Английская Википедия:Abracadabra (Steve Miller Band song)

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"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 Шаблон:Thinspace on the Billboard Hot 100, the biggest hit of Steve Miller's career to date.

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 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 The Original Amateur Hour.

Speaking on The Howard Stern Show in June 2016, Miller said at first his record company Capitol Records 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 Шаблон:Thinspace everywhere in the world, except the States."Шаблон:Citation needed After seeing its success overseas, Capitol released it in the U.S. and it also climbed to Шаблон:Thinspace.

Upon release, Billboard 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 Шаблон:Thinspace on the Billboard Hot 100 for two non-consecutive weeks, becoming the band's third number one hit in the U.S. along with "The Joker" and "Rock'n Me". It was knocked off the top by Chicago's "Hard to Say I'm Sorry", only to return to Шаблон:Thinspace two weeks later. A similar occurrence happened in 1976, when "Rock'n Me" knocked Chicago's "If You Leave Me Now" out of the Шаблон:Thinspace spot.

The song also showed substantial longevity, spending fourteen weeks in the top ten of the Hot 100 chart. It was the Шаблон:Thinspace song on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 1982. "Abracadabra" is listed at Шаблон:Thinspace on BillboardШаблон:'s 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 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 music 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. He is seen wearing sunglasses or having his eyes covered with a black bar juxtaposed next to images of a beautiful enchantress, "The Abracadabra Girl." Her face, physique and actions form the focal point of the video, dramatising the lyrics. She appears in different guises and attitudes; stage magician, juggler of scarves, playful sorceress with white mouse on her shoulder, seductress in a top hat and spandex. At times she is seen reclining, tossing her hair, making fireworks burst from the hat with tap of her wand amid more stills of Steve Miller.

Two young male magician/jugglers are also featured in the video, sometimes shirtless. They perform tricks and make the young witch disappear. She then turns into an older female sorceress, performed by another actress, who gestures dramatically then dances a tango in hot pants. The video begins and ends with the Abracadabra Girl placing a ball on a spinning umbrella, suggestive of the line "round and round and round it goes, where it stops nobody knows".

Various special effects are employed in the video, such as collage, extreme colours and computer created magical effects. Somewhat primitive now, at that time, the early days of MTV and music videos, such effects were fresh and innovative. The video has since become iconic as has the mysterious girl, whose image is interwoven with the song. Peter Conn served as the video's director.

Track listings

7" 45 RPM

Side one

1. "Abracadabra" (single version; note: UK 7" version is an exclusive edit – see above for details)

Side two

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

12" Maxi

North American release

Side one

1. "Abracadabra" (album version)

Side two

1. "Macho City" (album version)

European release

Side one

1. "Abracadabra" (album version)

Side two

1. "Never Say No" (album version)

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Шаблон:SinglechartШаблон:SinglechartШаблон:SinglechartШаблон:SinglechartШаблон:SinglechartШаблон:SinglechartШаблон:SinglechartШаблон:Singlechart

Weekly chart performance for "Abracadabra"

Chart (1982)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	1
Canada (RPM) Top Singles	1
Canada RPM Adult Contemporary	1
Denmark (Hitlisten)	2
Ireland (IRMA)	2
Portugal (Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa)	1
South Africa (Springbok)	2
Spain (AFYVE)	1
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	1
US Billboard Adult Contemporary	28

Year-end charts

Year-end chart performance for "Abracadabra"

Chart (1982)	Rank
Australia (Kent Music Report)	13
Canada	5
New Zealand	50
South Africa	17
US Billboard	9

Decade-end charts

Decade-end chart performance for "Abracadabra"

Chart (1980–1989)	Rank
US Billboard Hot 100	44Шаблон:Citation needed

All-time charts

Chart (1958-2018)	Position
US Billboard Hot 100	90

Notable cover versions

• Eagles of Death Metal 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's Joel Hoekstra, Billy Sheehan, Lenny Castro, Van Romaine and Ollie Marland.

• Sugar Ray covered the song on their 1999 album 14:59.

Depictions in popular media

"Abracadabra" was used in the season 12 episode "The Witches of Langley" of the animated television series American Dad! 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 Sing 2.

See also

• List of Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles of 1982