Tell me [Josie] isn't the coolest, streetest, dirtiest, sweetest thing ever.
diane
and some of the comments just cracked me up. The thread is endless, but
the link is here: http://ilx.p3r.net/thread.php?msgid=4290297
If you just want a sample, read down:
Steely Dan: "Steely Dan's name has been popping up as a hip musical
crush. Remember, this glossy bop-pop was the indifferent aristocracy to
punk rock's stone-throwing in the late 70's. People fought and died so
our generation could listen to something better. "
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There just aren't enough Steely Dan threads on here.
this quote was re: Two Against Nature. I'm sure the source of this
is obvious. So is it the truth, or is it a baffling misrepresentation
of a great band/duo of maniacs?
-- Gear! (drink_to_remembe...), February 13th, 2004. (5 trackbacks)
Answers
Most ridiculous thing I've ever read on ILM, including the
profession of love for The Rapture, Al Sharpton, and prostate tickling.
-- roger adultery (vlad62...), February 13th, 2004.
It's a quote from pfork, btw.
-- Michael Daddino (epicharmu...), February 13th, 2004.
Figures.
-- Dan I. (w1nt3rmut...), February 13th, 2004.
Sorry but Steely Dan >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> the vast majority of
so-called punk rock music.
-- o. nate (syne_wav...), February 13th, 2004.
yep
-- roger adultery (vlad62...), February 13th, 2004.
Steely Dan may be incredibly boring and overrated, but I'd still
have to say that that quote is completely ridiculous. "Fought and
died"? You mean played guitar and OD'd on heroin like morons? OH OKEY!
-- David Allen (Davidalle...), February 13th, 2004.
It's all wrong, anyway. They were a bunch of scathing smart-asses
whose "glossy bop-pop" got much sample-love later and deservedly so.
-- Michael Daddino (epicharmu...), February 13th, 2004.
I dunno..."Cylctron" vs. "Do It Again"...that's a toughie, yessiree
bob.
-- Michael Daddino (epicharmu...), February 13th, 2004.
yeah...
Walter Becker >>>>> Johnny Thunders
AJA >>>>> Never Mind the Bollocks
"Hey Nineteen" >>>>>> "London Calling"
-- roger adultery (vlad62...), February 13th, 2004.
'Steely Dan may be incredibly boring and overrated, but I'd still
have to say that that quote is completely ridiculous. "Fought and
died"? You mean played guitar and OD'd on heroin like morons? OH OKEY!'
You're incredibly boring and overrated
-- pete s (petesesnai...), February 13th, 2004.
Possibly not overrated
-- pete s (petesesnai...), February 13th, 2004.
Well lead me to the non-boring Steely Dan, I may have heard the
wrong stuff. Show me the light.
-- David Allen (Davidalle...), February 13th, 2004.
"Deacon Blues!"
-- Curt1s Stephens (sevenxvii...), February 13th, 2004.
non-boring: all of it
-- strongo hulkington (dubplatestyl...), February 13th, 2004.
Can't Buy a Thrill
Gaucho
These bookends to their - original - career are funpacked, not as
knowing as what comes in between. Though some may disagree violently.
-- pete s (petesesnai...), February 13th, 2004.
Also download 'Josie'(from Aja). Tell me this isn't the coolest,
streetest, dirtiest, sweetest thing ever.
-- pete s (petesesnai...), February 13th, 2004.
aor at its most unimaginative...
-- Orbit (cstarrcstar...), February 13th, 2004.
zzzzzzzzzz
-- strongo hulkington (dubplatestyl...), February 13th, 2004.
where the fuck is d4rn1elle when we need him?
-- jody (jod...), February 13th, 2004.
They could play.. Then, so what, so could the entire Californian
studio mafia too. More importantly, Steely Dan wrote classy songs, and
they are one of still very few examples of a band breaking up,
reuniting several years later and still being able to make great
albums.
-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), February 13th, 2004.
punk wasn't necessarily about making consumer artifacts though. its
like comparing the results of an evening out (vomit, scars, vague
memories) with the results of staying in and doing a bit of knitting.
-- mullygrubber (tinydemon...), February 13th, 2004.
The pfork quote is obv. outdated ignorant crap. Really John
Darnielle could explain why best. It betrays a hatred of the musical
forms which the Dan use/are influenced by, the fact most happen to be
black in origin is irrelevant, the fact that that they swing isn't.
John Lydon was a fan of ABBA and Van Der Graaf Generator.
He didn't die; Sid Vicious did.
-- pete s (petesesnai...), February 13th, 2004.
aw don't knock prostate tickling :(
-- g--ff (misterhungr...), February 13th, 2004.
i saw them right when they first went back out on tour and they
just sounded amazing. just one great song after another.
-- scott seward (skotro...), February 13th, 2004.
look, they were studio dudes. there is a *reason* they were studio
dudes. they lacked the imagination and spark to do anything truly
great. they are an energyless study in basic competence.
-- Orbit (cstarrcstar...), February 13th, 2004.
Well put by Geir.
Great band. Once again, a Pitchdork writer postures but doesn't
offer anything in the way of interesting musical insight. But hey maybe
one of these days we'll get a "reassessment" of them too.
I saw 'em on the reunion tour as well! I drove three hours to see
them in Indianapolis, in fact, because I couldn't get tickets for
CHicago. Good show overall, although I will admit to being a bit
disappointed at the time, probably just cuz I had built it up so much
in my mind.
-- Broheems (electrifyingmoj...), February 13th, 2004.
they are an energyless study in basic competence.
If you want to insult them, fine, but accusing them of mere "basic
competence" is a tad silly.
-- Michael Daddino (epicharmu...), February 13th, 2004.
'look, they were studio dudes. there is a *reason* they were studio
dudes. they lacked the imagination and spark to do anything truly
great.'
Where have your favourite bands made their greatest albums? In
their kitchens? On a beach in Spain?
-- pete s (petesesnai...), February 13th, 2004.
not really. what is the difference between a musician and brilliant
musician? a musician is "competent". a brilliant musician has a command
of songwriting and a creative spark thatgoes beyond competence. LISTEN
to Steely Dan for God's sake, how can you argue this?
-- Orbit (cstarrcstar...), February 13th, 2004.
uh, great tunes, witty lyrics?
-- mullygrubber (tinydemon...), February 13th, 2004.
where?
-- Orbit (cstarrcstar...), February 13th, 2004.
XTC, Prefab Sprout, Scritti Politti and Todd Rundgren are studio
acts too. And they are all great. Just like Steely Dan.
Not to mention The Beatles from "Revolver" onwards.....
-- Geir Hongro (geirhon...), February 13th, 2004.
"Steely Dan's fifth album, The Royal Scam, was released on both
sides of the Atlantic in May 1976. It was a nine-song collection which,
despite Gary Katz's criticism of ABC Studios, had again been recorded
there with additional sessions at A & R Studios in New York.
"By now, Becker and Fagen's pool of musicians had expanded into a
veritable orchestra of session players. They thought nothing of flying
a guitar player or a drummer -- or indeed both -- across the country to
play little more than a few bars of one song which might not even make
it onto disc. Expense didn't enter into it; their foremost
consideration was to find the right stylistic match and to create as
perfect a rendition of each composition as was humanly possible. Within
a few years they would take their obsessiveness even further, using the
latest technology to create absolute millisecond-perfect drum tracks,
using either a drum machine, a computer, a live drummer, or a
combination of all three.
"At the sessions for The Royal Scam, Fagen and Becker began to
record each tune with six or seven different rhythm sections, switching
the players around to try almost every configuration possible. They
would record all the songs with Rick Marotta and then record them all
over again with Bernard Purdie to see what each drummer could bring to
the tunes.
"Bass players, guitar players, and keyboard players would flit in
and out of a variety of studios so often they never knew what was going
on. Different combinations of musicians were playing all the songs on
successive nights and no one knew in advance -- including sometimes
Becker and Fagen -- who (if anyone) would end up on the final track. On
some frustrating occasions, after countless unsuccessful takes, a song
would be dropped because Becker and Fagen decided that none of the
multitude of efforts had come close to their vision of the song. Often
Becker and Fagen's microscopic fastidiousness bewildered the session
players, who thought every facet of the track sounded fine but which
for some reason Becker and Fagen refused to accept. And no amount of
talking could persuade them otherwise.
"Fagen and Becker took their controlled experimentation further
with each album; it would reach its limit on Gaucho when it became
increasingly unlikely that they would ever be satisfied with virtually
any basic track. During Gaucho they employed an astonishing forty
musicians and singers and worked on one song for so long and listened
back to it so many times that they actually wore the oxide off the
tape."
-from Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years, by Brian Sweet, Omnibus
Press 1994
-- jody (jod...), February 13th, 2004.
best driving music this side of AC/DC
-- roger adultery (vlad62...), February 13th, 2004.
(that's not a response to anyone, that's just a passage i really
like)
(xpost)
-- jody (jod...), February 13th, 2004.
I think Bernard Purdie is Pretty brilliant.
-- Broheems (electrifyingmoj...), February 13th, 2004.
Steely Dan fans are inexplicable to me. This is a mediocre band at
best.
-- Orbit (cstarrcstar...), February 13th, 2004.
Mizar5/Gina
(such as above) when it comes to Steely Dan fans/listeners. I sometimes
come across Steely topics and threads too in forums/message boards
about different subjects, not everyone 'needs' to be in a designated
forum when it comes to discussing the music of (one of) their fav
bands... some people seemed really really warped into outer space :-)
yes, fun stuff, thanks.
oldbunny
the Charlie Parker tune quoted in Parker's Band--I found a copy of the
song and it was one of those "holy shit" moments!
ana1...@yahoo.com
1. I'm reminded of an interview with Elvis Costello's original bassist
(Bruce Thomas?), probably in the late, lamented Musician Magazine back
in the 80s, where he talked about his audition for the Attractions
(late 70s). He was asked what bands he liked and he mentioned Steely
Dan, for which he was ridiculed by EC. He said something like "but
they were the only thing around then," which is pretty true; I, too,
remember the pre-post-punk days of Gordon Lightfoot and the Starland
Vocal Band and disco ascendant. Of course, now Elvis is a pop gourmand
and I'm sure would praise the Dan to the skies, but then I guess he
had to be an angry young asshole. (And thank God he was, or we never
would have had "Lipstick Vogue," among other delights).
2. I'm also reminded of this movie quote: "I've had a had a rough
night, and I hate the fucking Eagles, man".
3. Nice to see David Sylvian get some face time. The reason he's so
ignored is that he's so goddamn far ahead of everyone else, and he
always was. Grok on "Blemish" sometime.
More to come, I'm sure you can't wait.
Tomorrow's the night - Tower Thee-ayter, Phila. I avoided the posted
setlist because I like surprises, but I'm hoping for a long, lush
"Maxine". And "Brite Nightgown," holy shit that's hot stuff.