-)

 
I forgot about it too.  Thanks 
 KurtfromLaQuinta wrote:
good stuff from a fleetwood mac helper.
 
Yes it is.  
Omg I haven't heard this song since I was in grade school lol! I forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me! :-)
Bill, what are you doing????
thought it was fleetwood mac....i remember loving this song when i was in highschool!
 ANNE_MARIE wrote:
whoa...flashback. nice.
 
Flashback yes.  Nice?  Not so much.  Just getting a chuckle out of how cheesy this sounds today.
This song needs to go on another 11 year vacation...
Aaaughgh! NO NO NO! I NEVER thought I'd have to hear this sonic drivel AGAIN! And CERTAINLY not on RP! NO! NO! :verysorry: :verysorry: :verysorry:
ChardRemains wrote:
Guess again, bud. This song is at least 25 years old. And I still love it, even if it is girlmusic.
Might explain why it appears on the BOOGIE NIGHTS soundtrack, since that movie takes place 25 years ago.
stevebeaver wrote:
BOOGIE NIGHTS soundtrack, eh? Now I keep thinking of Heather Graham.
Guess again, bud. This song is at least 25 years old. And I still love it, even if it is girlmusic.
Living where I live does have a few drawbacks. As beautiful as the area is, the radio is paltry and the mountains keep the better stations in the Portland area from getting through to me. My point is that I can hear this song on our small town stations quite often. I love RP (new subscriber) and listen to it NOT to hear the same stuff played quite consistently on my radio dial. I'd be happy if Bill and Rebecca played something else off this album even. Still love RP!
LOVEITLOVEITLOVEIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D
damien wrote:
I heard that the back up singers on this song are actually Lindsay Buckingham & Stevie Nicks.
I've heard that too. Great song, brings back lots of memories.
great pick-up line "hey baby...you are a magnet and I am steel"
good stuff from a fleetwood mac helper.
I heard that the back up singers on this song are actually Lindsay Buckingham & Stevie Nicks.
BOOGIE NIGHTS soundtrack, eh? Now I keep thinking of Heather Graham.
Great "old" song full of memories.IMO