Abracadabra | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
![]() | ||||
Studio album by | ||||
Released | June 15, 1982 | |||
Recorded | 1981 | |||
Studio | Capitol, Hollywood, California | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 37:08 | |||
Label | Capitol | |||
Producer | Steve Miller, Gary Mallaber | |||
Steve Miller Band chronology | ||||
| ||||
Singles from Abracadabra | ||||
|
Abracadabra is the twelfth studio album by American rock band Steve Miller Band. The album was released on June 15, 1982, by Capitol Records.
Abracadabra charted in nine countries, including Germany where the record reached No. 1 for a week. [6] Four singles were released from the album in various countries: the title track, "Cool Magic" (#57 on the Billboard Hot 100), [7] "Keeps Me Wondering Why", and "Give It Up", with the title song charting the highest at #1 on the pop chart.
Unlike most of the band's previous efforts, most of the album was not composed by lead singer/guitarist Steve Miller. Drummer Gary Mallaber had brought in a handful of demos from another band he was in called Tracker (which other Steve Miller Band members John Massaro and Byron Allred were also a part of, along with ex-members Lonnie Turner and Greg Douglass) in hopes that one of them would be used for the album. Miller ultimately opted to use all of the demos, resulting in Mallaber receiving an impressive eight co-writing credits. [8] Miller, meanwhile, produced two of his own songs; the title track and the "Heart Like a Wheel"-soundalike "Give It Up".
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Billboard said of "Cool Magic" that it's a "catchy midtempo pop tune that takes dead aim at car radios everywhere." [12] Billboard also described it as being "harder rocking" than the title track. [12] Cash Box called it "a light, straightahead pop/rocker that, in places, brings to mind the Beach Boys or the Beatles." [13]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Keeps Me Wondering Why" | Gary Mallaber, Kenny Lee Lewis | 3:43 |
2. | "Abracadabra" | Steve Miller | 5:08 |
3. | "Something Special" | Mallaber, Lonnie Turner, Greg Douglass | 3:35 |
4. | "Give It Up" | Miller | 3:35 |
5. | "Never Say No" | Mallaber, John Massaro, Lewis | 3:37 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
6. | "Things I Told You" | Mallaber, Massaro | 3:15 |
7. | "Young Girl's Heart" | Mallaber, Massaro | 3:33 |
8. | "Goodbye Love" | Mallaber, Douglass, Turner | 2:53 |
9. | "Cool Magic" | Mallaber, Lewis | 4:23 |
10. | "While I'm Waiting" | Mallaber, Massaro | 3:26 |
Additional personnel
Technical
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [28] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
Canada (Music Canada) [29] | Platinum | 100,000^ |
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [30] | Gold | 10,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [31] | Silver | 60,000^ |
United States (RIAA) [32] | Platinum | 1,000,000^ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Toto IV is the fourth studio album by American rock band Toto, released on April 8, 1982, by Columbia Records. The album's lead single, "Rosanna", peaked at number 2 for five weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 charts, while the album's third single, "Africa", topping the Hot 100 chart, became the group's first and only number 1 hit. Both songs were hits in the UK as well, reaching number 12 and 3, respectively. The fourth single, "I Won't Hold You Back", also peaked within the top ten on the Hot 100, at number 10 and atop the Billboard Adult Contemporary charts for three weeks. It also went into the top 40 in the UK. With the success of "Africa", the album climbed back into the top 10 in early 1983 on both sides of the Atlantic.
The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. 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 radio, as well as several earlier psychedelic rock albums. Miller left his first band to move to San Francisco and form the Steve Miller Blues Band. Shortly after Harvey Kornspan negotiated the band's contract with Capitol Records in 1967, the band shortened its name to the Steve Miller Band. In February 1968, the band recorded its debut album, Children of the Future. It went on to produce the albums Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace, Number 5, The Joker, Fly Like an Eagle, and Book of Dreams, among others. The band's album Greatest Hits 1974–78, released in 1978, has sold over 13 million copies. In 2016, Steve Miller was inducted as a solo artist into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Unplugged is a 1992 live album by Eric Clapton, recorded at Bray Studios, England in front of an audience for the MTV Unplugged television series. It includes a version of the successful 1992 single "Tears in Heaven" and an acoustic version of "Layla". The album itself won three Grammy awards at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards in 1993 and became the bestselling live album of all time, and Clapton's bestselling album, selling 26 million copies worldwide.
Fly Like an Eagle is the ninth studio album by American rock band Steve Miller Band, released on May 14, 1976, by Capitol Records in the United States, Canada and Japan and Mercury Records in Europe. The album was a commercial success, spawning three hit singles: the title track, "Take the Money and Run" and "Rock'n Me", and eventually received a quadruple platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Business as Usual is the debut studio album by Australian new wave band Men at Work, which was released in November 1981 in Australia, and April 1982 in the United States. It spent nine weeks at the top of the Australian Kent Music Report Albums Chart from December 1981 through to March 1982. The Australian version had a black and white cover design; overseas releases had a similar design, but in a black and yellow colour scheme. Business as Usual was one of the most successful albums internationally by an Australian group. It spent an unprecedented 15 weeks at No. 1 on the US Billboard 200 from late 1982 to early 1983; and five weeks at No. 1 in the United Kingdom Albums Chart in early 1983. Business as Usual was also one of the highest selling Australian albums in the early 1980s, with 6 million copies shipped in the US.
Hi Infidelity is the ninth studio album by American rock band REO Speedwagon, released on November 21, 1980, by Epic Records. The album became a big hit in the United States, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200, spending 15 weeks at number one. It went on to become the biggest-selling album of 1981, eventually being certified 10 times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Traveling Wilburys Vol. 3 is the second and final studio album by the Traveling Wilburys, a group consisting of George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. It was released on October 29, 1990, as the follow-up to their 1988 debut, Traveling Wilburys Vol. 1. The band members again adopted pseudonyms for their contributions, using new names from the fictitious Wilbury brothers.
Book of Dreams is the tenth studio album by Steve Miller Band. The album was released in May 1977 on Capitol Records in the United States, Canada and Japan and by Mercury Records in Europe. Three singles were released from the album in 1977 with the first single, "Jet Airliner", being the most successful.
Greatest Hits 1974–78 is a compilation album by the Steve Miller Band released in November 1978, presenting the band's hits from 1973–1977.
"Abracadabra" is a song by American rock group the Steve Miller Band, written by Steve Miller. The song was released as the first single from the 1982 album of the same name that year. In the U.S., it spent two non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, the biggest hit of Steve Miller's career to date, as well as their last US top 40 hit.
"Take It Away" is a single by the English musician Paul McCartney from his third solo studio album Tug of War (1982). The single spent sixteen weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart, reaching #10 and spending five consecutive weeks at that position. It reached #15 in the UK. The music video, directed by John Mackenzie, features former Beatles drummer Ringo Starr, long-time producer George Martin, and songwriting collaborator Eric Stewart, all of whom played on the track, as well as actor John Hurt, Linda McCartney and Barbara Bach.
"Fly Like an Eagle" is a song written by American musician Steve Miller for the album of the same name. The song was released in the United Kingdom in August 1976 and in the United States in December 1976. It went to number two on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the week of March 12, 1977. The single edit can be found on Greatest Hits (1974–1978). It is often played in tandem with "Space Intro". On the album, the song segues into "Wild Mountain Honey".
Good Trouble is the tenth studio album by REO Speedwagon, released in 1982 as a follow-up to Hi Infidelity. It peaked at #7 on the Billboard charts. The single "Keep the Fire Burnin'" gave the band a #7 hit on Billboard's Pop Singles Chart and a #2 hit on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, their highest-charting hit on this chart.
The Very Best of the Steve Miller Band is a 1991 German compilation by the Steve Miller Band.
"Take the Money and Run" is a song recorded in 1976 by the Steve Miller Band. A song about two young bandits and the detective pursuing them, it was one of the many hit singles produced by the Steve Miller Band in the 1970s and featured on the 1976 album Fly Like an Eagle. The song peaked at number 11 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and at number 8 in Canada in July 1976 and also charted in Australia.
"Overkill" is a song by Australian pop rock band Men at Work. It was released in March 1983 as the second single from their second studio album Cargo. Written by lead singer Colin Hay, it peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100; No. 5 on the Australian Kent Music Report Singles Chart; and top 10 in Canada, Ireland, and Norway. The song was a departure from the group's style of reggae-influenced pop rock, featuring a melancholic feel musically and lyrically.
"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 Steve Miller released as the second single from the album. Miller also produced the song and album. The North American release of the single was generally credited to Steve Miller as an individual, while the European release was generally credited to the Steve Miller Band as a whole group.
The following is a comprehensive discography of John Mellencamp, an American singer-songwriter. During Mellencamp's career in the recording industry, he has released 25 studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, and 71 singles.
Steve Miller Band Live! is a 1983 live album by the Steve Miller Band. It was recorded live at the Pine Knob Amphitheater, Clarkston, MI on September 25, 1982.
The discography of American rock group Steve Miller Band is composed of 18 studio albums, six live albums, 11 compilation albums, three video albums and 30 singles.