No two career trajectories work out exactly the same, especially when it comes to the ever-fickle pop charts. But an artist generally works their way up to a peak and then gradually descends back down.
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Steve Miller’s career path, on the pop charts at least, might give a cardiologist pause if it were charted like an EKG. Sudden peaks arising from deep valleys played out as the norm for him. That was true right down to his very last Top 40 hit, which went all the way to the top.
A “Joker” Up His Sleeve
The Steve Miller Band gained cult-band status pretty quickly when they emerged from San Francisco in the late 60s. As a frontman, Miller preferred a low-key, bluesy delivery. That played well off his band’s psychedelic flights of fancy.
But as the 60s turned into the 70s, mainstream rock pushed that kind of quasi-experimental hybrid approach to the sidelines. Miller pivoted and developed a kind of self-deprecating persona on “The Joker”. The song was so quirky that it could almost be labeled a novelty record. But it caught fire nonetheless. Miller went from never having a Top 40 hit to being on top of the pop charts in a single song.
His commercial sweet spot came in the years 1976 and 1977. The albums Fly Like An Eagle and Book Of Dreams spun out six Top 25 hits, including another No. 1 in “Rock’n Me”. Miller then took four years between albums, returning to find a much different musical scene facing him in 1981.
Miller’s Muse
Miller scored a minor Top 40 hit with “Heart Like A Wheel” in 1981 from his album Circle Of Love. But the album as a whole was a little bit of a letdown compared to his 70s success. It was fair to question whether he’d ever again be a pop chart factor.
He and his band recorded enough material during the sessions for Circle Of Love that Miller was able to release his follow-up album less than eight months later. There was an excess of material because Miller recorded several songs initially written by drummer Gary Mallaber and guitarist John Massaro for a side project.
It wasn’t all that unusual for Miller to put his stamp on the material of others. Many folks never realized that big hits like “Jet Airliner” and “Jungle Love” were written by others. Miller possessed such a sharp knack for knowing his strengths as a performer that low-key cover songs blended in smoothly with his originals.
He did write a few songs for the 1982 Steve Miller Band album, however, including one that would become the title track. Miller had been kicking around with this piece of music for a while, but he disliked the lyrics he’d written. Luckily, a skiing excursion helped unlock his creativity.
Like Magic
On that fateful ski trip, Miller happened to glimpse none other than Diana Ross on the slopes. It sparked memories of being on the same bill as Ross and her legendary Motown group, The Supremes, for a mid-60s TV show. Miller went back to his piece of music and imagined it as a Supremes song.
Within 15 minutes, he had written the lyrics to “Abracadabra”. His American label thought it a poor choice for a single, but other countries released it, and it took off. It did the same when it was finally cut loose in America, going all the way to the top in 1982 to give Miller his third No. 1 single.
Incredibly, Miller went from that peak to never again releasing another song that made the US Top 40. He took a break from touring after the Abracadabra album because he saw the audience for the band’s shows diminishing around that time. Miller and company would again become touring stalwarts, but they’d never again hit the higher reaches of the pop charts after the magical ride of “Abracadabra”.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
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