Steely Dan: "Steely Dan's name has been popping up as a hip musical crush. Remember, this glossy bop-pop was the indifferent aristocracy to punk rock's stone-throwing in the late 70's. People fought

I'm fairly proud of my ability to karaoke Reelin' In The Years, but I haven't quite figured out a good stage act for it.

Haha, I can't believe I actually typed the phrase "Gadd grove." I sound like I should be working in the drum dept. at Sam Ash.

er "Gadd groove"

yeah yeah! that's the thing! i'm listening to 'home at last' and goddamn if the saxes under the verses don't sound so warm and subtle at the same time. that break at around 3:00 with the hissing brass/woodwinds then synth! taking back sax comment upthread. maybe i'd get more ass if i finally took mr. halladay's advice from jr. high band and started working the keys.

x-post.

it's funny, my jazzbo friend keeps hearing from his jazzbo professors who are totally sam ash types that he should check out steely dan. and i'm like ya!

Last time I talked to a Guitar Center drum dude he was like "Are you a Vinnie Collaiuta man? Or more of a Dave Weckyl guy?" And I was like "I dunno, I like Jack DeJohnette" and he got this "whuh?" look on his face and I was like "DUR!"

on Bonnie Raitt's 'Streetlights', he is credited as Stephen Gadd. he doesn't sound as good as Earl Palmer did on 'Takin My Time' tho.

'Royal Scam' is my least fave alb of theirs ... still like it, but it's never the one I want to pull out on a whim.

going to see them this Wednesday!! 23rd row. not *super* close, but it should still be awesome..

i have a huge stoner friend who is known, to me, for pronouncing 'jack dejohnette' with a lot of flair. usually after sitting me down to watch a 60 min. keith jarrett dvd lol

It's rare that anyone sounds as good as Earl Palmer, although I can't say I'm vr familiar with the work of Bonnie Raitt. That's mom music. (so was Steely Dan until not too long ago, is she next?!)

sorry, x-post.

sounds fantastic! please report back

a friend sold me on a bonnie raitt song which i haven't heard in forever. i think i would like her if i gave her a chance. i need more mom music.

Still debating on whether to go see them. Going on my own to a seated concert is a major turn-off.

hey what happened to the title of this thread??

Steely dan was bopping the 70s. People fought

Still debating on whether to go see them. Going on my own to a seated concert is a major turn-off.

-- baaderonixx, Friday, June 22, 2007 7:59 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

GO

I CANNOT BELIEVE THEY ARE NOT COMING TO LOS ANGULUS

Still debating on whether to go see them. Going on my own to a seated concert is a major turn-off.

-- baaderonixx, Friday, June 22, 2007 7:59 AM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

GO

Alright!

I'll make it this time, I'm ready to cross that fine line

yes

Still debating on whether to go see them. Going on my own to a seated concert is a major turn-off.

OTM! Also, I'm not sure I wd enjoy The Dan live.

Katy Lied is sadder and darker, that's why I prefer it to the harsher Royal Scam

I saw the Dan live a few years ago -- they put on a pretty huge show and they sounded great, but if you have a low tolerance for crowds singing along it may not be for you.

I first saw them back in '93 or '94 -- whenever it was they did that "coming out of retirement"/"first tour in 20 years" thing ... and I was definitely disappointed in the show, frankly. It was a big outdoor arena and we were on the lawn, they had the whole 10-piece band with backup singers thing goin on but Becker/Fagen seemed kinda bored and not really into it.

but this show is in a beautiful auditorium space and should be pretty intimate. I'm pretty psyched -- probably will end up being the last time I see them live and what the heck, it's been thirteen years so I'll give it another shot.

yeah I'm not really a fan of their live shows of that era if Alive In America is any indication of what they were like. for some reason I get the feeling they'd be better to see now, though. I wish they'd played somewhere closer than Philly or Virginia on this tour.

What's on their setlists now? I saw some pretty adventurous selections on YouTube.

i saw them on this tour and it was a pretty great show, actually -- prepare to be annoyed to hell by the crowd, i guess, but as long as they keep the singing along to a minimum (and odd song selections by SD help) it's not so bad.

uhh and you'll prob want to grab another drink when they let the backup singers take a song themselves.

their band is pretty great, though -- "aja" sounded incredible. becker was funny and in good spirits, fagen danced around in a v humorous fashion while playing his melodica for the first quarter of the set.

they played like 90% of my very favorite songs, too, which helped. i mean, hearing FM live can't be beat.

Does anyone have 'Dallas' or 'Sail the Waterway?'

i've been waking up with "riki" and "deacon blues" in my head every night for the past week! I don't even like Steely Dan!

Every time I see this thread I imagine Fagen as the source of the titular quote.

I had "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" in my head this moring I think, and it's not something I had listened to or had in my head for a while. (I like Steely Dan though.)

i always read it as "hip musical crutch"

Royal Scam. That's the one for me. Although I like them all to varying degrees.

It's easy to hate them if you don't bother to go back and actually listen carefully. Same goes for Rush.

When I listen to Vampire Weekend, I keep thinking of "My Old School" and how much more fun and decadent that school sounds.

has it been discussed somewhere that skunk baxter works for the department of defense?

yes

"look, they were studio dudes. there is a *reason* they were studio dudes. they lacked the imagination and spark to do anything truly great. they are an energyless study in basic competence".

this is why they're so good, if you ignore the vitriol.

orbit was such a dumbshit

she's still alive.

*plop*

plolp

Dallas

I always thought this was written for Poco, had no idea the Dan had recorded it. You can here it on youtube, 'ts not bad.

HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW GREAT "CHANGE OF THE GUARD" SOUNDS ON A MUGGY MIAMI MORNING?

Steely Dan is the 70's version of Ween

get out.

back in high school, a friend of mine lived in a house way out in the woods in northern illinois. we used to all hang out there during the summers and drink and listen to steely dan, fleetwood mac, war, etc, and go swimming. can't buy a thrill was pretty perfect for those days.

http://www.slate.com/id/2207058/

Thanks for that link!
I would love to see Fagen and Becker put a book together. Wouldn't necessarily even have to be about Steely Dan. (Their liner notes for the late 90s SD reissues are maybe the best notes ever?)

Roger Nichols RIP

Steely Dan engineer, passed away due to pancreatic cancer. His family is apparently now broke after his medical treatment (thanks, health care system.) For those interested, there is a link to his website where people can make a donation.

http://www.crawdaddy.com/index.php/2011/04/12/roger-nichols-1944-2011/

Love this thread.

the full text of the review has never been pasted herein:

If you are a die-hard Steely Dan fan from "back in the day," let me first congratulate you on figuring out how this whole "Internet" thing works. The computer commercials promise plug-in-and-surf, but there's always a glitch. At work you're too embarrassed to ask the young tech guys how the "web" works. They'd snicker before cranking The Fragile back up and turning back to their monitors. Never show inferiority to subordinates. So, you pony-tailed Jeep-drivers and terrier-walkers, I'm crawling inside your minds like "Reeling in the Years" did so many decades ago. I know you've held silly suspicions, if just for a moment, that your ponytail was perhaps pulling back your hairline. I know that this review might hurt your feelings. Here, play with this shiny silver Nokia while I chat with somebody else.

If you're a regular Pitchfork reader... why are you even curious about Steely Dan in 2000?! Only their 20 year absence gives them any press or assumed credibility. Unlike Chicago, Rush, or Cheap Trick they did not slip down a steep staircase of increasingly prosaic Prozac records. Steely Dan dodged the 80's and they didn't make a Woke Up with the Monster. One can imagine the hype Rush would receive in 2000 if they'd jumped 20 years from 1981's Moving Pictures straight to Test for Echo. This would not make Test for Echo a desirable album. For those worth risking it, extended absence makes for great publicity.

Some of the smoothest objects know to humankind include the buttock of a baby, the belly of an otter, Downy-laden terrycloth, Palmolive, and rose petals. Add to that list Two Against Nature. The lengthy, indistinguishable tracks could pass for a Daniel Lanois-produced collaboration between the Dave Matthews Band and Kenny G. This putrid bait lures both the smooth jazz aficionados and the hackysackers. "Fusion" is too caustic a verb, better suited for nuclear physics and Don Caballero. "Making pudding" better describes this genre blending.

"Jamming" sax solos glide over neutered, bassless funk. Glass guitar and percussion clink along steadily like a chorus of jangling Tag Heuers, automatic Lexus locks, popping Le Croix cans, clicking laptop covers, crystal Cristal toasts, and smacking Hollywood cheek-kisses. The same slow-bop pace is rigorously maintained. Vocals exhale so innocuously you have to hold a mirror up under the speaker to make sure it's alive. The credits list 13 producers (!) who tackle tasks such as "editing," "horn arranger," "consultant," "project manager," and-- most tellingly-- "copyist." This is less music than "production." 23 musicians took part in this album's design, four of which simply played "snare." At least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.

Music is more than craft and technique. Steely Dan's seams are hidden, the instruments are digitally lacquered, and the edges are buffed. 20 years have passed since Gaucho and Steely Dan seem content to completely ignore them. Amazingly, Steely Dan's name has been popping up as a hip musical crush. Remember, this glossy bop-pop was the indifferent aristocracy to punk rock's stone-throwing in the late 70's. People fought and died so our generation could listen to something better. Okay, so they died of overdoses and car crashes. They still had soul. Keep up the good fight. Put down this sports-utility vehicle of a record. As with the urban yuppie driver, the four-wheel drive is never activated.

— Brent DiCrescenzo, February 29, 2000

at least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.
at least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.
at least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.
at least at the end of "Wild Wild West" Will Smith destroys the giant, evil machine.