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. Four singles were released from the album in various countries: the title track, "Cool Magic" (#57 on the Billboard Hot 100), "Keeps Me Wondering Why", and "Give It Up", with the title song charting the highest at #1 on the pop chart.
Unusually for the band, lead singer/guitarist Steve Miller did not write most of the songs. Drummer Gary Mallaber had brought in a handful of demos from his other band Tracker, which featured several Miller associates. Mallaber hoped one of the songs would be used for the album, but Miller used all of them and Mallaber received eight co-writing credits. Miller, meanwhile, produced two of his own songs; the title track and the "Heart Like a Wheel"-soundalike "Give It Up".
Contents
Critical reception
Billboard called the track "Cool Magic" a "catchy midtempo pop tune that takes dead aim at car radios everywhere." Billboard also described the song as being "harder rocking" than the title track. Cash Box called it "a light, straightahead pop/rocker that, in places, brings to mind the Beach Boys or the Beatles."
Personnel
Steve Miller – vocals, guitar, Synclavier, synthesizers on track 2, Roland Jupiter-8 on track 2 and Roland Juno-60 on track 2
John Massaro – guitar
Kenny Lee Lewis – guitar
Byron Allred – keyboards
Gerald Johnson – bass guitar
Gary Mallaber – drums, percussion, keyboards
Additional personnel
Greg Douglass – guitar on tracks 3 and 8
Lonnie Turner – bass guitar on tracks 3 and 8
Technical
Produced by Steve Miller and Gary Mallaber
Recorded and mixed by David N. Cole
Additional recording by Gary Mallaber
Executive Producer – John Palladino
Photography – David Alexander
Art – Tommy Steele
Design – Tommy Steele, Jeff Lancaster