SIS Archives -- June 1999

Dr. Mu,

So now the relationship's back on, right? Now that Donald can tune anything he desires to any key he requires thanks to binaramic dynamics? Gee, I hope so. I really hate it when SD uses lush string arrangements to replace synth noise.

And, for those of you planning on a super-swell smoker above ground this weekend, I suggest you check out the sizzlin' silliness of this site: www.ribman.net/

It's rib-ticklin' fun for everyone!

Trying to Tuna Fish,

SEMB

Big Noise New YORK is a killer cut heard it off of MY KOREAN COLLEEN, when and off what tape is it originally from? Fall of 92 has a great sax in it, is that JOHN Klemmer?

Another update to the Reprise new release page and no changes to the release date or the title. The November gets closer and closer - something has to give eventually. You would think if it absolutly wasn't going to happen they would just delet it since it is the last entry. Time, Time, Time, ...

hotohtohotohotohotogho: please keep me informed.

Noah,

I won't name names but some smart aleck queried Dr. Clam as to the difference between himself, a mussell and an oyster with similar educational backgrounds. By changing his name he relieved himself of the obligation to reply.

Don't Eat Him in September,

Roget

My cats name is Mittens.

All I know is that when I'm on LSD,nothing creates the transpsychogenic experiences that vinyl does.
CD 's give me a headache.
That does it for me.
Thanks

Edd:
Ahhhh...Nice site...so the pitch intervals between the 12 notes of an octave are not equal. So fudging is used to make chords and note progression sound similar for different keys. Never occurred to me. Thanks.

I'm glad I've never made a political contribution in my lifetime.

GBM

Re: Doc Mu

Environmental factors do make it hard to keep a piano in tune, but that's not what I was refering to. As an aside, I've long held that any instrument that is struck and released, such as a piano, drum, guitar, etc. will always start sharp and flatten due to the extra pressure causing the string/head to tighten, then relax... but I digress...

What I was refering to was the inability to have mathematical perfection between all the possible intervals on a piano. Frinstance, using a puretone scale, a piano tuned so that the 5th C/G is a perfect 3:2 will yield a highly discordant 1024:675 when the 5th F#/C# is played. Other scales introduce other errors.

For some real fun...

http://www-math.cudenver.edu/~jstarret/tuninghist.html

Sorry about the multiples - it kept telling me that it didn't go thru.

yeow

Why is Dr. Clam now spelled Dr. Klamm?

big noise,
your mother is so accommodating i don't understand how you got to be such a contrarian shithead.

Stranger..The only thing that's grating here are your posts.

???

DD: We accept your offer. We've been looking for someone in today's economy who will do a voice over for minimum wage. BTW, I prefer *deep blue* over maroon, which put 15 lbs on my frame. Then when we "mix-down" the tape using non-linear digital editing, I can become a Cheshire cat in a blink of an eye.

Schwinn: Donald Fagen announced in a short article published years ago (~1991?), that he was "through with buzz" meaning that he would no longer use synthesizers. He was distressed by the fact that the current day synths were "tuned at the factory." Thus he couldn't tune them to his specifications (which we know arer correct). Notice, they didn't show up on Kamakiriad.

TIMELINE RECIPE FOR STEELY DAN CD AT THE TURN OF THE CENTURY

take all estimates, such as time required to mix (3 months) and multiply by 4. Add one year. Bake at 140 degrees farenheit for 19 years. Serve.

altamira,
your offer is sweet, but please don't take my advice. just hear it out. politics is in a very bad way because it's too expensive to run. you can't win without loads of tv ads. the ads are for 30 and 60 seconds. you can't say anything worthwhile in that time, so the ads just pander to deep-seated fears or emotions, blatant attempts to hit a nerve with soccer moms or old white males or whoever the pollsters say must be targeted. the candidates pay for these ads by running around begging for money from rather disgusting rich folks who must be courted sweetly. so the candidates are the kinds of people who don't mind running around for years begging money from disgusting people. there's no way for an abe lincoln or harry truman to rise from such a mess. the campaign proces transfers money from the rich disgusting folks to the big media companies, using the candidates as middle men. the people who make the laws did well under this sorry system and won't change it. the answer is to ban all tv ads and place real limits on how much can be spent on the rest. the media conglomerates should be forced to contribute 1/2 hour or 1 hour blocks to campaigners and debates. the airwaves they use belong to us and they don't pay for them.

i'm not going to vote for bush's son, gore's son, fobes' son or dole's wife. that's not what this country is supposed to be about. these people inherited their place in life. i lean toward people like kerrey, kerry and mcCain. i like smart people who were tested in battle and didn't panic. they're special people. but mcCain would cater to the various right-wing nut lobbies. and kerrey and kerry hate pandering to rich folks. so we're stuck. i probably won't vote for anybody or will write in a vote for somebody dead like harry truman.

???

Just starting to mix? Jesus Christ! What happens if they hear something they don't like as they mix? A sound they just didn't get quite right in the studio. Got to bring in more musicians. More delays. I think all talk of a new one is just a cruel hoax.
Ole, maybe you should change the pool to a simple before or after the return of Haley's Comet.

Very cool new front page on the official site. Looks joKeRish in style.

Katy Lied: welcome . . . just checked out your site. creative and thought-provoking. I think we need you to visit the GB often to contribute like ideas.

This is a great site, thanks for keeping for the faith!! I sure wish the boys would get their shit together and tour again...

Katy*

Katy Did... Or Didn't She?
The Secret Hypertext Diary of Katy Lloyd
http://katy-lied.8m.com

So if the mixdown process takes a month(?) and appears to be done at the end of July if you read between the paragraphs - would it be logical to assume that the new CD might actually be released around Nov.? If they are this close to finishing it, is there any chance they really don't have a title? How long does it take to do the artwork and packaging? - the making of the CD's doesn't take long at all. Overall very favorable tidbits of news.

Is anyone going to see Denny Dias in Boston this weekend?

Always a bridesmaid, never a bride...

Edd,

Thank you for succinctly bridging the not-so-great divide between analog and digital.

Puttin' on the Pastoral,

SEMB

(slowly moves from crime scene towards viewer)

DD: "It's official. We all have a digital to analog converter in our heads and that's why CD's are here to stay.

(DD moves to viewer's right, capturing a smugly smiling Dr. Mu wearing a 12th Man T-shirt.)

DD: "So remember, ITT Tech can put you on the cutting edge of today's new science. And you'll need that once "The New One" hits your favorite music store."

One more intro: I have to add the IGY intro to the group of my second favorites, in fact, The Nightfly is growing on me very quickly these days. I guess it's Donald's voice, yep, that's it. I love the way he slides around the notes.

I guess most people in here have felt for years the way I'm feeling now---- I sure would love to meet Don and Walt in person, they are so fascinating, and I suppose it will never happen. :( Couldn't they just have one year they devote to talking to all the fans, one by one?

RoseDarling: Of course I meant you! I'm glad you're back!

Alt: You're forgiven, but then forgiveness is a way of life in here, you don't even have to ask!

Herm: Glad to see you come out of the cave for awhile! I'll be interested in your opinion.

Randall P: I think you said something about hearing Gershwin (sp) in SD and yes, I have had that thought. I'm pretty sure it's somewhere in Throw Back the Little Ones, in the middle somewhere. But now and then that "show tune" feeling, yes.

Some of these posts lately tell me that guys don't like being misunderstood any more than we gals do. *grin* Just remember no fist fights, guys, or the supersoaker comes out!

Don't look now but we might be making an impact------we've got Janet Fitch with a best seller called, "White Oleander" along with Danielle Steele's latest called "Granny Dan!" I think I'll change my posting name to Granny Dan in about 30 years.

O Michael: Your bed and breakfast comment was quite comical, lol. Honey, try not to post right after ES, this is why you arouse suspicion----I predict you're going to soon have those two hopelessly mixed up, and the truth will be out about us. So try to keep your personalities straight, lol.

El Supremo: My thoughts exactly! ILYM.

Just Katy :)

Sal - Well, yes, Fagen writes some corny lyrics sometimes (I've also seen "cheesy" used in some reviews), but I find the corny lyrics rather endearing.

Hilary Clinton having a tough time... - So just what is wrong with "unadulterated Victorian" style? Yes, some people with poor taste decorate with Victorian furniture in a manner that doesn't do justice to the furniture, but the best of 19th-century design was pretty impressive. One of these days, when I have some money, I'm going to buy one of the lovely Victorian houses around here and decorate it in a historically accurate manner and furnish it with the antiques I now own and some more pieces I plan to buy, and my dream is to get it on the annual Logan Circle house tour. I know, yours was a clever satirical piece and I enjoyed reading it; I'm just pretty touchy about 19th-century design.

Dr. Mu - Thanks for your informative posts. I have learned a great deal. I wish I had that recording of Fagen performing Big Noise, New York, but I suppose it's unavailable these days. Anyway, Jennifer Warnes does a pretty good interpretation of it (she's quite good looking, too, definitely my kind of woman), and I do get to hear Fagen singing in the background, so I'll be content with what I have.

Herm - Good to hear from you again. Thanks for the tip about Carlton and Rittenour.

The Stranger - Yes, I was apologizing again, but this time it was for an error I had made that I caught myself, not to some moron who doesn't like what I wrote for no well-explained reason - I don't apologize to people like that anymore! I am standing up for myself these days, and I don't think you're wrong. And thanks for the advice.

King Vinyl - I remember reading, back when CDs were first becoming popular, that they do not capture the full quality of the sound as analog recordings do, and lose such things as "hall ambiance," which is important in live classical recordings (the article dealt only with classical music) and, I would suppose, other types of live music recorded indoors. I'm sure there are other important aspects of the sound that are being lost as well. I still have a stack of vinyl records, but nothing to play them on as I have no room for a full-size stereo with a turntable in my little apartment. I'll buy a turntable once I move into a bigger place.

Katy Dan Fan - Thanks; I'm glad you enjoyed it. I suppose I'm learning quickly because there's so much here on the GB to learn from and so many great leads for doing research. I'm looking forward to you film! Sounds fun. That Pottery Place sounds exciting, but I should probably avoid it until I move to a bigger place, since my antique ceramics are taking up every square inch of available space at the moment.

Stranger - Ok, I am now aware of your political leanings, and I will forget my previous misinformation. I used to like Al Gore, but I've been reading lately of his support for testing of household products on animals, so I think I will have to find someone else to vote for. Who do you suggest? I am serious; I would really like to know your thoughts on this matter and I will take your advice when I vote in the next presidential election. No conservatives, of course; I'd like to keep my civil rights, such as they are.

Regarding the Art of Tea - I haven't heard it yet, but the name intrigues me. There is a little restaurant in Dupont Circle called Teaism that serves the most astoundingly good food. It's expensive, I would normally balk at paying eight dollars for lunch, but at this place it's worth it. The place is designed in the style of a Japanese tea room (on two levels), and it smells wonderful. The food is just too amazing to even begin to describe - absolutely the most wonderful flavor and presentation that one could ever imagine. So when I see "Art of Tea," I think about Teaism and wonder if Franks' music is as good as the food at this restaurant. If it is, I would definitely buy the CD.

sorry, michael franks fans, but i find his voice just too sweet and monotonous & eventually grating.

Look at yourselves, you're hanging with nurds.

This site blows me away, from music reviews to techno buffs, there is a wealth of very informed and talented people that post here. Yes there are ballbusters and jaggoffs too, but thats what keeps this G.B. from getting stale. BTW is there a summer Danfest planned for this year?

El supremo- And you don't think that Donald Fagen has "strange vocal range"? Remember one thing about Franks, all of his lyrics in all of his songs are "corny." (even the ones that Becker produced), so it must be that you just don't like him, period. Believe me El Supremo, as much as I love the "Donald" I think you should give a listen to Kamakiriad before you call any song on the Art of Tea corny.

Howdy, DanFanGangLand!!!

Well, 'Michael', it is David Sanborn, NOT Donald Sanborn, you 'Yankee'. It must have been you had Mr. Fagen 'on-the-brain' as Schwinn has Oklahoma, Oleander has lyric interpretation, Katy has 'you', Chris has the new CD's and "Q" is wagering on Ebay for a "Bed and Breakfast Inn" called, "Come With Steely Dan tonight for your delight"!

Anyway, what a glorious time . . .could it be that I have found my 'Home-at-Last?'

So, Walter and Donald must be waiting (as the studio moguls are) to release "Two Against Nature" in just the appropriate time for the Grammy nominations?

". . .I-Got-The-News----can't you see our love will grow, KatyDan, when you just 'get rid of him (El Supremo)'???

Saludos, and Drink MORE San Miguel beer from the Philippines, as my mutual funds are growing with every drink----sure miss those 'hospitality girls'.

Michael
; )

Hello, DanFanDom!

Well, in my personal opinion, which is like an anal cavity for everyone, I have listened to Michael Frank's, "The Art of Tea", and only found corny lyrics, a strange vocal range, etc.

However, there are some very good players on this set which include Michael Brecker, Donald Sanborn, Joe Sample, and Larry Carlton.

Worth a listen, not worth buying, but interesting, anyway.

So much for my two-cents-worth!

JustKaty----looking to love you soon, darling!

Cheers!

ES

Mr. Henry van der Luyden
President of the Co-op Board
The Ardsthorpe
Fifth Avenue
New York, New York, 10028

Dear Ms. Rodham Clinton Rodham:

We are delighted to be in receipt of your application for ownership and residency in our distinguished building. As you know, a personal interview with the members of the Board will be required. We cannot schedule it, however, without some further documentation. Here at The Ardsthorpe, we must know what to expect.

Please understand that we wish to be fair. It is not true that we are a star chamber whose mission is to keep out people and shatter their self-esteem. (There are even entertainment lawyers living in the building.) But your unusual background and circumstances leave us no choice but to explore some delicate matters more deeply.

Unfortunately, The Ardsthorpe cannot satisfy itself simply with the Starr report, which only skimmed the surface. Surely you appreciate that the sterling reputation of this address is owed to its success at keeping out the less fetching and the less fortunate elements -- minorities, show people, journalists, swarthy Arab royalty, half-dressed songbirds, disgraced Presidents, people with pre-existing medical conditions and political consultants, among others.

Hence, we will need written assurances on the following points.

1. Will your husband be living with you? We understand your reticence in your public response to questions concerning the state of your marriage, and we guarantee discretion. But here at The Ardsthorpe, we will not be spun. We prize our tranquillity. We need to know in advance how many nights a month Mr. Clinton will be on the premises, so that your neighbors will not have to turn a skeptical eye on every pizza delivery.

2. Can you explain your admiration for the work of one Kaki
Hockersmith, the Little Rock interior decorator who redid your White House? Here at The Ardsthorpe, a building to which Sotheby's makes regular deliveries, we would hope to avoid bordello fabrics. Unlike the White House, The Ardsthorpe is not the People's House. We have an esthetic tradition to maintain. It does not include "unadulterated Victorian."

3. Although many of our residents are in no position to cast stones at real estate speculators, we must put to rest our anxieties about Castle Grande. May we assume the press exaggerated in calling it "a trailer park"? We do not mind prosperity. We mind vulgarity.

4. Will you ever have Eleanor Roosevelt or any other channeled person to dinner? If so, you will have to clear them with the Board.

5. To what extent will your apartment serve as your professional
headquarters? Will our halcyon corridors be disturbed by the din of Harold Ickes's loud and profane manner of speech? Will Sidney
Blumenthal lurk conspiratorially around our marble lobby? We assume you understand that funds are not to be raised or solicited on our premises. Some of your past political friends, like Johnny Chung, are N.O.C.D. (Not Our Class, Dear). Here at The Ardsthorpe, overnight guests are not paying guests.

6. Is it your intention to live with non-political animals, such as Socks or Buddy? We are concerned about the cleanliness of our
premises and about the demands on its mailbox space. Please provide the Board with a veterinarian's letter attesting to the death of both your pets, with forensic evidence attached.

7. Can you reassure us as to your competence as a record keeper? Here at The Ardsthorpe, maintenance must be paid promptly. We will not abide misplaced or vanished billing records.

8. Please be apprised that no Bloodworth-Thomason will be allowed to film any campaign propaganda, or any footage at all, in or near The Ardsthorpe, or any that mentions the name of The Ardsthorpe or any building whose name sounds like The Ardsthorpe. Here at The Ardsthorpe, we do not like to see ourselves on television.

It is not our aim to disconcert you with these inquiries. Indeed, we would be most pleased to welcome another successful commodities trader. Here at The Ardsthorpe, however, we must know everything. Please complete the enclosed disclosure forms and return them at your convenience. The Board would also be happy to recommend some suitable addresses in Westchester or, better yet, the West Side.

Yours discriminatingly,

Henry van der Luyden

Solid Gold: The Winners was the first page I clicked on and I posted right after that. There's another mention of MIXING on the new steely e-mail page. Weeee-hooo!

BN: Yeah, the other stuff about COMING SOON: Important Announcement! and Walter's latest Ho Craig letter pale in significance

contest winners on the ODP!

Sorry, didn't mean to repost Danny's original message.

Also - it's been a long time since I looked inside a piano. Some of the notes have 2 or one strings which are stuck by the hammer.

That was nice, KV. But you neglected to inform Dr. Mu that comparing digital to Frequency Modulation and analog to Amplitude Modulation was like comparing an in-the-ear hearing aid to an ear-horn. He's a Newtonian, baby. That's for sure.

Ok, I'm like Really, Really Gone,
Danny

Danny: The use of the FM/AM comparison was appropriate I thought. Here's why. With AM or amplitude modulation information is coded by amplitude (i.e., size) on a band of carrier wavers (i.e., band width) sent by a transmitter in the kHz range. The frequencies advertized by the stations you listen to are the median carrier frequency at the center of the band width. The louder a blow from a horn, the greater the amplitude of that particular signal. Changes in pitch change the amplitude of the signal "hangin ten" on another carrier wave. This is like a mechanical analog systems (like the vinyl/needle system). It is susceptiple to noise from mechanical sources (radio: bumping into the antenna; vinyl/needle: dust, bumps, and imperfections on the vinyl) and from electrical sources (radio: vacuum cleaner, lightening; vinyl/needle: static charges on the vinyl other electrical equipment).

FM or frequency modulation codes the information not by size, but by frequency. FM Each pulse or blip is the same size on a carrier wave. Thus, the signal wave carries either an all or none (i.e., 1 or 0) at any time. That makes FM coding like digital information as it is binary. Clumps of data or changes in the frequency allows us to code for loudness (higher volume = higher frequency) or pitch, etc. FM is inherently more noise free and has higher fidelity (I think we all know this by experience). These types of systems are less sensitive to motion artifact (movement or mechanical) and electrical interference. Just get in your car on a stormy night on a bumpy road if you don't believe me Of course, the larger band-width allowed by the FCC for FM doesn't hurt.

Of course nature thought of thise type of strategy well (hundreds of millions of years) before human engineers became clever enough to make it a reality. For example motor neurons which carry nerve impulses from the spinal cord to the muscle codes the information by frequency, not amplitude. If I want to lift 20 lbs as opposed to 10 lbs, I recruit my muscle fibers at a higher frequency. The nerve impulses caalled action potentials are all the same size (100 mV tall and 2 ms long). So again the information is binary or digital! The physical carrier (nerves with fatty sheaths of cells called myelin) act as an insultor an propagator so that the digital signal is not lost, much like fiber optic cables (OK a bit slower). The point is that we have an FM/fiber optic like system which is virtually 100% efficient in transmitting signals from the CNS to the muscles. An AM of vinyl/needle system would be prone to artifact and error each time you moved your arm.

KV: I realize it will be nearly impossible to convince you. And again I'm concerned about the original amount of data on the digital masters But I'll give it one more shot and address your points.

I didn't say that the laser was a perfect transducer. But the problems with signals loss and warping are much greater with the vinyl/needle system. The oversampling for CDs is an editing/correction system for mistakes (if the body has such a problem in the nuclesu of cells - rapid aging results - but it doesn't it uses the same strategy when producing new DNA (mitosis) or RNA (protein production)). It occurs constantly. With the counterbalance weight - you get one shot and it only corrects for ONE direction (vertical as it lets the needle settle into the groove).

Don't be afraid of compression for text or audio. The data is not "lost." (unless it's digital video) You must already have some trust in this as you must be using a computer to POST. All the programs you use were stored in compressed form, the Stuffit or another program expanded the data for your use. Your computer did not have to guess at the content of missing lines of does, because they weren't missing. Still, the care in the algorithms used especially early on in compressing/decompressing may have been suspect. We need a real audio engineer to clear this up.

Noise reductions like the dreaded Dolby and even dbx (which does sound nice an brassy) tend to filter, clip, or massage the signals. Digital precessing (I bet there's a microprocessor somewhere in your amplifier system, eh - Oh, wait I bet you have an 10,000 cubic foot room with audio amplifiers using vacuum tubes - You want to avoid those nasty transistors!) has been a very importan noise reduction system for a long time. EX. Analog and Digital noise reduction systems were developed for applications like air traffic control in the 70's and before. Perhaps you would advocate going back to a bouncing ball scope, a wet finger, and binoculors!??

I'll leave you with 2 thoughts:
1) You're about to have radial keratonomy surgery to correct nearsightendess. Would you rather have the physican use a a) laser system with computer guidance or b) a diamond needle scalpel?

2) You're about to have a delicate operation to remove a tumor abutting the pituitary gland. Would you rather have the physican use a a) laser system with computer guidance or b) a diamond needle scalpel? YOU DECIDE!

Edd: I thought you couldn't tune a fish. Seriously though, I think you're saying that it's impossible to keep a piano in perfect tune even for a short time. While you have 88 separate lever/hammer/3 string mechanical systems, once you start to play some stretching or settling will occur, then you have to tweak, and repeat numerous times. By the time you get through 88 keys going back and forth as you continue to test the system you get it close enough. I thought that someone here mentioned that the piano for Western music is tuned deliberately a little out of tune (was it flat?) for our ears. I remember that distinctly.

Hey,

I know nothing about Michael Franks' music, except, that is, what I've read in jazz magazines and news groups, which was never anything very commendable. They tended to lump him in with John Tesh and Kenny G, (my fingers are burning just from typing out their names!), and further research has shown me that that does not seem to be fair. One place that I have been using lately is the All Music Guide, which, as difficult as it sounds, seems to be pretty fair, intelligent, and knowlegeable in it's assessments of virtually all types of music. It had very good things to say about Franks' album, "Blue Pacific", which was produced by Walter and Roger Nichols, (maybe RN only handled the engineering, now that I think of it).

I bring this up to say thank you, fellow GB'ers, for enlightening me onto a new artists. I think I will sneak out of the cave one night, and visit a 24 hour Tower.

By the way, if you've never heard the album "Larry and Lee", by Mr. Carlton and Mr. Ritenour, I suggest that you go out and buy it. What a great album by two incredible guitarist. The funny thing is, in the liner notes they say that they never worked together before, yet, they are both listed as playing on "Deacon Blues". So, perhaps, they just weren't in the studio at the same time. If you've got time, tell me what guitartists/and their albums you all like. I'll touch on some more of my favorites later.

Later,

Herm

I'll have to give the nod to Michaell Franks The Art Of Tea. There is not a bad song on it and I doubt very much that Franks will ever equal it.( any singer that has the Crusaders backing them up has to be great!) I would also have to say that The Art Of Tea is Micheal Franks's Aja.

Edd: and a quite imperfectly tuned piano would naturally be more "Cage"ian....

ygk

"Perfectly tuned piano" is a bit of an oxymoron. Since it only has a limited number of pitch possibilities (at any one time) a "perfectly" tuned piano is a mass of compromises. Everything is tweaked to make it sound as good as possible in as many keys as possible, but the price is mathematical imperfection.

Hello all --

Just Katy: Was that hello for me or another RoseDarling??

Flew in on Saturday. Compared to green, grey, wet Oregon, this is a BIG change. Still adjusting. I'm taking a much deserved and needed 3-weeker. Every morning, wake up feeling a little like that poor sorry sailor, passed out.... The trick is hydration.

Will check in later. I enjoy reading your posts!

geena,
this will work out beautifully. you will have wonderful stories to tell your daughter. get back safe and let us know everything.

altamira,
stop fucking apologizing already. stand up for yourself. although i could be wrong.

Mitch – If I can only pick between those two, then it has to be “Passionfruit”. Franks had developed his compositions a fair bit more by then. I do credit “The Art of Tea” extra kudos for Franks’ braving the release as a live album – and with Larry Carlton & Joe Sample as well, how could it fail? However, the track “Amazon” from “Passionfruit” could melt the polar caps. It is an awesome piece of music with the sexiest flute solo I have ever heard (and I have many Dave Valentin albums)! That said, “Birchfield Nines” remains my favourite album.

King Vinyl – I noticed the cut and paste job on the cover of “Pretzel Logic” as well. Those things that look like Bagels on sticks seem not to be originally part of the guy’s stock to me. It could be that the whole picture was pasted.

Please disregard the comment about Pearl of the Quarter; the interval in question is only a fifth. My brain must be getting fuzzy. From now on, I will listen to something before I write about it and not rely on my memory. Please forgive me.

DF's countermoon just began. What about yours?

Seven Seconds,

Blue "Lou" Ray

P.S. All this CD/ Vinyl crap is making me long for 8-tracks. Shut up and listen for the the "Brrrrrrup" channel change. Nothing was more remarkable than an 8-track head jumping around on a 1/4" piece of oxide moving at 3 3/4" ips. Talk about technology!

That was nice, KV. But you neglected to inform Dr. Mu that comparing digital to Frequency Modulation and analog to Amplitude Modulation was like comparing an in-the-ear hearing aid to an ear-horn. He's a Newtonian, baby. That's for sure.

Ok, I'm like Really, Really Gone,

Danny

Dr. Mu: You speak like a true physicist. Wrong to a fault.

1. How can the triple laser be a perfect transducer if it must constantly correct not only for source errors, but for errors in its own tracking? I'll bet on Pickering... If you think about it, over-sampling is just like adusting a tone arm for anti-skating. How many times have you heard the recorded material on a record begin before the stylus actually hit the groove? It's Newton vs. Einstein and I daresay no scientist worth his salt is going to give up the "planetary" model of the atom...

2. In real-time recording, 2 gigs will give you about 11 minutes of time on 4 tracks. Can you honestly tell me that removing 90% of the original data is going to give me the same real-time quality? Digital compression is constantly comparing "what is" with "what is coming" and distilling (yet expanding) the content to roughly approximate the original source. That's all there is to it. Noise reduction was an afterthought. We already had dbx before digital and it offered unheard of S/N ratio(s). The true reason for digital audio? Cheap, cheap, cheap to make and shiny, shiny, shiny to look at your reflection in while you plopped down another $14.99 for a disc. I mean, look how cheap recordable CD's are. About 1/4 of a chrome cassette bought in bulk. Hey, but that's just another sign of the New Frontier, right?

Hooking Up a New Altec-Lansing Sub-Woofer,

KV

G.K.Richard et al : Lace up those Nike - lets just do it.

Mr Chow
Save your money on the rental of the BLBC video,I am pretty sure
I have a copy stashed somewhere,I'll try and dig it out before Saturday.
Good King Richard
Danfest IV,why not!

KV: It's a formidible challenge, but the *critical* question is whether there's enough discrete data per unit time on a CD and how good the D/A converter is (I'm not completely convinced of the CD players prowess here admittedly). Unlike digital video, digital audio can be compressed and decompressed without data loss if done properly. The oversampling is to overcome mistracking of the laser. You don't get that luxury with vinyl and since the curves are not concentric or even consistent in depth of path - it's a matter of the non-homogeneous vinyl media (even the virgin stuff). What I'm saying is that it's mechanically impossible for the needle to follow the groove perfectly and collect all the data that's there. There's there's data lost since the diamond needle and cartirdge is not a perfect transducer changing a mechanical signal to an electrical signal...even with a great cartridge, there's data loss there as well - there's heat emiited which is proof enough. Vinyl is not real time data (are you there like now when Fagen is overdubbing his vodals? I thought not). Vinyl is continuous data, but not *actually* real time. We can assume in both cases that the original data were collected real-time except for Wendellian tricks. Plus you've got a lot of noise to deal with analog audio. Digital was probably invented as more of a noise reduction system than anything (which could be a potential problem with some of the algorithms written if the good noise is eliminated with the bad noise). So the major question is simply this: Is continuous data storage (which isn't really continuous, just a meandering pattern of oxides) on vinyl greater than on a CD

I think that sometimes the virtual elimination of noise with digital with expanded dynamic range is unsettling to our brains. Example: a perfectly tuned piano (Edd or someone else discussed this first) sounds quite odd to the ear - and may give us the impression that something's missing - it is the noise and mechanical vibrations that we expect to be incorporated into the sound. Our brains interpret things in strange ways. For example, the dew point here is 78. At 93° and high humidity, the air "feels thick." But iin fact that's an illusion as the air is much less dense that a cool dry day of 40°. Until recently most digital masterings also didn't seem to pay attention to the subtleties like harmonics - so I stuck stubbornly to vinyls until recently. It might be a good idea to listen to a CD in a room with a wooden floor and the speakers positionsed maybe a little out of phase (you can make one of the speaker cables a bit longer and achieve this) While I still believe that a 72 min CD or the digital equivalent should store far more data than the 650 MB allotted (I think that figure's right - I'm not an audio engineer), on my system newer CD can sound better. In theory digital sound should be better (if not now for you high enders then someday) than analog for some of the same reasons why FM (frequency modulation) sounds better than AM (amplitude modulation). Since nature is continuous and discrete at the same time - perhaps the utopian system would be a simultaneous digital and analog system...ahh, the yin and yang of it all.

GEENA!! You're GOING!! That's great! Good luck with everything, I hope it's a wonderful trip and do remember babies' ears hurt on planes, especially at descent, so if she cries, it's not to be taken personally! Can't wait to hear from you. E me if you don't have time to post when you get back! (that confetti is for you and your new family as you arrive back in the USA)

Altamira: I enjoyed your post re: Donald's voice. Gee, you're studying the Dan at the speed of lightning! Soon you'll open your own web site! Your mention of the long intro of the song in the movie made me think of how I do love the intro to Gaucho, and yes that needs to be a little longer for the screenplay I'm working on! :) Aja will fit into this screenplay also. I know screenplay producers don't tolerate writers picking all the music and putting it with your submission in the beginning, but I'm keeping these songs on a list, they'll be too perfect to refuse, I'm sure. (I forgot to tell you that I spent nearly two hours at Pottery Place on Fenwick Island on the way home. I'm going to have to stay out of there for awhile.)

El Supremo: Hugs and kisses, sweetheart! ILY!

Just Katy :)

mr. chow,
thanks for the report on new diana krall album. the day after reading your post i received a $5 virtual coupon from amazon, so how could i lose? i ordered the album and am watching the mailbox. was too much to hope for that she would be singing becker-fagen's 'do it again,' which isn't her style song.

chef,
my best to june lockhart. she must be about 107 by now. sorry to hear little timmy got into some questionable behavior with metal men, but as i recall, the little fucker's dead anyway.

hey, it's nice to see altamira and oleander debating my political beliefs. actually, i am looking forward to a race between prince bush and prince gore, the son of a president and the son of a senator, to determine the winning son of a bitch. maybe next we can just appoint a king and house of lords and avoid all these unpleasant elections.

Dr. Mu: I'll accept that challenge. You realize you are stating that "compressed" data can be de-compressed and sound better than real-time data? Impossible. If you believe that then you probably have "Time After Time", "Somewhere in Time" and "The Time Machine" in your personal video collection. The mere fact that you mention "over-sampling" as a criteria for the validation of your argument renders it invalid in my book.

Time is a constant. To look forward or back is to compromise it. Prove me wrong.

Sleeping Gypsy,

KV

Altamira: Nice analysis of Fagen's vocals and own backup. On True Companion it sounds like both Fagen and Zack Sanders are backing - best of both worlds. Godd point about fagen being "in phase" with himself - not too many can do that. His Big Noise New York demo was on one of the import singles from Kamakiriad (darn, forgot which one). Warnes' production was similar. I like Fagen's version which seems a bit snappier - maybe it's those consonants.

John Henry: Astute observation concerning the misspelling of "Pretzels" as "Pretzles". If you own the big-art album here are a couple of other things to peruse: 1. Notice the obvious (sloppy) cut and paste job where the boiling pot has been inserted. No way that was in the original photo. Also, what are those letters spelling out to the right of the pot on the cart? "ICES"? 2. The lower sign on the cart spells pretzels correctly, but notice how the type looks like Press-Type, as if it was added at a later date. And how much do "Fresh Pretzels" cost? More than hot ones?

Dr. Mu & Roy: If Pi = 3.0 the capstone would be missing from the Great Pyramid. Ooops! It is missing!

In Square Circle,

KV

No Clever Name Available - One of these days I will track down the version of FM, my second-favorite Dan song, with the guitar at the end - thanks for the hints on where to find it.

Oleander - I was just going by what I read in one post, I am relieved to find out that I was mistaken. Yma Sumac is quite a trip indeed.

Geena - Best of luck to you. From what I've been reading, what does tend to get confiscated these days is laptop computers - the inspectors are worried about what might be on the hard drive. If you don't have a computer with you, you should be fine.

Altamirage - Hey! Welcome to the cave!

Now I'm treading onto dangerous ground, for I am about to give my comments on a CD that I just bought that I suppose every other Dan Fan on the face of the earth has had for the last ten years, at least. But I hope that I might have something a bit different to say about it. Yes, I just bought the expanded edition of Gold, without the other version of my nearly-favorite Dan song that I had so much wanted to hear.

Anyway, regarding Century's End, I am once again just blown away by Fagen's diction. He ennunciates better than most classical singers - damn, that man can sing consonants! I just wish he could impart that skill to Becker, it would've made 11TOW easier to listen to (oh, I am so bad, whack, whack, whack!). It also has a delightfully catchy tune; I've been humming it at work.

Regarding True Companion, dang, that is one long intro, but I know that it was part of a film score so the instrumental part was probably covering some action on the screen, and it is pleasant to listen to. But the singing, oh, my, it's so lush and gorgeous, I just wish it went on for another 30 minutes. I've been thinking about how Fagen achieves that luscious and creamy sound, which can also be heard, in a more subdued manner, on the backup vocals for Jennifer Warnes' version of Big Noise, New York (did Fagen ever record or perform this song at any point? I'd love to know). I suspect that using a second singer is crucial to the sound. When Fagen simply uses multiple tracks of his own voice, as he does so beautifully on Maxine, the sound lacks a certain measure of fullness and depth. I think this is because when he multitracks his own voice, all the oscilliations of his voice on the various tracks match, which results in a flawlessly blended sound, but almost too perfect. But when he adds a second singer whose voice blends well with his but has its own slightly different oscillations, the other singer's voice kind of fills in around Fagen's voice and provides a fuller, yet still perfectly blended, sound. I've listened to True Companion and Big Noise, New York a number of times on my headphones, and I think that the other singer is doubling all of Fagen's tracks, except for the melody line on True Companion, which lends the greatest fullness of sound. Of course, this tremendously smooth sound does not offer the sort of wonderful expression that is such an important part of Fagen's singing elsewhere, especially on Kamakiriad (hey, back off there, flamers, I'm quite fond of Fagen and I just love Kamakiriad, we're all entitled to our opinions, ok?), but he's always been a most versatile singer and can produce all different kinds of sounds, all of which are marvellous and delightful to listen to.

BTW, to help along the plot I mentioned in a previous post, I just noticed that the narrator's green world is across the space time, not beyond it. This opens up the options a bit.

To head off in a completely different direction, I noticed recently that in the song Pearl of the Quarter, on the line "And if you see my sweet Louise, won't you tell her...", Fagen goes up an octave to sing one note and then drops down again. This is extreme;y difficult to sing well, as I know from experience, yet Fagen does it effortlessly, even connecting all the notes to one another, unlike many singers who approach the high note as if they were a mountain goat jumping up to a cliff and then back down again, separating all the notes from one another. I tell you, the more I listen to Fagen, the more I am impressed with his singing - his skill is just amazing. (Personal note: my middle name is Louise, don't let anyone know I told you that.)

Hi!------- Just cruising!!.............Roy Scam!, did you know that "Rick Derringer" played on the "The Nightfly??....I didn`t!!........Mr Chow! ",i`ve got my eye on that Postman!!!!!!

Mitch: I haven't heard every Franks' song but here are my 2 piasters:

Best album: Art of Tea - the seamless combination of excelent songs and Tommy LiPuma's production wins by a neck over Rob Mounsey's most Dan-like Passionfriut and the 3 layer cake of Blue Pacific. I actually might go for Blue Pacific if not for the heavy faux percussive Jeff Lorber produced tracks 1 and 6. Although I haven't heard every song, I'm VERY impressed with limited listens to Abandoned Garden and it subtleties - a sensual and slightly muted rainforest of sound.

Favorite track: "Vincent's Ear" - poetry and Becker production. Also, stroke of genius recruiting Livingston Taylor for backup vocals on Crayon Sun.

Coolest musicianship: Sample and Carlton on Long Slow Distance from Blue Pacific.

Ole: Our 15 min of jazz on NPR revealed the demonstrative talent of Charlie Taylor a couple of weeks ago. I mean I was slack-jawed. He's as nimble as his namesake, the wide receiver from the Redskins in the 70's...sounds like a winner. How many releases does he have? virtual trip to CDNow... BTW, it's the leaves bursting into colors come autumn that's an oxidation event; losing color from our manes is a tick-tock event with a cortisol boilermaker.

OL: Glad that you're a convert now. Their new one fell in my lap like manna and is much different. A Greek Tragedy after one Comedy and one schizophrenic on rye drama...the genius is just beginning to permeate these fat-laden neurons. To start in familiar territory, you could start with Army then proceed cautiously to the beginning.

Just checking in from my lookout in the bunker...

hoto... post once pleeease!

Geena: make sure you keep a tight hold on all precious luggage... otherwise have a great time.

Messrs Randell, Chang and Chow: 'musician'? Please define your terms. I have a piano, but then, I also have a shower. So, yes I play piano and I sing, and my 1 yr old has a drum sampler.

Also, somewhere tucked away I have the video of New Frontier.

With FANOFDAN are we approaching a sustainable Danfest IV Downunder?

Richard&kangaroos

The soundtrack "FM" has, as its first track, the original version of "FM", with the guitar at the end. The last track is a very short reprise of "FM" made up of only the sax solo. The original "Gold" album has the version with the guitar. But when the expanded "Gold" was released, they had deleted the guitar from the end and replaced it with the sax solo from the reprise. To my knowledge, any subsequent releases (Citizen, etc) have the version with the sax.
Personally, I prefer the guitar, and hear it on the radio every so often. Since my turntable is collecting dust in a closet, I never get to play the original, as my unexpanded Gold is on vinyl (Waaah).

Michael (Moore)--It's not a question of competition. They have singular strengths, and of course their spectacular synergy is a frequent topic of conversation here....

Alta--calling the Stranger conservative is defamation of character. Amazingly enough, the Permasqueeze walked in last week with a cd of Yma Sumac's greatest hits. We got through about one and a half.

Randall--Wow. That's great. Really.

RS--That gives me a vision of a bunch of people [picture DanFesters] walking around a la Fahrenheit 451 telling each other strings of binary Dan transcriptions....

Technoboys--thanx for the instructive comments on cd's. Tell me: as I oxidize, how come my head gets more & more silver? Doesn't look much like rust.

St.Al--way to track him down! Please tell him he still has a place to go--and give him a big sloppy Babylon Sister kiss.

Clas--aw, shucks, it's just my job.

Anybody listening to Charlie Hunter's "Natty Dread"? Some great retoolings of some great tunes. What think, Joe? The guy's a comer.

just got this from a friend:

p.s. new band of real heavy hitters from western Mass. and Conn. called'Naked Lunch"yep! you guessed it..Steeley Dan tribute. Mark Morris is the guitarist and I did a gig with him last week. He says its going to be a killer. Keys,bass, drums, guit. trumpet, and sax.
lets keep an eye out, they should be ready in a few weeks.

ps if you folks like m. franks you'll love the new dan cd, it will have not quite as biting lyrics as mf.

poop

just got this from a friend:

p.s. new band of real heavy hitters from western Mass. and Conn. called'Naked Lunch"yep! you guessed it..Steeley Dan tribute. Mark Morris is the guitarist and I did a gig with him last week. He says its going to be a killer. Keys,bass, drums, guit. trumpet, and sax.
lets keep an eye out, they should be ready in a few weeks.

ps if you folks like m. franks you'll love the new dan cd, it will have not quite as biting lyrics as mf.

poop

just got this from a friend:

p.s. new band of real heavy hitters from western Mass. and Conn. called'Naked Lunch"yep! you guessed it..Steeley Dan tribute. Mark Morris is the guitarist and I did a gig with him last week. He says its going to be a killer. Keys,bass, drums, guit. trumpet, and sax.
lets keep an eye out, they should be ready in a few weeks.

ps if you folks like m. franks you'll love the new dan cd, it will have not quite as biting lyrics as mf.

poop

just got this from a friend:

p.s. new band of real heavy hitters from western Mass. and Conn. called'Naked Lunch"yep! you guessed it..Steeley Dan tribute. Mark Morris is the guitarist and I did a gig with him last week. He says its going to be a killer. Keys,bass, drums, guit. trumpet, and sax.
lets keep an eye out, they should be ready in a few weeks.

ps if you folks like m. franks you'll love the new dan cd, it will have not quite as biting lyrics as mf.

poop

just got this from a friend:

p.s. new band of real heavy hitters from western Mass. and Conn. called'Naked Lunch"yep! you guessed it..Steeley Dan tribute. Mark Morris is the guitarist and I did a gig with him last week. He says its going to be a killer. Keys,bass, drums, guit. trumpet, and sax.
lets keep an eye out, they should be ready in a few weeks.

ps if you folks like m. franks you'll love the new dan cd, it will have not quite as biting lyrics as mf.

poop

just got this from a friend:

p.s. new band of real heavy hitters from western Mass. and Conn. called'Naked Lunch"yep! you guessed it..Steeley Dan tribute. Mark Morris is the guitarist and I did a gig with him last week. He says its going to be a killer. Keys,bass, drums, guit. trumpet, and sax.
lets keep an eye out, they should be ready in a few weeks.

ps if you folks like m. franks you'll love the new dan cd, it will have not quite as biting lyrics as mf.

poop

Who said I left? Not moi!

To those of you I owe emails to, will get back to you soon. Right now I'm packing for Russia and only know 2 Russian words, Nyet and Vodka. I'll be back in 2 weeks with the girlchik. For those curious few, the contents of my suitcase WILL include the Katylied CD as well as Citizen Steely Dan and Gaucho. Just hope they don't confiscate them at Customs...do they still do that?

Be nice to each other, don't play rough and maybe I'll bring you back some Rubles...

Bye for now....

ah Altamira.......

Just realized I forgot to post my nominee for best introduction - Your Gold Teeth Part II. I just love those shifting rhythms.

Many thanks to the people who have advised me about Bright Lights, Big City - I think I'll just enjoy listening to Century's End until I buy a VCR and a modern television (which will enable me to watch Fagen's piano video), and then I can rent BLBC and hear the other Fagen song without having to buy that expensive soundtrack.

Last night, I was listening to True Companion (yes, I just bought Gold), and I had an idea - a suggestion for Mr. Fagen. I think that after he and Becker finish working on the New One, Fagen should make a solo album based on True Companion. It might be like Kamakiriad, only with the True Companion in place of the Kamakiri. Yes, I know that song was part of a movie which, I suppose, told a story that involved the song, but imagine how much more interesting a tale written by Fagen would be! He just loves science fiction, so this would give him an opportuntiy to come up with all sorts of adventures involving the crew of the True Companion, out there in the endless twilight. Do they find their way back to their homes? Does the narrator find his way to his green world? What about the young men dreaming of fire and starshine? The possibilities for storytelling are quite exciting. And this would give Fagen a chance to record a longer version of the song True Companion, with real saxophone and strings instead of the synthesized version. And perhaps Mr. Becker could be persuaded to play guitar and bass, and maybe produce, although he might not want to help write the songs since he's said that he doesn't like concept albums and he's never gone on record as saying that he likes science fiction. Oh, well, just a little something for Fagen to think about. I'd sure be delighted to buy it, though!

KatyDanFan - Actually, I hate going to the beach since I don't like to swim or lie out and work on my tan. But I will go if someone drags me down there, and I enjoy the city of Rehobeth Beach and the nearby wildlife sanctuaries, so if I can get a ride, I will go to Rehobeth. Maybe I can take in that pottery place you mentioned, although I really shouldn't buy any more pieces until I can move to a bigger place - it's getting really crowded in here with all the cats.

The debate is on , which Micheal Franks tape is the best PASSION fRUIT or Art of TEA ? DR. MU and Roy Scam ,your imput is needed.

Big Fan: Now I know why those young women were laughing in the dorm at the women's college when Otter approached.

That's "Chief Big Fan" to you.............

Awesome post from BigFan on the technical realities of CD and CDR/W media !!!!!!!

Q

Doing something I never do while waiting for a thunderstorm to pass, I watched CBS national news. In the middle of a segment at 6:51 EDT, about certain restraunts in NYC banning the use of cell phones, who they interview but none other than Pete Fogel. Those of you in later time zones might be able to catch it.

Midnight Crusier: Hartford is about half way between two large segments of alternative lifestyles -Yale in New Haven and the various women's colleges around Northamton, Ma. Women couples are very commonplace in the malls or at any festval from beer fests to ballgames. So I don't think we would be surprised unless there weren't any at a concert regardless wether it was Lilith Fair or not. The Pretenders are also playing that night so I won't feel too old if Chrissy is playing - she may be older than I am.

huh? - nice links - sort of like playing Monopoly.

Looks like the new album has been scrapped in favor of a more lucrative career....

http://www.bcpl.net/~wbecker/beck2.html
http://www.garykatz.com

Original Lester: Long time no see! Welcome back, please stay!

JosieDanFan: Speaking of friends/relatives, where are you, sister! Did you get my pic finally, with David's help?

Other Babylon Sisters I miss: RoseDarling, RubyBaby, Geena! Where are you gals?

Altamira: I also have the CD soundtrack to Bright Lights, Big City and it's true---there's only Century's End listed on it and no other Fagan song. Also, was down Rehoboth Beach way last week and had a beautiful afternoon on the Ocean City, Maryland beach. Have you been down yet this summer?

Clas: And so now I've listened to Century's End and yes it is a good intro., however my fav remains DTMA.

David in FlaRoom: Thanks for the invite, friend, we'll discuss!

The paragraph symbol is not the correct symbol for "pi".though it's close. There's no loop on the left of the top line.
And who implied its value was changed? lol....

O Michael: I see you're still your energetic self! Really, teaching Alec to demonstrate his frustration over the Dan already? lol.....regarding El Supremo, well.....now you're asking me to give up someone I love with all my heart? Hmmm....your own heart must be stronger than ever *grin* Btw, would have joined you in the chat room had I been here! Next time.

El Supremo, Numero Uno: ILYM!!

Just Katy :)

HOOPS SPOTTED!!

All is OK. Look for a new digest sometime this week.

StAl

Hi everyone, been a while, but wanted to add another opinion about the new remasters. Last night I heard this radio show called Blues De-lux or something lke that and the guy who hosted it played "Pretzel Logic" (the song) from the newest release, and he was gushing about how great the sound was compared to the older releases; apparently he had a top system and was doing A/B comparisons and noticed all kinds of sonic improvements especially on the high end. He didn't say anything about the missing intro to Riki though... Funny, he also said he noticed for the first time that the word Pretzel is misspelled on the pretzel cart on the cover picture.

Original Lester – The lyrics to “the Royal Scam’ could have been penned by Malcolm X himself. The only thing missing is a line mentioning the chickens coming home to roost. If it wasn’t a scam, they probably wouldn’t have wandered in, they would have been dragged in kicking and screaming.

Altamira / FANOFDAN – I noticed that Fagan is credited with the music from the film “Bright Lights, Big City”. I would have thought this meant that he supplied more than just “Century’s End” and the title track. I’ll rent the video again and confirm one way or the other.

ALTIMIRA
Re your question Bright Lights Big City.
Ihave a copy on vinyl and Centurys End is the only song
on the original soundtrack that Donald Fagen is credited with,
but if you can get you hands on the video,he does sing the song
Bright Lights Big City which sort of fades in and out of a
scene with Micheal J Fox.
I am pretty sure he was credited with this song in the movie although its been along time since I've watched it.
Beats me though why they never included it on the album but upon a closer look at the back cover it says...
UNITED ARTISTS presents A MIRAGE PRODUCTION ???????

Alt.: Sorry,my mistake. You're right about Bach's B Flat.It's amazing how it just stops - as if he died right there and then.

To Emily, wherever I may find her: aw, shucks I've been bottling my blood for years:$7.99 a pop.

Can anyone else hear a little Gerswin in some of SD ?

Michael Packard - I checked, and there is only one cave, but it is divided into a number of chambers.

I have a question - I am wondering if Fagen did any music for Bright Lights, Big City aside from Century's End, and so whether it would be worth my while to buy the soundtrack to that movie. I looked it up a while back and all I could find was a Japanese edition that sold for $30.99, and I'm certainly not going to spend that for a CD that has none of Fagen's music aside from a song I already have.

This is really a major coinkidink that I am posting today- first time in about a month. Thanks for the good news Mike. I am most pleased with the Katy remaster. I have not yet seen the last three come out yet. When are they due? Also wanted to share that I bought a used copy of Ben Folds CD "Whatever and Ever Amen," and I am most pleased with my purchase, if not totally surprised. Thanks to those who recommended it.

One other thing. The "angry race of fallen kings- their dark companions"... would that be referring to African Americans? Just wondering.

Howdy, DanFanGangLand!

Interesting, my grandson still prefers listening to Steely Dan, more than any other music. However, he is starting to ask 'Paw-Paw' questions such as, "Is this it?"
And, "ain't there no more, Paw-Paw". So, I have to find him a violent figure toy to play with, as he is frustrated with the absence of "The New One", whenever that is.

Oleander, thankyou for acknowledging my October 29th (Black Friday, 1929----and Black Friday, December 31st) for the release of "Two Against Nature" which might be more appropriately called, "Steely Dan Fans Tackle Two"----LOL!!!

Anyway, tuned my radio to an obscure East TexAss station, first song on was "Rikki".

Most people I surveyed think the new "remasters" are just re-releases of the "Citizen" group----please advise, DanFans.

Altamira, how many 'caves' are there?

Dan Drummond and Chris (Original Lester)----the CD's and tapes are in the mail----sent to you yesterday----hope you like 'em.

KatyDanFan, you are simply the mostest-----Everything. . .you did baby. . . get rid of him (El Supremo) HSRD!

Still enjoy Frank Zappa's "Waka Jawaka", and "The Grand Wazoo", DanGang!

Saludos and hope to see you in the 'Talk City' chat room tonight-as I intend to be there.

Michael
;)

Randall P: I'd like to talk about procreating with you. That synopsis was brilliant, now may I have a sample of your blood?

Randall - I had always heard that H stands for B flat in the German notation system; it certainly sounds like B flat in Bach's composition based on his name.

I like Franks as well. In concert he's rather boring. If any of you ever see him live look for his keyboardist Charles Blenzig who usually steals the show from Franks. Michael's best and most successful album is "The Art of Tea".

Dr.Mu: I'll have a Countdown to Ecstacy with scotch whiskey and sucrose, please. Sounds like a great cocktail with which to end the century. -- Am I correct in assuming that, theoretically, once a work of art has been digitized, it will never be lost? Even if we have to keep it on our hard drives or paper tape or 80 column IBM cards or in handwritten binary form as 1's and zeroes on a million sheets of notebook paper? Sounds like a good task for the post-Y2K Dan Preservation Society.

Your story about Indiana mandating the value of pi to be 3.0 is a great testimony to the effectiveness of government. I bet they had some funky looking circles around that state for a while.

RS

Big Fan, King Vinyl: I only have a mid-end Yamaha and Boston Acoustic system and was convinced until recently that the best vinyl always beat the best CD until recently. I'll stack up 1999 Pretzel Logic and Katy Lied against you best vinyl recordings as long as your CD player has enough oversampling - the technology has really gotten better over the years. For example, within the nest few years digital still cameras will be superior to good professional analog cameras - digital videocameras already have 200+ lines better resolution than and analog video recorder.

Anyway, your theory about oxidation of CD is interesting, but I'm skeptical based on the construction: CD or Compact Disc, is a digital medium formed of a 12cm polycarbonate substrate (plastic), a reflective metalized layer (aluminum or gold) with the digital information, and a protective lacquer coating. The physical format of CDs is described by the ISO9660 industry standard. CD-Recordable discs also have an organic dye data layer between the substrate and the metal layer. The problem with the oxidation theory is that unless there is a deep scratch or a crack the aluminum layer should be in an anaerobic environment (no oxygen). Thus unless the disk is exposed to UV light (sunlight, tanning booth, teenagers bedroom who's into Pink Floyd) oxidation of aluminum or gold is unlikely (believe it or not oxidation under anaerobic conditions is more likely with an organic medium). Some plastics like Tygon tubing (silastic) are slightly permeable to air, but I don't believe the acrylic lacquer is. There is a very outside chance that when a CD is pressed the outside edge might let in some air. One company does sell a green acrylic laquer (which actually is desgined to attenuate scatterring of the laser). I'm assuming that the laser light itself is in the visible range (lasers remember by definition have only a singular wavelength) and would therefore not induce oxidation.

Maybe Joe M or Edd C have some info if they're lurking??? At worst we should then store our CDs in honey or scotch whiskey as sucrose and ethyl alcohol have some antioxidant properties before they are ingested. Preparation before play would be a bitch though.

KV: True enough, CD's are a limited life medium. It's all about oxidation. The standard off the shelf CD's that have that silver color use aluminum as the sputtered metal on the polycarbonate after the digital recording process. And yes aluminum oxidizes, but I think 30 years is a minumum for these factory coatings - more like 50 years minimum. Now those gold CD's should last up to at least 100 years since gold oxidizes so slowly. CDR's use an organic pigment (cyanine or phthalocyanine)(that blue color) which breaks down relatively quickly - 10 years or so at 5 to 25 degrees C and 60% RH and avoiding direct sunlight. So those of you selling CDR's as good as the orginal and not telling people are swindling them. CDRW's us a Ag-In-Sb-Te phase change recording material (sort of silvery, but darker than factory music CD's) that should last 30 years or more - direct sunlight does not effect these metal based coatings. CDRW's cost almost 10 times as much and you can see why.

i've got a wonderful bootleg of shawn colvin. somebody trade me something. anything but steely wool. you can buy their stuff really cheap even on sunday.

Blue Ra,

CC

Randall (Gomez),

Yes, all of that is correct. Now can we watch those old movies again?

Turning My Head 288 Degrees,

Your Brother, Fester

Yeah, but CD's are so...so...today, man!

After a long (and lucrative) day spent with Japanese tourists, a thought came to me which is so silly it might be close to the mark.
Kamakiriad = journey of the Kamakiri (referring to Homer's Iliad).So far so good. Now kamakiri is japanese for mantis. The Japanese are infamous for their inability to differentiate between /l/ and /r/ and a typical mispronunciation of 'Iliad' would be 'iriad'- so is it conceivable that Fagen is punning ?

In Bach's last fugue he spelt his name in the music ( 'h' at the time stood for c natural) so a precedent of sorts exists.

Or maybe I've been working too hard.

King Vinyl - All of my Michael Franks albums are on cassette. Your're right about vinyl though - I intend buying them all on record as I find decent copies of them. He has seemingly always had the best session players with him. He follows the same quality seeking rules as SD, except he continues to put out music with these guys. All of my SD/Fagan is on vinyl with tapes made for listening (when they're all available, the 'newly remastered with updated liner notes' CD's will be mine).

Pffredita - Recommend 'Passionfruit' & definately 'Birchfield Nines' - the best Franks album of the lot.

Did you know that under typical conditions a CD will only retain its material for app. 30 years? I guess 30 years is what the music industry considers "a lifetime of enjoyment". On the other hand, the cylinder records I inherited from my grandfather are over 70 years old and still haven't lost their deep grooves.

There is now AMAZING software available that will clean-up all your precious vinyl and allow you to burn your own personal CDs for a song! (Less than $100.00).

I mention this because turntables and vinyl are still way below bargain basement prices. I recently bought a Pioneer PLL-550 turntable for less than $50.00 and clean vinyl is everywhere for between 10 cents and a dollar, which brings me to...

Michael Franks, Passion Fruit. It's on the turntable now. Bought it for 25 cents. Musicians include Randy Brecker, Hiram Bullock, Steve Gadd, Will Lee, Hugh McCracken, Kenny Rankin, etc., etc., etc.

Yes, I have a state of the art Denon CD player. But I love the fat grooves and the BIG art you can only find on incredible, virtually indestructible vinyl...

Turning it Over,

KV

Mitch: your wish is my command:

http://www.cdnow.com/cgi-bin/mserver/SID=1043751423/pagename=/RP/CDN/FIND/album.html/ArtistID=FRANKS*MICHAEL/itemid=498010

Micheal Franks is excellent, im not surprised so many people here dig him, Iam surprised he does not have a Best of Micheal Franks tape, because when his baby cooks with Eggplant, maybe she`s Italian .

Odd - St. Al or the site is vaporizing or "pi"s or they are turning into paragraph symbols.

BTW, there's a story that the state of Indiana passed a law in the 1840s that decreed that "pi" = 3. I guess the forebearers of Larry Bird couldn't handle decimals.

RS: That reminds me of an odd dream I had last night. I usually go for weeks for recalling any dreams - but the last few nights have been doozies. Anyway, I met Donald Fagen at a book show where he was promoting a new book...he was very warm and witty...but no, it wasn't Mr. Fagen! It was actually... Jeff Goldblum playing Donald Fagen in preparation for a dramatization of the Steely legacy!...maybe Martin Mull as Walter Becker?? I awoke before this or any other detail was revealed, or the dream morphing into something else.

Who the hell is/was Mr. Leotard?

Dr. Mu: I saw the movie "Pi" (actually the title is the symbol ¶ ) recently. The first piece of fiction I've ever heard described as a mathematical drama. Very dark and disturbing, and unique among modern films in that Pythagoras, Fibonacci, and Euclid are important to the plot. Sure could have used some Steely Dan music in the soundtrack though.

Best intro: Countermoon.

To whomever asked: The Fagen instuctional video is worth looking at just to see DF being personable, enthusiastic and not at all sarcastic or condescending. My son, a piano student, says it's a good instructional for somewhat advanced players. I enjoyed watching it and I don't know from piano. -- Also, the New Fronteir video is terrific, but the Snowbound video (IMHO) is , well, not terrific.

RS

Amazon.com - I can definitely see your point and I agree with you . I just sent Ms. Lee some possible sources since she had asked and I didn't see any real harm in responding. Also, I doubt she'll find anything especially useful and may decide not to include song titles in the book.

Laura Lee - I have sent a message to your e-mail address with some suggestions for further research.

PS: I'm a songwriter. That's why I get so worked up about it

It would be absurd to include song names in a book like that. It's one thing if somebody names a burger chain after his neice "Wendy", or some company or product is named after an uncle or a local guy etc. But let's say there actually was a girl named Peg or Josie or Rikki that Fagen & Becker knew. Does that mean that those songs are ABOUT those individuals? Are they the "real people behind the song"? Or are they simply names that songwriters borrowed to tell whatever story they wanted to? Absurd.They are writers. They are fiction writers. They almost certainly draw on their life (like any novelist would), but the idea that songs are "probably" ABOUT real things or people is a myth that refuses to die.

ooo this talk of Michael Franks sent me back..I have only Sleeping Gypsy, which I keep buying.. guess I'll venture out and add THIS new one, anyway, to my rather meager music library.... looking at the liner notes... a good gathering of some of the growing more and more familiar names and sounds... I remember the day I first bought this one.. like 5 or 6 bucks, i think... with Dave Mason's Certified Live, and Stephane Grappelli's Uptown Dance, i think...

dang. sure do wish i'd kept all that vinyl.

hey... that silly Wynonna booth won first place. pfft.

Thanks, Laura; We'll be SURE to rush out and buy your new book, seeing as we now do the top-notch hi credible sources you use in your research.

I am the author of the book The Name's Familiar: Mr. Leotard, Barbie and Chef Boyardee which tells the stories of the people behind familiar names including names that appear in song lyrics. Currently I'm working on a sequel and I am wondering if anyone can tell me if Rikki (who shouldn't lose the number) Peg and/or Josie were real people and if so what their surnames were and a little about them? Does anyone have a source for that information?

Laura Lee
http://www.albany.net/~lauralee/familiar.htm

Doc Kelly / Dr Mu - Thank you, doctors, for the info re. Michael Franks. I'm a bit of fan there as well. I'm hoping the work all the session players did was last year, and they're not doing the tour with him in July. We need them to get the SD recording finished first!

Altamira - My cats have always loved Steely Dan.

Lew Chang - I'll be in touch soon.

Lester, the version you describe sounds like the one on the Gold CD, which is different than the version on the Gold tape/LP. (Perhaps later pressings of the Gold CD have the standard version??) Anyway, it's a hybrid of the standard version and FM Reprise. If you can find the old FM 45, the B side is FM Reprise.

I heard FM on the radio the other day and it was a little different version than I was use to. Instead of a long guitar solo at the end of the song it was sax! Does anyone know what cd that version is on, I have gold but its the regular version!

So whats up with the "new one"?

any talk about another danfest?

I hear theres a Woodstock 99'!

Thanx in advance for any info

ltnf

Garden = Garded

Mr. Chow: Indeed, Donald has great pitch. That's why they doubled or even tripled his vocals and they sounded so smooth (exs, Pretzel Logic and True Companion). The song Roy referred to, Rose Darling reflects his range: "the clock is close AT HAND" - quite a smooth low note and "wear the weary hours down" as Roy quoted is at the high end - the full two octaves higher. Nat King Cole may have had the smoothest voice ever, but it was only over less than a 2 octave range. As an ordiany guy - only have a 2 ocatve usable range - the 3 notes above and below get the neighborhood dogs ahowlin'.

DocK: Why it's our own Diana with Micahel Franks. Just sampled some of the new one. She always had excellent piano chops and a good smoky vocal delivery. From what I heard her pitch was more pure although she does better phrasing the lounge-tupe songs. Really good stuff - still proposing her on the cover of the new Dan release whenever it comes out.

Speaking of Michael Franks', check out the lineup on his new one Barefoot on the Beach (line from title track of Blue Pacific) recorded in NYC. No wonder the Dan new one is not out/finished.

Valerie Simpson (vocals); Jay Azzolina, Jeff Mironov, Chuck Loeb, Steve Khan (guitar); Jim Beard (strings); David Mann (flute); Chris Hunter (flute, alto saxophone); Andy Snitzer (alto & tenor saxophones); Michael Brecker (tenor saxophone); Bob Mintzer (saxophone); Randy Brecker, Larry Lunetta (trumpet); Jim Hynes (flugelhorn); Birch Johnson (trombone); Bob James (piano); Charles Blenzig (keyboards, programming); Chris Palmaro, Mike Ricchiuti (keyboards); Dave Samuels (vibraphone); Jimmy Haslip (bass, keyboards); Will Lee (bass, background vocals); John Patitucci (acoustic bass); Wolfgang Haffner (drums, percussion); Steve Gadd, Shawn Pelton (drums); Brian Dunne (drums, drum programming); David Charles, Bashiri Johnson (percussion); Carmen Cuesta, Lani

It's more of a pop sound from the samples I heard from 1995s Abandoned Garded, which is a damn good lounge-type sounding release in sections and still on my wish list. One song on AG called A Fool's Errand is really great and there are some Dan-like horn charts. One of the songs on Barefoot on the Beach sounds strangely a bit like Prefab Sprout when Valerie Simpson sings along with Michael Franks' whose voice is becoming even more of a whisper (if that's possible) than with even less tone. Another song Fountain of Youth features some Dan-like bars from Mr. Steve Khan.

Mr Chow! Thanks for responding to my letter. Above is my email address, any information about getting hold of videos would be well received indeed!!.............Waiting to hear from you regarding this!!............. Thanks!....................Lew!

.

Hey, MC. I went to Lilith fair last year and I came home sweating and smiling too! Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!! What a carpet-fest.! They let me use my vacuum cleaner on their carpets though too. Some of them were licking the carpet to make it clean. I just vacuumed, vroom, vroom. Yes, I had a smile on my face, and I was sweaty and stinky. I smelled like tunafish. There was a pussycat there eating some tunafish, wow!! Take me back to Lilith fair, I say, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!!

Big Fan....my wife and I went to the Lilith Fair last year and enjoyed the show very much....be prepared to listen to a bunch of shit from people here because you say you're going but it's a good show and I'm sure you and the wife will enjoy it. We're gonna try and make it again this year....as for taking the kid(s), I saw a few there last year but it was mostly couples from their teens into their 50's....more than a few of the couples were women so expect to see it or you'll be surprised....we got to see Bonnie Raitt play some awesome slide last year along with Sarah McLachlan, who I think has a GREAT voice, and Natalie Merchant who was very enjoyable....I had tickets to see Sheryl Crow a few years ago and because of snow in the mountains I didn't make the show....that's another reason I hope to be able to make this one....the only other show I really wanted to see this year was the Dave Matthews Band again....saw them just a few weeks after the last Steely Dan tour in the same venue and it was probably the biggest party I've ever been to in my life....everyone there had a blast and went home sweating and smiling....great show if you're inclined to check it out....y'all have fun!

MC

Re: The Reagan Onion Piece

The thing came out three-and-a-half years ago. The only reason I remembered about it is that one of my republican-leaning friends with a sense of humor has kept a tattered copy of the message on his bulletin board all these years. Of course, since I am at ground zero for The Onion (downtown Madison, WI), there's free copies of the rag in every store you could think of. The article must have come out before the web site was created.

I'm back from Dayton, Ohio - do you like old planes - it's the place to go.

Those goofy Farrelly Brothers of There's Something About Mary fame sure know how to evoke the mood of 1974, if the soundtrack to their coming-of-age story about a blue-collar kid in a prep school is any indication. The accompanying music -- due July 20 (a full 10 days before the movie) -- includes such gems as The Eagles' Take It Easy, Steely Dan's Do It Again, Lynyrd Skynyrd's Free Bird, Free's All Right Now and Badfinger's No Matter What.
Link:

http://www.canoe.ca:80/JamMusic/jun25_movies.html

Since there isn't going to be an SD tour this year, I bought the wife tickets to Lillith Fair in August - really just to see Sheryl Crow, but I can be hip to new music also - will we be the oldest people there at 40 something - or will parents be bringing their kids?

talking about introductions, how about Don`t take me alive?

Sour Cream - The URL for the Onion is www.theonion.com.

We got a Linc. Different spelling, and as far as we know, has little to do with onions, but if you want him, you can have him. Julie and I would like to start a life together, but he won't stop following us.

What is this "Onion"? And where do I find it? Anyone have a link?

A quick look around The Onion didn't turn up the Reagan letter. There was an article entitled "Area Bedroom Has That Weird Jeff Smell, Housemates Report," but it has nothing to do with the Skunk.

Hello,Dan-all. A Peg-Head, myself,I actually may not read all the above posts to get to know the neighbours , I'll keep it short.
The New York Rock and Soul Revue ;is there a video available and
where can one order it from? A friend of mine would like to get
a copy. She works in a record store ,but cannot find a listing
for such. I had a TV shot of a song from it,but seemed to find a Miles Davis interview more important to tape over it.Will any
SD-er here help me ,please.
Reply to
Thank you, Sandy Freeze.

Clas: Oh my, Centurys End, I'm ashamed to say I'm not sure which one that is (Don't Kill Me Please, which tape is it on, El Supremo, I have too many! ) Now I have to listen to that intro and also the one on Your Gold Teeth II (I do love that song) to be sure I'm keeping DTMA as the favorite.

Mock Turtle: Yes, I love the intro of Hey Nineteen, also, it affects me much the same way as DTMA. And My Old School is so good too. Hmm...I wonder if I have ten intros that are tie for second place!

Question: I think it's on the Old Regime tape where Third World Man is not like the most perfect version I have mostly listened to, but it is close. And the guitar solo, while not as intricate, still is so very moving, to me. And IGY is pretty close to the way it ended up. However, Everyone's Gone to the Movies and Any World are umm......sorta far from the final product? I mean, those "heys" in between the chorus lines in Any World crack me up. Why are two songs so close and two so far from the final version. (Were they working on TWM and IGY for a longer period of time up to that point?)

El Supremo: At last!! My sweetheart forever! When are you gonna be Home At Last? *sigh* waiting patiently ILYM.

Just Katy :)

Kofi Annan - I've been reading The Onion for a long time now and thoroughly enjoying it. They archive all of their issues, so I will now go hunt for that one. Thanks for providing me with some happy hunting.

I went to dinner tonight at the home of my dear old friend William. As he was turning on his stereo, I mentioned that I had broken away from my usual habit of listening only to classical music and had rekindled my 27-year-old love of Steely Dan. He said"Who?" and asked me if they had gone by a longer name. I said that they had always just used the name "Steely Dan," but the band, for the most part, consisted of Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. He'd never heard of them either. Can you believe it, a 32-year-old man who has never heard of Steely Dan? Anyway, a little later, as he was watering his plants, I noticed that one plant was sitting on Steely Dan's Greatest Hits. Naturally I pointed this out and said that Steely Dan had established a presence right there in his apartment and he hadn't even known about it. Well, he said that the album must have belonged to someone who had been staying with him, and he had no idea that it was there. He then gave it to me; of course I had it already, but this one's a bit different, as I pointed out to him, in that it has a gold stamp on the front that reads "MCA 2-6008." I have no idea what that means, but it does make it different from the other copy I have of this album. And the next time I go over to visit William, I'll take a few CDs along so he can hear what he's been missing. (I'd fix dinner for him here, but I haven't cleaned up the apartment yet, although I'm working on it - it gets a bit complicated with the five cats.) At least William now realizes that Steely Dan exists and I'm not just making it up.

Hello, DanFanDom!

Been awhile, I know, yet absence makes the heart . . .huh, Katy?

Anyway, for those of you as Roy Scam mentioned are interested in Rick Derringer----check out "Thomas Jefferson Kaye" and "Shades" by the same (now deceased) musician. Rick Derringer plays on nearly every song, and Walt, Don, 'Skunk', and many others you will recognize. It is available online at one of those CD Internet places.

Anyway, Gary Katz produced it, and Roger 'The Immortal' Nichols was the engineer. Yes, you can actually hear Walt play bass, Donald and Dusty Springfield sing backup vocals, along with Richie Furay, Clydie King, Venetta Fields, etc.

Cheers!

ES

P.S.: Katy, I Love You, Darlin'

A five million dollar reward has been offered for the bringing in of Mr. McKay, at which point he will stand trial for War Crimes. Thank you.

P.S. Does anyone remember The Onion's Alzheimer's-stricken Ronald Reagan-penned letter , where he signed his name "Donald Fagen"? Fuckin' hilarious, man.

OK, bye

kofi@kingoftheworld.gov

thank you mock turtle.

jk

Ok, this is getting spooky. DOES ANYBODY KNOW WHERE JIM "HOOPS" MCKAY IS??? The Mailing List is way overdue and his website is off the air. Who has news?! Anybody got a phone number?

Mr. Chow: Speaking of Michael Franks, do you know who's touring with him? He's to be a "main attraction" at the KC Blues and Jazz Fest in mid July... (FYI -- www.kcbluesjazz.org)

Best intro by far...The Royal Scam!!!

ps. Bye Geena :)

Chef Boyhowdee - Thank you for the comment, but, being female, I prefer to be addressed as "ma'am." I once read an Elmore Leonard novel that had a character named Boy Howdee.

The Stranger – Back to Diana Krall. The new one is great. Like they say on the promos for one of her previous opus’ (opi?) - in 20 years time, we’ll hear some great young singer and think that she reminds us of that great jazz legend Diana Krall! She does a great version of Michael Franks’ ‘Popsicle Toes’ and one dead sexy version of ‘I’ve got you under my skin’ – good enough to bottle. Sorry about ‘Do It Again’, but it ain’t SD’s masterpiece. Btw, did you get the bonus 13th track? – ‘Why should I Care?’ from the movie – True Crime. I think it might be an import special.

Roy Scam & fezo – Glad to hear I’m not the only one that can wake the dead – I’ll stick to the keyboards.

Roy

That ad's been around for 6 months. Have you been spending too much time in Berklee? Do they have cable there? When I attended we burned all the shielding and wore the weary hours down twisting alloys into various shapes to create reedless harmonics which morphed into whole notes the harder we blew. (Theory of constriction.) Then we studied the Teutons and lost credits if we didn't sleep with young boys. But I'll never be a sour kraut.

Altamira: You are correct, sir. Donald barely has 2 octaves. What we misconstrue as range is STYLE.

Stranger: You're on a roll. Happy Birthday. June Lockhart sends her love. You made Little Timmy laugh for the first time in months and the doctors say he may finally be ready to quit sucking his robot. The robot, however, is still as obstinate as Bill Gates and may not be ready for Timmy to quit sucking.

IGY

Chef Boyhowdee

Did I say Strenum? Wow, are we talking briandamage here?

As I walked my last dogwalk last night I heard Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band from the other side of town. "Born In The USA". I can't believe he's still doing that old routine, he's so obsolete.

TheKatyDaneFan - Centurys End has a great intro too, and the following groove is so great.

The Stranger - Paris? Haven't been there for over twenty years. Nobody speaks English. Or they refuse to speak English. Let me know when you're going, OK? But, Clas + wine = cops. So I'll make it a coke. The doc said that my head can't take anymore hits.

I'm smoking two cigs before I crash in at nights. That's about that. Strenum's great, a certain sweet doc-girl in NO checked it out.

Altamira - hey, thanks! Pompe's doing fine.

Geena - hi girl!

Roy Scam - "..we'll wear the weary hours down." Yeah, that's a hard one. Have you tried "my English it is more better now"? That's high notes for Becker but he's making it.

My pick for best intro is 'Your Gold Teeth II' - the time change is breathtaking.
Donald's lower register is capable of great expression too.I love the way he sings about Snake Mary dreaming she's in Detroit with lots of money in the bank on 'Rose Darling'. That's where Walter can't compete.

katydanfan,
i think you're right. fort washington. there've been plenty of times since that i could have used that job. it's like the inspector told bogey (i paraphrase) -- you shouldn't throw jobs (he said women) away like that. they might become scarce one day.

listen, dammit, i posted the possibility that diana krall recorded a cover on 'do it again.' i mean nobody does steely dan covers. that's news, if true. i'm bitching cause i haven't had time to check it out.

Altimira: I guess it's the expressiveness of his voice - I remember a singing teacher years ago telling me he was her all time favourite voice even though it's untrained.
'Is there gas in the car? Yes there's gas in the caaarr.'

Yma Galas - I remember you! You used to go by the name of Yma Sumac, which was said to be Amy Camus spelled backwards. And, yes, you did have a tremendous range, surely the envy of every other singer. I even saw some video clips of you; most impressive!

Randell - Fagen is one tremendously skillful singer; I am always impressed at his ability to make difficult things sound effortless.

Octavius - You're right about the natural range of the human voice; it's just that most popular music and jazz singers do not use a range that large. They may have some notes at the outer edges of their ranges that they haven't yet developed, or maybe they just want to keep their music in the range where they sing most comfortably. I've also heard singers use notes that sound terribly awkward, like they are out of the singer's normal range and the singer hasn't yet become comfortable singing those notes. Fagen can sing over a broad range and sound good on every note; I don't think there are that many singers in this genre who do that - they may have big ranges, but they sound strained at either end.

Katy: Yes, that is a good intro. Another two intros that come to mind are My Old School and Hey Nineteen. Though for all three songs, the intros are a reflection of the quality of the song to follow.

geeezz: Regarding the two different versions of FM ... on the boxed set, the version with the sax solo is included, and on 'A Decade of,' the version with the guitar solo is included. Personally, I like the guitar version a bit better, but they're both worth having. 'Decade' is easy to find used, and worth having for its excellent (IMHO) selection of songs. In fact, this is the CD that got me hooked. My Dad used to check out piles of CDs from the library and ask me to tape them for him. This was one tape, however, that never found its way back to him. Then I bought the CD, lent it to my Classic Rock-loving friend, he got the boxed set, which I got soon thereafter, and the rest is history. So I've always had a special place in my heart for the CD. Definitely a desert island pick for me. And it was recently remastered, too (whatever that means in this day and age of rampant 'remastering' [read: repackaging] of CDs), or, for the Qs out there, it also exists on gold disc.

Geena!! Get back in here, girlfriend! I'm going to practice with the video, some of you have to get up on the stage and play the part of Don, Walt, band members and back-up vocals.

Stranger: Was that Mount Washington or Fort Washington? You mean you'd rather stay on the west coast with all that beautiful sunshine??

Fezo: You had me ROFL, especially with that line after your name.....I never heard that before, that's so good. lol.

My 2 cents worth for today regarding SD: I know I might change my mind next week as I 'm listening to other songs (a DanFan's perogative) However, right now I want to say there is NO song ever, anywhere, anytime, that can top the introduction to Don't Take Me Alive. And there is a very good chance I will NEVER change my mind on that.

El Supremo: You're the BEST, ILYM!!

Just Katy :)

2 1/2 octaves? hmm. gotta good 3 - 31/2
can't carry a tune worth a dang, though.
voice all over the place.

every once in a while tho.. it feel good. mmHMM.

resonating up, waxing too,

YG

My favourite Fagenesque failure is the upslide in 'Florida Room'- "with a view of the seeeeeeeea". Easy to do, impossible to duplicate.

Oh, I am not welcomed here? Oh well, I thought I was, guess I'll leave now......

Thank you for thinking of me! bye bye now!

two and a half octaves falls within the normal range of the human voice.

Mitch !

I'm sure it's me, but....... were you speaking in tounges regarding the new album back @ 6/21 or was were you trying to evoke/provoke LSD regressions in various Guestbook daveotees ?

Q

Fezo - Hmmm, I seem to remember getting a "fuck you" welcome also, although not from you, of course.

Mr. Chow - Fagen also has quite an impressive range; I would guess a little more than two octaves.

The Stranger - Oh, good. I wondered, since nothing else you have written sounded especially conservative.

Newbie here, I've been a danfan for many moons, and not sure what I may have to contribute, but I'm enjoying your senses of humor. So glad the rain is gone, for now. Been listening to 11TOW much lately, and I'm finding that it doesn't seem to leave my CD changer.

Bye for now!

Fezo - I didn't mean to imply that Belzoni has more people with diabetes than other cities in the area. The organization I worked for had these programs all over Mississippi and several other states as well. I just meant that the people we worked with in Belzoni were especially helpful.

geeezz: and who the fuck are you to tell us why we're here?

INDIVIDUALISM n. The principle, policy, or practice of maintaining individuality or independence of the individual; the theory or practice of maintaining the independence of individual initiative, action and interests

SUBJECTIVITY n : judgment based on individual personal impressions, feelings and opinions rather than external facts

ever heard of those, moron?

any help on the fm with guitar solo - I swear you people would rather talk about anything but what we are here for.

Mr Chow: I have trouble singing the birthday song without shattering windows

Widow Serling: You are mistaken. All newbees are welcome. It's just that only male newbees get the coveted "fuck you" welcome. We are all southern gentlemen on the GB so female newbees are treated more solicitously.

Mr Belzoni: I think you need to update the Chamber of Commerce blurb you quoted to reflect the apparent diabetes scourge which is infecting your community

Mr. Chow: I also can't sing, "..we'll wear the weary hours down." without sounding like I'm re-entering puberty.

Rick Derringer fans: Sadly, that was the real Rick that I missed seeing at a roadhouse 5 miles from my house last Thursday (my latest stupid move). -- Check out the "Killing Floor" soundbyte at " http://rickderringer.com/sound.html " and see if it takes you back to the Chain Lightning guitar solo.

Speaking of Rick D., his ex protege, Edgar Winter, is now doing a beer ad with George Hamilton in which they discuss their uncanny similarities.

RS

Rod- What are you talking about? Geena is still not welcomed here!

Does anyone else have trouble singing “Wont you pour me a Cuban breeze Gretchen” without breaking into falsetto or shattering windows?

Donald has great pitch.

FANOFDAN – Good to talk with you. Seeing as you’re working Saturday, how about Sunday morning (not too early). I’ll give you a call when I see the lighthouse.

Funny the way newbies are welcomed only if they're female. I worry about you.

flash,
just checked over at cd now and diana krall's new album, 'when i look into your eyes,' has a track called 'do it again.' could my favorite babe jazz singer be doing a cover of my favorite band? is it possible? can life get that good?

altamira,
maybe i forgot my medication that conservative day but i swear i don't look anything like newt gingrich.

katydanfan,
i almost took a job near philly once, place named mount washington. but i guess i'm pretty much a committed west coaster and besides, who wants to get new stationery?

is there a law that says girard diepardeau must star in all french films? i mean the guy's good, but he's in everything.

connie,
who are you? you know everybody and i don't know you. how long you been reading this board?

diana krall's got a new album out. anybody hear it?

Giovanni Belzoni - The organization I used to work for had a program to help prevent lower-leg and foot amputation among elderly people with diabetes in Belzoni. The volunteers and professionals there did a wonderful job; it was one of our best projects in Mississippi.

The Stranger - You're welcome. I seem to recall a political discussion a while back in which you expressed some opinions generally regarded as conservative, but I could be wrong.

Clas - Hey! It's good to have the real you back. Are you feeling better these days? How's Pompe doing?

Amy: You're right. Keep having fun.

DrMu: Yeah, if necessary, I can hang. Give me a songlist and 48 hours.

Latest stupid move: turning down a gig this upcoming Saturday at a naturist organization's midwestern regional event... oh, well, I was almost "here at the nude ranch"...

Stranger: I'm right here near Philadelphia. Think you could stop at a New Jersey beach or no, better yet, the Crescent Beach on Block Island, on your way to Paris? And you won't be able to be in Paris too long, remember----we have lots of work to do before November!

Just Katy :)

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I enjoyed the story about the history of Belzoni ,Miss. It definitely was better than reading shots at people by impersonated jaggoffs.

The city is dedicated to "a quality of life for everyone." I'm packing my bags as we speak.

Belzoni carries the distinction of "HEART OF THE DELTA". It is located in the middle of the Yazoo-Mississippi Rivers Delta and was chartered in 1895. Recently celebrating its first 100 years, the city commemorated this event with the dedication of the Centennial Green Park. Located in downtown Belzoni and next to the Catfish Capitol, the park helps to revitalize the downtown area. Signature bricks add charm and connect the past with the present.

The City of Belzoni is a small Delta town, population 2,536 in the 1990 census, with a thriving central business district. Twenty years ago the City of Belzoni embarked on a redevelopment program for the downtown area with the replacement of sidewalks using brick and exposed aggregate, the planting of 19 Linden trees, concrete poles with sodium vapor lighting, which was new at that time, and more appropriate parking. The community demonstrates its great sense of pride by its well kept residential neighborhoods and its desire for the city to help keep its streets clean and provide those special amenities that only small towns can offer. The community is dedicated to its citizens and a quality of life for everyone.

Ok- Whoever keeps posting under Clas, The Stranger and Kinky would you please stop! This place has got bad enough without jerks like you.There should be some kind of cardnial rule aganist this type of shit. Where do you draw the line? Man, cyber space can suck sometimes.

katydanfan,
i'm in l.a., geena's boston. where are you?

clas,
nice of you to ask. i'm getting old is how i am. how's your sternum? you still smoking? if i don't get run over by a bus while i'm out alzheimer wandering, i will be in paris august 4 - 23. let me know if you'll be in those parts and i'll buy you a glass of cheap wine. but please, no cops.

altamira,
thanks for the defense. but what made me a conservative?

Dr. Mu: Thanks, you're a true Danfriend :) That's me, of course I'll shoot the video, definitely! Everyone is so hungry for the next Danconcert Video, I'll have to make it so good that it will satisfy us until the year 2019, when we'll be chanting "Hey, Nineteen! When is the new one coming out!!"

Everyone who gets front row seats is guaranteed to appear in the video, as well as those working backstage. And I promise there will be no water squirting from the camera!

Geena and Stranger: Maybe we should have a meeting pretty soon. How about next week at the nearest beach?

Clas: I think it's really you, so, let me say welcome back, I missed the real you!

El Supremo: It's pretty bad without you, sweetheart. ILYM!

Just Katy :)

I thought that i had a version of FM with the guitar solo . . . what is it on. Is there a cd version?

colleen rules!

bones

"I'm only a country doctor,Jim!"

"powering up the electric toothbrush these days"

Well, isn't that the same thing as writing music?

Atari, YO!

FANOFDAN – No problem. I’ll Email you details. “New Frontier” is the only Fagan video I have (only one available?). Do you remember “Rock Arena” on ABC? My priceless video came from there. You can have Rosie too if you like.

Lew Chang – Ditto, if you ca