jor: I missed the new Steely Dan on 'DET. By minutes. jor: and this morning I missed the damn teletubbies. redrover: sounds like you were lucky diznave: how -is- the new Steely Dan album?...all I've heard so far is 'Cousi n Dupree' jor: 'aven't 'ad a decent listen jor: but knowing Steely Dan, their material tends to grow on me for like , a couple decades jor: evidently they have a PBS special coming up. <diznave:diznave makes note to self, "self, go buy this album"> jor: it'll be strange seeing them all old and stuff. I mean, they were s trange already. diznave: i saw 'em on letterman last week...-very- different looking redrover: ken, did you hear the red violin's soundtrack? <jazz:jazz blinks> diznave: but i like 'Cousin Dupree'....woulda fit in well on _Goucho_ <jazz:jazz stretches> krj: jor: will the new Steely Dan album be available on LP? jor: I just put on Kid Charlemange . . 8 krj: :) ---- violator leaving (Mar 15 14:37) jor: dunno krj: rover: no, I completely missed The REd Violin krj: jor: so what will you do? krj: :) jor: next? put on Aja. diznave: is much anything anymore available on vinyl? krj: the most recent Richard Thompson album (1999) is being issued on vi nyl with two extra bonus tracks jor: I am gently hacking code to "Peg" diznave: i see you've moved on to 'Aja" jazz: What is "Peg"? diznave: a great song jor: it's some greatest hits I copied to cassette around '83 diznave: by Steely Dan jor: "I like your picture .. . I keep it with your letter" jor: wait'll My Old School, I'll crank that puppy diznave: "and when you smile for the camera......I know i'll love you better" krj: you have cassettes from 1983 which still work? <jazz:jazz chuckles> krj: Leslie is copying all her rare mix cassettes to minidisc. diznave: My Old School is actually involved with my greatest live concert exp erience ever jor: I'm a safe cassette guy. Mr. Clean. jor: Clean machines. krj: i'm still whining over that Peter Gabriel tape I was making for you. Argh. jor: diz you witnessed a performance of My Old School? krj: all my cassette cleaning stuff has been eaten by the living room diznave: yeah....actually on three different occasions jor: yea, every cassette deck meets it;s fate . . just a matter of delay ing it. diznave: '93, '94', '95 jor: "I remember . . the 35 sweet goodbyes . ." ---- redrover leaving (Mar 15 14:51) krj: i have a 1983 Nakamichi which still purrs along... my old college c ronies have a 1974 Nakamichi still going... krj: (tape decks, I mean) diznave: back in '93 there was a group touring the country billed as "The New York Rock and Soul Review"....it included Michael McDonald, Pheobe Snow, Phoe be Cates, -and- Walter Becker and Donald Fagan...the group played the first ha lf of the concert songs they had written en mass for that entire ensemble... the second half of the show they all did solo stuff...you could tell the entire crowd was there to hear Becker and Fagan do some steely dan tunes....I mean, c 'mon, after a few shows on the "Can't buy a Thrill" tour they never toured aga in...-nobody- in this crowd had ever seen 'em live...when they opened up their set with "My Old School", they entire crowd was jumping up and down together, and screaming the words...I was in tears...very powerful... jazz: Interesting. jor: Bad Sneakers and a Pina Colada my friend diznave: they did a full tour the next year...and the year after jor: big horn section? diznave: oh yes <krj:krj cuts and pastes party into the music conference> jor: why *do* they call him Skunk. diznave: cool, ken...thanks krj: (actually I was kidding. :) ) diznave: he supplies all the skunk weed? jor: Must be that distortion. diznave: oh....uhhhh...ummmm...so was i ;-> jor: mmm, Katie Lied jor: I shelled out $14.95 for a chart book, "Complete to Aja". Bout this best deal I ever got in my life. jor: the best. krj: i forgot, you play piano? jor: play the chords to Dr. Wu at half speed? Sounds like a f***ing symph ony. jor: very amateurish. diznave: yeah, i need to get some sheet music to steely dan...seems like ti w ould be tough to play on guitar krj: damn, now you're making me want to hear some, and I don't have any Steely Dan in my bag o CDs. All the Steely Dan discs are Leslie's, actually. diznave: heh...i'm about to run out right now and get the new album jor: ah, Haitian Divorce jor: dizdave thanks for the testimonial krj: Leslie can buy thenew album. My shopping list is too long already. diznave: most welcome, my brother (sister?) krj: 3 Irish discs for the ritual St. Patrick's Day purchase: Coolfin, m aybe Chieftains, "Rough Guide" anthology. Plus Norma Waterson, Blue Horses, Ceolbeg, Kepa Junkera. ---- goose joining (Mar 15 15:17) jazz: Hey Chris. krj: you missed the music party, tail back some goose: Hi john, ken, diznave goose: cool, will do jor: yo rock-er diznave: goose, hello ---- jor switching to channel test (Mar 15 15:18) ---- jor joining from channel test (Mar 15 15:18) ---- smc joining (Mar 15 15:18) jor: "File reding not enabled" smc: hey jazz jor: just as well I guess. krj: only file greening is enabled. goose: I've never been able to appreciate Steely Dan, they just feel too s lick. krj: yeah, that's an anomaly that some critics have commented on: people who claim to hate overproduced stuff love them. goose: Especially after hearing all the tales of the things they did in th e studio, moving parts around 3 miliseconds and such, I mean really. diznave: kinda like lounge lizards? krj: I attribute it to some really great melodies, plus the jazz influen ce. goose: They epitomize the bad LA crowd to me. diznave: i dunno.....its just a feeling i get from them...can't really explai n it...plus, i'm addicted to donald fagan's voice diznave: but they're from new york ---- brown joining from channel greenroom (Mar 15 15:23) diznave: bob, hello :) brown: sir dave jor: oh oh. Rikki. goose: I know, but they ooze LA. ;-) My boss had a recent live disc of th eirs and it seemed just like the studio recordings with crowd noise, no doubt because they fixed everything up. krj: well, now we know what jor really loves. <diznave:diznave bows low...leans a bit too far forward, and falls on his face > goose: I guess I'm in a bad mood because everything everyone bring up in here I dislike. krj: I mentioned Led Zep :( goose: Heh, I like the early stuff! jor: I'm not the biggest Dan fan, really. krj: Most of what I bring up, nobody has ever heard of. :P diznave: oh, i'm not saying they're improvisational in any way...in that sens e they -aren't- jazz..and i love mainly improvised music... jor: yea. Fagen's voice. goose: Only that irish folk singer/songwriter who has sold 11 records stuf f ken ;-) krj: jor, was it you or happyboy I was discussing Femi Kuti with? <diznave:diznave is rolling on the floor laughing> jor: plus they're not really a "band". jor: not me. diznave: yeah, they're two guys who get crack studio musicians to sit in on t heir albums krj: ok, he'd be on CD anyway. Femi Kuti is the son of the late Fela Ku ti, and I think his CD is in one of the playstations at SKR diznave: ahhh...Fela Kuti... goose: yeah, their two guys who get crack for studio musicians who then si t in on their albums. diznave: exactly.....um, waitaminute ---- smc leaving (Mar 15 15:30) goose: heh jor: the new LP, says Martin BanDyke, has practically a different guitar player on each song diznave: heh...really? krj: Bands seem to be out of fashion. For that matter, careers seem to be out of fashion. diznave: Becker doesn't play on each song? diznave: fashion seems to be out of fashion ---- jiffer joining (Mar 15 15:32) jiffer: i am here for the idle diznave: hey jen!! :) krj: jiffer, the custodian of my hedningarna collection! <diznave:diznave grabs jen and hugs her> krj: (Sorry I inflicted it on you, I should have driven all the way over anne's and retrieved it myself.) jazz: Hey Jen. goose: Jiff! jor: Any Major Dude diznave: when the demon is at your door.... ---- danielle joining (Mar 15 15:36) krj: hi danielle, you have to sing :) danielle: nah i'll pass goose: hi drew, danielle danielle: not feeling too good danielle: hi krj: awwwwwwwwwwww jazz: Hey. diznave: drew, danielle, hello danielle: hi <diznave:diznave volunteers to sing for ken...........any wayne newton song ke n wants to hear> jiffer: chris! jiffer: dave! <jiffer:jiffer hugs DAve the Florida guy> jazz: I'll do my impression of Portishead. <diznave:diznave hugs jen the michigan gal> krj: sorry to leave all you lovely party people, but I gotta got get som e lunch. krj: bubye diznave: bye ken danielle: bye ---- krj leaving (Mar 15 15:39) diznave: jen, i thought you were just idling jor: late lunch ---- jazz leaving (Mar 15 15:41) goose: mmmmm....lunch diznave: oooh...yeah...food jor: My Old School. goose: well, I need to blow this popsicle stand and get some work done...l ater folks <goose:goose disappears in a cloud of colored smoke> ---- goose leaving (Mar 15 15:49) diznave: drive west down Sunset to the sea.....turn that jungle music down... .just until we're out of town.... ---- jiffer leaving (Mar 15 16:08) diznave: i can see from what you carry that you come from barrytown jor: Babylon Sisters . . jor: So fine, so young diznave: tell me i'm the only one jor: so diz. I am tempted to edit this into the music.cf . . no joke. diznave: cool...which topic of music.cf? jor: one word from you and I'll refrain. jor: I could start a Dan item. diznave: let's do it...i'll make an effort to visit it regularly diznave: maybe we can get others interested jor: gotta go. diznave: me too...see ya <diznave:diznave says "I think not" and vanishes from the universe> ---- diznave leaving (Mar 15 16:15) ---- jor leaving (Mar 15 16:15)7 responses total.
Well, for those of you not familiar with Steely Dan, the above chunk of Party might not seem to have much purpose.... for you Dan fans who live in a cave, the two main songwriters from Dan (Becker and Fagan) have reformed the group for a follow up to 1980's _Gaucho_. The guys sure look different. Fagan looks like he hangs around liquor stores and Becker looks like he hangs around schoolyards. (kidding) Anyway, is there anyone out there who happened to see them in concert before, possibly even during their ill-fated semi tour in the early 70's? -That- would be interesting to hear about. Their official site is pretty good (www.steelydan.com)
I thought Becker and Fagen _were_ Steely Dan. Were there other permanent members?
Well, they *were* a real band, early on.
I still haven't warmed to much of the new album. I like a couple of the songs (mostly the ones which sound most like old Steely Dan, like "Jack of Speed" and "Janie Runaway") but overall I'd rather listen to Kamakiriad (Donald Fagan's 2nd solo album, produced by Becker..) Of course it took me a while to warm up to "Kamakiriad", too..
Steely Dan have just announced a summer concert tour. The web article I saw lists a June 25 date for Pine Knob Music Theatre, in Clarkston Michigan.
re #2: Dan, when Becker and Fagan were at Bard college in the late 60's, Chevy Chase was briefly their drummer (they weren't called Steely Dan back then).
So: has anyone gone to see Steely Dan on their recent tour? I missed their Washington performance at the Gorge, having had too little money to buy tickets when they were available. I've warmed up to a bit more of the new album but it still doesn't strike me as being as good as the rest of their work. The lyrics just don't seem to have the same bite..
You have several choices: