A-side "A Brand New Day" Format 7" single Genre R&B, soul | Released 1979 Recorded 1977 | |
B-side "Liberation Ballet - A Brand New Day" | ||
"A Brand New Day", also known as "Everybody Rejoice", is a song from the 1975 Broadway musical The Wiz written by American R&B singer and songwriter Luther Vandross. (In 1976 Vandross recorded a version of the song for his album Luther, on Cotillion records). In the play, the song is sung to celebrate because Dorothy has killed Evilene, the tyrannical Wicked Witch of the West. Dorothy, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the Scarecrow sing the song with the newly freed Winkies, who were ruled and enslaved by Evilene. It was later featured in the 1978 film version, sung by cast members Diana Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, and Ted Ross (credited as The Wiz Stars). Given the all-Black cast of The Wiz, the song's many references to freedom and new possibilities, (especially as sung by African American characters who had just been freed from enslavement) certainly invoked the struggles and history of Blacks in America. In the onscreen version of the song, Nipsey Russell can even be heard exclaiming "Free at last!"—a reference to Civil Rights activist Martin Luther King Jr. (His impromptu addition to the song is not heard on the soundtrack album version, instead replaced by sung vocals by Diana Ross).
The film version was released as a single in some continental European countries and peaked at #1 in Belgium and The Netherlands.
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The single release is an edit of the first half of the song, which in its entirety runs 7:49 on the film's soundtrack. It is backed by the second half of the song, which is labeled as "Liberation Ballet - A Brand New Day." The "Liberation Ballet" is primarily instrumental and is composed of uptempo dance music in a variety of styles, with the film's cast and choir cheering and singing "Can you feel the brand new day" throughout the piece.
The song was also featured in the Family Guy episode "Barely Legal."