Posted on 12/13/2024 4:26:38 PM PST by nickcarraway
Comedian John Mulaney paid a visit to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night, and he brought two of his favorite topics with him: fatherhood and Steely Dan.
“So I love Steely Dan,” the comedian proclaimed. “Some people don’t like Steely Dan. It’s a very divisive band. When I had a son I go, ‘Great, fresh person. Fresh ears.' That’s one reason to have a baby, so you can test Steely Dan out on them.’”
The comedian then proceeded to detail his efforts to get his young son interested in the jazz rock band’s music.
“He loves dancing, my son loves music,” Mulaney explained. “So I put on the Steely Dan song ‘Hey Nineteen.’ Cause that’s fun.”
Typically, Fallon’s crowds look for any excuse to cheer pop-culture references, like name-drops of album or movie titles. However, in this instance they were silent, a fact Mulaney instantly noticed.
“Look at all the applause of recognition for ‘Hey Nineteen,’” the comedian sarcastically remarked before continuing with his anecdote. “I’m staring at Malcolm, he’s nine months old. I turn on ‘Hey Nineteen,’ he’s not dancing. So I turn on, I change it to the song ‘Gaucho’ from the album Gaucho.”
Once again, the audience was totally silent when Mulaney mentioned Steely Dan’s 1980 album by name.
“Again, folks, sit down. Stop applauding,” the comedian quipped, generating some laughs. “I turn on ‘Gaucho,’ still not dancing. My son looks at me and he says ‘Ee-I-Ee-I-Oh.’ And I go, ‘You want to listen to ‘Old McDonald’?" The child nodded and Mulaney responded by playing the nursery rhyme.
“So here’s what’s interesting about that story,” the comedian surmised. “He had never spoken before. That’s how much he hated Steely Dan.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Mulaney noted that his son has developed an interest in Elvis Presley, to the point that his birthday party had an Elvis theme.
"He's a really big Elvis fan," the comedian noted, adding that the boy was "riveted" while watching the King's 1968 comeback special. "More than any [kids movie], Inside Out, Moana, anything. Staring at Elvis in a leather suit in the late '60s."
Yes, but do they applaud for Gentle Giant? Fanny? How about Misty in Roots?
Gaucho was just a great Steely Dan album. I played it constantly for a long long time.
Kid needs culturing.
Not diverse enough.
(I know, Chuck Rainey, Wayne Shorter, Michael White...)
I remember listening to Steely Dan back in the day. I wore an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time...
I recently found a live CD of them in England some years ago and it was fantastic. This was before Walter Becker died.
How much was the ferry?
.
Steely Dan was and is legendary. So many good bands, so much great music. I don’t know how much is in the future, but looking back, I think the best has already been made.
He’s like Norm MacDonald with the Steely Dan bits. He hammers them despite the audience not getting the references, but won’t let up. Therein lies the humor, but mostly for those observing, not attending.
The baby might like Screaming Lord Sutch.
The album “Aja” put them on the map.
So, a stand-up comic bombed on Fallon’s show? Doesn’t literally everything?
I saw Steely Dan live on their first tour in ‘73 or ‘74, don’t remember exactly which year. It was at a small auditorium in Long Beach Ca. Best live music I’ve ever heard in my life. It was the ‘Pretzel logic’ tour. First time I ever heard the songs including “Rikki don’t lose that number” was played live.
Really cool and memorable. They hibernated in the studio after doing that tour for like decades.
Anyone who thinks Hey Nineteen could ever grab a kid that young is a tad delusional.
I played Bubble Gum, stuff that is essentially nursery rhyme music for my kid and he didn’t react to it. What eventually grabbed him? The Greatest Hits of Frankie Valle and the Four Seasons.
Those audiences are just trained seals. How they responded or didn’t respond was part of the planned bit.
Maybe they stared because his jokes weren’t funny steely dan or not.
I saw a great cover Band last year “Hey nineteen” at a local venue and they were fantastic. I have since seen them several more times and have not seen a better cover band. If you get a chance and they are in your area don’t miss them.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnqDIzG06ME
In 1982, how many 20 something’s could name a single hit of some mid level popular band from the 1940s? Not many.
I like Steely Dan, but even having it in the conversation tells you all you need to know about the quality of the current music scene.
I was watching a show on Netflix last night. Every “edgy” song in the episode was from ‘85-‘90, or a remake. The closing song was “Hazy Shade of Winter”, which was originally a 1960’s song.
That’s my personal favorite by Steely Dan. A masterpiece.
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