Steve Miller Band’s “The Joker” is one part rock and roll, one part poetry.
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But where did the song come from? What was the history of the Steve Miller Band? And why has “The Joker” become so popular? American Songwriter uncovers the history behind the 1974 chart-topper.
The Band
The Steve Miller Band formed in 1966 in San Francisco, California. Led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals, the group enjoyed several hits in the years that followed.
The group signed a record deal with Capitol Records in 1967 and released its debut in 1968, Children of the Future. Steve Miller Band’s greatest hits album, Greatest Hits 1974-78, has sold more than 13 million copies. Miller was later inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist in 2016.
The Album
The song “The Joker” is from the 1973 album of the same name. Recorded at Capitol Studios, the album dropped in October of that year. The LP, according to critics at the time, showed the group leaving their so-called psychedelic music for more melodic songs and a more traditional rock tenor.
The album, The Joker, was the group’s first taste of real commercial success and the titular song enjoyed a great deal of radio play, leading the album to hit No. 2 on the Billboard 200 chart. It’s since been certified platinum in the U.S.
The Song
The song “The Joker” is beloved for several reasons today, from its smooth sound and Miller’s captivating voice to its unique vocabulary.
As noted, the song comes from the Steve Miller Band’s 1973 album of the same name. The song also topped the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1974. It hit the top 20 in Australia, Canada, and the Netherlands.
Some 16 years later, the song hit No. 1 on the U.K. Singles chart in September 1990 for two weeks after it was used in an advertisement for Levi’s jeans. With that achievement, it earned the record for the longest gap between transatlantic chart-toppers. Later, when the song was reissued, it hit No. 1 on the Irish Singles Chart, the New Zealand Singles Chart, the Dutch National Top 100 and the Dutch Top 40.
The Lyrics
In the song, Miller sings the phrase “Lovey-dovey” several times, a couple of words he picked up from the song, “Lovey Dovey,” by Ahmet Ertegun. Miller sings: You’re the cutest thing that I ever did see / I really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree / Lovey dovey, lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time.
Also in the song, Miller uses the word “pompatus.” In fact, “The Joker” is one of two songs in which Miller uses the term. Sings Miller: Some people call me the space cowboy / Yeah! Some call me the gangster of love / Some people call me Maurice / ‘Cause I speak of the pompatus of love.
Miller was known for using made-up words, as he also used others like “epistemology” on his song “Enter Maurice” from his 1972 album, recall the Beginning…A Journey from Eden.
In the song “The Letter” by Vernon Green, the artist uses the word “puppetutes,” which means a paper-doll erotic fantasy figure. Many believe Miller’s usage of “pompatus” is a reference or even a mishearing of “puppetutes.”
In “The Letter,” Green sings: Oh my darling, let me whisper / sweet words of pizmotality / and discuss the puppetutes of love.
But because of the popularity of “The Joker,” the word has been used in popular culture since, including in several novels like the 2010 book, Gator a-Go-Go.
Another popular phrase in “The Joker” is the lyric: I really love your peaches / wanna shake your tree. It’s an obvious lustful line, but Miller sings it with such sweetness that it seems tame.
Final Thoughts
Still, popular today, “The Joker” by Steve Miller Band will assuredly live on for years and decades to come. The song is sly, irreverent, honest, and personal. “The Joker” is the perfect tune for young adults to find out what they love most about the world of popular music, from the highs to the lows to the love in between.
Photo by RB/Redferns
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