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The Joker (song)

"The Joker"
Steve Miller Band The Joker 1973 single cover.jpg
Cover of the 1973 single
Single by Steve Miller Band
from the album The Joker
B-side see track listings
Released October 1973
Format 7" vinyl, 12" vinyl, CD
Genre Rock, blues rock, southern rock
Length 4:26 (Album version)
3:35 (7" version)
Label Capitol
Writer(s) Eddie Curtis, Ahmet Ertegün, Steve Miller
Producer(s) Steve Miller
Steve Miller Band singles chronology
"Fandango"
(1972)
"The Joker"
(1973)
"Your Cash Ain't Nothin' But Trash"
(1974)
"Take the Money and Run"/"The Joker"
(1983, double A-side, live)
Cover of the 1983 live single
Steve Miller Band chronology
"Living in the U.S.A." (live)
(1983)
"Take the Money and Run" (live)/"The Joker" (live)
(1983)
"Shangri-La"
(1984)
"The Joker"
(1990, reissue)
Cover of the 1990 reissue
Steve Miller Band chronology
"Ya Ya"
(1988)
"The Joker"
(1990)
Wide River
(1993)
"The Joker"
Single by k.d. lang
from the album Drag
Released 1997
Length 4:44
Label Warner Bros.
Writer(s) Eddie Curtis, Ahmet Ertegün, Steve Miller
Producer(s) k.d. lang, Craig Street
k.d. lang singles chronology
"Sexuality"
(1996)
"The Joker"
(1997)
"Theme from the Valley of the Dolls"
(1997)
"The Joker"
Slim Joker.jpg
Single by Fatboy Slim
from the album Palookaville
Released February 28, 2005 (2005-02-28)
Recorded 2004
Genre Big beat
Label Astralwerks, Skint
Writer(s) Eddie Curtis, Ahmet Ertegün, Steve Miller
Producer(s) Fatboy Slim, Simon Thornton
Fatboy Slim singles chronology
"Wonderful Night"
(2004)
"The Joker"
(2005)
"Don't Let the Man Get You Down"
(2005)
Alternative cover
Remix single

"The Joker" is a song by the Steve Miller Band from their 1973 album The Joker. It is one of two Steve Miller Band songs that feature the nonce word "pompatus". The song topped the US Billboard Hot 100 in early 1974.

More than 16 years later, in September 1990, it reached number one in the UK Singles Chart for two weeks after being used in "Great Deal", a Hugh Johnson-directed television advertisement for Levi's, thus holding the record for the longest gap between transatlantic chart-toppers. This reissue of "The Joker" also topped the Irish Singles Chart, the New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart, the Dutch Nationale Top 100 and the Dutch Top 40.

The first line of the lyrics is a reference to the song "Space Cowboy" from Miller's Brave New World album. Following lines refer to two other songs: "Gangster of Love" from Sailor and "Enter Maurice" from Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden.

During the song, Steve Miller references The Clovers' 1954 song "Lovey Dovey" when he sings "You're the cutest thing that I ever did see/ Really love your peaches, wanna shake your tree / Lovey dovey, lovey dovey, lovey dovey all the time".

The song is noted for its wolf whistle played on a slide guitar after the "lovey dovey" parts and the "some people call me Maurice" part.


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Wikipedia

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