Perfection & Grace

= Steely Dan.

Citizen is the best box set ever, but I wish there was a hidden cache of unheard songs. Still have yet to listen to Two Against Nature, though.

Steely Dan = "funked-up Muzak."

...

That said, their best stuff is undeniably compelling. Their stuff reminds me of epic-length road trips on weekend visits with my Dad back in the 1970s.

I haven't listened to anything since Gaucho.

I'd still take 'em over The Doobie Brothers any day. Give me a single CD and a casual acquaintance with their back catalog, and I'd give you:

01 Do It Again
02 Reelin' In The Years
03 Your Gold Teeth
04 Rikki Don't Lose That Number
05 Any Major Dude Will Tell You
06 Pretzel Logic
07 Black Friday
08 Bad Sneakers
09 Kid Charlemagne
10 Green Earrings
11 Haitian Divorce
12 Deacon Blues
13 Peg
14 Josie
15 Babylon Sisters
16 Hey Nineteen

...


Odd note regarding Becker and Fagen:

"The pair are known for their near-obsessive perfectionism in the recording studio ... Over the year they took to record Gaucho (1980), an album of just seven songs, Becker and Fagen hired at least 42 studio musicians and 11 engineers" ~ wikipedia

One year? A mere eleven engineers?

Compared to some, they're a model of restraint and economy.

The thing I like about the Dan is that there are plenty of non-single gems to be found on their albums: "Dirty Work," "Night By Night," "Any World (That I'm Welcome To)," "Time Out of Mind," "Bodhisattva." They'd gotten a bit too slick by the time they ended (and their recent work picks up right where that spitshine left off), but Becker and Fagan are one hell of a songwriting team.

I went to see them in 1995 when they reunited to tour again. I was pretty excited since I'm a big fan and had thought this would never happen. Unfortunately, the show was pretty flat. I can't even remember anything from the show except that they played a little bit of 'FM' and then stopped saying they weren't going to play it. They been around a few times since and I haven't even been tempted.

The later albums I can take or leave.

Walter Becker's solo albums are pretty uneven, his singing voice doesn't help.

Donald Fagen's solo albums have gone down in quality with each release but The Nightfly was so good it would've been hard to equal that. "New Frontiers" is an absolute gem. I haven't heard Sunken Condos yet but someone on the board put it on his top ten for the year so I'm looking forward to that one.

I would like to see Fagen tour with his solo stuff.

One of my principal concert buddies had long told me that the Dan's shows have been top-notch since the reunion. In fact, he called Steely Dan the best live act he'd ever seen. When the 2008 tour came to Red Rocks, he all but threatened me into getting tickets with him. Okay, no worries; I was a fan in the '70s, and the music definitely holds up.

Six years later, my buddy has been to several more Steely Dan concerts -- even traveling to see them. And I'm still trying to figure out what the hell he sees in them. It's easy to figure out what he hears in them; the band sounded great, and Fagen's voice still aces. But it was more of a revue than a concert. The band came out first to play instrumental versions of "The Fez" and "Bodhisattva; Fagen and Becker took the stage for the third number, "The Royal Scam." They played a two-hour show, sticking to material from Pretzel Logic onward. No "Do It Again," "Reelin' in the Years," "My Old School" or "Rikki Don't Lose That Number." (I've read since then that Becker and Fagen feel those hits to be beneath the standard they eventually set.) They played nearly all of Aja and Gaucho. Finally they said good night, and Don and Walt left the stage, letting the band play an instrumental of "Third World Man" and "East St. Louis Toodle-oo" as a coda.

Fagen and Becker just seemed like a couple of old men loitering on stage. Don had dressed in his lounge-lizard suit, but Becker looked like a high-school algebra teacher -- a particularly creepy one -- who'd put on his casual shirt and jeans and strapped on a guitar to play with his buddies on the weekend. He stuck to rhythm guitar all night; he left the heavy lifting to the other guitarists in the band. Except for Walter's tuneless voice when he took the lead spot on "Gaucho," the group sounded note-for-note perfect -- so perfect, it seemed downright airless. My wife and I agreed later: we might as well have stayed home and listened to the albums.

Two years earlier, I had seen a Steely Dan tribute band. (You try finding something more exciting to do on a weeknight in Sacramento.) The group, Ajà Vu, turned out to be really good. I thoroughly enjoyed the evening. The real thing was just as good, but not at all better ... and at eight times the price. (And at least the tribute band didn't blow off the classic hits from the earlier albums, on the grounds that those songs are beneath them.)

One of the few concerts I've attended that simply wasn't worth the price of the ticket.

While I'm a Steely Dan fan, I'm not so interested in the live thing with these guys (see Morrison, Van).

That said, hoip, the best box set ever is clearly The Jam's Direction Reaction Creation. All the albums and singles, plus a ton of unreleased stuff. Listening to the 5 discs sequentially is...intense.

Steely Dan? On TP?

Exactly what i was thinking, BCE. Steely Dan were Seals and Croft, or England Dan and John Ford Coley with a slightly higher iq. Souless hi tech sheen so slick I slide right off. musical polyester!

After high school my best friend and I took separate paths.
I got into Richard Thompson and he got into Steely Dan.
When he told me, I said "that's cool. They're kinda like Fairport!"
I was thinking of Steel Eye Span.

BCE

"Steely Dan? On TP?"

Damn frigging right. They still are hugely influential, not only to your so called alternatives, but to anyone else. Now tell me, what the fuck is Madonna still doing in TP?



Post Edited (03-09-14 10:09)

Quote

Mr. Fab, please what is your first name?

Why, 'Mr' of course. That's what Ma and Pa Fab dubbed me.

Bread! Yeah there's another one, howzabout Orleans, Ambrosia, Firefall? Always got them all mixed up. And Steely Dan somehow sounded even more slick than them. I just have this visceral reaction to that whole electric-piano MOR smooth jazz fusion '70s sound. Fern-bar music for guys in shirts buttoned way down and satin baseball jackets.

And yet...and yet...I love wimpy hippie-era stuff like Simon & Garfunkel, Mamas and the Papas, the Association, the Free Design, Spanky & Our Gang, etc. Those grand gorgeous vocal harmonies are a lost art. I have to admit that this EZ white-bread (even when by The 5th Dimension) sunshine pop has only trace amounts of rock n' roll in it, so I guess I can't judge...

"Man, that Mr. Fab is such a party pooper." - mustachioed man in wingtip open chested shirt with gold chains and polyester baseball jacket.



Post Edited (03-09-14 16:52)

Quote

Now tell me, what the fuck is Madonna still doing in TP?

Preach on brother!

...

In fact, how the fuck did she ever wind up w/ a Trouser Press entry?

...

Say what you like about "The Dan." There are a ton of other 70's-vintage bands and (ahem) artists that I'd vote off the island before we ever got around to Steely Dan.

However. I wonder how much wiggle room and cred they bought themselves with the band name alone? It might be the best Burroughs-derived band name of all time. Would they seem better with a moniker like ... Mugwump Jism? Or was that already taken?

I always thought it to be some weird coincidence that don was from was not was his real name is Donald fagenson and the was brothers were 2 guys wth various other musicians similar to steely dan in that respect

"don was from was not was his real name"...

Try saying that ten times really fast.

My Best Friend is a Steely Dan fanatic and he and I have gone to see them three times over the years since they reunited and started playing live shows. The first was in 1993 in LA and the second was in 2008 at the Paso Robles mid state fair. Both concerts were all the hits and well know album tracks from the 70s albums and the crowd loved it. They closed both shows with "My Old School" and everyone was singing along. Then we went in 2010 to seen them at the Nokia Theater in LA and the show was really odd. They intentionally didn't play any of their old hits. The only song I recognized from the classic albums was a very reworked version of "Show Biz Kids" that didn't sound anything like the original. Everything else was from their most recent albums. I respect that artists don't want to become oldies acts but c'mon. You gotta play some songs the crowd can relate to.

BTW, Delvin. My buddy also took me to see AJA Vu in Fresno and it was an awesome show. The opening act was a Tower of Power tribute band call Soul'd Out that was equally enjoyable. I didn't realize how many Tower of Power songs I remember from listening to the AM radio when I was a little kid in the 70s. Definitely catch either of them if you are in 70s mood.

file under guilty pleasures: godamnmotherfuckitshitonashingle

Steely Dan's never been a guilty pleasure to me. Their songs were among the highlights of '70s radio. Aja was the first album I bought by them; even though its title track went on kinda long, I thought it was great. Gaucho came out during my freshman year at college, after I'd discovered New Wave and punk. The album was criticized for being too slick -- and really, it is, compared to the earlier albums. But once I learned what a great make-out album Gaucho is, I had little reason to criticize it, let alone feel guilty about owning it.

> Steely Dan were Seals and Croft, or England Dan and John Ford Coley with a slightly higher iq.

I can't blame anyone for regarding Steely Dan as part of the '70s music scene that necessitated punk. After all, yes, SD's music was very mainstream, recorded by the top studio session pros of the day, and written by guys who'd given up touring.

But respectfully, Fab, I disagree that Becker & Fagen belong in the same league as the acts you mentioned. Seals & Crofts, E. Dan & J.F. Coley, Bread, and (oh jeez, just typing the name makes my stomach churn) John Denver were the ones who made the AM dial such a wasteland during that time. To me, the Dan's singles were among the highlights of '70s pop radio. Even their more laid-back singles, like "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" and even "Deacon Blues," had more to offer than any of those wussy, mewling folk-pop artists whose offensive presence made me want to treat my radio like the guys in Office Space treat the desktop printer.

"Exactly what i was thinking, BCE. Steely Dan were Seals and Croft, or England Dan and John Ford Coley with a slightly higher iq. Souless hi tech sheen so slick I slide right off. musical polyester."

Mr. Fab, please what is your first name? Your Social Security Number and address? I'm taking names here, as this offense will go down in my book.

Steely Dan was never your father's Steely Dan or your mother's for that matter. They're for all generations!

Well, that is correct: Madonna is on here (without a link to Breakfast Club, either) and there's nothing for The Call, and Steely Dan does get mentioned whenever people talk about Destroyer, so maybe....

I'm siding with the anti-Danners. The lines are hardening.

"Theerre's gonna be a shoowwdown"

"I'm siding with the anti-Danners."

Only A Fool Would Say That - Steely Dan

Mid-to-late 90s: I was perusing the mark-down bin at a Borders and the Citizen box was conspicuously jutting out among all the other unmovable discs. It had quite a number of price stickers on it, each less than the one before. I picked it up and glanced down at the latest price: $2.00. Two dollars, and they couldn't get anyone to buy it.



Post Edited (03-09-14 22:00)

That's today's America for you, shit taste in music. Meanwhile Spin Doctors CDs were probably flying off the shelves.



Post Edited (03-09-14 22:05)

I am pro-Dan. Katy Lied is the apex. Downhill from there. No interest in seeing them live.

I'm in the pro-Dan camp as well. But seeing a PBS pledge special of SD in concert killed any interest I had in seeing them live deader than Sarah Palin's political career.

A few years back npr had a special show ' is steely dan great or do they suck'. they had 2-4 experts on each side who on both sides really made valid points. I have been involved with several facebook music boards and the steely dan points you are all making come up. every music board eventually has a consenus about steely dan and it always seems to be 75/25- like /hate

> However. I wonder how much wiggle room and cred they bought themselves with the band name
> alone? It might be the best Burroughs-derived band name of all time.

Probably none. Only the most passionate fans and the most literate nerds would care where a band's name comes from. Granted, that describes the population of this board quite well, but it doesn't describe the populace in general, and probably doesn't describe Steely Dan's fan base.

Perhaps more than any other band that achieved comparable popularity, Steely Dan has been faceless. Its members have kept very low profiles, even as they've resumed touring. Most fans who came up in the '70s and loved the Dan's music probably couldn't tell you their names, and wouldn't recognize Fagen or Becker in the grocery store. (I could have, but that's just me.)

I remember reading a comment from Andy Partridge once, in which he said he wished XTC could exist solely within its music, in the public's mind. He wished the band name could be like a favorite brand of steak sauce -- something the public would buy and enjoy, without bothering to wonder or care about the people who made it. I'd say Steely Dan, more than any other group, achieved that "famous yet obscure" status that Partridge yearned for.

I can't believe what just happened. I was in an elevator, and Muzak took Rikki Don't Lose That Number and paved smooth jazz over it! Now that's what I call soulless slick.

When I was a kid, I hated the early Steely Dan singles. I didn't give them the time of day until "Aja" came out. I much preferred their "jazz fusion" sound. Then they broke up. The two albums got traded on during the Great Vinyl Purge. I did eventually get "The Nightfly" on CD, but I never heard their oeuvre as an adult until a co-worker brought in his boxed set of "Citizen Dan" to work for a spin in the mid-90s. It seemed a lot better as an adult! As for slick, much of my favorite music is slick, and even soulless [whatever that means]. I don't hold that against it, per se.



Former TP subscriber [81, 82, 83, 84]

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