Oh my gosh, you have NO idea how icsited (spelling intentional) I am!!! As I was tooling around town today, I heard a song on the radio that sounded incredibly Steely Dan-ish (SD is my all-time, no-holds-barred, FAVORITE band, and I pretty much know everything they’ve done - own the vinyl, own the tapes, got the music books, etc.). Even though I’d reached my destination, I sat in the car and waited till the song was over and the dj made some sort of announcement as to who it was. Well, I was right, it WAS Steely Dan, and (according to KFOG’s afternoon man), there’s a new SD album due out in February. First new Dan album in 19 years!
I’m SOOOOOO jazzed!!!
Just as a matter of information that no one’s probably interested in, years ago on one of my few visits overseas, I found an “accoustic” Steely Dan album in a used record store in Dusseldorf (Stone Mountain - European release only), and have considered it one of my greatest musical treasures, ever since.
The Dan’s back! Can I get a “Halleluja!” from the chorus?
StoryTyler
“Not everybody does it, but everybody should.” I Spy Ty.
My bad (and I’m going to correct it before someone else reams me a new one): it’s called Sun Mountain, and my favorite tune on the album is Stone Piano.
And oh yeah, Conman, thanks for not making an issue of my spelling error! Guess I’m a bit too icsited!
Whooo-HOOOO!!! (counting the days till February!)
StoryTyler
“Not everybody does it, but everybody should.” I Spy Ty.
I saw the reunited Steel Dan live at both appearances in Phoenix. They are every bit as good live as on the classic records. I have just about everything on vinyl but still got the Citizen Steely Dan box set on CD. I look forward to any new music.
They don’t call me the colonel because I’m some dumbass army guy.
Saw them twice a few years ago. I thought they sounded exactly like the albums, which in this case was a good thing. They were always a very studio-intensive group and never performed live very well (or very often). It’ll be neat to hear some new stuff.
Aja is probably the best SD album to start with. It has some songs you’ve probably heard (“Peg” and “Josie” are both radio staples), the amazing “Home at Last” and my all-time favorite SD song, “Deacon Blues.” It’s from '77 or '78, when they were in their prime. It’s music for grownups, and it’s great.
I agree with Catrandom - it’s definitely an acquired appreciation (although I’d say most of their mainstream stuff is enjoyed by just about everybody). You probably already know Peg, Hey Nineteen!, Rikki, Don’t Lose That Number and maybe Kid Charlemagne and Caves of Alta Mira (among others). Aja is probably the best one to start with.
I really enjoy the quirky nature of some of their tunes, and my personal favorites (I doubt they would appeal to someone just checking out their repertoire) are: My Rival (Gaucho), Stone Piano and Ida Lee (Sun Mountain).
I’ll add that Don Fagen’s last two solo albums - The Nightfly and Kamakiriad - are exceptional, start to finish. (The Nightfly has some terrific big band influence - if you like that sound at all, start here…)
StoryTyler
“Not everybody does it, but everybody should.” I Spy Ty.
You say “last two solo albums” as if there were no decade long gap between them and there are more The Nightfly was the first CD I ever owned and remains one of my favories. I’ve also got Walter Becker’s solo album but it’s a vastly different flavor. For real obscurity I have the soundtrack that they did for a indie film in the seventies.
I don’t think there is any wrong SD album to start with but I agree that Aja is an excellent choice. Give the Debut album Can’t Buy a Thrill a try too. They actually had a semi-fixed band lineup for the first few albums with Donald, Walter, Denny Diaz, Jim Hodder and Jeff Baxter. Listen to the Skunk on Brooklyn Owes the Charmer and Pearl of the Quarter then you’ll realize pedal steel guitar is not just for country and western.
There is hardly a song I don’t like but maybe Show Biz Kids. Whe the hell is the chorus in that song? A friend and I thought they were singing “momo hot swages, hot swages…”
They don’t call me the colonel because I’m some dumb ass army guy.
Oh MAN, that’s a TERRIFIC tune! (Yeah, I pretty much feel that way about every SD song.) I’ts like the only time you ever heard the word “fuck” on the radio way back when - my friends and I kinda rated radio stations with that: if they didn’t bleep it, they were cool. Plus, it’s pretty cool that Fagen and Becker kinda poke fun at themselves in that tune.
Ok, going strictly by memory:
Chorus:
While the poor people sleepin’ with the shade on the light,
While the poor people sleepin’ all the stars come out at night.
After closing time at the Guernsey Fair,
I detect the El Supremo
From the room at the top of the stairs.
Well I’ve been around the world,
And I’ve been in the Washington Zoo.
And in you know, in my travels as the facts unravel I’ve found this to be true:
You know you go to …
Las Wages, Las Wages, you go to Las Wages
They got the house on the corner,
With the rug inside.
They got the booze and needles,
All that money can buy.
They got the shape of their bodies.
They got the Steely Dan T-shirts.
And for the coupé de grace…
They’re outrageous!
Honey, let me tell you
[Chorus]
Show business kids makin’ movies of themselves
You know they don’t give a fuck about anybody else
You know you go to …
Las Wages, Las Wages, go to Las Wages
(maybe they ARE saying Las Vegas, but it never quite sounds like that to me.)
StoryTyler
“Not everybody does it, but everybody should.” I Spy Ty.
I adore “Show Biz Kids” – goes to show … something, I guess. I live in L.A., which may have something to do with it. But I have no idea what the backup singers are saying either. “Lost Wages”?
I have a copy of Steely Dan / Greatest Hits 1972-1978. It’s a great collection.
Do It Again
Reeling In the Years
My Old School
Bodhisattva
Show Biz Kids
East St. Louis Toodle-oo
Rikki Don’t Lose That Number
Pretzel Logic
Any Major Dude
Here at the Western World
Black Friday
Bad Sneakers
Doctor Wu
Haitian Divorce
Kid Charlemagne
The Fez
Peg
Josie
The Nightfly was the first CD I ever owned and remains one of my favories. I’ve also got Walter Becker’s solo album but it’s a vastly different flavor. For real obscurity I have the soundtrack that they did for a indie film in the seventies.