"Abracadabra" is a song by American rock group

Steve Miller Band The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock, as ...

, written by Steve Miller. The song was released as the first single from the 1982 album of the same name the same year.

Origins

The song is said to have been inspired by the American singer

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

, whom Miller had met when they each performed on the same episode of the pop music television show '' Hullabaloo'' in the 1960s. The lyrics "Round and round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows" are a reference to the spinning wheel segment from ''

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''. Speaking on ''

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'' in June 2016, Miller said at first his record company

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

did not 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 everywhere in the world, except the States." After seeing its success overseas, Capitol released it in the U.S. and it also climbed to . Upon release, ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' said the song "mixes sly lyric, soulful vocal, and Miller's guitar wizardry."

Commercial performance

The song became a worldwide hit, charting in ten countries and topping the charts in six. In the U.S., the song was on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks, becoming the band's third number one hit in the U.S. along with "

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" and "

Rock'n Me "Rock'n Me" (also known as "Rock 'N Me" or "Rock 'N' Me") is a song by American rock band Steve Miller Band, released in 1976 from the band's ninth studio album ''Fly Like an Eagle'' (1976). It was written by primary band leader and songwriter ...

". It was knocked off the top by

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's "

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", only to return to two weeks later. A similar occurrence happened in 1976, when "Rock'n Me" knocked Chicago's "

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" out of the spot. The song also showed substantial longevity, spending fourteen weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100 chart. "Abracadabra" is listed at on ''Billboard'' Hot 100 60th Anniversary chart.

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 ''

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'' 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 Guy Ramsay Fieri (, ; '' né'' Ferry; born January 22, 1968) is an American restaurateur, author, and an Emmy Award winning television presenter. He co-owns three restaurants in California, licenses his name to restaurants in New York City, Las ...

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. The video also features an appearance by

Joan Severance Joan Marie Severance (December 23, 1958) is an American actress and former fashion model. Early life Severance was born in Houston, Texas, the daughter of Martha and John C. Severance. Her father was an IBM systems manager who had to move fre ...

Track listings

7" 45 RPM

Side one #"Abracadabra" (single version; note: UK 7" version is an exclusive edit – see above for details) Side two #"Baby Wanna Dance" (North American release) #

"Never Say No" (European release)

12" Maxi

North American release

Side one #"Abracadabra" (album version) Side two #"Macho City" (album version)

European release

Side one #"Abracadabra" (album version) Side two #"Never Say No" (album version)

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Notable cover versions

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covered the song on the 2019 cover album ''Eagles of Death Metal Presents Boots Electric Performing the Best Songs We Never Wrote''. * Filipino singer and current Journey frontman Arnel Pineda covered the song along with

Whitesnake Whitesnake are an English hard rock band formed in London in 1978. The group was originally put together as the backing band for singer David Coverdale, who had recently left Deep Purple. Though the band quickly developed into their own entit ...

's Joel Hoekstra,

Billy Sheehan William Sheehan (born March 19, 1953) is an American musician. He is best known for playing the bass guitar with acts such as Talas, Steve Vai, David Lee Roth, Mr. Big, Niacin, and The Winery Dogs. He is also known for his "lead bass" playin ...

, Lenny Castro, Van Romaine and Ollie Marland.

Depictions in popular media

"Abracadabra" was used in the season 12 episode "The Witches of Langley" of the animated television series ''

American Dad! ''American Dad!'' is an American animated sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane, Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since 2014, the series has been airing new episodes on TBS. ''American Dad!'' is the first television ...

'' during a musical montage when Steve and his friends take up witchcraft to gain popularity at school. It was also used in the 2013 film '' The Incredible Burt Wonderstone''. It was also played in an audition scene in the 2021 film ''

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''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abracadabra (Steve Miller Band Song) 1982 songs 1982 singles Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles Cashbox number-one singles Number-one singles in Australia Number-one singles in Austria European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Sweden Number-one singles in Switzerland RPM Top Singles number-one singles Steve Miller Band songs Songs written by Steve Miller (musician) Capitol Records singles Mercury Records singles Song recordings produced by Steve Miller Song recordings produced by Gary Mallaber