Steve Miller: “Abracadabra”

The Hook: A chance encounter with Diana Ross on a ski slope finally enabled him to finish the lyrics.

Album: Abracadabra

Year: 1982

Writer: Steve Miller

Stats: Topped the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks.

Background: Steve Miller tells us that he wrote “Abracadabra” in the late 1970s. But he didn’t like the lyrics, so he shelved the song. It took a while before he finally finished the song to his satisfaction.

Steve Miller on finishing “Abracadabra” long after he’d shelved it because he didn’t like his first set of lyrics for it. OC:…15 minutes. :30

“About three years later, I was out skiing and I saw Diana Ross on the ski slopes, which blew my mind, man. There’s Diana Ross sittin’ on her butt – had just fallen over. Then I go, ‘Wow, it’s Diana Ross.’ She had about nine bodyguards with her, so I just skied on by. And I went home and I started thinking about Diana Ross and The Supremes and I had done a gig with them once on Hullabaloo in 1965, so I had a pretty good image of them. And I wrote ‘Abracadabra’ in about 15 minutes.”