The Steve Miller Band: Abracadabra - 1982

Many bands went synth-poppy in the eighties, masquerading as new wave in the process before going full-on synth pop by the mid-eighties. 

This was Steve Miller's contribution, and it is a pleasant thirty-seven minutes of melodious but essentially unremarkable material (save the impossibly catchy title track). The simple fact is that I am not motivated to analyse or describe each song individually, as it is one of those albums that is sonically homogenous (lots of synths, new-wavey organ and funk/rock liveliness) and functions as a whole as opposed being a chocolate box of different numbers. 

My girlfriend back in 1982 really loved it (and the album) - I can still see her dancing enthusiastically to Abracadbra - and, in my three or four recent listens I have enjoyed it but I still can't bring any song back to mind - other than that I wanna reach out and grab ya....- ok, the Fleetwood Mac-ish Something Special, the Talking Heads-esque cod-reggae of Give It Up and the funky Keeps Me Wondering Why have sort of stuck a bit. Never Say No boasts some solid riffage too. 

So, there you go, that's side one for you...

Things I Told You reminds me of The Cars, Young Girl's Heart of the Phenomenal Handclap Band and Goodbye Love of Fleetwood Mac, so that's pretty much all of it. I just need to put in some effort. To prove it I'll finish by saying that Cool Magic is like the Beach Boys meeting 10cc with some heavy riffing added and the relaxing vibe of While I'm Waiting sounds like something else that I can't put my finger on.

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