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I didn't really become aware of Steely Dan until their biggest hit, 'Rikki Don't Lose That Number', reached #4 on the Billboard charts in 1974. '74 was totally bitchin' and that song will always Waybac Machine me to the Summer of '74 within a matter of seconds. (Thank you, Mister Peabody, you brainy dog!)
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The music of Steely Dan was always slick, sophisticated and somewhat strange -- yes, a wee bit bizarre. But strange / bizarre in a goot way. To me, Donald Fagen & Walter Becker are like the Rocky & Bullwinkle of Rock music.
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Over the decades I owned a fair number of Steely Dan albums. I know that 'Aja' was their biggest non-compilation seller; however, my favorite was always 'Katy Lied' (1975). The cover was as weird as the songs, and that LP spent a LOT of time on my turntable. It was one of 2 or maybe 3 albums I would put on when I didn't really know what I was in the mood to hear. Somehow 'Katy Lied' always hit the spot and those tracks took me to some very different kind of place!
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"The Dan" mentions booze, hooch, evidence in a goot number of their songs (all of which I like). But, for this installment of Battle Of The Bands' Battle Of The Booze, I decided to run with two relatively obscure Dan tunes from the 'Katy Lied' album. Please vote for your favorite between them, and then please also visit the other BOTBers and drop your two cents in their comment sections.
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I plan to return here on November 8th with my own vote and the final tally.
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Bad sneakers and a Piña Colada, my friend
Stompin' on the avenue by Radio City with a transistor and a large sum of money to spend
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BAD SNEAKERS
by Steely Dan
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Daddy don't drive in that El Dorado no more
He don't travel on down to the neighborhood liquor store
Lucy still loves her Coke and Rum
But she sits alone 'cause her Daddy can't come
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DADDY DON'T LIVE IN THAT NEW YORK CITY NO MORE
by Steely Dan
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xjf9QQKjRzc
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Be well & stay safe, all y'all!
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~ Stephen T McKatydid McCarthy
I've always liked Steely Dan. Sophisticated is a good word; worldly - without the wrinkles ;-) Both songs are good. I listened to Bad Sneakers twice, not to help me decide, but because I really wanted to hear it again. I vote for Bad Sneakers!
ReplyDeletedIEDRE ~
DeleteI know a LOT of Steely Dan songs (far more than just the hits), but there are very few Dan songs I would feel confident in explaining to someone else.
As I wrote in the blog bit, Fagen & Becker were like Rocky & Bullwinkle, but they hired incredible session musicians who brought in an element of Boris & Natasha. To boil it all down to merely two words, I would describe their music as "Street Smart".
Thanks for bringing two shots of "kirschwasser" for the punch bowl.
(Yeah, I know what you're thinking: "kirs-wassat?" Google it. And keep in mind that it's hooch mentioned in the Steely Dan song 'Babylon Sisters'... which I love.)
~ DogG-Boy
Interesting battle, Stephen! I don't remember either of these Steely Dan songs, but the second one is groovy! ☺ Please give my vote to Daddy.
ReplyDeleteDEBBIE D'DOGLADY ~
DeleteI would have described it as "funky", but I completely get your meaning.
Daddy has your vote!
Thanks for bringing some Crown Royal whiskey for the punch bowl, my friend.
I may be a li'l bit slow in getting around in this round, but I hereby promise to get my BOTB "bote" in on your contest before time runs out. If I fail, I will "pisseth against a wall"* and post it on YouTube for the whole world to see.
[* Believe it or not, that ridiculous expression comes from the King James Version of The Holy Bible. And, believe it or not, some high-falutin, holier-than-thou person sitting behind me at Dodger Stadium in 1990 took offense when I told my girlfriend that I had to "go pee". PEOPLE! "It would be a better world without them".]
~ Stephen
I liked both of these, but liked "Bad Sneakers" a little better, so that's what I'm going with.
ReplyDeleteSIR JOHN ~
DeleteI know a ton - A TON - of Steely Dan songs! (Er-- well... maybe not a literal "ton", since most songs weigh very little.) And off the top of my noggin, I can't think of a single Steely Dan song that I actively dislike. I'm not sure if I could say that about any other musical artist whom I am familiar with. (Er-- well... perhaps Roger Miller, Jim Stafford, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. But then, since all three of them were so similar, that kinda makes total sense.)
~ D-FensDogG
If you like Steely Dan, then we have another one to add to the list. I always really liked them and believe they are one of the most talented band ever. Maybe THE most. Check out all the names of players in that band through the years:
ReplyDeletehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Steely_Dan_members
They stopped playing live in 1974, and - as I think I recounted on some blog of yours a while back - I saw them live just before they stopped touring. It was the first rock concert I ever bought tickets for and went to on my own. I had been to countless operas, symphonies, musicals, and jazz concerts with my parents. And I had been to Disneyland Grad Night (waaaaay early, at age 15... though not a grad!) and saw real rock bands. But Steely Dan was the first real live rock concert I paid money to see and I even took a girl on a date. (Meh on that part.) That concert set a pretty high standard! I'll never forget them ending their last encore with "Reelin' in the Years." One-by-one the band members left the stage until just the TWO drummers were left, drumming in unison to the "ba-ba-BA-ba, ba-ba-BA-ba, ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba BOP ba" beat of that song. Then the lights went out as they stopped. This concert didn't QUITE make my top ten, but it was close!
So, I still have the album with these songs on it. Like 'em both. I am going to vote for "Daddy" in this battle. Now I can't get that groovy and weird guitar riff outta my head! It starts immediately and sets the perfect tone for the song.
Sixgun McItchtyfinger