Abracadabra
	Produced by Steve Miller & Gary Mallaber
	Released on June 1982
	US CHART POSITION #3 . . . PLATINUM RECORD (11/16/82) . . . UK CHART POSITION #10
	Find it at GEMM
R 134630 cover [high resolution photo]

A cookie-cutter album, but then everyone likes cookies. The Steve Miller Band was more brand than band at this stage, releasing likeable ‘80s rock with that familiar voice at the fore and little of the genius behind it. In fact, most of Abracadabra is written by drummer Gary Mallaber and new guitarist John Massaro, which would ordinarily be a cause for concern except that with SMB’s cruise control you’re guaranteed a smooth ride. There’s the obvious hit, “Abracadabra,” and second-tier singles like “Keeps Me Wondering Why” and “Cool Magic” to recommend it. (How “Give It Up” even charted is beyond me, but never underestimate a popular brand.) It’s diluted magic, all of it, with synthesizers dating the record as a byproduct of the ’80s, so don’t come here looking for the soaring sound of Fly Like An Eagle or Book of Dreams. They’d never hit those heights again. But they still had some hits left, and Abracadabra stands tall in the post-Hits landscape as the band’s last legitimate “big” record. Never a prolific songwriter, and even then not a particularly original one, Steve Miller contributes only two songs this time: the title track and “Give It Up.” Mallaber and Massaro pick up the slack, penning love songs with warm and familiar melodies (“While I’m Waiting,” “Never Say No”). There are also two tracks written by Mallaber and former Millermates Lonnie Turner and Greg Douglass that represent a reunion of sorts: “Something Special” and “Goodbye Love.” Like The Eagles and J. Geils Band, SMB saw the changing sound of the ‘80s and adapted to it rather than become dinosaurs. Whether they left as large a footprint after their metamorphosis, well, no. Still, you have to admire a band when they can pull an album this good out of their butt.

R 134630 back cover	R 134630 lyric sleeve

TRACK LISTING

1. KEEPS ME WONDERING WHY    (Gary Mallaber/Kenny Lee Lewis)    3:43
2. ABRACADABRA    (Steve Miller)    5:10
3. SOMETHING SPECIAL    (Gary Mallaber/Lonnie Turner/Greg Douglass)    3:35
4. GIVE IT UP    (Steve Miller)    3:35
5. NEVER SAY NO    (Gary Mallaber/John Massaro/Kenny Lee Lewis)    3:37
6. THINGS I TOLD YOU    (Gary Mallaber/John Massaro)    3:15
7. YOUNG GIRL'S HEART    (Gary Mallaber/John Massaro)    3:33
8. GOODBYE LOVE    (Gary Mallaber/Greg Douglass/Lonnie Turner)    2:53
9. COOL MAGIC    (Gary Mallaber/Kenny Lee Lewis)    4:23
10. WHILE I'M WAITING    (Gary Mallaber/John Massaro)    3:26

CREDITS

BYRON ALLRED -- keyboards, synthesizers
GERALD JOHNSON -- bass
KENNY LEE LEWIS -- guitar
GARY MALLABER -- drums, percussion, keyboards, additional engineering
JOHN MASSARO -- guitars
STEVE MILLER -- guitar & vocals
Greg Douglass -- guitar (3,8)
Lonnie Turner -- bass (3,8)
David Cole -- engineer, mixing
John Palladino -- executive producer
Tommy Steele -- art, design
Jeff Lancaster -- design
David Alexander -- photography

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