Abracadabra (Steve Miller Band song)

Origins

The song is said to have been inspired by the American singer Diana Ross, whom Miller had met when they each performed on the same episode of the pop music TV show Hullabaloo in the 1960s. Speaking on The Howard Stern Show in June 2016, Miller said, at first his record company Capitol Records didn't see the potential hit it would become. "Capitol didn't believe in it and didn't want to release it. I had a different deal with Phonogram in Europe. When it came out in Europe, I cancelled my American tour because it was Number One everywhere in the world, except the States." After seeing its success overseas, Capitol released it in the U.S. and it also climbed to number one.

Success

The song became a worldwide hit, charting in ten countries and topping the charts in six countries, and has become one of the band's biggest hits, along with "The Joker" and "Rock'n Me". In the U.S., the song was #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks. It was knocked off the top by Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry", only to return to #1 two weeks later. A similar occurrence happened in 1976, when Steve Miller Band's "Rock'n Me" knocked Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now" out of the #1 spot. The song also showed substantial longevity, spending fourteen weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100 chart. "Abracadabra" is listed at #70 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.

Alternate versions

The UK single version has never yet appeared on CD. It is 3:33 and is an exclusive edit where the chorus is edited back in at 3:06 and repeats to fade. The non-UK single version of the song appears in several Steve Miller Band compilation albums such as Young Hearts as well as on the Time-Life compilation Sounds of the Eighties: 1980–1982 and on a CD of songs hand-picked by Guy Fieri titled Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives: Road Songs That Rock. Capitol issued an alternative version on a promotional 12" single (Capitol Records #SPRO 9797) for radio airplay; it featured a slightly slower tempo, removal of the second verse and first chorus, and a slightly earlier fade than the LP version. A live version of the song was released on Steve Miller Band Live! in 1983.

Music video

The video features magicians in a white room performing tricks and other illusions with a female assistant. Since Miller himself was touring Europe at the time and unavailable for the shoot, he appears in the video only in a series of photos, wearing sunglasses or having his eyes covered with a black bar.

7" 45 RPM

1. "Abracadabra [Single version]" (Note: UK 7" version is an exclusive edit - see above for details)

1. "Baby Wanna Dance" (North American release)
1. "Never Say No" (European release)

North American release

1. "Abracadabra" [Album version]
2. "Abracadabra" [Single version]

1. "Macho City" [Album version]

European release

1. "Abracadabra" [Album version]

1. "Never Say No" [Album version]

Covers

Cover versions of the song have been performed by Sugar Ray on their album 14:59 and by the Mike Chapman Band. A live version by the Belgian band Das Pop appeared on their 2004 DVD-single Love is Fair. The song was also covered by Australian jazz/folk group Flap! on their self-titled debut album (2010). John Parr and Rick Wakeman covered this song, which was released in 2013 on the album Fly Like An Eagle: An All-Star Tribute to Steve Miller Band. In an Alarm für Cobra 11 episode "Tödlicher Ruhm" (Deadly Fame) Mark Keller and Scooter performed a cover of this song.