“Midnight Magic” and Pure Energy, the R&B/funk/dance group that brought it to life and
will release it September 8, have more in common than creator/creationLisa wrote the vocals and the melody. Curtis Hudson, lead guitarist and vocals, added
the funk twist, brother Ray Hudson is the bass guitarist, and together they have put
some magic in “Midnight Magic.” The song is a hot, hopping, purely fun dance track

And the video tells visual stories of people waking to the magic of midnight, showcases
Curt and Ray in all their glorious funk, and if Lisa’s magnificent, soaring vocals don’t
levitate you right off the floor, you might be dead.
Pure Energy — Curtis, Lisa and Ray — are also looking for some magic at midnight.
The song was written back in the early ’80s, when the group was hot but the music
industry was often geared more toward snuffing fire instead of sparking it.
Pure Energy disbanded in 1984, at least as a performing, recording entity.
Until this year.“We were always trying to put songs out on other artists,” said Ray. “We decided ‘Hey,
we need to try to get some exposure for some of this material we have,’ like Madonna
and other people we started working with. And we found that that was working for us.”
Madonna and a song she made famous, “Holiday,” illustrate the point. Curtis and Lisa
wrote “Holiday,” regarded as the single that really launched Madonna’s career.
“We actually wrote that song for our group, Pure Energy,” said Lisa. “We presented it to
our record company, and they said it wasn’t a hit. And Madonna did it and, you know,
the rest is history.”
“We thought we could have done ‘Holiday,’ but our record company didn’t hear it for
us,” said Ray. “That kind of helped us decide we need to go a different direction.”
The group formed in the mid-’70s. Their first single, “Party On,” made it to No. 7 on the
Billboard Dance Charts. Members of the group served as writers and producers for
other artists, including Jean Carne, Maxine Singleton, Wranda Rawlins and Lauriece
Hudson. Curt wrote and produced “Body Work,” which became a hit for the group Hot Streak on
its platinum soundtrack for the movie Breakin’. “Body Work” was also sampled by Missy
Elliot for her 2005 worldwide hit “Lose Control,” which was nominated for Best Rap
Song at the Grammys and won a Grammy for best short form music video.
Curtis also co-wrote the song “Remember Us” for John Legend, which earned Legend a
Grammy for Best R&B Artist in 2021. With his and Lisa’s son, Eric Hudson, Curtis also
co-wrote two songs on the Isley Brothers’ new album, Make Me Say It Again Girl. Curt
and Eric teamed up to produce “Midnight Magic.”
Eric himself is a five-time Grammy winning producer who has written and produced for
such artists as Whitney Houston, Kanye West, Mariah Carey, John Legend, Usher, and
The Weekend. Now, Lisa, Ray and Curtis are ending almost 40 years of temporary disbandment. They never stopped believing in Pure Energy. They never stopped performing, writing and
collaborating.