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Steely Dan is an American rock band formed in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, in 1971 by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Originally having a full band lineup, Becker and Fagen chose to stop playing live by the end of 1974 and continued Steely Dan as a studio-only duo, utilizing a revolving cast of session musicians. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the seventies".
Pretzel Logic is the third studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released on February 20, 1974, by ABC Records. It was recorded at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California, with producer Gary Katz. The album was Steely Dan's last to be made and released while the group was still an active touring band, as well as the final album to feature the band's full quintet-lineup of Becker, Fagen, Denny Dias, Jim Hodder, and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, though it also features significant contributions from many prominent Los Angeles-based studio musicians.
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician who was the co-founder, lead singer, co-songwriter, and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan, formed in the early 1970s with musical partner Walter Becker. In addition to his work with Steely Dan, Fagen has released four solo albums, beginning with The Nightfly in 1982, which was nominated for seven Grammys.
Walter Carl Becker was an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He was the co-founder, guitarist, bassist, and co-songwriter of the jazz rock band Steely Dan.
Countdown to Ecstasy is the second studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released in July 1973, by ABC Records. It was recorded at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California, except for Rick Derringer's slide guitar part for "Show Biz Kids", which was recorded at Caribou Ranch in Nederland, Colorado. After the departure of vocalist David Palmer from Steely Dan, the group recorded the album with Donald Fagen singing lead on every track.
Katy Lied is the fourth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released in March 1975, by ABC Records; reissues have since been released by MCA Records due to ABC's acquisition by the former in 1979. It was the first album the group made after they stopped touring, as well as their first to feature backing vocals by Michael McDonald.
The Royal Scam is the fifth studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released in May 1976, by ABC Records; reissues have since been released by MCA Records due ABC's acquisition by the former in 1979. It was produced by Gary Katz. In the United States, the album peaked at number 15 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, and it has been certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Gaucho is the seventh studio album by the American rock band Steely Dan, released by MCA Records on November 21, 1980. The album marked a significant stylistic shift for the band, with more focus on rhythm and atmosphere than their earlier work, but the recording sessions demonstrated the group's typical obsessive nature and perfectionism, as they used at least 42 different session musicians, spent over a year in the studio, and far exceeded the original monetary advance given by the record label. At the 24th Annual Grammy Awards, Gaucho won Best Engineered Recording – Non-Classical, and was nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.
Jim Hodder was an American musician, best known as the original drummer for Steely Dan. After leading the Boston group Bead Game, Hodder moved to Los Angeles to join Steely Dan. He played on their first three albums before leaving in 1974, and worked as a session musician before his death in 1990.
Elliott Randall is an American guitarist, best known for being a session musician and performing with popular music artists. Randall played the well-known guitar solos on Steely Dan's song "Reelin' in the Years" and Irene Cara's song "Fame". The former solo was ranked as the 40th best guitar solo of all time by the readers of Guitar World magazine and the eighth best guitar solo by Q4 Music.
"Reelin' In the Years" is a song by American rock band Steely Dan, released as the second single from their 1972 debut album, Can't Buy a Thrill. It peaked at No. 11 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and at No. 15 in Canada.
"Pretzel Logic" is a song written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, released as a single by Steely Dan from their album Pretzel Logic, originally in 1974 by ABC Records. It reached number 57 in the Billboard charts.
"My Old School" is a song by American rock band Steely Dan. It was released in October 1973, as the second single from their album Countdown to Ecstasy, and reached number 63 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Any Major Dude Will Tell You" is a song written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker that was first released by Steely Dan on their 1974 album Pretzel Logic. It was also released as the B-side of the first single from that album "Rikki Don't Lose That Number". It was later released on several of the band's compilation albums.
"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" is a single released in 1974 by rock/jazz rock group Steely Dan and the opening track of their third album Pretzel Logic. It was the most successful single of the group's career, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1974.
"FM (No Static at All)" is a song by American jazz-rock band Steely Dan, the title theme for the 1978 film FM. It made the US Top 40 that year when released as a single, a success relative to the film. Musically, it is a complex jazz-rock composition driven by its bass, guitar and piano parts, typical of the band's sound from this period; its lyrics look askance at the album-oriented rock format of many FM radio stations at that time, in contrast to the film's celebration of that medium.
"Dallas" is the first single by Steely Dan. It was sung by drummer Jim Hodder. The song was not on the band's debut album Can't Buy a Thrill but was included on the 1978 Japan-only compilation Steely Dan. It was recorded by Poco in 1975 on their Head Over Heels album.
"Aja" is a jazz rock song, with elements of jazz fusion and progressive rock, by the American rock band Steely Dan from the album of the same name, their sixth studio album, released in 1977. Composers Becker and Fagen play guitar and synthesizer, respectively, with studio musicians playing the other parts. Fagen sings lead vocals. Production duties were handled by Gary Katz; the album was released through ABC Records. Musically, it is tonally sophisticated and a structurally complex work that was praised upon release as the most ambitious track the duo had ever attempted. The song's lyrics voice the interior monologue of a man who runs to the title character to escape the stresses of his life "up on the hill." Fagen claimed that it was inspired by the relative of an acquaintance, who had married a Korean woman named Aja. He has described the song as being about the "tranquility that can come of a quiet relationship with a beautiful woman."
"Dirty Work" is a song written by Donald Fagen and Walter Becker of Steely Dan, which appeared on the band's 1972 debut album Can't Buy a Thrill.
References
- ↑ Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990 - ISBN 0-89820-089-X
- ↑ "The one song Steely Dan wrote to attack John Lennon". faroutmagazine.co.uk. 2024-09-17. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
- ↑ Hopper, Alex (2024-07-31). "Behind the Meaning of Steely Dan's Response to John Lennon, "Only a Fool Would Say That"". American Songwriter. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
- ↑ Sweet, Brian (2018-08-16). Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years. Omnibus Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-78759-129-5.
- ↑ "Steely Dan's 30 Greatest Songs Ranked". Mojo. 2024-09-07. Retrieved 2024-10-25.
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