Posted on 08/26/2022 2:16:29 PM PDT by SamAdams76
Donald Fagen - I.G.Y. (What A Beautiful World - 1982
This nugget from Donald Fagen's "Nightfly" album of 1982.
Could have been a Steely Dan album. Should have been a Steely Dan album. But was not to be. Instead, it was Donald Fagen out on his own. And this jazz-influenced tune poured optimistic "feel-good" Friday afternoon vibes out of the speakers during the somewhat miserable autumn of 1982, just before Reaganomics kicked the economy into high gear.
Fern bars were still somewhat a thing at that time and you can picture men in leisure suits sipping on a Heineken (this was before microbrews) or perhaps a glass of Asti Spumante while this song played. Women with Mindy haircuts (from "Mork & Mindy) would nervously sit at the other end of the bar with wine coolers waiting for these men to make a move.
If you invested $1,000 in the Standard & Poor 500 in October of 1982 and just left it alone while re-investing your dividends, you would be a millionaire today.
The song refers to the International Geophysical Year which occurred between about July 1957 to December 1958. This was basically when a bunch of scientists came together to project their visions of the future world to come.
Everybody was so optimistic about the future back then (i.e. "Ninety Minutes from New York to Paris"). The song also mentioned solar-powered cities, transatlantic tunnels and spandex jackets - only the latter of which came to be true.
Spandex jacket? Yep, we got those.
There was no official video to go with this song when it came out as MTV was fairly new and the Steely Dan guys just weren't too much into that video thing. Instead, they spent nearly their entire waking time hunched over soundboards and ensuring that their carefully crafted songs were absolutely perfect. In fact, I don't think Donald Fagen saw even a ray of sunlight from about 1972 to 1983.
But this isn't Steely Dan but Donald Fagen out on his own. Walter Becker might have been out getting a suntan during this time. Who knows.
“Ninety Minutes from New York to Paris”
Still hasn’t happened for civilians. The SR-71 did New York to London in 1 hour 54 minutes in 1974. I took the Concorde from London to DC and it took 3 hours and 45 minutes.
I thought this song did a better job predicting the future;
Manfer Mann - “Lies (Through The 80s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2FGZk98BDSY
Every single song on it is terrific.
Ruby Baby is my personal fave.
I.G.Y. is brilliant, a musical monument to the days of the Great Society.
I believe I actually remember the very picture Donald Fagen alludes to for the supersonic underwater train connecting NYC to Paris: "all graphite and glitter." I'm pretty sure it was on the cover of Popular Science back then.
Funny thing about that is during the 1990s, people were saying to dump it. Apple was on the verge of bankruptcy. Microsoft was going to rule the world.
Then Steve Jobs returned.
If I could go back in time knowing what I know now...
I love that CD!
“Lu Chang, her brother, is burning with rage.”
Loved the background vocals immediately after, singing “Lu Chang burns with rage”.
“Walk Between Raindrops is my personal fave on that album.”
Killer walking bass line on that song!
Sorry, I ain’t wearing spandex until my car flies and makes that Jetson noise.
Only then will you be forced to see me in spandex. One for everyone.
I always hated this song. Love Steely Dan, but I hate this particular song.
90 minutes from New York to Paris...
If you dig a perfectly straight tunnel between any two points on earth, and have a frictionless car running in an evacuated tube, it will roll through the tube and occupants back and forth by gravity alone, with a period of 184 minutes, so the one way trip from NY to Paris would take 92 minutes.
Phun with Physics...
Of I late not occupants.
I prefer New Frontier from that album myself.
L
Oscillate, not of I late
Autocorrect really does not like oscillate.
New Frontier
Donald Fagen
Yes we’re gonna have a wingding
A summer smoker underground
It’s just a dugout that my dad built
In case the reds decide to push the button down
We’ve got provisions and lots of beer
The key word is survival on the new frontier
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi4hbVAfRCw
Don’t forget Morph the Cat which was the 3rd album of his solo trilogy. The last song closes with opening bars of IGY. I saw SD this summer and I really thought they sounded better than ever. Same band w/o Becker of course.
You might enjoy these guys/gals on a few SD tunes. Really well done. Irish folks, I think.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePjkr-Uq4nI
Great Video!
Lexington Lab Band covers Steely Dan as well as a variety of others.
E.g. My Old School
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0L2hcCsanY
If you dug a hole exactly straight down through the Earth you wouldn’t reach China. From all places in the continental US you would end up in the Indian Ocean, just off Western Australia. It’s called an antipode. Here’s how to find it;
PRAY to GOD you don't know anyone addicted to heroin. We had the burden of having a beloved family friend, who made the mistake of that (he's recovered now) but it's a really accurate description of what time on heroin is like.
It is an incredible song. Really brings you into something you'd never want to experience, but without being on the hook for something terrible.
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