Are we allowed to discuss those on FR (snickering with a British accent)?
They’re touring:
http://www.steelydan.com/tour14pr.html
William S. Burroughs, Naked Lunch:
Mary is strapping on a rubber penis. "Steely Dan III from Yokohama," she says, caressing the shaft.
"What happen to Steely Dan I?"
"He was torn in two by a bull dyke. She could cave in a lead pipe."
"And Steely Dan II?"
"Chewed to bits by a famished candiru in the Upper Baboonsa**hole. And don't say 'wheeeeeeee!' this time."
“Deacon Blues” is one of those songs that plays in your head over and over. And you don’t mind it.
They were very polished and played as a tight band. Unlike Chicago, which often became known as the band for the lead singer. Steely was able to fuse light jazz with alternative rock, not at all easy to mix in a good way. These days, less people listen to jazz. One reason is the songs or pieces are usually rather long by today’s standards. Anything longer than a ringtone without being followed by a chorus might lose the average listener. There are exceptions, of course. The right movie or the right performer may begin a new wave of appreciation. The production quality of Steely Dan was always excellent. I think most the members were already experienced recording artists and mixing engineers. I enjoyed Chick Corea too, who was similar to Santana.
Always wondered if “Deacon Blues” had anything to do with Wake Forest.
Wake had a pretty lousy football team in those days, but Steely Dan never struck me as the “college football fan” type.
I saw them a few years ago at the Beacon Theater in NYC. They sang “The Royal Scam” album in its entirety.
One of the best concerts I’ve ever attended.
I never can get enough of S.D.
Their summer tours are in medium-sized venues with good acoustics and great audiences.
Last summer in Charlottesville, NC, politics was discussed among quite a few [eople around us waiting for the show to start. No libs seemed to be in attendance
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter played lead guitar in the early days and is prolly remembered best for his work on Reelin’ in the Years.
Interestingly, he later became a consultant for the DOD during the Reagan years:
“Baxter fell into his second profession almost by accident. In the mid-1980s, Baxter’s interest in music recording technology led him to wonder about hardware and software that was originally developed for military use, i.e. data-compression algorithms and large-capacity storage devices. As it happened, his next-door neighbor was a retired engineer who had worked on the Sidewinder missile program. This neighbor bought Baxter a subscription to Aviation Week magazine, provoking his interest in additional military-oriented publications and missile defense systems in particular. He became self-taught in this area, and at one point he wrote a five-page paper that proposed converting the ship-based anti-aircraft Aegis missile into a rudimentary missile defense system. He gave the paper to California Republican congressman Dana Rohrabacher, and his career as a defense consultant began.
Backed by several influential Capitol Hill lawmakers, Baxter received a series of security clearances so he could work with classified information. In 1995, Pennsylvania Republican congressman Curt Weldon, then the chairman of the House Military Research and Development Subcommittee, nominated Baxter to chair the Civilian Advisory Board for Ballistic Missile Defense.
Baxter’s work with that panel led to consulting contracts with the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency (MDA) and National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency. He now consults to the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. intelligence community, as well as for defense-oriented manufacturers including Science Applications International Corporation (”SAIC”), Northrop Grumman Corp., General Dynamics, and General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. He has been quoted as saying his unconventional approach to thinking about terrorism, tied to his interest in technology, is a major reason he became sought after by the government.
“We thought turntables were for playing records until rappers began to use them as instruments, and we thought airplanes were for carrying passengers until terrorists realized they could be used as missiles,”[5] Baxter has said. “My big thing is to look at existing technologies and try to see other ways they can be used, which happens in music all the time and happens to be what terrorists are incredibly good at.”
Baxter has also appeared in public debates and as a guest on CNN and Fox News Channel advocating missile defense. He served as a national spokesman for Americans for Missile Defense, a coalition of organizations devoted to the issue.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Baxter
My hubby bought be 2nd row seats for my b’day to see them in Birmingham, England a few years back. What a treat!!!!!
Love their music. Timeless.
Steely Dan has been and always will be a fav.
Kick off your high heel sneakers
Give us some funked up music, she treats you right
No static at all, F.M.MMMMMMMMMMMM...
Yeah!
Rust?
All that jazzy crap after Baxter left made me puke.
Jeff “Skunk” Baxter was great.