Abracadabra (song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2009)

"Abracadabra"
Single by Steve Miller Band
from the album Abracadabra
Released	1982
Format	7", CD single
Genre	Rock, New Wave
Length	5:08
Label	Capitol Records
Producer	Steve Miller Gary Mallaber
Steve Miller Band singles chronology
"Heart Like a Wheel" (1981) "Abracadabra" (1982)

"Abracadabra" is a well-recognized song recorded by the Steve Miller Band.

Released as the main single from Abracadabra in June 1982, it became a number-one hit on the United States Billboard Hot 100 chart, and also hit number two on the UK charts. It followed Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" (from Rocky III) on the Hot 100, and preceded Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry". After Chicago's ballad ended its two-week stay at number one, "Abracadabra" re-assumed the top spot on the U.S. charts for an additional week on September 25. John Cougar's "Jack and Diane" dislodged the Steve Miller Band's final number-one hit from the top on October 2.

The song is said to have been inspired by the american singer Diana Ross with whom the band met filming TV shows in the 1960's.

This song holds the record for the biggest drop out of the Top 10/Top 40 on the Hot 100. In the fall of 1982, as the song was moving down the chart, "Abracadabra" fell 38 spots from #10 to #48 in one week.

The song is listed at #70 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of all time.[1]

Cover versions of the song have been performed by Sugar Ray on their album 14:59 and by Mike Chapman Band.

A version lasting 3 minutes and 41 seconds appears on a CD of Songs hand-picked by Guy Fieri titled Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives:Road Songs That Rock

Another CD that has the single version is from the Time-Life Label Sounds of the Eighties: 1980–1982.

Preceded by "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor	Billboard Hot 100 number-one single September 4, 1982 September 25, 1982	Succeeded by "Hard to Say I'm Sorry" by Chicago
Preceded by "The Other Woman" by Ray Parker, Jr.	Australian Kent Music Report number-one single September 6, 1982 – September 13, 1982	Succeeded by "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor

v • d • e Steve Miller Band Steve Miller • Norton Buffalo • Gordy Knudtson • Kenny Lee Lewis • Billy Peterson • Joseph Wooten James "Curley" Cooke • Tim Davis • Les Dudek • Lonnie Turner • Jim Peterman • Craymore Stevens • Boz Scaggs • Glyn Johns • Ben Sidran • Nicky Hopkins • Bobby Winkelman • Jack King • Ross Valory • David Denny • Jesse Davis • Gerald Johnson • Gary Mallaber • Dicky Thompson • Jim Keltner • Roger Allen Clark • "Sneaky" Pete Kleinow • Byron Allred • Greg Douglass • John Massaro • Bob Malach • Billy Peterson • Ricky Peterson • Leo Sidran Studio albums Children of the Future • Sailor • Brave New World • Your Saving Grace • Number 5 • Rock Love • Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden • The Joker • Fly Like an Eagle • Book of Dreams • Circle of Love • Abracadabra • Italian X Rays • Living in the 20th Century • Born 2 B Blue (Steve Miller solo album) • Wide River • Fly Like an Eagle (30th Anniversary Edition) Live albums Steve Miller Band Live! • King Biscuit Flower Hour Presents the Steve Miller Band • Live in Chicago Compilations Anthology • Living in the U.S.A. • Greatest Hits 1974–1978 • The Very Best of the Steve Miller Band • Box Set • Young Hearts Singles "The Joker" • "Take the Money and Run" • "Rock'n Me" • "Fly Like an Eagle" • "Jet Airliner" • "Jungle Love" • "Swingtown" • "Heart Like a Wheel" • "Abracadabra" Songs "Mercury Blues" • "You Send Me"