Any Steely Dan Fans Out There?

[Steely_Dan]

[LynneSin]

1. One of the best concerts I ever saw was Steely Dan

Probably because the show was filled with us old farts who loved jamming to the music. It was nice not having kids nearby who were puking up from drinking too much booze & cough syrup and other fine chemicals.

[JimGinPA]

2. Yes

I like them a lot.

[Franzia]

3. Most definitely!

What is your favorite album?

[kimmerspixelated]

4. Yes!

I love the Dan! I always admired how when they started out they were strictly a studio band...how did they pull it off, when every band around them was booked solid for years!? My favorites: My Old School, and Ricky Don't lose That Number and Peg! But there are so many.....Pretzel Logic!!!

[Bennyboy]

8. Well they WERE a live band at first...

I saw them open for Rare Earth in 1974. The Critics HATED THEM. All over the country, they were hated by the music press. Said they did not put on a show, no flash etc. (remember 1974 was THE YEAR for the big production, Elton John notably).

I dug the show myself, but the critcs just savaged them.

The crtics stung them so much that they did not tour again until 1993(?) and then with a totally different band that the 74 tour. (Jeff "Skunk" Baxter mainly).

[kimmerspixelated]

37. I didn't know that.

Interesting.

[Taverner]

5. Donald and Walter are two of my heroes

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. I'll need to sit down before answering.

[6000eliot]

7. Best rock band named after a dildo ever!

[OmahaBlueDog]

9. I love Steely Dan

I saw them in Miami in '93 or '94. They have a lot of haters, but I've always liked the jass-rock fusion and the obscure lyrics.

[montanto]

10. My wife likes hers. Doesn't do anything for me.

[Systematic Chaos]

11. I was born in 1969. "Reelin' in the Years" was a hit in late '72.

After already having had about a years' training singing along with my older brothers' Beatles 45s on my Show-n-Tell, belting out the chorus of that song or "Do it Again", or especially "Rikki, Don't Lose That Number" along with the car radio or hi-fi came easy. :D

Guess you could say I was one of their "early fans", and damn proud of it.

[Kajsa]

12. Yes!

They are great.

:)

[RagAss]

13. Yes. Big Time....saw them live in 1993 at Jones Beach...

They still had it then.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

14. Just ripped the FLAC version of my Steely Dan mix CD two nights ago.

The one I've had in the car was made from MP3s ripped from the CDs. For this one, I used the CDs to rip FLAC files and created the CD from that. There is definitely a difference in quality, but you have to start with a band who knows how to record their music (like Steely Dan).

Favorite album's got to be "Katy Lied."

Things got a little too smooth for my tastes with "Aja" and I wasn't the world's biggest "Gaucho" fan either.

:toast:

[Franzia]

17. "Katy Lied" is my favorite Dan album, as well,

with "The Royal Scam" being a very close second.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

18. The title track for "Royal Scam" is amazing...

...I'm sure Becker and Fagan have a reason, known only to them, why it was left off of the 2-CD collection "Show Biz Kids." They nailed pretty much every hit and significant album track except that one.

This is the CD booklet I prepared in Photoshop (smaller version here out of respect for DU's bandwidth, original is the normal 4.75" x 9.5"). The retro photos are from the royalty-free Eastman Labs Archives on Flickr.

The CD represents my single-disc version of "Desert Island Dan." I'd have loved to put a few more tracks like "Kid Charlemagne" on there, but 80 minutes is 80 minutes, ya know?



:toast:

[Franzia]

20. Thanks for sharing the pic!

"Showbiz Kids" is very comprehensive, with the added bonus of "Here at the Western World", which (IIRC) was one SD's few singles.

:toast:

[Steely_Dan]

29. WOW!

Amarigo...that is such great cover art. Perfect for the Dan.

-P

[AllenVanAllen]

15. Present

They were the first band I took my wife (then girl friend) to see live in 94'
It was a great performance and we had a great time!

[SalmonChantedEvening]

16. My first album ever was Countdown to Ecstacy.

Forever a fan of the Dan.

Use your knack darlin
Take one step back darlin
There ain't nothin in Chicago
For a monkey woman to do

Do you throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll

[Franzia]

23. Torture is the main attraction; I don't need that kind of action.

great song!

[cwydro]

19. I love Steely Dan.

Unfortunately, I lost all my CD collection in Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Never replaced it and haven't caught on to this Ipod thing yet.

[PassingFair]

21. College and Euchre and Steely Dan....

My husband knows that Al Green,
Barry White and Steely Dan should
be played loudly if the kids are not
around....

Add the Rolling Stones, if he's
looking to get scratches on his back.

:blush:

[hippywife]

22. Count me in!

Love 'em. :hi:

[Steely_Dan]

24. Geeze...I made the original post...

walked away for a few hours and come back to see that there are some real Dan fans out there.

There is so much to admire about Walter and Donald's work through the years. First, as many audio fanatics know, if you want to test your sound system, there are few "bands" that allow you to hear the entire spectrum of your system's performance. They were perfectionists. Just ask anyone who played with them. They had high expectations of themselves and anyone that would work with them.

My favorite release was (is) "The Royal Scam." You see, I was into the part of their music that was guitar driven and not necessarily horn driven. I was partial to their "rock 'n roll" side..the heavier Dan. Yet, who could deny that "Aja" achieved near perfection with songs like Peg and Josie. They received a Grammy for that effort and it was well deserved.

Guacho was an attempt to repeat Aja and IMHO was over-worked. They just didn't know when to quit tinkering with it. However, in its own right, Guacho is another outstanding effort from the boys.

Having said all of this, there is one thing that Steely Dan was able to achieve that no other band could touch. It was in their lyrics. Here you are listening to great jazz/rock fusion...very upbeat stuff and you come to learn that the song was something about prostitution or drugs or murder. The music took you in one direction while the words took you down a dark and dangerous road. The Dan explored the human condition with irony and subtle daring. In their work you would find existential loneliness...the draw of drugs and sex.

You see, the Dan don't give a shit what you might think of their work. They went their own way while telling the music critics to fuck off. They did it with class..they did it while tightly grasping the pulse of a society on edge.

"I ain't going to do it without my Fez on" - Cautious sex with your condom.
"There in the shade, the shape where I used to stand" - beautiful words.
"Show business kids making movies of themselves, they don't give a fuck about anybody else"
"Katy tried...I was halfway crucified. I was on the other side...Of no tomorrow" - despair.

The Royal Scam - The promise of America...lost.

KID CHARLEMAGNE - Making drugs.

TIME OUT OF MIND - Is it about drugs or is it a religious revival...or both?

There is no end to the mystery of Steely Dan. If only the rest of the music world could appreciate their complexity and no compromise approach to their art.

-P

[Tuesday Afternoon]

25. Fan here

:hi:

[nutsnberries]

26. I saw them live last year and the show was amazing.

I had always liked them but I've got a new-found love.

[fortyfeetunder]

27. yup, for years and years.

I think it was my brother that bought Aja and that's when I got hooked. I have not been to a show though.

[SeattleGirl]

28. Love, love, love Steely Dan!

:7

[malta blue]

30. Love love love them

:thumbsup:

[PRETZEL]

31. Been a fan for as long as I can remember,

Love them.

[gbate]

32. Definitely!!

They are the coolest!

[Dogtown]

33. My Esso is a major DanFan

I like the boys pretty much. More intellectual than many acts of the day.

Not into music so much these days. Old age and adventuring have mucked my hearing, so I listen to the bug-hum of "Tinnitus" all day long...

[RebelOne]

34. My favorite of all their songs is "Do It Again."

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjXF52NHB84&feature=related

I like the 1972 version best

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXXmg2-6v-I&feature=related

[BarbaRosa]

35. Saw them in El Paso in '73 (?)

Reelin In The Years tour.

The line up was:

Mason Proffitt
Steely Dan
Sha Na Na

Been a fan ever since.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

36. Irreversibly so.

They are simply fantastic.

Listening to "Turn That Heartbeat Over Again" as we speak, actually.

Oh Michael, oh Jesus, you know I'm not to blame....

[yellowdogintexas]

38. absolutely. The Dan is my ultimate Road Trip Music. nt

[elshiva]

39. I like them.

[sp219]

40. Probably unusual...

I was born in 1994, and Steely Dan is probably my favorite group of musicians ever. Just found out about them recently, and I'm now the proud owner of each and every album. Absolutely fantastic musicians, like no other. Can't get enough of them.

[Dogtown]

41. Got tickies for the Dan Concert

Aug 15, Chastain Park, ATL






:applause: :woohoo: :applause:

[DinahMoeHum]

42. Back in the late 70's I caught several interviews with their producer

Gary Katz - considered a very rare treat at the time. I still have them on cassette tape, and I'm looking to clean them up and transcribe them to CD.

The radio station at the time was WLIR-FM (Long Island, NY) and the show was Sunday at Nine.

:thumbsup:

[tigereye]

43. here!

:hi: