"The Joker" is a song by the Steve Miller Band from their 1973 album The Joker. The song is one of two Steve Miller Band songs that feature the neologism "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 a Levi's television advertisement, 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 song is sometimes misidentified by the title "Space Cowboy" because of the first line of the lyrics, which actually refer to an earlier song by that title from Miller's Brave New World album. The following lines refer to two other earlier songs, "Gangster of Love" from Sailor, and "Enter Maurice" from Recall the Beginning...A Journey from Eden.

During the song, Steve Miller thrice references lines from the 1954 The Clovers 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 all the time"; the second of these mentions is during the fade-out.

The song is also known for the wolf whistle performed on a slide guitar after the line "some people call me Maurrice [sic]" and the "Lovey Dovey" line.

Track listings

7" single (1973)

1. "The Joker" – 3:34
2. "Something to Believe In" – 4:39

7" single (1983 - live version)

1. "The Joker" (live) – 2:55
2. "Take the Money and Run" (live) – 3:49

7" single (1990)

1. "The Joker" (single version) – 3:34
2. "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around" – 2:27

12" maxi (1990)

1. "The Joker" (LP version) – 4:22
2. "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around" – 2:27
3. "Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma" – 5:39

CD maxi (1990)

1. "The Joker" (single version) – 3:34
2. "Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around" – 2:27
3. "Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma" – 3:33
4. "Living in the U.S.A." – 3:59

Certifications

Country	Certification	Date	Sales certified
U.S.	Gold	January 11, 1974	1,000,000
Sweden	Gold	February 6, 1991	10,000

Charts

Chart (1973/1974)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Hot 100	1
Canadian RPM Top Singles	2
Dutch Daverende 30	18
Dutch Top 40	18
Chart (1990/1991)	Peak position
Austrian Singles Chart	5
Dutch Nationale Top 100	1
Dutch Top 40	1
French SNEP Singles Chart	33
Irish Singles Chart	1
New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart	1
Norwegian Singles Chart	2
Swedish Singles Chart	4
Swiss Singles Chart	5
UK Singles Chart	1

Cover versions

Singles

• k.d. lang covered it on her album Drag (1997) on which all the songs have the theme of smoking or cigarettes. The song was released as a single.
• Fettes Brot did a German rendition of the song in 2001, retitled as "The Grosser" (English translation "The big guy").
• Fatboy Slim reworked the song on his 2004 album Palookaville, featuring Bootsy Collins on lead vocals. This cover version reached #32 on the UK Singles Chart in 2005.

Album tracks

• In 1998, Todd Snider covered the song on his Viva Satellite album.
• Spearhead recorded a cover for the compilation CD Hempilation 2 (1998).
• Darkbuster covered the song as "Space Cowboy" on their album 22 Songs You'll Never Want to Hear Again! (1999).
• Twiztid recorded a cover of the song, which appeared on their 2004 compilation Cryptic Collection Vol. 3.
• In 2006, Jason Mraz covered the song for the soundtrack to the film Happy Feet. This recording was produced by Josh Deutsch and John Powell. On the soundtrack album Happy Feet: Music from the Motion Picture, the song is mashed up with "Everything I Own", recorded by Chrissie Hynde.

Live cover performances

• The song was covered live by The Smashing Pumpkins in 1992, and the recording can be found on the Mashed Potatoes box set.
• Kurt Elling performed live during a concert in the Czech Republic in 2006.
• Tim McGraw performed it during the "Soul2Soul" 2007 tour with his wife Faith Hill.
• They Might Be Giants have played it live on occasion, and included a cover of it on their podcast.
• The String Cheese Incident covered it at a show in Melkweg, Amsterdam on March 27, 2004, and added "Don't wanna see Billy run" (Bill Nershi of SCI)
• Keith Urban performed the song during his "Love, Pain, and the Whole Crazy Thing" 2007 tour with The Wreckers on August 18, 2007 and with Amanda Wilkinson and Tyler Wilkinson on December 15, 2007.
• 311 performed it live in New Orleans on 311 Day (March 11, 2008).
• Puddle of Mudd performed the song at DC101 Chili Cook-Off on May 16, 2009

Sampling

• "The Joker" was sampled in the song "Summer and Lightning" by Electric Light Orchestra from their 1977 album, Out of the Blue.
• It was also sampled on the original Def American Records release of The Geto Boys' song "Gangster of Love" from their 1991 eponymous album. The sample, presumably unauthorized, was replaced with Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Sweet Home Alabama" on later pressings of the album.
• The song was sampled on Shaggy's song "Angel" from 2000.
• The song "Hudson Dragonfly" by Jackie-O Motherfucker, from the album, America Mystica (2006), contains a sample of "The Joker".

Appearances in other media, etc.

• In the 2008 Hollywood movie, The Love Guru, the song is performed by Mike Myers and Manu Narayan towards the ending.
• In the "The Way We Was" episode of The Simpsons, Homer sings along to the song while driving. Homer's rendition of the song also plays over the end credits of the episode.
• A the first lyric of the song was sung in an episode of Space Ghost Coast to Coast by Space Ghost, backed up by Zorak, banging tunelessly on a piano. Unable to figure out the next few lyrics, he adds: "Dumb people haul trash around!"
• In the "That '70s Musical" episode of That '70s Show, Eric Forman, Donna Pinciotti, Steven Hyde and Michael Kelso sings it in "The Circle" in Fez's thoughts.
• The Pompatus of Love is a 1996 film based on the same notable lyrics in this song.
• In Cowboy Bebop, many of the episodes end with the text "See you Space Cowboy...", which is a double reference to the main character and how the story is influenced by music.
• David Letterman once did a Top 10 list of Rejected Batman villains. Included in the list were The Joker's brothers, The Smoker and The Midnight Toker (a reference to the line: I'm a joker, I'm a smoker, I'm a midnight toker...).
• It is in the video game Karaoke Revolution Volume 2.
• The song is also featured in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.
• The song has also been released as downloadable content for the video game Rock Band, having been released on January 20, 2009.
• On the sitcom Friends, Joey's imaginary friend from childhood was Maurice and his occupation was "Space Cowboy."
• On the Spike original show 1000 Ways to Die, way to die #623 is titled "MIDNIGHT CHOKER", in reference to the lyric in the song "midnight toker".
• In the King of the Hill episode "Patch Boomhauer", the song is used in bachelor party scenes.

External links

• The Straight Dope: In Steve Miller's "The Joker," what is "the pompatus of love"?
• Language Log: Dismortality and puppetutes -- post on the etymology of "pompatus".

References and footnotes

1. U.S. certifications riaa.com (Retrieved April 10, 2009)
2. Swedish certifications Ifpi.se (Retrieved April 10, 2009)
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awYA9QBrALc
4. http://kotaku.com/5121955/rock-bands-january-lineup-includes-roy-orbison-lenny-kravitz--steve-miller-band