Dear Donald Fagen, STFU

[Schema Thing]

Ahhhh, that felt good. I knew there was something I wanted to get off my chest the past twenty years.

[Beaverhausen]

1. WHAT????

I love him. Is it something he said or just his voice that you aren't fond of?

[LynneSin]

2. I'm thinking the same thing - how could anyone be anti-Steely Dan

:cry:

[no name no slogan]

3. Oh, it ain't that hard, believe me

:P

[CrownPrinceBandar]

4. A good buddy of mine hates 'em....

He equates Steely Dan with disco. Poor, deluded individual.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

29. Steely Dan and disco are so far apart it ain't even funny.

He IS fucking deluded.

:cry:

[driver8]

35. Disco?? Tell your friend to put down the crack pipe when he

listens to Steely Dan. Either that, or turn up his hearing aid!

[Magrittes Pipe]

5. K&R

:thumbsup:

[wildhorses]

6. I take it you don't care for his new CD...

morph the cat?

[callous taoboy]

7. I believe you just got

the goodbye look.

[patcox2]

8. Yes, I second that. Trite, pompous fagan and his elevator music.

Elevator music for hipsters. The worst song in the history of the world was "Hey Nineteen." I want to kick him in the balls for writing it. The Cuervo Gold, the fine columbian, makes tonight a wonderful thing." Retch. Let me pat myself on the back for knowing who Aretha Franklin is while I use drugs and alcohol to seduce a teenager. Yuck. What Kind of man reads Playboy? Fagan, apparently. Music to go to sleep to. Masturbatory paens to one's own hipness. Self congratulatory smug piffle to listen to while thinking "wow, I'm cool."

[no name no slogan]

9. sheeeyit

:bravo: I couldn't have said it better, or with more vitriol

Actually, I think "Hey 19" may be a cover of an old doo-wop song from the 50s. At least I know there was a doo-wop song from the 50s called "Hey 19".

[DarienComp]

10. fagen covered 'ruby baby' on his solo album 'the nightfly'

'hey 19' is by steely dan-- it's supposed to be taken ironically.

[6000eliot]

11. It's a character, not Fagen.

[Orsino]

12. You're right, but...

...the same people who screamed in delight as Clapton performed "Cocaine" probably cheer at the analogous lines in "Hey Nineteen."

Someone had to have cast all those Republican ballots.

[Richardo]

13. So let me get this straight: You *don't* like him?

Great rant, but I disagree. Steely Dan (through Aja) is some of my favorite music.

The recent stuff? Not so much. Grammy notwithstanding. I did like the title track to "Two Against Nature" but not much of the rest of the album.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

32. Cousin Dupree is a stellar track

as it Janie Runaway. Production is really thin, and I think they should have brought back Gary Katz for that album but it's still got a lot of strong material.

[Richardo]

33. I'll accept that...

"Cousin" is a fun tune.

[Richardo]

14. .

Why do you think they call it 'dupe'? :eyes:

[NashVegas]

16. In Defense of Playboy

Good interviews.

[callous taoboy]

19. Ever hear of satire, patcox?

Steely is ever poisonous in their outlook on the human condition. The "Cuervo Gold" line has always, in my mind, been uttered by a sleazy fellow who should be hanging with his 30-something contemporaries.

"Aja" (the entire album) is timeless and will be as valuable to my ear in 50 years as it was that day in the late 70's when I put it on the turntable for the first time.

I have never one time ever sat and listened to music and thought, "Wow, how hip am I to be listening to this music." The thought is absurd.

[patcox2]

23. FM, Rikki don't lose that number, is that satire too?

If all you do is satirically pretend to be a producer of smug hipster elevator music, then at what point do you become what you pretend to do? Too cool for school, pompous nothings.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

27. You must be a Slayer man.

;)

I love Fagan's writing style. And what do you have against seducing teenagers?!?! That's what bands are for!

[WritingIsMyReligion]

30. Fagen is a fucking genius.

He's so damned funny....Satire x100000.

[Susang]

15. This is my favorite thread of the day

:rofl:

Bar none. :thumbsup:

[NashVegas]

17. Mine, Too

Okay, true, artists do get obsessive and often go back and retread the same ground over and over.

But most will do so with some fucking variation!

[Arugula Latte]

18. Just saw him at the Paramount Theater in Oakland.

I like the man and his music.

I like Steely Dan.

I'm such a smug hipster. :smoke:

[callous taoboy]

20. Lucky bastid!

How was it? I have Morph the Cat on 24/7.

[Arugula Latte]

22. It was great.

Fagen still has a strong, distinctive, sort of hard-to-describe voice. The band backing him was top-notch (and the horns were particularly great, of course).

This review from the S.F. Chronicle does a good job of describing the concert:

"The sleek, almost pristine sound of the band was fueled by Fagen's supple, understated touch at the keyboards, buried, almost lost in the carefully layered sonic textures. Guitarists Wayne Krantz and Jon Herington, downtown Manhattan jazzbeaux who played on the 2003 Steely Dan album, "Everything Must Go," traded flawless, rapid-fire volleys, and saxophonist Walt Weiskopf and trumpeter Michael Leonhart extended the shimmering tracks with percolating, hard-edged jazzy solos."

*snip*

The 14-song concert rolled so smoothly, it was almost without highlight. The vaguely syncopated version of the Jack Teagarden classic jazz piece "Misery and the Blues" was what passed for an offbeat number, with the growling trumpet solo and piercing sax interplay. In the hands of Fagen and company, even the trademark sound of Chuck Berry could be Steely Danforized."

But the scrupulous consistency of the set offered one glistening groove after another, each artfully decorated and meticulously arranged. The businesslike mood was only enhanced by the shadowy, dark lighting scheme that kept the stage scene subdued.

In Steely Dan and, even perhaps more pointedly, "The Nightfly," Fagen brought a unique voice to the realm of pop music -- a seamless blend of jazz and rock ideas with certain pop sensibilities and a downright surrealistic sense of song. His most amazing accomplishment may be that he did all that without being arcane and, in fact, made some of the best-selling records of the time. And this singular vision -- entirely ignoring any of the pop conventions of the day -- may well be why the music has lasted as well as it has. The music he played at the Paramount sounded as fresh and vital as anything off today's hit parade.

*snip*

Here's the entire review if you're interested:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/30/DDG6THVIFE1.DTL

[callous taoboy]

25. Too bad the bastid up thread

doesn't get it.

[WritingIsMyReligion]

31. Lucky duck.

I'd pay a shitload of money to see Fagen/Becker.

x( x(

:D

[HughBeaumont]

21. I not only love Steely Dan, I'm . . . smug about it.

Same goes for Nightfly, which I just listened to the other day.

[callous taoboy]

24. Nightfly is a classic.

Truly a classic...a gem. Thanks for the S.F. review.

I saw Steely Dan at the Gorge in George, WA back at the end of their Art Crimes tour. It was sublime.

[SouthoftheBorderPaul]

36. I love the lyric to New Frontier

I aspire to write at that level. Brilliant detail.

[sundog]

26. i'm alerting on this thread

[WritingIsMyReligion]

28. You're anti-'Dan?

:wtf:

How is that humanly possible, dude??

:shrug:

[redqueen]

34. I like Fagen!

Love his voice... love love love.

[Taverner]

37. His new CD may suck...

But Steely Dan from the 70's was one of the greatest bands ever...

[Susang]

38. Yup, still my favorite thread.

:thumbsup:

[Magrittes Pipe]

39. Yup.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend it again. :(

[Susang]

40. But I can

I neglected to do so the first time. :blush:

Dammit! It won't let me! :mad: