In the space of five albums in four years, Steely Dan have created arguably the best rock music, and certainly the most erudite, of the Seventies. Michael Watts talks to its founders and songwriters, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker Originally published on June 19, 1976 By Michael Watts Melody Maker Donald Fagen and Walter Becker […]
‘Katy Lied’: The truth is superfine
Originally published on May 4, 1975 STEELY DAN: ‘KATY LIED’ (ABC Records ABCL 5094). YOU KNOW how it is with these aces: first time, you think, human tasty muzak; next play, you start to ge hooked onto a melody here and there and a fragment or two of those enigmatic lyrics; the third time around […]
Steely Dan: Katy Lied
Originally published on May 1, 1975 By Steven Rosen Circus Raves EIGHT-THIRTY PM. On the sixteenth story of a monster New York skyscraper a lonely light shone at the end of a cavernous floor. The deserted space was a storage center for office furniture; 36 desks piled up, dozens of sofas in heaps, desks, swivel […]
Showbiz Kids: Talking with Jeff Baxter, and a Critical View of Steely Dan
By Chris Briggs ZigZag Magazine Interviewing an American musician is a unique experience. The inevitable myth precedes actuality. Three Steely Dan albums and 18 months of impressions formed within the confines of one’s own stereo systems and no opportunity to see the band play live. Simple manipulation of the media guarantees “cult band” status, and […]
Band Breakdown: Steely Dan
Originally published on June 1, 1974 By Chris Welch Melody Maker Steely Dan, in their short time together, have been hailed as one of the best bands to emerge from America in a long time. They have set the US rock scene back on a road to musical creativity, and helped free it from the […]
Steely Dan: Get Dan And Get With It!
Originally published on May 25, 1974 By Chris Welch Melody Maker MANCHESTER, England — “We’ve never been here before, but we’re going to play the best concert we’ve ever played in our lives.” Skunk Baxter delivered this terse statement in no uncertain terms to the eager fans waiting on the edge of their seats at […]
Reelin’ in from Woolies
Yep. Woolworth’s was where Walter Becker got turned on and Donald Fagen got his Ticket to Ride from the Beatles. Together, they’re the core of Steely Dan, an American cult band catching on in Britain. Originally published on May 25, 1974 By Steve Clarke New Music Express Woolworth’s seems hardly the place to get turned […]
Stainless Steely Band
By Bud Scoppa Rolling Stone Steely Dan is the most improbable hit-singles band to emerge in ages. On its three albums, the group has developed an impressionistic approach to rock & roll that all but abandons many musical conventions and literal lyrics for an unpredictable, free-roving style. While the group considered the first album, Can’t […]
Steely Dan: Countdown To Ecstasy
Originally published on December 1, 1973 By Mick Gold Let It Rock Steely Dan is a vehicle for the songwriting talents of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, who entered the music world via a two-year gig with Jay and the Americans. They say they don’t regret that period, but since they’ve lifted their name from […]
Counting Down to Headline Status: Steely Dan
Originally published on August 15, 1973 By Steven Rosen LA Free Press On Sept. 2, Steely Dan perform their first concert as headliners, that status which lifts the working-class band from the ranks of the bourgeois and places it in the stead of the nobility groups. After only two albums, the quintet has risen from […]
