This was a great read from the makers of Uncut. Goes album to album with some great photography…
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https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51xJeGBooNL._SX323_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg
A collection of old interviews and reviews wouldn’t normally be that exciting but Fagen and Becker are probably the greatest interviewees in rock history.
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I’m ordering that right now…
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Watched all of this, wow so many amazing musicians playing on this record.
Just watching this gives me that buzz I used to get jamming with a band or dreaming of writing great music in my teens. Seeing those guys play towards the end as well with everyone really feeling it and getting into the groove was kind of emotional. The spirit of music just doesn’t age in people does it?
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Just bought it.
God I love Steely Dan.
Had such a weird relationship with them growing up. My dad got me into all kinds of music, and pretty much everything that he loved, I loved. But not Steely Dan. He played them all through my life and until the age of 18/19 I thought they were cheesy and lame. And then one day it just clicked and I was absolutely obsessed.
Now they’re one of those bands that I’m desperate for others to like. They’re my drunk band too- whenever I’m pissed and I get home and the room is wobbly, I stick Steely Dan on shuffle on my headphones and fuck me it sounds glorious, especially if I’ve been in a club with awful music.
I love them so much.
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katy lied is generally my fav altho you could just pick any of their first 7 albums and argue them to death. kinda just depend on the mood KL does contain my fav song of theirs:
i love the weird prog intro and how it opens up into that beautiful first verse. the little drum fill at around 3:00 that serves as the bridge between the two guitar solos is so perfect. such warmth, such detail.
to me their an easy band to dip in and out of. i can jam a playlist or any of their albums or any of their songs on an individual basis and ill be satisfied no matter what. theres songs i didnt like the first umpteen times i heard them that years later open up for whatever reason.
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the bernard purdie part in this documentary is m/l my favorite thing ever. ive watched it hundreds of times and sent it out to everyone i know at some point in my life. mainly just to show people what supreme confidence looks/sounds like. dripping with swagger in that coogi sweater.
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great carpool song imo
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Like many Steely Dan songs the story behind it makes it even better.
For anyone who doesn’t know, it’s about the college that Fagen and Becker attended assisting in a drugs bust in the 60s that led to lots of students including both of them being locked up (albeit briefly).
The best twist is that the ambitious young DA who got their college to co-operate in the drugs bust that is the subject of the song was G. Gordon Liddy (referred to in the song as ‘Daddy G’) later the leader of the gang behind the Watergate burglaries and one of the few men to serve prison time as a result. Becker and Fagen got the last laugh.
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Yeah that + their lyrical stylings. Listening to them feels like eating a really good box of chocolate liquors or something sometimes
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sounds like a really wanky thing to say but I’ve always felt like they really respect your time as a listener, barely any line or bar of music is wasted. Really glad I discovered them myself and they weren’t forced on me by my parents becoming some kind of lame 70s rock band I would roll my eyes at or something.
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Doctor Wu is such an incredible song, sincerely emotional yet silly
Another one with a story - Dr Wu was a real person who had an interesting life. He was originally a Wall Street investor who became an acupuncturist and ran a clinic in New York. He was especially famous for helping people overcome drug addiction (including Fagen, apparently).
He was also a visual artist
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fascinating thanks!
The Minutemen do a cool lil cover of Dr Wu.
I love Steely Dan. Top 10 of all time. My friends parents apparently had a Steely Dan themed wedding!
Aren’t they named after a steam powered dildo in a William Burroughs book or have I dreamt that?
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No that’s definitely right.
This (somewhat retro looking) site has lots of good Steely Dan knowledge
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Have never listened to a Steely Dan album, but will need to rectify that this weekend on the basis of this thread.
What’s the best entry point? Aja?
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yeah definitely. For all of the jazzy interesting harmonies and diversions in the tracks, they’re really catchy and straightforward to listen to and every track on there is great!
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No.
Royal Scam or Cant Buy a Thrill
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Not really sure what their best one is, but I think Can’t Buy A Thrill is the one you can put on and realise you actually already know half the songs on there.
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