SIS Archives -- March 2000

when someone asked what I did with my friday night I can say I did this:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/6974/MyOldSchool.jpg

done from scratch this evening, it's entitled My Old School in honor of our boys having attended Bard College.

hope it's worthy of the WoH Gallery.

'night

MC

Chat anybody?

8:30pm Pacific Time/11:30pm Eastern

/the Mam'zelle

Peg....have you been here?

http://www.geocities.com/danfest2000/

sign ze guestbook old grrrl....(please)

aja: that last one (Don't Take Me Alive) was funny!

thanks old folks! wouldn't have been able to sleep tonight not knowing.

finding some interesting things while digging into Bard....

1950-60 Several prominent writers and intellectuals join the
faculty, including Mary McCarthy, A. J. Ayer, F. W. Dupee,
Ralph Ellison, Franco Modigliani, Anthony Hecht '44, Saul
Bellow, and Dwight Macdonald.

1960 Reamer Kline begins fourteen-year presidency, during which the College undergoes tremendous expansion.

so F.W.Dupee was there....sounds suspiciously like DuPree to me!

Midnite: That was Paul Griffin!

doing some research on Bard and came across this:

Extra credit: Fagen and Becker attended Bard College along with actor Chevy Chase; the three once played together in a band known as Leather Canary.

Aja....*lol*....those were good and very worthy! I didn't realize they weren't taking new submissions.

btw, who is the guy playing the Rhodes on the Making of Aja DVD? I didn't see him listed in the credits. I know it was Purdie on drums, Rainey on bass, Becker & Herington on guitars, Fagan on piano but I didn't catch the guy's name who was playing the Fender Rhodes.

Hey folks! I've just added a mail list to manage the growing population of Danfans considering attending the opening night of the tour and a possible Gorge date. If you have not already received my e-mail with all this information, then point your browser here if you'd like to stay informed. This list will expire shortly after the the Gorge show(s?).

http://www.seanet.com/~stalfnzo/steeldan.html

ATTETION QUENTIN: Your e-mail is still bouncing. Use the form stated above to join, or, e-mail me with a phone number so I can reach you.

Miz Ducky ~ It's pronounced just like DF sings it: "duh-kiin"

The misheard lyrics page is overwhelmed with mistakes and not taking new submissions, so I thought I'd post my mishearings here:

"Sign In Stranger"
REAL THING: You zombie
WHAT I HEARD: You saw me

"Don't Take Me Alive"
REAL THING: I'm a bookkeeper's son
WHAT I HEARD: Parlez-vous, key person

I'm particularly proud of that last one.

aja

JW (or whomever) -- so what's the correct Hawaiian pronunciation of "da kine," then? Somehow I can't seem to parse Donald's pronunciation of it into any vowels known to humankind--or at least to me. (The boy does have a way with certain vowel combinations, to be sure, but this is especially confusing to me!)

/the Mam'zelle
who has never been to Hawaii in her life--at least, not this incarnation

Thanks, Edd and JWM -- I learn something new on this board every day. This new Steely vein of obscure references runs very deep indeed.

Good call, Edd ~ I picked up on that reference as well. Yes, 'da kine can be used as a catch-all phrase, but more than not (it's a worldwide surfer's term), it's an adjective for high-quality...as in, "these buds (pot) are 'da kine", or, in its truncated form, "yeah bra', the waves today were 'kine"...

Hang loose!

http://www.fccc.edu/research/reports/current/graphics/Kruger-image-2.gif

Isn't DaKine Hawaiian for "whatever", "whatisname", "whoever", or any other concept you're unclear about...

"Bobby Whatsisname won the Bunsen prize..."

can any of you people please give me a clue on where
i can get more information about that Donald instructional
video? what is it about? do you recommend it? is it still
available in stores?
i´d truly appreciate you help...

WOW!!
Midnite - I got my copy of the Making of Aja DVD today. Just finished watching it. Incredible! Those songs they do in the studio with Purdie and Chuck Rainey are just so damn slick.
This is the coolest thing I've seen in quite some time.
Glad Opti's okay!

I really liked that

effenheimer.com

post, it is so funny.

That whole site rocks with an Onion-esque appeal. I also liked rooting through the archives like a pig.

check it out! www.effenheimer.com

Midnite:

According to the ODP, the lyrics in question are:

"Bobby Dakine won the Bunsen Prize
Now he's coming out with something new"

I think the names of both Bobby and the prize were changed to protect the innocent ... my guess is that they didn't want to (or couldn't) say "Nobel Prize," so they picked a well-known piece of lab equipment (the Bunsen burner) and named the prize after that.

Bobby is probably in cahoots with Warren Kruger on the new gene therapy thing.

I couldn't help it ----- Went to an on-line search for Warren Kruger, M.D. One, and only one came up:

Dr. Warren Kruger
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Specialist in Genetic Diseases

????????????????????????????

Huge Fan....*DOH*....you're right of course! I was confused....Dean Parks was all over the album but the solo that took the cake was indeed Jay Graydon!

*takes newbie hat and goes to stand in the corner to think about it*

and now for another mistake....I see on Hoop's Digest they're talking about Bobby Dakine (of WASAM fame)....like Altamira, I really hadn't read the lyrics until just recently and was under the mistaken assumption that Donald was talking about Bobby LaKind. I had mis-heard the line as "Bobby LaKind on the bongos suprise, is coming out with something new"....seeing that Michael McDonald and Skunk Baxter were so much a part of the Dan over the years and then had played with Bobby LaKind in the Doobies I just assumed that was the connection....guess I should stick to listening to the music or reading the lyrics when I first get a new disc....I won't even venture a guess on Dr. Warren Kruger given my track record....maybe I'll submit this one to:

http://www.kissthisguy.com

a site for mis-heard lyrics....if you haven't been there yet, check it out....be prepared to laugh until you pee though!

MC

Midnite- Great review of the making of Aja. The only thing I'm confused about is Dean Parks doing the Peg solo. Jay Graydon ended up on the track that made the record. Pudie is a hoot! He had me on the floor.

HF

Dear Admissions Officer: don't worry, I still look pretty good taking a final naked. Unfortunately, most med students' interest in that sort of thing is purely anatomical. If I showed up to a final naked, I would probably hear something along the lines of "Excuse me, may I check the position of your right scapula for question #4,326?"

Roy.Scam-yes, I remember, and it goes double now!

Clas-5 kilos coming your way, too! Just let me know when the choklad is coming so I can dive into it headfirst.

Midnite Cruiser-thanks for the update on your wife and glad she's doing fine!

Have a great weekend all-Daylight Savings begins Sunday! Woohoo! That's the equivalent of Mardi Gras here in the Southland.

aja

Many thanks to everyone who sent well wishes, prayers and kind thoughts for Opti....she's doing fine here at home and is crashed on the couch at the moment. :)

the Making of Aja DVD arrived Wednesday but I didn't get a chance to check it out until this morning....I love the PBS concert and am looking forward to the DVD release of it, but I must say that Making of Aja is a perfect companion piece that I would have waited a lifetime for. To see D&W sitting behind the board deconstructing most of the tunes on Aja is the coolest thing you've ever seen! Believe me, you only thought you knew that album inside out....the way they break down the tunes and go into detail gave me a whole new insight into just how much thought, time and effort went into each track....to hear some of the alternate solos for Peg made me cringe and then you hear Dean Parks take and you know it could not have been any other way....the way they dissect Michael McDonald's backing vocals on Peg was also amazing....watching this DVD was an incredible rush, unlike anything I've ever seen or heard. I could go on and on and on about this disk but I'm sure if you haven't seen it already, you will see it soon. My one gripe (there's always one, right?) is that they didn't get into Steve Gadd's drum track on the title cut....probably the best drum track on any Dan tune ever....Bernard Purdy was a hoot though, the man does not lack confidence! The modern day recreation of several of the tunes in a live studio setting was cool too....no vocals or horns but a kick-ass band covering the tunes....the disk runs 60 minutes so I'm not sure what VH1 will edit out....the DVD did have a brief synopsis of the early years but probably nothing you didn't already know....I've got the PBS concert pre-ordered and I'll say again that the Making of Aja is the perfect companion piece....you MUST own this!

now, I think I'll have another look at it!

MC

Roy - Well, we all have different tastes. I don't really like any of the albums before Katy Lied; they sound sort of, well, rough to my ears. Also, I like the more jazz-influenced music and there wasn't as much of that on the early albums. And since I don't pay much attention to lyrics (I read through the lyrics on 2vN for the first time just a few days ago), the excellent lyrics of some of the early songs doesn't have any appeal for me. I like the slick, smooth, polished sound of their current work, so the music that has less of that is less appealing to me. But we all like SD for varying reasons, so we all tend to prefer certain songs and albums over others.

I see lots of sites for Rock groups that offer a variety of MERCHANDICE....aka T-SHIRTS,Sweatshirts, caps etc. I have not seen anything other than a couple posters available @ LEGENDS, whats up with that, is the Marketing Dept. hanging with the Jack Of Speed ?Come on now if Tower of Power has Gear ,surely The Dan can.

My favorite line in the song "Two Against Nature": "..bang zoom to the moon on things unknown." It's somehow comforting to know that the constables of the spiritual realm take time to watch Honeymooners reruns.

Optimystic, Aja, Clas, worm: My best wishes to you.

Clas: Congratulations. On the beauty of your artwork and on the decision to lose the booze.

Aja: Thanks for what you said to me and probably already forgot. And same to you. I would never leave this board unless offered a higher paying position with total artistic autonomy on the Del Vikings or Little Richard Guestbook.

Jive Miguel: I think in the euphoria of The New One, some folks forgot how great the The Old Ones were. To summarily dismiss songs like Heartbeat, Parker's Band, Only A Fool, and Barrytown is to forget how those tunes first tickled the unjaded soul.

To complain about Walter Becker doing all the guitar solos is like saying, "Sure, Shacquile Oneal's good but does he have to play EVERY game?" -- I'm trying to imagine a Zeppelin, Beatles, Band or Mahavishnu Orchestra fan calling for a guest guitarist.

RS

The song Only A Fool is getting the respect that it deserves.... The concert playlist would be enhanced by having this tune...... The guitar work there is acoustic, with a Spanish flavor......I think the negative remarks about CBAT are from the Jazz influenced sector, they got comfortable after The Dan`s 4th release. The Rockers bailed out in 76 ,it seems that there were few Rockers that appreciated that direction....Charlie Freak is a very average cut...Old SD Dr.Warren Krueger would be the Smack Dealer, New SD the Genetic Cloner....Pittsburgh and Cleveland Area Danfans interested in getting together should post here , or .MCHARL6651@aol.com or contact Robin...tour dates will be announced next week. I don`t know if there has ever been a CLEV- PITT DANFEST before, but this would be the year.....

The Surfer:
Thanks for the clue-in on the photos. Still working on my Almost Gothic theory. The cat thing is not doing it for me.

Double Felix:
You're heading down a dark, dangerous path that will eventually lead you to a 1982 TV movie called "Not Just Another Affair" with Ed Begley Jr. playing the part of Warren Krueger. The extra "e" in the name of Begley's character leads me to believe this ain't the guy. Can't find a plot summary that includes him, so I've given up on that ...

Jive:
Just a minor tweak to your lyrics for Charlie Freak. It's "embraced" the spreading haze. Better, yes?

I agree ... such a great song. Reminds me of John Steinbeck's Winter of Our Discontent, where Danny Taylor trades Ethan Allen Hawley his family property (suitable for an airport) for $1,000, with which Danny can either buy a cure or enough booze to kill himself. Both men know which choice Danny will make.

Fletch: yes, good suggestion for the add9 alternative!

Thanks also for spotting the Dadd9 slip up - it should have been written out as: 10 12 14 11 x x. I'll correct this ...

The chord names, as they appear above the text, should all be right though.

Lou - I think I made exactly the same point about missing 5ths 9ths etc from chords like 13ths. Virtually the only time I *do* include missing note information is when a 3rd is missed, as this has a radical effect on a chords sound - e.g D7(no 3rd) vs. D7.

(If I miss out the 5th in a D7, I would still just write D7).

Yes, some of the Almost Gothic chords are tricky to name - but if I'm writing them out I have to call them something! Even if you want to think of them as polychords, they still need a name, no?

Re: the middle 8 in Almost Gothic. I did quite a lot of careful listening to that section. I definitely hear A G B - at first I thought I also heard an E at the top, but I changed my mind. It depends to some extent as to whether you consider the unison horn riff (or vocal melody) as "part of the chord". I was just trying to hear the keyboard chords.

I didn't hear the D at the top - G/A didn't sound right to me - which is why I called the chord A9(no 3rd). If I heard the D, yes, the first chord would be G/A.

The way I hear it (without the D at the top) my chord names make sense I think. What else could you call the notes A F and B when played together? G7/A ?

By the way, am I thinking of the right thing when you say polychord? A triad in the right hand, with an altered bass note in the left, e.g G/A (= A G B D), A/D (D E A C#) ?

Howard

Jive Miguel - strange that as I was reading your post I was listening to Rose Darling on my headphones. Another of those eerie coincidences that have been happening to me lately!

"Poor kid, he over-did and braced the spreading haze, and while he sighed, his body died in 15 ways..."

"When I heard I grabbed a cab to where he lay, round his arm the plastic tag read DOA, yes Jack, I gave it back, the ring I could not own, now come my friend, I'll take your hand and lead you home"

Oh God...the pure pleasure from inhaling this song...D+W are the essence of my soul in so many ways!

Jive!

PS Could you imagine David Palmer singing "Charlie Freak"? Ugh!

Every time I listen to old SD concerts, I just get blown away by how "tight" this band was...

Amazing...I remember a Rockline Radio interview with various members of SD back in '81 (for the release of Gaucho), and during this program the host spoke with Jeff "Skunk" Baxter 'bout the early days...

Skunk recounted some funny stories from the early days, including how the state of Texas just loved The Dan, and then he talked about the shows...how the whole band worked so hard to get better and better...how every band member was so integral to the overall sound...how he and Dias would even tap on their guitars to create the perfect sounding percussion...how every part of the song was accounted for, striving for the perfect sound...they had everything down to the last note, the last detail!

Skunk thought the shows were fucking awesome, but that Donald and Walter never seemed to think so...the rest is history, but the legacy of that band, in particular the '74 incarnation lives on forever in some of the best live performances of any era!

Jive!

PS Just listening to Rose Darling...mama, what a song! I can even remember the day the album was released...the memories!

Lou Garue - yes, I agree with you on the chords, the first thing I really liked with Steely Dan way back was the D/G-type of chords. A good example is "Don't take me alive". The first time I heard that one I was surely amazed.

On the line "...the meganized hum of another world..." the chords are Bb/Ee - C/F - D/G , that's pretty cool. Joni mitchell did the same kind of stuff, for example on the song "The blonde in the bleachers".

Amazing "jungle-ish" pianogroove on that one by the way.

Georgie - hi!

Aja - oh Aja, I'd love to send you the Belgian chocolate but the chances that I'll come to belgium in a near future are microscopc. But IF, I'll send you 5 kilos!

StAl/JW - thanx!

My searches to find the identity of Doctor Warren Krueger have led me to several on-line obscure/cult movie retailers. Anyone know Leonard Maltin's number? Harry Knowles? I seriously doubt the Doc is a practicing gene therapist in Philadelphia but if so, please sign me up!

Well I was going to do this post about the dropped fifths but Lou pretty much nailed it down. Very common practice, especially in small ensemble (string quartet or jazz horn section) writing or arranging. Much of Donald's harmonic concept is quartal (stacking fourths like a white McCoy Tyner). As players "mature" they tend to drop unnecessary notes out of a sort of savvy laziness. Hell, the fifth hasn't really been that important since medieval music. At that point it was their only palatable harmonic choice and the only one that wouldn't have the church charging you with heresy. I'm very sure that Donald ain't sweatin' that one. Of course whenever you voice chords in fourths, fifths are implied, just different relationships....at this point I am sure there are no non-musicians still reading this post !
Jive is right, those voting against PretLog have not heard "Charlie Freak" lately. One of the most humane songs ever written. I do wish we'd have had the "write-in" category (although I know it usually attracts the idiots that vote for Korn). Then I could have figured out which version of the songwriting demos to vote against. I must have at least six. I get them just for the different covers and liner notes (that sounds pretty sad just typing it God help me). Some have slightly less good crappy sound or onesheet liners but every fan should have at least one copy. Content-wise they are an epiphany. Man, if the boys ever put out a comprehensive demo and outtake boxset...HEAVEN! Their perfectionist tendencies, of course, will never allow this. Maybe they'll have some greedy kids and i could just hear it before I'm dead. I could go a little easier knowing that I'd heard it all.

KD: I'm reading Neuromancer now and it's a gas. I finally just decided to allow Gibson's words to create mental images, no matter how weird. Eventually, the images become consistant and make cybersense. He has an almost gothic way with prose...

stAl: congratulations on a most provacative poll! I can't vote because there's always at least one song per album that is so outrageous I can't make myself commit. I'm the one who would rather fill out the unconstitutional census form. btw, I'm having fun with that...

aja: I'm pulling for ya! You'll do fine - I know it.

midnite C: I've been tugging on His ear all day & yesterday & no doubt tomorrow. She is precious, I can tell.

whining stranger: great lyrics - I bow to your talent!

rb

Jive Miquel ~ Only a Fool Would Say That...indeed. What a great song. Impossible to have a least favorite album from these boys. The songs keep morphing. And that's a good thing.

Georgie ~ drop me a line, I can make you a CD copy of "Technicolor Motorhome" - The GB Compilation/1999...

Aja,
Thank you for your admissions check. However, you have some overdue fines on library materials. It's up to you to figure out which materials. The fines go up geometrically. Our computers are never wrong. Don't argue. Also, your final started a half-hour ago. You're naked in the classroom. You forgot you were registered in the class and never attended or read the text. Good luck.

Jive Miguel, You shame me. Your eloquent argument about the latest poll was dead on. I too was ready to vote, but went back and listened to some of the older stuff this evening. Thank you.
I'd truly forgotten how wonderful the songs (especially the lyrical phrasings) were. I'll not be so quick with my knee-jerk reactions in the future.

The Sinatra connection was so very cool, I wanted it to be true.

Mr. LaPage, we know you're used to sixteen or more, but this is the new mellinnium. DVD's the latest joint. Wise up!

Listened to Black Cow about 10 times on my way to and from work. Can anyone spell obsessive/compulsive backwards thank you very much.

Whining Stranger-your parody was....well what can I say? Didn't realize we had so many closet songwriters on this board. No, honestly,it kicked ass. Keep em coming.

Worm-man- where are you when we need you?

Steven

Yo! the post of 3/30/00 is NOT mine.

Thankyou very little to the author.

Q

pass the naval jelly:

http://www.effenheimer.com/01203272000/news/01.shtml

Just been to Howards TAB page with the Almost Gothic tab. Thanks Howard!! You guys are great at figuring this stuff out :)

By the way, for those (ie, me!) who find the Badd9 chord too much of a stretch, try playing it thusly -

EADGBE
7X464X

Same voicing pattern can be used for the Dbadd9.
A query - in the voicings you have the same notes written for both Dadd9 and Dbadd9. Not sure sometimes which I'm supposed to play sometimes.

Fletch

Dear Office of Admissions at Lancaster School of Medicine, Embalming, and Palmistry:

sooutrageous, but true!

aja

Aja,
Don't worry, pal. You're in. The semester starts soon as your check clears.

Jive Miguel: I fully agree with you! I just went to check my least favorite album, and just wasn't able to perform :-> I had almost klicked Gaucho, but then again, I re-visited that one lately after listening to a live version of Glamour Profession. And loved it.

Anyone from the Boston area: any recommendations for hanging out a Sunday or Monday night in April? Got some music on the New Frontier? Email me.

IMPORTANT! HELP NEEDED! How and where can I get one of the CDs of that special DanFan musical project last year??? Kind of missed it ... Email me.

Hello Holger Löwenberg! Greetings! How are you?

Why don't I go to sleep when I should ? Honey, it's you, Janie Runaway ...

In spite of everything, here are a couple more:

--------------------

"While Authority can't be challenged directly, one can still resist by provoking the crowd with deliberate acts of violence: in Spaak's formulation, 'tiny waves of spitework' hurled toward the spectators by the 'spectacleers.'"

-- DF, "Tell Blondie To Break Out The Ice," http://www.steelydan.com/premiere.html

--------------------

"That's the kind of remark that's turning the Internet into SpiteWeb."

-- WB, The Pathfinder Chat '96, http://www.steelydan.com/livechat.html

Daddy G & others -- right hand girl in
http://www.steelydan.com/tcontestJ.html
is just a prototypic Bleeker St Brat (left hand shadow is Little Eva - actually taken from one of her later album covers, I believe).

Truth- You say the truth hurts. Hurts who? Do you think you're funny? You sound like a piece of shit to me.

Mr.LaPage- Please stop with these rumors. Don't you have anything better to do?

Prickly:
Ah, from Kama -- thanks. Both are set in July, I see.

From what I can tell, Mr. LaPage's "The Man with the Golden Arm" reference was a red herring. Would love to believe it, but then again, there's a lot of things I'd love to believe.

Been meaning to say this for a long time ... I am in awe of the musicians on this board. Whenever I start thinking I'm a pretty bright guy, all I have to do is read something like Lou Garue's thoughts on "classic polychordal constructions" and it's like I'm right back in 11th grade physics class. I'm way out in left field.

Does anyone recognize this lady? http://www.steelydan.com/tcontestJ.html

2vN down to #24 on the Billboard chart this week, still not too bad a slide considering the competition

DaddyG- thanks for the archive link. It truly is creepy. I haven't been involved with the Dr. Kruger discussion until last night, but yeah, I'll take the hit: I'm already obsessed.
Is Mr. LaPage on the level?

Ole -- The magic bus sounds like a gas. Problem is powering that sucker is gonna be a bitch. I know someone backstage, but it'd have to be one HELLUVA long extension cord...

Clas -- People do care on this GB. Way to go!

Edd -- http://www.newfrontierconsulting.net.

See what you've unleashed?

StAl

Daddy G:
The lines in Countermoon went somethng like, "Spitewaves are threatening the seaside hotels, it's nasty weather for July"

Thanks to all who wished me luck (Miz Ducky, Hutch, Dr. Mu, oleander, tom) 'cause I'm going to need it badly! Given that it's late in the year my chances are not good, but there are always miracles!

Clas-if you send me Belgian choklad, I will be happy to send you anything I can legally get away with from sunny SoCal! Just let me know what your heart desires.

I had a hard time voting, too. I picked (dare I say it?) "Katy Lied" because it's the one I listen to the least, but I felt like I was betraying the exquisite "Dr. Wu". And "Your Gold Teeth II", "Chain Lightning", "Any World". Thanks D&W, there's not a bad one in the bunch!

aja

Re 2VN: It started out good. Then it got much better.

Prickly Pear:
You missed a bunch of stuff about Dr. Warren Kruger. But since you seem adequately obsessed, might I suggest pulling up one of the GB archives that St. Al has so graciously provided?

Go to http://www.seanet.com/Users/stalfnzo/guestbook/march00.html and under the Edit menu, click on Find. Type in "kruger" and you can search that archive for posts pertaining to the doc. If you're running a browser other than Internet Explorer, the process may differ slightly. E-mail me if you're having trouble.

---------------
Janie -- I mean Wonderwaif -- I've got brainlock on Counter Moon. Please refresh my memory. Thanks.

Aja - best of luck with your entrance

you certainly deserve it!

Looeez - That recording you mentioned sounds like a collection of of demos - there are a number of such collections floating around out there. (By the way, my middle name's Louise.)

Daddy G:
-- Re: "spitelock", I am not sure but I bet it's something similar to "spitewaves" (remember Counter Moon?)..

I can't believe (sitting back here in my chair of ultimate judgement, or spinach?) so many of "you" dissing the early Dan albums as their worst (re: new SD poll)...

I originally posted a comment that I could not vote in this poll as each album was my "favourite" in its own way...

Charlie Freak is a great song...A FUCKING GREAT SONG!!!

"Charlie Freak had but one thing to call his own...Three weight ounce pure golden ring, no precious stone..."

And this is supposed to represent their "weaker stuff"??? Brother!

I can't even stand it when anyone disses CBAT...for me it's like a religious experience...As I posted once, the album has such an importance to it...D+W's hearfelt take on the end of the 60's...so when I read that someone posts "Only a Fool" as a notch below their best...AAAAAHHHHHHHH!

"Unhand that gun, begone, there's no one to fire upon...If he's holding it high, he's telling a lie...and Only a Fool Would Say That..."

Yeah, only a fool would...

Alright, alright, remember Voltaire, "I may not agree with a word they say, but I will defend their right to say it, to the death..."

Jive!

PS If you haven't listened to the song "Only a Fool..." in a while, go back and listen to that one cut alone, then recount the feeling inside of you when this little ditty ends...hmmm!

allmovie.com has no Warren Krueger on it's list of characters in 'Golden Arm...'

Clas ~ good work on the sobriety, bro!

Lou - Since I included the voicings, feel free to pick out just the parts of my post that you may find value in, and ignore the rest.

Including the fifths where I noted their absence sounded horribly wrong to me, so I attempted to make sure anyone trying my chords left them out.

Did a database search for a Dr. Warren Kruger.(check Ask.com) He actually exists in human form and resides in Philadelphia, PA. He's a research scientist at a major cancer research institute. He's into some heavy gene-splicing and DNA alteration stuff. Credited with some big-time publications also. Any thoughts.

The Golden Arm thing sounds to weird for words. Won't it be a hoot if it's true?

Can anyone corroborate Mr. LaPage's startling revelation that the character of Dr. Warren Kruger appears in the 1955 Sinatra flick, The Man with the Golden Arm? The Internet Movie Database lists the entire cast and crew, credited and uncredited, but there is no reference to the good doctor.

Check it out at http://us.imdb.com/Credits?0048347

I see Kim Novak was in that one. Mmmmm ... big blonde. She's got a touch of Tuesday Weld.
------------------------------
Hindsight is 20/20 department:

Kids if you want some fun, go back and pull up http://www.steelydan.com/2vnwait.html -- this is the section of the old site from last year with "news about the new one." Lots of that stuff that made no sense then makes way more sense now. Plus, I think we can shed some light on the subject of Almost Gothic if someone can identify the woman at http://www.steelydan.com/tcontestJ.html
------------------------------
Whining Stranger: Kudos on getting all the syllables just right on your parody. Nothing worse than a parody that doesn't fit. Seriously, nice job, man.
------------------------------
Somebody please give me the textbook definition of "spitelock." I get the gist of it, but is this a made up word or what?

Was Dr. Warren Krueger really in Sinatra`s Golden Arm? Tuesday Starlake Amp. in Pittsburgh, SFX`s 3rd best venue in the country releases its schedule for the summer....Pretzel Logic the song is superb, Mike McDonald `s vocals on NYR&S Review make it. Night by Night is another strong cut and very underated and seldom played live,( powerful Brass) but thats about it for me, its by far the least appealing of the 8 SD releases. I think that a lot of groups would be elated to have something close to Pretzel Logic.

I think y'all should lighten up on Cousin D. Incest is not accurate. All he wants is a kiss.

Ed & Howard, you guys are getting way too specific in your chord nomenclature, e.g. Aadd9#5(no 3rd)... that's ridiculous. Also, 5ths are almost universally omitted from jazz voicings, as is the 9th in a 13th, etc; you should not specify commonplace ommisions. Missing 3rd... perhaps, but when the 3rd is missing, you don't really have a chord at all. What you have is the classic polychordal constructions that characterize much of Fagen's work since Pretzel Logic. I am a "student" of Fagen's mixture of polychords with standard "sparse" jazz voicings (i.e., always stacked in 4ths, not 3rds).

Example, you wrote "A9(no 3rd) (voiced A G B)". This is a G major triad with an A in the bass. Very common. Sometimes this is notated G/A or G (A bass). Listen carefully... I hear a D in the voicing also (complete triad in the right hand).

The Almost Gothic example you gave is a classic Fagen harmonic construction that defies standard nomenclature. The important thing in this passage is: (1) the symmetrical bass pattern (A-D-A-D), (2) a constant B at the top (serving alternately as the 9th of the A, and 13th of the D), and (3) the beautiful chromatic line in the middle (G-F#-F-F#). The F natural is beautifully dissonant, but it should not be perceived as an Aadd9#5 chord; that's crazy (makes me think of a guitar player getting his fingers all tied up in knots). Also, notice how perfectly this harmonic progression fits the words: the downward moving chromatic line is musically "dark", whereas the bright-sounding, descant B feels "thrilling and new." Genius.

Anyway, keep up the good work, you guys are saving me a ton of time trying to reverse-engineer this beast. But just explain the voicings you hear, don't get caught up in nomenclature.

Sly Lou

aja - Good luck darlin'!

Midnite & Opti - I'm sure everything will be fine. No worries! My thoughts will be with you.

Listening to 2vN with headphones last night. I hadn't played the album in about a week. Nice to come back to it after a little break. This time I purposely ignored the singing and just concentrated on the musical ear candy, particularly the horn arrangements and the interplay of the guitar parts. It's just amazing! What a finely crafted piece of work. I've gotten to the point now where I'm hearing subtle little things I never noticed before. I hear a triangle in the left channel on Almost Gothic. And the little bari sax burps in the right channel on Two Against Nature sound great. There are a lot of cool baritone sax parts in a lot of the songs. Nice maracas on the left/bottom in JOS.

Reading the liner notes on 2vN and Kama I just realized how many players from the Kama sessions appear on 2vN. Mostly horn players...
Dave Tofani
Roger Rosenberg
Jim Pugh
Lawrence Feldman
Lou Marini
Leroy Clouden
Amy Helm (You're not my Jackie and the whistler on Cuz)

>> Welcome all you new folks!

Hutch

Or did you say "mow" Ruby?

Ed: there seems to be quite a bit of "chord voicing sparsity" in 2AN. The missing 5ths in those C. Dupree chords are one good example.

By the way - writing "-5" to mean "no 5th" could be dangerous.
Many people read a "-5" to mean a flattened 5th, e.g:

C9-5, G7-5 etc.

I would write missing 5th chords as, say, F6(no 5th) - but
many times I don't bother with the "missing" info, otherwise
you end up writing things like A13(no9th,no5th) all the time!
The times I *do* put it in is when a 3rd is missing from a chord, e.g G7(no 3rd) - to me, a missing 3rd here has a much bigger impact on the sound than a missing 5th, so I reckon it's worth noting.

Another "sparse voicing" example:

in the middle 8 of Almost Gothic ("This dark place so thrilling and new...") I hear:

A9(no 3rd) (voiced A G B)
D6 (voiced D F# B)
Aadd9#5 (voiced A F B)
D6 (voiced D F# B)

etc.

3 note chords? Can't get much more minimal than that.

Howard

(yes, strictly, that 3rd chord is Aadd9#5(no 3rd) but that sounds too scary ... can't think of a better name at the moment)

Finally the sap is rising. Kudos to Mr.LaPage and his Give-A-Show Krueger Detector.

And it's contagious! Whining Stranger is a case in point.

How do you spell hors douevres?

KD - I have read Neuromancer, but gave up on reading Mona-Lisa anyway!....lol
Perhaps I wasn't in the mood, but I find his early books (the sprawl stuff) really through you deep into a foreign environment without explanation. Hard to get your mind around sometimes.
I found Idoru and Virtual Light quite easy to read though.

A positive review from the International Herald Review - the author writes from Paris - must be tough -I'll 2AN sounds right at home in Paris.
http://www.iht.com:80/IHT/SOUND/00/mz032900.html

Steely Dan to play Kansas City:
http://www.kcstar.com/item/pages/fyi.pat?file=fyi/377458a4.328

I must admit I haven't voted in the poll either. I just couldn't do it! There are perhaps 3 or 4 songs on Pretzel Logic that I dont like which is perhaps more than any other Dan record but how can an album containing Any Major Dude, Barrytown, Monkey in your Soul, Ricki etc be considered my least favourite. This poll does not much resemble room 101 in 1984!

Haven't had time to check in here for several days and that's a long time for being me. I'm working real hard for the momement.

Aja - promise, if I come to Belgien, I'll buy "choklad" (Swedish word) for Aja.

dr Mu - re drums - thank you. And my sequenced drums was done on an ten year old Atari-computer on a 12 year old sequencer-program, C-Lab. And pretty hard quantized - 16/24.

JW Malibu - I have not forgot, patience!

Schwinn - hey!

And you, you US-natives, you're so damn lucky, when the grass starts to grow on your lawns in the spring and summertime, you just MOVE your lawns. I have to take the grasscuttermachine and walk over the lawn with it. That's quite boring.

Audi and out from Stockholm,

Holger Löwenadler

PS/ I've been sober for almost ten months today!

voting for a worst dan album is like deciding which of your children you would like to die first in the life raft game.
Obviously, you will take the hit first before your's have to.

could you imagine having Donald as a nextdoor neighbor in a recluse spot. Imagine what he would stop over for in a pinch.
"Do you have any Lester Young? Michael McDonald seems to have borrowed all mine"

Whining Stranger ~ that's a masterpiece!

Oleander,
I see you've got more fans. Define bubbly.

Miz Ducky,
Speak to me.

I don't think anyone on this GB is gonna be down with anything on the "Warped" tour...Dude, we're already warped enough. Based on my knowledge of that caravan, "warped" means still learning how to tune up, but already having an employee to do it for you.

I don't see how anybody can vote in this poll. Everytime I start narrowing it down I think, "But I'll be voting against (song x) or (song y)". Every Dan album has AT LEAST 2-3 just plain masterpieces of songwriting. I just can't do it. There's always a "Charlie Freak" or somethin'.
I have innate respect for every individual that posts on this site (except, well, you know who). I enjoy and find worm's posts eloquent. That said, bro', I must say that D&W are not going to change their approach to their music no matter what we say, the critics say, or anybody. As the Backstreet Ho's say, "I Want it That Way". I will go down saying that this album lacks nothing at all.
I have also found that generally, people that criticize this type of production with this quality of music as end result are not musicians. I have heard more lousy music made with "vintage" equipment "recorded in a church" than not.
...I'm just not gonna do it...wait for next poll.........

here goes nothin:

Brother's in tears
look at this beer-stained polo!
stretching all the way from my lapel
to hell and gone
he was kid clean
i was young and reckless
just a jibe away from punching in
his whiny mouth
he started to brood
as my face got redder
calling nasty names
as he yelled for !MOM!
if your father sees this
you'll be home all weekend

Chorus
I missed sleep for the midnight special
riding along with the pizza hut man in my neighborhood

He pushed so hard
we fell right through the boxspring
till the headboard fell away and sheared the cable wire
heard my mom on the stairs
she swore she'd show no pity
the next sequence of events is a blur while she tanned our hides
now at this time into our pretty story
the truth compels me
to bring a certain name
meet if you will...
MR. FRANK SINATRA

chorus
I missed sleep for the late-night special
riding along with the pizza hut man in my neighborhood

he chewed on my hand
as i watched my mom lurch across the room
and she almost got there, she almost got there

i had a black eye
and i'm sure his toe was broken
you can't ask for an apology; i'd rather die
sadly for us, our little romp is over
and together we'll endure the tyranny of our father's wrath
don't you luv boone's farm
after the game is over
while our parents think we're staying at a friends
a weekend of bliss
then it's back to homeroom

chorus

i missed sleep for the late-night special
riding along with the pizza hut man in my neighborhood

funky tenor fade......................................

kd--All of it, IMHO. Actually, MLO goes fine on its own, but if you know the back-story it's that much richer, especially when it comes to Molly, who next to Josie is the woman I always most wanted to be.

Stranger--How's about I bring my Lexus-Winnebago, the one with the jacuzzi and portawinecellar? You, St. Al, & I can get bubbly in the tub and all will be copacetic.

Jerry Garee--That was very good.

Chere--bring it on, girlfriend!

Mu--am enjoying the New Order of 2vn! However, I beg to differ on American Beauty. It's dark, yes, but you missed the entire point of the movie if you saw no hope in it. The garbage bag scene sums it up--the beauty is there if you attend and let yourself go to unexpected places. Remember, Kevin Spacey died a happy man, the first happiness he'd had in who knows how long. And remember that the kids, the future, found love and escaped, in the case of the boy against overwhelming odds. BTW, someone has posted the Huysmans book in its ENTIRETY: www.steerpike.net/steelydan/ (this page is GREAT, complete with footnotes)

so out--def a great flick. It actually was worth the price of admission just to hear Sinatra say "the whole megillah."

Almost--Yes, your name was picked at random from thousands of posters who entered the Flavors of Dan contest. Thank you for your entry, and next time I'll just attach my hip. The pleasure was definitely mine.

aja--keeping fingers crossed for you. There may be some chocolate in your future.

Hank--T'es trop gentil et genereux. A bientot, j'espere.

Double Fe--great to hear from you again.

Rogerio, Melanie, Pep--There's a table for three over here. Would you like some hors d'oeuvres? Watch out for that Janine, though. She's got a spitelock going. Welcome all.

Binky, you cowardly swine--back offa the worm. His take is as good as anyone's. Talk about spitelocks.

Mr. LaPage--GREAT tip! I can't wait to do a little more movie archiving this weekend! The Sinatra links are great.

GreenE--well gosh, I'd prefer that when you think of me you picture, say, Cynthia Calhoun in those shoes.

hey everyone--

how much of 'Neuromancer' do I have to know to read 'Mona Lisa Overdrive?'

I'm around page 70 or so, nothing's happened yet, and I'm understanding pretty well. I don't feel like I'm missing anything because I haven't read Neuromancer, but some cats at Amazon.com said you should go through 'Neuro' first...

any idears?

Hey,
Everyone, you have to check out Guano Apes, they are a great alternative band. Check out there site www.guanoapes.net and listen to some of there stuff at www.streetteam.net. They are on tour now and will be around with the Warped Tour.

Thanks

Billy

now at this time into my pretty story.....

Stopped by the church basement bazaar this weekend. I'd bought a $1 raffle ticket for a cheesy European Getaway from a neighborhood altarboy. When the winning numbers where called at random at the end of the evening, I remembered that I had set my ticket on the table where I'd been enjoying the gobbs of sausage, beer and pierogi they were doling out to all the woeful parishoners. Undaunted, I shoved my way back to my table, only to discover that some harried church-mother with a toddler on each hip had allowed one of her children to spill the dreggs of his chocolate milk on my ticket. The 5 or 6 scarlet numbers at the frayed edge of the stubb had run together in a faded crimson blurr. As each winning number was read aloud,I'm certain that I recalled the digits that had only moments before stood out so boldly in all there sanguine splendor upon my sodden and wilted stubb. I lustfully let out a whoop of victory as I realized I'd won. The parish priest was calling MY numbers! I ran toward the redemption booth but stumbled over the not-quite rounded half of a cheap yo-yo which had obviously been won, had broken apart and had thoughtlessly been discarded by one of the fidgeting moppets scurrying throughout the hall. The woman who was responsible for verifying the ultimate winning entry, noticed my impending pratfall. As she moved toward me to help avert my fall, I noticed in my perifery, a huge mirror which had a velvet-Elvis-type image of Jesus calming the Sea Of Galilee impossed upon it. The redemption woman screamed as she strained to assist me. She reached out for my hand, as I watched myself lurch across the room. And I almost got there. That Fucking mirror fell on top of me and shattered into a thousand glittering shards.
By the time I picked myself off the floor and brushed aside my bruised pride in front of the countless slack-jawed, church-going witnesses and proceeded toward my prize; my ticket had all but crumpled into an unrecognizable ball of lint in the crux of my sweating palm.
Needless to say, when I stepped upon the platform, the priest gave me the news, I said, pleasant as you please, "You've got to be kidding Padre. This must be some kind of joke.I won that fucking weekend jaunt to Spain. It's mine. Look at my fucking ticket again will you, Huh? I was planning on getting a passport.Taking the train from Barcelona to the Costa Del Sol.
Riding the hydrofoil to Tangiers. Jesus Father, my goddamned birthdays coming up."

Janie

Calling all musicians....esp. guitarists...
Would appreciate feedback on "Wood, Songs from Stamford Hill"
Columbia records I believe
Brit band. Principal: James Maddock
Let us know

Evening Ya'll,

Really love all the albums listed on poll listing and have worn most out - worth much more than the price of the CD in terms of satisfaction and really no least fav -- all are favs!

Was going to refrain from contributing to the poll

However,

(isn't there always an exception?),

the poll sparked a peri-geriatric memory, and, someone please help me out here...

I have this tape (gasp!) of an ancient compilation called: Becker Fagen, Founders of, Steely Dan, Greatist Hits Vol. 2. Manufactured by Creative Sounds and Dist. by Satellite Sounds, Inc., Circa: (no date). Now I know I found this at a $.99 orange tag clearance shelf grocery/convenience store many years ago. (Truly!) Again, was starved for anything new and different from SD.

When I got it home and listened, I was nauseated! Bootleg or whatever (please help me clear up the mystery) this is by far the worst thing that I ever spent money on. Local Kareoke (sp?) bar was like a major concert venue compared to this. I was aghast at the thought that our boys could have had anything to do with this. It went into the archives labeled, Never, Never Listen to Again, and instead of the garbage can, curiosity made me retrieve it from somewhere and give a listen tonite --- it still smells! (Sorry if this offends anyone -- just my personal impression).

I don't consider myself a sophisticated listener, and really know nothing of the biz, but I have a feeling that this is something that should have never been. Would appreciate some enlightenment. Anyone? This has been a real mystery to me...

By the by, hi Miz, GE & Andy!

Signed: Can I please have my money back?

I am the stupidest person here, and that's an understatment.
I forgot the title track.
you are 100% right, Andy, the title track of logic was one of the best songs ever written.

Chris, banging his tiny head against the wall

Mr. LaPage-- so, with Ms. Abbie' hand of solitare and Janie Runaway's showgirl, then we'd have three Sinatra references on one album. I love these guys.

Miz Ducky-- grrr.... My roommate and I have decided we need backup singers.

...diddling around with the chords to Cousin Dupree...

Only part I'm pretty sure of is the refrain "How about a kiss for your Cousin Dupree". I hear F7sus4-5 to F6-5 voiced as...

LH:F RH:F-Bb-Eb-F to LH:F RH:F-A-D-F

There seems to be lots of missing 5ths.

Some Random Thoughts and Comments

Loved the DanFest Photos but would have liked to seen something of Oleander other than just her Bat Sneakers. Some of us out here don't know her but love her posts.

Welcome Looeez, stick around, it's FUN.

As a former Drummer AND Recording Engineer, I can state that 95% of the people can't tell the difference between machine or live drumming (if they are both done well) nor do they care. They listen to the music and like it or don't. As someone who has recorded both, with great success, IMHO if the drums are done just right, nobody should notice them, (like umpires) just enjoy them, necessary but not the primary focus. I personally listen to the bass line first and 2vN is primo for that personal habit. Also, the same 95% of the people can't tell if it is true stereo or just coming out of two speakers. Get over it and enjoy the MUSIC, this is not a drum oriented production.

Miz D' you are too funny. Keep it up but watch the trek references, I think our SD obsessions are getting a little to close for comfort.

Enjoying you all.....
G.E.

get this! Dr. Warren Kruger was this character in Frank Sinatra's 1950's heroine-addiction flick "the man with the golden arm." The good Dr. tried to help a strung-out Frankie by administering tough-love but was killed-off without ceremony by a hilariously stereotypical drug dealer in a rain-soaked alleyway when he tried to persuade him to "get straight" and turn himself in.

There's a certain symmetery here folks. Don't ya think?

KD: re those photos from Cynthia Calhoun's site -- Oh, yes, I thought those would excite some interest around these here parts. :-)

Of course, with my king-hell crush on Donald, I especially love that first photo you list. Donald with his arms full of bare-midriff section--YOWIE!!! And just where do those girls think they're putting those hands, anyhoo??? No wonder Donald's having to fight so hard to supress the shit-eating grin that's trying to escape from him ...

/the Mam'zelle
who loves seeing Mr. Fagen receive such, erm, inspiration

PS to aja: good luck with your application!

I realize it's been a while since I last posted, a few weeks or so, but I haven't really had much to say. So here it goes:

Chris- Although I agree that Pretzel Logic and CBAT are the Dan's weakest albums, there are clearly some first-rate songs on there. Look at Do It Again, Kings, Reelin' (you mention)and Only a Fool Would Say That. OK, maybe "Fool" isn't first-tier, but it's a damn good song. On Pretzel Logic what about the title track? That's one of the best SD songs ever. Night by Night? Parker's Band? Come on, there are some very good songs on those records.

On the DTS debacle- I own a DTS system and the Gaucho DTS and it's amazing. To my (non-audiophile) ears, the Gaucho DTS CD is the best recording I own. I don't quite understand the point of mixing a concert to DTS-- there are many reasons that this seems odd. First, as I believe St. Al. mentioned, at a concert, you wouldn't have guitars and trumpets coming from in front of you and drums and keyboards from behind you. Secondly, the quality of the performance/recording, no matter how good (and the PBS concert *was* good), it cannot possibly match the quality of a recording taken from a studio. I thought the whole point of DTS was to expand upon recordings that were already masterpieces. But hey, we can't knock it till we've tried it, can we?

I've gotta go; I need to buy me a DVD player.

-Andy

Whooooooooa Nellie!!

Miss Sugar Shack from P.A.

the pot is calling the kettle black

binky slams wormy for having an opinion and doesn't bother to tell us his only correct answer

lay off the sugar or invite ballah and wormboy over and we can do them both together while cousin dupree watches and licks his chops. What do you want to sample first, girl?

C.J.

CBAT had one good song on it, and, as far as I'm concerned, so did Logic. However, that one good song is FAR better than the one good song on CBAT. Now this IS my opinion, and I feel like saying it becuase, quite frankly, I don't feel like a newbie anymore.

SONGS: Reelin' in the Years, Monkey In Your Soul

*hey cousin jeanine, aren't YOU being a tad quick in your bashing of binky with your oh-so-sarcastic response to his Gaslighting post?
it seems the social intolerance is catching.(grab your vitamin C and kleenex before entering)
perhaps we should all grab umbrellas: it's coming down hard.
wormie's a big boy. he can take it. follow his recent posts, he's being an ever-so-naughty-boy; picking fights on every front.
as for ballah; he can play in my yard anytime. i never did cower to bullies.

Love the survey....what's next? Whom do you like least: Becker or Fagen?

so binky - please give us the only correct interpretation of Gaslighting Abbey

why is this list so fast to bash somebody who speaks from their heart? the worm didn't insult any of you that I can recall

perhaps BALLAH can restore order in happy valley

as for the drumming getting better and better
how can one ever top AJA?
a high tech studio is not the answer for this gabby gal

off to wax those skiis while on my knees

I don't think Tom's button pushing is enough to make people _this_ angry, but then again I haven't heard the DTS -- so maybe it is worth defending this staunchly.

I think the person who voted 'Aja' in on the worst album poll is Bernard Purdie.

I'm sticking with CBAT, and cringing when you guys dump on 'Pretzel Logic.'

more "enhanced" and "massaged" THAN CREATED OR SEQUENCED

I dunno. The "drums" seem to get more lively from Gaucho --> The Nightfly --> Kamakiriad --> Two Against Nature while still maintaining the groove - they're just keep getting better. The drums in 2vN seem to be more "enhanced" and "massaged", especially the snare - most obvious on Gaslighting Abbie and West of Hollywood. Again from the PBS special the massaging may be less than some appreciated - man Lawson really nailed the groove on GL!!! Awesome performance!

I have to say that I could not tell, taking literary license, if "it was real or Memorex" when listening to Clas' sequencing on Technicolor Motorhome. Part of the thing is that as digital audio has improved the high frequency response seems to be flatter (that's good). Still it seems that the major rationale for drum loops etc especially 15+ years ago was 1) cost, 2) convenience, 3) precision, and 4) the artist getting exactly what they want. As long as someone other than David Foster is the producer, one would assume the primary reasons are 3 and 4. Of course, there's some really nice live "wet" drumming (OK rim shots and cymbals) on Negative Girl.

Aja: I hope you recieve the best news possible

Uh, maybe because Tom's interpretation of "Gaslighting Abbie" (sic) was as off-base as his critique of DTS...

that cousin Dupree of mine is disgraceful. i can't even take my boyfriends in a physical way in front of him.

All you guys on this list quiet down, please. The wormboy Tom is just stating his opinions like you and I and he isn't calling you every name under the sun is he? Sounds like he actually knows what he is talking about, so stop waisting him publically. It's about as appealing as your cousin coming on to you for us ladies.

funny worm kid wrote a synopsis on Gaslighting Abbey yesterday and none of you wanted to discuss the actual music. take your stereo ego magnifying toys and go home. I'll take tom's fun and light counter commentary any day

yours

C.J.

Thanks for the welcome ,Midnite Cruiser...
Well, I´ve read somewhere some bad words
about the Hal Leonard´s Dan songbook...
I would like to hear your opinion
about it...
I bought it and didn´t think
it was so bad...

Rogério

sooutrageous-I'm with you (again-maybe we should get married, we agree so much).

May I play doctor and point out that frontal brain injuries can have side effects that include aggressive, argumentative behavior, even in individuals that don't normally display these traits. Don't take it personally.

By the way, I called the med school where my admission is pending, and my application goes before the committee tomorrow!!!!!! If any of you are into prayers, please throw one in for me. On that note, Midnite, I will be thinking/praying for your wife on Friday.

aja

.

By-the-way, who is the person who voted Aja least favorite SD album in the latest GB poll? I'd really, really like to talk with you awhile!

Steven

wormbrain- for chrissakes! Please stop arguing. I've taken your side a number of times but you're way over the line on this one. You're already down by law saying you were going to lay low. Just fucking drop it already. We've ridden this horse squarely into the ground. Drum Looping/Sequencing, DVD, DTS, Surround- Sound.......The untrained mind boggles.??

JW- Worm is the same guy that said DTS is only liked by people with untrained ears. I mean this guy is a total MORON! Keep talking out of your ass jerk off.

I just got through listening to the DTS Gaucho. It is fantastic!! I'm really praying that untrained Roger Nichols and untrained Elliot Schiner do as good a job on 2VN when it goes DTS!

...it's "marimbas"

Tell ya' what, Wormbie...if you're a "musician", then you'll have no problem breaking down the harmonic progressions in "Almost Gothic"...please post it here on the GB when you're done...

Hey JWMaliboo

I never claimed to not be a musician, did I?
never bothered to flaunt it either

I'll gladly send you a demo for next year as soon as I can figure out how to lay multilayered maramba's on my sequenced Kurzweil K2000 (think I need more RAM for this)

"You can choose the music
I'll set up my gear
Later on we'll chill and watch the fireworks from here"

Isn't ironic that the people making the biggest fuss so far about the drum looping/sequencing (get yer' nomenclature straight...there ARE no 'drum machines' on "Two Against Nature") are the non-musicians on this board? Tell ya' what, if you find the looping sooooo stultifying, do us all a favor and sit down and write a fucking song, hire some session men (including a "real" drummer), and submit your work to the next GB Compilation...and we can then decide whether your music is more "real" or "emotional" than "Two Against Nature"...

humm

emotional music with electronic drumming

I seem to remember really being into Joy Division around 1980
The band used a drum machine throughout. Their music was Doorish for the downtrodden new wave electoriate and was filled with great emotion, a sense of dispair and a slight glimmer of escape. This set the tone for the whole industrial genre that followed

Sadly Ian Curtis' outwelling passion was extinguished when he took his own life. The music's warmth and cold contrasts overcome the machines and were entensified by great use of echo and space.

With the Dan the music is so moving and the pacing and aghast so there when the guys lay it back. But when it's straight groove based like Kama and some of TaN it looses some of that emotive element. The eloquent brush strokes are there, but the painting doesn't hit me as hard emotionally

enough said, I'll stay away for a while
and just kick back and dare I say it, "enjoy" the music

... this is lower broadway and your talking to a ghost

Stevie Dan wrote the following:

Purists are narrow-minded people who if they are really listening at all, are listening to sound but not music. This GB
can be highly populated by this ilk. How the mechanics of the recording is ruining the musical experience for some posters is amazing and sad. This album is filled with great MUSIC that many of the analists (no sic) are apparently missing out on. I'm not impressed.

~ ~ ~

who said anyone was missing out on great music? Perhaps you will thank us when the next album has no sampled drum track on account of our "something doesn't sound right" inquiry. Rather than retort your "narrow minded" name calling classification of those who are slighly critical of the aural textures less gratifying than ideal, I simply feel content knowing that I indeed listen to and enjoy the music (with a few restraints against the sampling), so no pitty party needed on my account.

This album is filled with great music indeed, and become a little less groove based and come with a livelier rythym section and it's timeless classic and then some.

I listen to music to be moved emotionally. the livelines of that music sometimes contributes significantly to that moving experience.

I don't recall whining on the Suzanne Vega board when she went electric and industrial on 99.9F after her pure folk roots and I was too young to yell Judas at Dylan's Newport Jazz show in 66. But when the wine has a slight aftertaste that isn't as full bodied as I'd expect it to be based on the last three bottles, I let the vineyard in on my observations.

....I was on the other side of no tommorrow

The 2AN DVD will be Dolby Digital 5.1:
http://news.excite.com/news/bw/000327/ca-image-entertainment

Donald - a gritty voice, cmon - from the Philly Daily News:
http://www.phillynews.com/daily_news/2000/Mar/28/features/ARTS28.htm

Anyone got an extra ticket to the UCONN/PSU final four game in Philly Friday night? Cheesesteaks on me!!!

Steviedan: And let us not forget the drum machine that was the third member of Timbuk 3. (The Future's So Bright....)

More About Drummers: If he/she can sing/write you've eliminated 90% of the potential problems.

About the Many DanFests I've Missed: Damn!

About the Current State of High Fidelity: A GOOD pair of headphones is still your best bargain.

About the New One: My brother bought the disk and has thrown away his growth hormones. His wife is giddy.

Epilogue: Did I spell that correctly?

I have played in bands of all sizes, from symphony orchestras to big bands to sextets, quintets, quartets, solo. I made my total living playing music for about six years as a partner in a duo (still doing this quite a bit) with our "little band from Japan". This was absolutely (and still is) a primarily economic consideration. Percussion was one of my major instruments in college and many of the bands I played in I sat in the drum chair so I am sympathetic to those who prefer live drummers. However, for us there are some other considerations. One is the experience of playing in larger bands and understanding the human ebb & flow of personalities, relationships, personal habits & professionalism. Musically, admittedly, there is the control factor. It's hard to find drummers who can effectively play styles from jazz to reggae etc., and do so at the right volume for each venue or circumstance. If we could find this person, they would either have to be paid ALL the money (could we get Ricky?) or they would be an alcoholic wife-beating coke-fiend with relatives that would die on alternate weekends. I have been in bands with these cats & they will shorten your life and make you hate music.
JWMal is 100% right in my book. I am end-product oriented. I don't care how the fucking music is made, just how it ends up sounding when it hits my ear. Purists are narrow-minded people who if they are really listening at all, are listening to sound but not music. This GB can be highly populated by this ilk. How the mechanics of the recording is ruining the musical experience for some posters is amazing and sad. This album is filled with great MUSIC that many of the analists (no sic) are apparently missing out on. I'm not impressed.
PS...Thanx to the people that took their time to put the danfest gallery together. It was cool to see some of yas muggs.
Final thought...for better or worse, a drum machine never has a bad night and those who disdain them have probably never been backed by a dragging shitty drummer with no sense of dynamics. Still looking for Mr. Gooddrummer...

Has anyone seen this:

http://cynthiacalhoun.com/Pic6_1.jpg

??

my lord...yeah, this is a hormonal 19-year old talking...and I have to listen to all you wonderful SD female fans taunt-ey moi, but this picture is rough.

and this:

http://cynthiacalhoun.com/Pic1_1.jpg

??

bladhy bahstahds....I've been doing well in the midwest..but i need to hit the coasts.

Fark!

ok...yeah...u guessed it...buzzed...

Babylon Sisters, Hey Nineteen, Glamour Profession =
Jack of Speed, Cousin Dupree, Negative Girl/West of Hollywood

I like that: "...dense with secrets..."

DrMu: heh. I've been known to write the occasional song lyric. And y'all might want to follow the links on my site to a few of my other fiction offerings if you really wanna get scared. :-)

/the Mam'zelle
http://www.drizzle.com/~mizducky
truth is often stranger than fiction

just my quick take on gaslighting abbey

the read I get is that the couple are a bunch of voyeurs who woo another women out to the vacation cottage and have their way with her. Not sure whether he or she is doing the wooing, but they go from a brainless let's watch a gore flick (bored in paradise) to stiffing her drinks to make her more accessible. date rate game for three only two know they are really playing

wormian schmermian

aaaaghhh" I've got some work to do as the world's slowest keyboard man." ...and most hurried laptop typist

KD: Fantastic! Some thought prior to fingers flying

MizDucky: Wow! Gibson is looking for a pinch-hitter. Do you write song lyics?

Howard et al. Impressive - I've got some work to to as the world's slowed keyboard man. My fave is the dissonant pair of couplets key chords on Shame.

Hey, Have you all tried starting tvN with the title track??? Man, it's cool. Those Latin rhythms and staccato burts of the sax and the slow key chord change followed by the might bass line and Walter's threatening guitar - a great way to state they're BACK!!!. Follow the title track with What a Shame About Me THEN Gaslighting Abbie. The story now begins with the demons descending upon our hero-loser. While in a fit of self-pity he attempts to ward off an old flame...he get laid anyway - then bumps off the old lady. With renewed energy and the Life Insurance check, he buys the Red Blazer and find that lust is a game for three. They tie him up in a dungeon and get him hooked on the hard stuff. After a few nowhere gigs, he hits on a voloptuous cousin. Programmed by her putdowns he finds he's becomes involved in sensuous but empty relationships with uptown model after uptown model. He makes one last stand out West, runs out of gas and begins to tell his tale on the couch...Finnegan begin again...

Hiya, looeez! Welcome to the madhouse! Yes, hanging in this joint can definitely be addictive. But hey, obsessive-compulsive behavior can be fun!

/Mam'zelle Canard
temporary Welcome Wagon hostess-with-the-mostest

StAl & Gang:

Greetings from the motor city! Obviously, my first posting and so durn glad & happy to be here (*grin*). As I told Miz & GE at chat site, been starved for info and, well, shame about ME being less than clueless about SD sites. Spendn' too much time on the car sites and kinda burned out on them frankly.

Thanks for returning e-mail so promptly StAl! My, my, but the board is all over the place tonight. Keeps it innerestin', no?

I've been surfing other music sites and haven't found any to compare (so far) that didn't seem like visiting an infomercial. Or else just lots of pretty pics...like a rock music zine or what-have-you. HERE we find actual discussion and a higher set of standards, and, (pause)
(I said, S-T-A-N-D-A-R-D-S!!)

[Sraightening do, (*ahem*)]

Anyway, nice visiting with Miz & GE at chatroom. I can see I have alot of homework to do to keep up with this group (be patient with me) and my only comment is, FINALLY! I truly thought I was THE biggest SD geek there ever was --- who knew?

Educational as well...Wow, all you wanted to know about DTS (and then some). Well, we were justifiably warned, weren't we? (Just kiddn'). That discussion was actually very interesting and now I have this urgent need to hurry to the most Chic Chic of stereo stores so that I can find and see what all the fuss is about.

Hey to Miz and G.E. if you are out there. Thanks for helping me hook up. You may have assisted in creating a monster.

- looeez

The Roseland Ballroom where Steely Dan did to fantastic shows in the fall of '95 is being knocked down this summer to make room for an apartment building.

RIP

Steely Dan is the only monster I can't keep, nor want to keep on a leash...31 years addicted. All the recordings are masterpieces...but I know the REAL money would be in the book you write about the true meaning of where each song came from!!!

Pep

Finally! A review from allmusic.com, and what a gem it is.

-------------------~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There was a peculiar beauty to the career arc of Steely Dan. Within the space of a mere eight years, they grew from a clever, post-Dylan collegiate pop outfit to a sophisticated, multi-layered jazz-rock group, never releasing a subpar effort along the way. And then they disappeared. Yes, co-leader Donald Fagen re-emerged not long after the Dan's apparent 1980 swan song, Gaucho, with 1982's The Nightfly, a nostalgic fantasia that was a continuation of his last collaboration with partner in crime Walter Becker, but he then faded from view, preserving the enigmatic qualities of his famed group.
Absence not only made the heart grow fonder in this case, but it also preserved the cryptic legacy of Steely Dan. As both Fagen and Becker remained silent, their recorded work grew in stature -- and not just among their contemporaries, but among younger listeners as well. They even became a favorite of hip-hop artists, being sampled on De La Soul's classic 1989 album Three Feet High and Rising. All this didn't seem to phase the Dan, which only added to their legacy. Fagen eventually re-emerged, 11 years after The Nightfly, with the subtle Kamakiriad, an album so subtle that it required real effort from the listener to come to grips with it. Consequently, it floated away without making an impact on anyone other than diehards. In 1994, Becker released his first solo effort, the Fagen-produced Eleven Tracks of Whack, which improbably led to a live reunion of Steely Dan, a band that notoriously shunned live performances. Soon, this live excursion turned into a full-fledged reunion, and work commenced on a new album.

Since Steely Dan fans lived for decades without even the hope of a new record, the very prospect of a new album was a delight, but it also was a little worrying, since a botched comeback album would tarnish the band's legacy. When the new album, Two Against Nature, finally appeared in the second month of 2000 -- on a leap day, most appropriately -- it wasn't necessarily a sure bet. Nearly 20 years separated it from Gaucho, and it had originally been scheduled for release in early 1999, so it was overdue, to say the least. Delay may be cause for worries with other bands, bands that rely on straight rock & roll, but Steely Dan have always been perfectionists, so the extra time should naturally have been perceived as a blessing. Well, that may be speculation, since it's hard to tell how an album as immaculate and precise as Two Against Nature was crafted, and how it came to be. Ultimately, such details are nothing more than hairsplitting for musicologists, since the end result is as seductive and alluring as the best of Steely Dan's later work.

Make no mistake about it: If you're looking for Becker and Fagen to return to the diverse pop of Pretzel Logic, you'll be disappointed, since Two Against Nature is pitched halfway between Gaucho and Kamakiriad. It's a graceful, intricate record that works its subtle charms at its own pace. While that means it isn't a knockout on the first listen, anyone who spends time with the album will find that Two Against Nature is a real grower -- an album that slowly works its way into the subconscious, quietly becoming addictive.

Really, anyone that familiar with the last Dan album and Fagen's second solo album shouldn't be surprised by anything about Two Against Nature -- not the classy, soulful vibe, nor the emphasis on atmosphere and groove. In fact, the most surprising thing about the album is that it sounds exactly like classic Steely Dan, but without feeling dated. By blending the sensibility of Gaucho with the immaculate production of Kamakiriad (meaning, there aren't nearly as many cameos or extended solos as before, while the melody is intertwined in the rhythms), Becker and Fagen have crafted an album that is an uncannily natural extension of their previous work. After all, all the hallmarks are in place -- cryptic lyrics, nasty character sketches (the title character of "Cousin Dupree," the first single, really wants to get it on with his cousin Janine), wry humor, all set to deceptively melodic, mellow, jazz-inflected pop -- but it never sounds nostalgic or old hat. In fact, it's as gleefully inscrutable and accessible as before. Where other reunions strive to recapture the past, it's clear that Becker and Fagen re-teamed because they enjoy working together. They enjoy crafting the songs and arrangements, designing the production, shoehorning in-jokes into the lyrics, finding the exact performances that fit their specifications. What they wind up with is an album that rewards repeated listens, since it's a record that is dense with secrets -- some of which appear after the second scan, others that pop up many spins later.

In this sense, Two Against Nature is no different than any past Steely Dan effort, and that's exactly why it's welcome. Other groups have signature sounds that are confining, but not the Dan. Within their world, they find nearly endless permutations, lyrically and musically. Lyrically, the album isn't quite as malicious as their '70s work, which may be disappointing to some, but they haven't lost their humor: Mere throwaway lines in "What a Shame About Me," "Almost Gothic," and "Janie Runaway" are funnier and sharper than the work of most contemporary pop writers. Musically, however, is where the album really pays off. Each of the nine songs shares a similarly smooth vibe, but upon closer inspection, each tune reveals its own identity through small, thrilling touches: the dissonant harmonies and complex chords on "Gaslighting Abbie," the Latin rhythms that underpin the title track. With each listen, new details emerge, details that give the record depth and character, and make it fit comfortably among Steely Dan's acclaimed body of work. And that's as delightfully unexpected and peculiarly beautiful as anything else in their career. -- Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Steely Dan, "Two Against Nature" -- Four Stars

now at this time into my pretty story........

greetings and a thousand salutations from below the horizon line.
alas the siren's ululating call has carried me home at last to the shores of this hallowed guestbook. behold i enter bearing gifts, a harbinger, trumpeting the goodnews and yea, the portent of the future. as i come callin,the chosen ones have rained down manna from heaven. the seraphim rejoice. job in all his wonderful torment could not bespeak the exquisite agony we have endured throughout our many years (20)wondering aimlessly in the wilderness of the western world. They have spanned the axis of pain/pleasure over the chasm of desolation with a wonderous feat of musical/mechanical majesty; an architectural icon we now humbly refer to as the "arc of desire." our weary and unfettered souls can rest, monkey free, in canaan. the warmth of their selfless sacrifice has penetrated this long-frozen core. our spirits join in the unending hymn.
i do indeed love port blanc.the rainy seasons arrive just west of hollywood, bringing a chilling reminder of lost loves, forgotten dreams. but then,......i am home and dry. the sacred high days of hooterie begin soon. my heart takes flight. i am comforted in this thought. the crowds shall bring a myriad of glorious treasure, experience, emotion in all their tear-dappled finery. i do enjoy it so, though if truth be told; i've never been an easy girl.

While watching TV tonight, suddenly it's a commercial from Tower Records for 2vN! If you haven't seen it, it's got several performance clips with reviews superimposed. Not a bad commercial, as those things go.

Dandom moments are occurring all over the place . . .

Rogerio....welcome aboard and just jump in anywhere....you'll find a good group of people here who don't always agree but do always keep it interesting!

ruby baby....thank you my dear for sharing your thoughts and more with us! wish you could have been there too!

Fletch....I didn't realize I had posted the URL incorrectly in the beginning....thanks for pointing that out to me, I couldn't figure out what was wrong but that cleared it up!

I'll probably be off for a couple of days....Shirl's going in for one day surgury Thursday and then we'll see if that's it or she'll have to have any follow up procedures after it's over....say a prayer or think good thoughts for her if you're so inclined....she's scared but everything's going to be fine.

see y'all about Friday night or Saturday if all is well.

MC

Wow. You guys are THE most loveable, mottly crew I've ever seen! Thank you, Midnite C!

You know you really love the music when you're driving in the middle of nowhere and only one station comes in good AND it takes you forever to get it in - finally a great song playing BUT you hear a vague strain of something remotely Steely Dan leaning into the frequency intermittently - so you risk losing the good stuff to hear just a couple seconds of Time Out Of Mind. Who needs all the dvts, dvds, high ends & surround sound really?

rb

Hey! Who edited my "Name St. Al's Company" entry and stuck that "no charge" thingie on there???

;^)

Picture it on the back of a REALLY big boat...

Right on, Edd...

I´d just like to say hi to everyone...
I´m new here...
My name is Rogério. And I´m from Brazil.
Steely Dan´s music makes the world a
better place to be...
Hope we can have some pleasant conversations...

Best,
Rogério

Bob&Howard: I echo MC's comment re: the chords. i'd also like to hear Edd's take on these compositions.

Hutch: thanks for the reference to Howard's excellent site.

St. Al, before you call your agent: " Chord Sluts 'R Us"
lh.

Edd -- Stick a fork in me and call me done! It doesn't get any better than that. Thank you! I'll remember you when the IPO happens...

As the know, Aja has been available in NZ and Australia for a few weeks now. (I have it on VHS). It's being distributed through Warner Australia and Eagle Rock Entertainment.
If you're ultra keen, and can view the PAL system etc, you may be able to get it from www.warnervision.com.au.
It's on sale NOW!

The actual page, for those who want to cut and paste, is:

http://www2.warnervision.com.au/video/dvd_bios/catbios.asp?cata_no=3984295032&country_no=61&hmenutype=Artist&hmenuitem=P-Z&cntr=14&totalcntr=24

Although, this is a frame from the site, so you may not be able to get back to the main page from here.
Good luck!

Hello one and all,
Well what was waiting for me tonight when I got home but the Classic Albums SD Aja DVD from Amazon.com which just couldn't waitto be plugged into my new DVD player.

Now I've had the Japanese VHS for a couple of months, but I only watched it once when I got - keeping it fresh for the DVD watching. Thanks St. Al I've been waiting to watch the DVD thingy in the comfort of my couch.

A couple of things:
1. This DVD is not Dolby Digital 5.1 or even Dolby Digital stereo, it's just stereo. The Sheryl Crow DVD I bought (also put out by Image Entertainment) is both - bummer. Let's hope the 2AN DVD is!!!!

2. They don't give any credits for any of the concert scenes - including the old stuff and the live Aja performance presumably from a 94 show - boy I would love copies of these tapes - you know someone has them.

3. My 9 1/2 year old son watched it with me - he's just learning guitar and loved watching Denny Dias and Walter play - says he might be ready in a year or two if I get him the music - well of course I'll get him the music.

PS He wants the music for Cousin Dupree but says he wants to change the words to how about a kiss from your brother Danny, and I saw my sister Vicki walk in - I'm pretty sure he doesn't understand the maening of the song, but he certainly has the right idea if he does. I'll have to talk to him later.

Steve V. email me please.

David in Florida,
When I walk out in disgust from one of those one-man bands, the disgust is never with the musician himself. It's with the club that forces him into techno-musical servitude. I understand completely that it's economically driven. I would rather pay more for my drink and hear an entire band doing it live, but the marketplace won't go along. I make the same kinds of compromises in my work that you make in yours. I am also feeding a family, a cat, a dog, a mortgage. Who woulda thought?

St. Al,
Yes, I noticed you seemed out of sorts. Just as you have lived in L.A., I have lived in Seattle. It didn't take. But you should know I didn't dis the place after flying past on the freeway. I stopped. Too long.

re: David in Florida Room

Assumably, if you used electronic drums, you could have captured your performance as a MIDI sequence. If you then played back the raw sequence during the tracking, would you consider it to be any less real? I wouldn't...

Would you consider it heresy to go back and tweak the sequence? ("Damn, the snare on beat 4 of measure 62 seems late...")

I've heard David live and have his "Clockdrive World" CD. His music is as real as it gets.

Midnite cruiser - I think the reason people were having trouble going to your page (as did I at first), is that the address was posted slightly wrong as :http://www.geocities.com/danfest/2000/
Notice the forward slash between 'danfest' and '2000'
Of course the correct addy (as you have since re-posted a couple of times) is: http://www.geocities.com/danfest2000/

Good luck all

I guess I need counseling because when I first heard gaslighting abbie, I thought it was about a woman who lit her own farts.

"Flame is the Game."

Sly Lou

Hello Everyone- Well here's my 2cents worth.
Stranger-I've heard some Lame "one man bands" myself and I try my best to not be one.However, the "why ?" get's complicated.
When I started playing in a Band at 12yrs old..it was simple. I played my drums and sang some songs and had a great time...it made me want to continue.
And then Disco Came.
Clubs could buy a house system...not have a bunch of low-lifes tearing up a dressing room, have the DJ play all the latest Dance songs,not have to pay a band that wanted to be like "Yes" or some other "Can't dance to it" band. And I was a Yes fan ,by the way.
So, then younger kids that wanted to learn to play had no school dances to use as first gigs,cuz now anybody can be a DJ and play records and that's who was playing at the School Dance!
By this period I was Far gone and a "make a living playing" kind of Guy.
I miss playing in a Band and having that Live interaction.I don't miss having to scratch for a living.
For years I hoped to find someone to play drums for that had the "Vision" because I never felt I had it.
It didn't happen... and 12 years ago I stumbled on Playing and Singing as I always have and using Sequences as the rest of the Band.Modern Drummer Magazine agreed in June of '92.
It's economics!I'm not sad ,I'm not whining,I'm Working...and a I'm Solo and I'm a Friggin' Drummer!
There are still some non-bigtime Bands around ...you'll find them playing on weekends because they love to play or at Weddings or Corporate Functions.
As far as recording with Electronic Drums ,played or programmed,
I'll take the real thing anytime, If it's right for the song or artist.In the case of my CD "Clockdrive World" it was recorded and mixed by me in my Home Studio and I played the drums but used and electronic Drumset. I didn't feel I had the right Room, Kit, Mics or expertise to do otherwise. But it's still me Playing.They're just tools and tool technology always changes. If you Hear something in the Music that you don't like I'm personally sorry.But as Musicians I think we always try our best.
My Friends JW Malibu,Hutch ,Edd, YGK, Clas,Schwinn,Mr Chow,Rixhex56,F#Maj9 and all the rest of the Musically dabbling GBers...I'm waiting to hear your Take on this State of the Music
Quandry.
Thanks for letting me Spout off...Love you guys. David

Zeke - I agree about Carlton, Gadd, etc. Nothin' against Walt's chops, but Jack of Speed would have been so much tastier with a Carlton solo. Anyway, Jack is my clear fav... unbelievable groove.

Sly Lou

New Frontier Consulting, Inc.

"Prepare To Meet The Challenge"

No charge.

Midnite- Don't you know that anyone that loves DTS has untrained ears? (In a nice calm voice) GIVE ME A FUCKING BREAK!

Been listening to the new one constantly. It's much more than I expected. No singled out fav's yet, get back with me in the fall.
There is something I'd like to discuss here. The question is, why isn't Michael McDonald on the new one? Not trying to be a smartass, just wanting an honest answer. I know the guy is still out there. Yeah, Carlton, Gadd, ect... those guys are missed too. I thought Negative Girl would have been a perfect fit.

Ken Crane's is showing the Making of Aja DVD as now available for $13.99

and

STEELY DAN: TWO AGAINST NATURE: PLUSHTV JAZZ-ROCK PARTY IN HI-FI STEREO (DD,DTS - DVD) for $17.49 with a release date of 6/13/00.

http://www.kencranes.com

For the folks unable to access the Dan Fest webpage the only guess I can make is that your server is having problems connecting to geocities servers. I dump my cache and try every time I see someone post that they're having a problem accessing the site and I get through to it every time. ? Keep trying and please sign the guestbook if you visit.

http://www.geocities.com/danfest2000/

MC

franny - want to rem ah niss?

aja - hope I made you blush, ;- is really this ;-]
when one is shy and speachless

what a shame about me anyway

last little warm tirade speal on audio

depth in a recording?, but of course - all the old verve jazz records make you feel like you are sitting a few rows in front of a quartet, you definitely can sense depth and width to a recording

classical done right allows one to count the number of violinists not just side by side but by row.

multi track recording with electronic instruments is an allusion of this anture mic setting, but individual mics spaced to give room dynamics can make a piano sound dimensional in the soundstage even in a 48 track setting like the dan.

as for musical appreciation it's like driving a fine sports car up the curves in Big Sur on highway 101 or sampling a fine wine with a gormet meal. To one that can appreciate and distinguish, it is more than worthy of the effort.

oh please?

not to be a pompous audiophile snob, but to truly elaborate on something I know a little about. Inject warm calm soothing voice here please. I have worked in high end audio or collected it for over half my life at nearly 20 years. As a collage job I have worked with archetects to set up many a doctor's music room to be acoustically dynamic and am a geophysicist by profession, so I am not exactly ignorant when it comes to theory and musical practicality concerning sound.

the only way that dts is ever truly viable is when the music is actually recorded with the 5 mic array with mics positioned skillfully around sources that are clearly separate and distinct, hard to do in a live sessions setting.

as for cheap equipment - I think even my bedroom system would qualify on the high end around here

I have heard a very few DTS recordings that actually are done right. The bonus track on the Eagles disc has each voice in accapella arranged into one of the 5 tracks, it sounds great hearing it behind you but that was done in an isolated studio in individual sound booths or singletracked and split to 5 channels not in a live setting like the rest of the Hell Freezes Over show

almost all dts stuff also has a straight stereo mode that is recorded with the two main balanced microphones straight forward just like almost all club jazz and live classical music, and one can listen in that mode with a stereo only setup. Go to DTS and you loose all true imaging, but it sounds wide open and wowish to untrained ears.

DTS is more gadetry then it is musical except under the absolute best recording conditions. Doubtful that the Dan went to those lengths in the isolation of the recording. But you can always listen in the recorded stereo mode.

as for Surround sound I do love the fact that doctors trade in their perfectly great 2 year old equipment for inferior "theatre setups" so that I can actually afford to get their old Audio Research equipment at half the shocking sticker. $3800 is a little too much to pay for a solid state power amplifier but it's a steal at half of that and oh so musical. But when you have a great system you stay home and listen to Van or Walt seranade you rather than go out at times. And I own a Camary rather than the $9,000 upgrade to a "Lexus" automobile. I guess it's all that you value, but good stereo can be had and actually not that expensively either.

I'll buy the dvd disc, but will only hear it surround sound DTS at the High End AUdio Store I moonlight at.

stAl - serious business doesn´t mean boring names nowadays. One of the more serious internetconsultants is named Razorfish! If your business is related to internet my suggestion is "Surf &/or die".

What an odd Steely Culture I seem to have ventured into. Oh well. Interesting reading every so often. I am now 100% convinced that the backup singers on Jack either have a speech impediment or they are saying something else - I read somewhere "Check out Steve." I could buy that. Wonder who Steve is? Reminds me of Lost Wages/Las Vegas.

Sly Lou

oleander is sending out chocolate? What do I have to do to get some? I'll do ANYTHING for chocolate (especially if it's Belgian). Clas, if you're ever down that way....

Here's a poll I'd like to see (and something I'm curious about): "From what album is your handle from?" I'd like to see the tabulation. My perception is a preponderence of "Royal Scam" handles.

aja

Few pleasures in life can equal that of recieving a box of chocolates, with a hip endearment attached, from Oleander.

Thanks, oh venerable mistress of the Guestbook

A Fan

StAlfonzo-Look no further. Your new venture will be called
"Just Machines" Consulting Services, referencing DF's take on all things millennial. Of course the inevitable play on words:
("Merely Machines" or "Wise, Magnanimous Machines") will have to be anticipated.

Soout- It has nothing to do with being "intellectuallty superior" or nothing to do with being "intolerant to others"...it has everthing to do with having a good pair or ears! I'm not being intolerant to anyone that disagrees that DTS isn't the shit. I just don't think they know what the fuck they're talking about.

Stranger: My post was a bit harsh. Sorry. It was late and I was tired. And by the way, I lived in LA for 7 years. I have the right to bitch. And no, I didn't move here to escape from LA. I moved because my parents told me to.. Also, I'm not stuck on Seattle for some of the very same reasons you mentioned. White Bread and Miracle Whip, baby. Besides, it rains too fucking much. However, LA is just about the LAST place I'd ever move back to...

I need some help. I need to find a good name for a new business I'm starting. It's serious, so I names like "Fire in The Hole Computing Services" or "Razor Boy Consulting" won't work...

On second thought, I kinda like Razor Boy Consulting.

Help on this would be appreciated.

I didn't say DTS sucked. I just questioned its validity in a music setting. It kicks ASS in a when you apply pictures to it. So in the case of the PBS taping, I'm all for it. However, if there was a NON-DTS version of the PBS special availble on CD, I'd buy that first and that would be the one I LISTENED to.

Oleander,
What's this Gorge thing? I hope it has moving sidewalks and valet parking. But for you, I'll rough it.

Pat, I looked on your ST. AL homepage and can't find the link to the Aja thing you mention in your previous post. Can you please direct me?
Thanks,
Steven

ole- me? tried e-mailing you and your server appears to be zooming on a couch somewhere. my address is above...

I can see why "simple" stereo would properly address the needs of someone who wants to be seated in the audience, but what if I want my position to be IN the performance. Barney behind me, Walter to my right, Donald up front just to the right, bare midriffs at 8:00, etc... (Let's assume all the other factors, headroom, slew rate, etc., are equal...)

Seems to me only a >2 channel system could provide this.

Steve- Calm down buddy. I think you're reading into this DTS thing a little to much.

If DTS is so shitty, why is a group that's ALL about sound production working with this format? The two best engineers in the world are doing it for them! Another words, if DTS is not the best, why is STEELY DAN putting it out!!??

I`M told that some of you Guestbook Geeks are trashing me because i suggested a little afternoon delight with an old lover i hadn`t seen in 20 years. The friend was having a little problem motovating himself to finish his novel while working his day dig at the Book store. A week went buy and he never called, so i went by the Strand and he was stacking cut outs, I said we can`t turn back the hands of time , but i still give excellent head. He knew i loved sex in dangerous places and the store was quite empty. The eruption could have been heard in Lower Broadway. The Novel will be finished and i will bankroll it. I`M not sure if he`ll be the next big thing or not, but at least i helped him out, and if any of you don`t like it, you can go fuck yourselves cause im Franny from NYU !

tom-oh, don't give up hope if you're longing to run to me. re: the maybe-beau, I'm reminded of some Springsteen lyrics:

"It ought to be easy, ought to be simple enough
A man meets a woman, and they fall in love
But the house is haunted, and the ride gets rough"

Stranger-glad you're in. But I wouldn't complain when someone doesn't love our paradise-the more that hate it the better! And if someone's idea of paradise involves tall pine forests, they wouldn't be too happy in SoCal anyway. To each his own (but I'll take this weather anyday).

sooutrageous-I'll e-mail you when I have a chance to talk-gotta fake working right now before they catch on to me!

aja

Jive Miguel -- The Kingdome sucked. Plain and simple. I was against the building of Safeco Field and I'm not going to like the cost of a new football stadium either. Not when people are starving in this city. However, I've got to say that Safeco Field is one of the finest ballparks I've ever had the chance to watch a baseball game in and I've been in dozens of baseball stadiums in my life. Perhaps this new Paul Allen special will be a great place to catch a Steely Dan show in?

Somehow I doubt it.

For those that didn't have a chance to see this sucker go down, here's a link:

http://windowsmedia.com/preview/kingdome/kingdome.asp

~~~~~SKIP THIS IF YOU'RE BORED BY AUDIOPHILE RANTINGS~~~~~~~~~~

Worm and Oh Please: Now this is a subject I can sink my teeth into. On the surface I would side with Worm. Oh Please, I think you COMPLETELY miss his point. I've heard Gaucho and The Eagles Hell Freezes Over in DTS and I was sufficiently impressed. Enough, in fact, to consider ditching my NAD/Proton amp and tuner for a DTS stereo amp. A couple of things that bother me about this decision. Though some great companies are starting to make DTS receivers, I've traditionally eschewed the all-in-one-box philosophy for the more audiophile style of separates. In fact, the most common brands, Kenwood, Pioneer, Sony, etc, are brands most audiophiles would never consider. If you can buy it at Circuit City, it's shit...The problem I have with receivers in general is something usually suffers in the build of this component. The manufacturer builds this box, typically concentrating on a particular feature or 2, and the rest is overlooked or they used pre-engineered components.

In other words, is that Pioneer DTS receiver going to a have 3DB of back-end headroom or current to reproduce the quick stop and start of the Steve Gadd solo in Aja CLEANLY? Is the pre-amp even going to be a consideration in the Pioneer? Is the tuner going to be designed by Larry Schotz?

See, these are the things audiophiles concern themselves with. Playing it loud so you can feel it is NOT what we're after. Playing it loud so I can imagine I'm sitting in the same damn room with the player is what we strive for. I want to hear all the sonic imperfections. I want to hear the fret noise as a SEPARATE component of the music, not as part of the whole. There is a difference. It's this sonic perfection we desire. It's the reason why I don't collect bootlegs.

Audiophiles disagree as much as they agree. The one thing we all strive to achieve is acurate reproduction of the "live" sound. The problem with DTS in music is it is NOT the way the music sounds live. Using the PBS tapings as an example. The sounds quality was first rate, but never for a moment did I feel Tom Barney's bass coming from BEHIND me. Never. The music came straight at me, with a slight reverberance from behind. DTS messes with this concept completely and this is why many won't embrace it's technology for music reproduction. DTS in movies. Now that is a whole different ballgame (which is ultimately why I will buy a DTS receiver). Do I want to see Steely Dan go through the time and expense of re-mastering for DTS, no, I don't think so. If the PBS special comes out in DTS, will I buy it. Probably. The only reason I'm considering replacing the old stuff is just that. It's time for new stuff...

This is purely my opinion. I expect many will disagree.

~~~~~~~AUDIOPHILE RANT OFF~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Big Fan and everyone else: I've had a link to the Making Of Aja for the past 4 months here:

http://www.seanet.com/~stalfnzo/collector/collector.html

St. Al,
I'd water my dolomite lawn, but I have to get my dog to his analyst and then scurry over for my liposuction. Incidentally, you bearded rainy people up there can't take the heat, can you? You think it's always open season on Calif., but we're not allowed to notice you live in a dull, sodden, humorless, gray torment called Seattle that demands ceaseless, mindless, ultimately boring chauvinism. Good luck with your new stadium.

Now wait a minute. Let me get this straight..... We have to be intellectually superior, have state-of-the-art audio/visual home-systems, be a member of an elitist musical cognoscenti,be up-to-date with the prevailing zeitgeist, be intolerant to others' views and opinions (though holding steadfast to our own tenets and beliefs), be insensitive to other peoples' feelings and be conspicuously wealthy to post on this board.
WoW, now that I have that figured out; life will be so much easier.
thanks for the epiphany,
Steven

Oops! on last line, that Bma6/9 is a Bbma6/9

"What a Shame About Me" Please understand that I don't have the room here for exact voicings, and that trying to label SD or DF chords is often an exercise in futility. Most of these piano chords are played with one note in bass and very few (two or three) notes on top. Anyway, the songs starts with a very lean Dsus, then to G7sus. Then ..."I'm still working on that novel"...:B(b5,no3rd), F7,Bbsus,F7. For "'Cause I'm worried about the future"...the first three of the following are played in a very low register on piano: D7(omit5),Db7(omit5),B7(omit5),Bbma6/7 "It's not all that I hoped it would be"..: Fma7,Bmi7(b5),Bma6/9,E7(b9,add 6),C6/9(no 3),B7#9,Ami7(omit 5),Bb6/7

Whew!

Worm- Speak for yourself. Not everyone that posts here is broke.You don't have a clue! Sure if you a have $150 speakers and a cheap reciever (like you) it's not worth it. Anybody that's heard a DVD with DTS on a great system will back me up 100%. This is one of the best things that's comming out for a SD fan that has something other then a boom box to listen to. Right Q?

Coming soon: Piano chords through 1st chorus of "What a Shame About Me". (As close as I can get...it's really been a challenge!)

hey thanks for the DVD links

I bought a DVD player a week ago and really like seeing movies and music this way (go out and get one if you haven't already)

the new NEal Young is coming out ( al ive album from the tour of the new material in Austin last summer (I hear it is stellar solo acoustic!. The Eagles disc is stellar, well worth it and the Joni Mitchell Painting with Words is very nice (but not up to the same perfect quality of the Eagles)

As for DTS I really could care less. For the few things that are taped in it you get to hear music tickle you from behind if you have a 5 speaker setup. MOst home theatre is so pathetic and to get into good home theater is expensive. I sell the stuff but I make sure the customer knows what he really wants and not what he has been wowed into thinking is "the ultimate setup"

Give me straight stereo on Audio Research, B&W and Cal AUdio Labs anyday. Or at the low end NAD and B&W or Paradign.

Why is surround sound not a logical media?

Most music is intended to utilize a two point source reference, placing 5 speakers in a processed setup is really in most cases just smearing the image. Buy the DVD for the video clarity and the nice stereo sound, but unless you only watch the few movies and music things actually recorded in a 5 mic setup and need to be tickled from behind, you are getting something vastly inferior

if you must fill out your sound, simply add two neutral speakers at lower volume in the back of your room

in the seventies this idea was Quadrophonic, a few things were recorded that way and it's really just a bad excuse for people to trade in their decent equipment on the next new bell and whistle

sorry audiophile tom on the rampage

back to chasing around on aunt faye's couch
those small tops and tight capris beakon

Hmmm ... my earlier post looks a bit screwy because it needs monospaced fonts to line up the note names.

Readable summary follows:

(all chords spelled low to high)

F#m7 = F# A C# E
E/F# = F# G# B E
D6/9 = D F# B E
Bm7 = B A D F#

play around with these, and you have the intro section - at least, that's what I hear for the chords.

Howard

aja- can you please e-mail me when you have a moment. Hoping to discuss a few things about 2vN vs the old stuff.

oleander- Wonderful post. The Manchurian Candidate insight was profound! The Angela L. thing is eerie. Didn't she actually play her games of solataire in her newly-reopened,50's-kitch Florida Room overlooking the Koi pond? Wasn't her husband in the flick patently spouse-whipped? Come to think of it;...... wasn't his name Pepe?....... Didn't he have an unfortunate skirmish with a few knife-wielding merchant marines down in San Pedro? Nasty scar there. I'm not sure but I think the marriage eventually spiraled into a bare-knuckle-drag-out-no-fault in Port-au-Prince or maybe it was Key Largo, (during one bitch of a hurricane!)
Need to study this cold-war/espionage-meets-film-noir phenomenon a bit more. Might be something there.

Wormdude- diddo on the Todd thing. I truly loved AWATS, Something/Anything, Initiation and some of his really old stuff eg. Boat on the Charles and Long Flowing Robe. I'm extremely indifferent to his new "experimental" work.

Still can't access the Danfest page on Geocities. I get the same "can't locate" message on my home and office systems.

Damn, that Fezo and Roy are certainly hunks of the most high magnitude. I'm flogging myself for missing the fun!

GREAT NEWS!!! The PBS show will be released in June on DVD in DTS!!!!! WOW!!
Ok people, if you don't have a DVD player with DTS,(make sure it has DTS) now is the time to get one. Roger Nicholas and Elliot Schiner are mixing the show to 5.1 as we speak!

Here's the link to the release of the Aja Classic Albums DVD thingy - I got an email from Amazon.com that they had sent mine yesterday - can't wait to get it, and the the one for the 2AN walking tour someday:

http://news.excite.com/news/bw/000327/ca-image-entertainment

A small blurb about the VH1 storytellers show:
http://www.billboard.com/daily/2000/0327_04.asp

The show at The Meadows in Hartford will bee between July 7 and July 12, with tickets going on sale between April 7 and 12. I'm betting the show is Friday July 7th.

Chords, chords, chords ... dontcha just love those Steely Dan chords!

Bob - I need a keyboard to try your JOS "he's changed" chords.
Yours are a little richer (couple of extra notes) compared to mine - main difference is I hear D F# A as top 3 notes on your Em11 chord, whereas you have D E A. Need to do some more intensive listening ...

Re: the JOS intro, I hear a D6/9 when you get the D bass, e.g this kind of thing:

E E E E E E E E
C# C# B B B B C# C#
A A G# G# F# F# A A

F# F# F# F# D D F# F#

The keyboard sound does make it tricky to hear the chords though.

Howard

Mitch: LOL! Or the Bullseye on Rt. 422 at the state line if more serious beverages are required!

Anybody else interested in a possible DanFest along the Cleveland-Pittsburgh corridor?

Was clicking through Steely Dan at the Singapore Virgin shop (HMV)...and was happy to see the Japanesse edition of 2VN.....but alas...other then a hefty price tag ($42...Singapore..about $30 US)....it looks to be the same as the US edition...although for some reason it has a BMG logo along with the Giant Records one.....NO EXTRA tracks!.....am still looking for 11 Tracks from Japan........

LET's GO METS!!!!!!!! BASEBALL is back.....even here in Asia........

No offense meant towards anyone, but...

I can't bring myself to vote in the new poll...I do have favourites, but I can't bring myself to "vote" for a "least" favourite...

Now I know I have problems...

Jive!

PS StAl, the implosion of the Kingdome was impressive yesterday, but (in your honest opinion)was it necessary to remove "The Mushroom" and replace it with another one...?

Stranger - and it's a matter of money too, studiotime is expensive and if you can come up with a cool drumgroove at home, alone, it'll get faster to record the shit. But I've just finished a song in the studio and like you, I was sick and tierd hearing that monoton drumgroove so I hired a great drummer and he did a great job. So there IS a diference.

And I could talk to him too. But he wanted money (but it was worth every cent).

Lars - yeah, I heard about that no-spring in southern Sweden. Sorry, but in Stockholm it's been pretty nice. :)

C

Miz D ~ hilarious!!!

Midnite Cruiser & OptiMystic are our newest featured artists at the West of Hollywood Gallery...check 'em out at:

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/wohgall.htm

"Almost Gothic", my latest in the "Two Against Nature" photomontage series is up at:

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/tan.htm

...and two other new pieces worth scoping are at:

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/brandnew.htm

enjoy!

wormwood hear
must say as much as I am attributed with bringing down the new horse, I have had great pleasure playing it for customers at my evening moonlighting job selling high end stereo.

I haven't let anyone borrow it yet either

damn it aja, new beau? I thought you were saving yourself for the topsoilant one ;-
yes yes the goddess on the fire escape was you

Madame Erzulie she come last night
Bang you silly but leave a nasty bite

is this a gothy anne rice kinda gal?
and not quite necro in the next verse, please guys

look out, Madame Lebeau has nothing on you!

a link to the Huysmans book at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0140440860/103-8108254-9110269

Dan-like.

I guess I was one of the few pulling for The Green Mile last night, it's wonderful ensemble of characters, direction, and the best kind of Stephen King supernatural - the loneliness and longing of souls as those bottled up at the end of a long Maine winter.

I'll give American Beauty a few things: 1) a Strange almost Twin Peaks mood, 2) absolutely superb acting by Kevin Spacey and Annette Benning, 3) riveting cinematography (same guy that did Butch Cassidy - who are those guys?) - truly the Steely Dan of visual art and impact. Indeed, the pantheon of twisted and flawed characters seems on the surface to be quite Dan-;ole. But there is a wide gulf created by the script. Clearly the author DESPISES everything about America and it's culture, not a a view of cynicism or better ane sardonic and thoughtful if absurdist as the Dan, but American Beauty's vision stems from pure vitriol and bitterness (Clas, you're gonna love this one). In the end IMHO it's a hollow shell of a movie. In contrast, Steely Dan pointed to the twists and incongruities, in human nature and the facade of La La land. The laugh at us and our culture (and now nature itself), but are not afraid to partake and enjoy it's fruits as well. BTW, Donald in one of the many interviews, did state that the title of the new one does come from the Huymans book - gotta get the inspiration to Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray now.

Oleander: madame, you flatter me! But I'd be lying if I didn't admit I love it!

The curious can now also see the piece of humor to which Ms. Oleander is referring at the following URL:

http://www.drizzle.com/~mizducky/danofiles/android.html

Who knows? Maybe this will send the 2vN drumming debate into a whole new orbit, so to speak. :-)

/the Mam'zelle
polishing the glassware at the bar

No Stranger, its YOU and about 8 million other reason why I hate Southern California... Now, be a good boy and go water your dolomite lawn.

StAl

PS. ATTENTION Q -- Your e-mail is bouncing. Can you confirm it!

St. Al baby--That's me in the shoes. Oh man, the Gorge for me is El Dorado--as desirable and unattainable anyway.

Stranger--Come away with me to the Gorge. I'll wager that we could cook up a tasty ethnic stew (tzimmes maybe?).

Miz Ducky--Your bit in the Digest about drumming FLATTENED me! Outrageous! If anyone hasn't read it, go to the 3/23-24 Digest and read "Escapee from the Android (Drummer) Warehouse." Immediately! And prepare to clean up the dark spot on your pants!

Re: "Manchurian Candidate": just another indication that Steely currents run deep--I watched it the other night, and then saw Not My's post. Well, if you're the last person on earth to notice the connection, then I'm next to last. I dimly remembered it from about 35 years ago, and then Hank commented at some point on the solitaire ref. So Laurence Harvey and his platoon are ambushed during a sortie in the Korean War, taken by the Russians & friends to Manchuria, rapid-brainwashed, and returned to the ambush site. Harvey is now a killing machine who is triggered by the mention of a game of solitaire. When he plays and flips over the Queen of Diamonds, he is ready for explicit suggestions of whom to kill and how. Afterwards he has amnesia for his actions, of course. So "a nice relaxing hand of solitaire" is a ref to brainwashing--another type of gaslighting. (In the song, though, I don't get that Abbie is a latent assassin, just a victim.) The movie is still gripping, despite a really dorky fight scene between Frank Sinatra and the Korean bad guy and very dated Cold War stereotypes, e.g. the Korean bad guy. But those of us d'un certain age will remember the terror the Cold War and McCarthyism, which also gets skewered in this film, imparted. Some of the scenes will floor you. And another little Steely twist: Laurence Harvey's Dragon Lady mother is played by Angela Lansbury--who also played the conspiratorial tarty maid in "Gaslight." I can see why her character might be fascinating to the duo. Hank, that excerpt from the "Mojo" interview is just another indicator of your Steely-trap mind. Fabulous. (I think they meant Angela Lansbury, not Elsa Lanchester.) --So rent the thing! It's way worth it. And I'll bet you all have on a Steely grin from start to finish.

tom--e me, if you will. oleander1@earthlink.net

Midnite & Opti--thanx for the memories! The Rogues' Gallery--very well done.

There is justice dept.: 5 Oscars for "American Beauty."

JW Malibu has good points

the worst execution on the best analog equipment doesn't cut it
A great sax still sounds like coprolitic catastrophy when Candy Duffler plays it, and the worst pawn shop sax in the hands of Coletrane (never mind)

and some electronica can sound very soulful and musical

you stated Gabriel, Todd, Joni and another

but as much as I like Todd's eightes stuff (I'm a little put off by the electronic drum track at times), his analog 72 and 73 stuff is always the preferred path (S/A and AWATS)

as for Peter, his 4th and "US" albums lack the full soul
and I really miss Fripp's acoustic guitar colorations from the first two albums

Joni - I like Dolby but hate Dog Eat Dog
Dolby's Screen Kiss and The Flat Earth are stellar electronic examples. Eno always impressed me with his electronic pallette with a humane soulful touch.

I just think that the Dan would have been better suited with an unsampled live drum sound with the drummer allowed to vary a few milliseconds off the sampling track. I'll gladly hear it live. Viva Las Vegas and the Zion Jesus Brew Pub!

sorry I won;t speak on this subject again, I have trampled enough blooming flowers already. I always liked the album, but would have really loved it. I still go back to scam for it all.

It doesn't bother me a bit that David in The Florida Room performs accompanied by his own taped parts. After working with musicians in a lot of different bands for the last 30 years I can tell you it would be a pleasure not to have to deal with the guy who misses rehearsal or the guy who doesn't pay his bar tab at the end of the night or the lead singer who's ego is so big he has to make an entrance ten minutes before the first set while the band is sitting around wondering if he'll show up. Fortunately for me, the guys I'm working with now are above all that shit. Sometimes it takes a long time to get there. >>> Musicians is the CRAZIEST people. So Dave gets to just pay himself and that's it. He makes his living playing music while a lot of us are sitting in some god-forsaken cubicle at nine o'clock in the morning.
Doesn't bother me a bit.

Altamira,
If the musician recorded the stuff and plays it back to you, then you are hearing something, all right. A record. Not a performance.

Aja,
Well, sure, L.A., Vegas, all sounds fine to me.

I see St. Al has that Seattle disease of thinking it's superior to Southern Cal. Don't make me laf, Al, I've spent too much time up there with deadass, frozen-faced Nordics wearing smelly flannel. You don't have enough ethnics up there to make life interesting.

Midnite - Ok, that worked. Great pictures! Thanks for putting them all up on the website and assembling that great collage.

Robin: That would be us at Panera``s in Boardman.... lol

That-there Danfest sure looked like a gas. Wish I could have been there. BUT WHERE THE HELL IS MARTHA?

I figure its time to post a semi-official announcement regarding my intentions for the Summer tour. Unfortunately things are not going as I had planned. Because I just started a new job, it looks as though the only shows I'll be attending this year are here in the Northwest. I had intended to get to Vegas and LA, but it just isn't going to happen. Please don't let this preclude any of you from arranging a "Danfest" in Vegas or LA or wherever. There is a very slight possibility of a Midwest date for me, but that's it. I'll know more once the dates are announced.

Now, with this said, Diane (Jackofdays) and myself are arranging for one helluva wingding here in the great Northwest and YOU ARE ALL INVITED! So far I've gotten confirmation from at least a dozen individuals planning on flying out for the Gorge show. If you would like to be kept in the loop about how, what and where, please e-mail me and let me know. stalfnzo@seanet.com

Frustrating really. Had this tour occurred last year I would have been in a much better position both financially and job related to make a go of multiple dates. Frankly, Vegas is going to be expensive and almost impossible to get tix. And, as MonkeyBoy stated earlier I think LA (the land of concrete and dounuts) SUCKS. Sorry

I would encourage anyone who has never been to the Gorge to at least consider flying up. I'm going to go out on a limb here, but it is my GUESS the Gorge show will occur on June 2nd or 3rd. I am ONLY GUESSING. I have not been told this by some deep throat, I'm simply using the power of reasoning. The official site states the tour will begin on "May 31st in the Pacific Northwest." The 31st is a Wednesday. Unless Steely Dan wishes to play in front of a crowd of 3000, a thousand of whom are cows, they wont be playing the Gorge on a Wednesday or even Thursday night. In fact, I don't believe they schedule midweek shows unless all of the weekend dates are taken. Pollstar confirms the Gorge is not yet "booked" the weekend of the 3rd... Now, unless Steely Dan is planning on booking a week of warm-up dates in some cheesy bar in Belltown (a cheesy-chic place in Seattle), my guess is this will be the weekend.

I may be wrong but I'm usually not.

StAl

I'm back home again; my train was only 25 minutes late, despite a woman having a heart attack (in the car I was riding in) and being transferred to an ambulance in Richmond - Amtrak doesn't always run several hours late! I saw Robert Cray at the Tampa Bay Blues Festival in St. Petersburg, and the excellent keyboard player in his band had many of Donald's stage mannerisms and even looked a little bit like him - seeing and hearing him was kind of a virtual Donald experience. Cray was great; I heartily recommend his music. I found out that he had recorded a song called "Your Secret's Safe With Me" (he didn't perform it, but someone asked him to play it and my relative Tom confirmed that he had recorded the song); I heard that song in a local CVS a while back and thought I detected a strong Dan influence.

Midnite - Great collage! But I can't get the main page to download; I get a message saying that the site can't be found.

TheStranger - Yes, some one-man bands sound pretty bad, I heard a pretty sorry-sounding one in Captiva, on Sanibel Island, Friday night. But suppose the musician can play a number of instruments and records all the tracks that are downloaded to the computer that supplies the back-up sound, and then sings and plays drums or guitar over his own work. The musician is then using the computer to circumvent the time-space continuum and perform all the components of the song himself, and he can sound awfully good by doing so.

Aja - We all appreciate the music differently; I listened to Disc #4 of the box set a while back and enjoyed hearing it, but I still prefer to listen to TAN right now - I love that slick, polished sound, and there's some deeper emotion there if you listen for it. But it is different from the earlier work; to each her own.

Michael - Yes, definitely catch David's show if you can; he's most delightful to listen to and chat with, as well. I'm sure you'll enjoy meeting him.

sooutrageous....type or copy and paste the following URL into your location box and hit enter. that's all there is to it!

http://www.geocities.com/danfest2000/

MC

Hey guys, I can't seem to pull up the DanFest page at geocities. Can someone please assist me.
Thanks,
Steven

Check out the horns immediately after "Sew the mouth shut with rusty chicken wire." Reminds me of when California tumbled into the sea. Our heroes are experts at this. Made me laugh.

Sly Lou

Chris - I don't think there is actually another person called 'Jack of Speed'. To me 'Jack of Speed' is a metaphor for the drug Teddy's taking.
eg. He may be sitting in the kitchen, but he's stepping out with the jack of speed, means to me, that he may be sitting there in the kitchen, but he's 'using' and going on a mind trip. He's somewhere else.
Jack is almost like his 'alter ego'.
My thoughts anyway :)
I still don't see where the allusion to music and 'trading solo's comes from.

Fletch

at My Local Borders

thanks for all the sentiments on my health, esp. JW, Ruby and Aja
was told to stay home the end of last week
what a nice break to play ear candy all day long with no strings to tie one downith

how about chords to "what a shame about me"

as for the gal in the song hard up for the ghost man

please louise! she see's him from their old days together and he is capable of being presentable for a short period of time. He thinks "Boy I've really ran out of things to say, there goes another friendship and memories down the tubes" and she's of the opposite relm and deciding "wow, let's have a shag for old time sake" too too cool

why must the woman be looked at negatively? her self esteem is not in the toilet and she hardly appears hard up or vulnerable. My God, even I might look attractive to an old flame from way back then and my novel is no where near the publishing state yet

ho de ho

I take back everything I said about the staind on Aunt Faye's couch

tom the topsoilant one

red e 4 wes coast dan fest

Hutch....if you can get me the CD I can convert them to mp3's. There should be enough room left on the Dan Fest web page server to upload them there. Sort of "one stop shopping" for the whole event. Sounds & Pics in one site....that would be cool!

btw, I put a link to High Rollers there as well as a link to YGK's mp3's on IUMA. Hope you don't mind.

MC

Fletch- No, not trading four bar solos between Teddy and his Mom. Teddy is "trading fours" with the Jack Of Speed, wich I think means he's having a conversation. When you trade fours with someone in music, it sometimes is like a conversation... I think that's what Teddy and the Jack Of Speed are doing.

Midnite & Opti - The collage looks great. Beautiful work! I'll be sure Bill gets a copy. He already plans on framing the posts from you and Roy thanking him for the use of the studio.

Speaking of Bill... I was out there last Saturday before the gig and I heard the tape of our party jam. It sounds just great. Really good! There are about six false starts on "Red House" that we'll probably have to edit out. And unfortunately, the mic wasn't picking up Roy's vocal real well on his song. We're seeing what we can do about it. (It may take drastic measures. Roy... look out for an e-mail from me).
Once it's all put together Bill and I will burn a cd copy for each of the Danfesters. Maybe we can figure out a way to get some samples on mp3s on a site. I'm not a computer wiz so I'll have to leave that one up to someone else if anyone's interested.

Once again... great job on the collage guys!!!

Hutch

Just so I don't look like a complete idiot, let me just say that I was looking at the collage, not the regular pics (which clearly label who is who!). And on that note, the only person that I accurately matched the face with the name is Hank Silvers! Everyone else I got dead wrong-no wonder I lost the ODP match-the-title-with-the-picture contest.

That sure looked like a fun party. West Coasters, let's get ready!

aja

I believe the "Ridgemont High" character to which we are referring is that of Mike Damone, portrayed by none other than the immortal Robert Romanus. He was scalping tickets to an Ozzy Osbourne concert, BTW.

Stranger-they might not be amateurs, but I am (at least with computers). By the way, are you in for Danfest West?

Thanks, Midnite!

aja

aja....go to the DanFest Page and you can see who's who using the mouseover that The Stranger describes....no such luck with the collage though!

http://www.geocities.com/danfest/2000 for the full page, or:
http://www.geocities.com/danfest/2000/DanFestRichmondCollage.jpg for just the collage....still doing a bit of debugging too so bear with me!

MC

Okay, as long as I'm bucking for Fever Dreams immortality, here's another:

Lou Garue (in the title track) is a homophone for the French word meaning "Werewolf"--my Bloomberg says it's spelled "loup-garou."

I only know this because it's in a Raffi song we have in the car, and my wife translated it for me. Raffi meets the Dan--tell me it's not a wonderful world.

Aja, just point at the pic without calling it up. the name will pop up. What do you think? These guys are amateurs?

dleestan,
I am impressed by your profundity. To liken me to a character in "Ridgemont High" indicates the depth of your pereception, knoweldge and breadth of world experience. You must read a lot, too, although I expect much of your conversation is rooted in whatever was on TV the night before. Anyway, you didn't even bother to address the question. Please don't. Just stay cool.

clas,
OK, you've got me cornered, because after all, I am human. I don't like ALL of the gbook CD, but I actually am quite impressed with almost all of it. Wouldn't be fair to say what's what.

JwMalibu,
See, I didn't even know how much input the artists have in programming the computer thingamajiggers they use instead of live people. Thanks for filling me in, but I'm still not crazy about them. Maybe that's why I don't have a cell phone.

MidNITE Cruiser-great collage-but where are the names? I'd love to know who is who.

aja

The actress in WASAM is taking a lot of flack for suggesting sex, or as some refer to as a pitty fuck. I don`t think she is wrong to want to have a old school fling, at least she wasn`t rude and seems like she enjoyed their relationship...... cut her some slack....Manchurian Candidate twist will surely make Oleanders site....The criticism of the drum machine on WOH is getting as repititous as the machine itself....Did SD ever play Daddy Don`t Live In N.Y or Only A Fool on a 90`s Tour?

The artists formely known as the Bard boys once set up an award for info of the whereabouts of El Rey del Timbale (a.k.a. Tito Puente)- the King of Mambo. For what reason? I can´t hear anything near to a mambo or a cha-cha-cha on the new one. Maybe they didn´t find him?

Clas - Spring??? Looks like the took all of the "things" you said including the spring. In southern Sweden it´s cold as, well, at the northpole. ...

Rolling Stone (3/16/00, p.72) - 3.5 stars out of 5 - "...[The album] is Steely Dan defined....mixing world-class chops and jazzy postgraduates soul sound with some wonderful, vague storytelling....stunning musical clarity....showcasing what Steely Dan's core twosome can do..." Vibe (4/00, p.183) - "...musically [they] are in their prime....this is the only band that truly understands how James Brown's scratchy grooves and the Eagles' lite-rockin' appeal aren't mutually exclusive. These OGs flex their trademark dark wit like it never went out of style..." Mojo (3/00, p.102) - "...Sharp, sleek, sophisticated, more going on than a couple of spins can take in and seductive enough to keep drawing you back. 9 tracks, some a little cooler, funkier or jazzier than others...and all top-form. Quintessentially Steely Dan." Entertainment Weekly (3/10/00, pp.68-9) - "...The core elements are unchanged: white-hot chops, black humor, and a flair for the cryptic....their ensemble sound remains sharp and inimitable....proves that you [still] 'can' buy a thrill." NME (3/4/00, p.35) - 7 out of 10 - "...exquisite....still hermetically sealed in an exclusive world where the pursuit of the immaculate 'chop' is paramount, [they] are the only men in history to make the concept of the cerebral muso remotely tantalising..."

Bob & Howard....I used to think of myself as a musician but you guys are the real shit!

Dan Fest Collage if you'd be interested in seeing it is at:

http://www.geocities.com/danfest2000/DanFestRichmondCollage.jpg
or
http://www.geocities.com/danfest2000/DanFestCollage.jpg

that second link is the same pic only larger (and slower to load)

MC

Hi Howard,

Your link worked and I was able to get the snippet of "Negative Girl", and it was almost exactly as I had figured it. On JOS, I spell the "..he's changed".. part: Emi11 L.H. E, G (10th); R.H. B,D,E,A; A7 G,C#,E; Dmi9 F,A,C,E; G9 F,G,B,D. These on on the piano of course. L.H.=Left Hand, R.H. Right Hand. On the beginning of JOS, I hear F#mi7 with a fourth, and the chord is broken , never played as a whole Fmi7(add 4) this technique being one of the real hallmarks of SD/Fagen craft. There's something else going on in that intro that I haven't got figured all the way, something with D in bass, and then A in bass; all related to the F#.

I'm really stumped on so much of the stuff on other songs. Would really like to get "Gaslighting" and "Janie" down, along with JOS Very hard to hear what's going on. It's just plain beautiful.

Bob

Bob - the "musical extract" was on one of the earlier SD.com front pages. Try:

http://www.steelydan.com/oldindex27.html

I'll have to listen again to the JOS chords. I'm pretty sure about the D/E and C/D (cf. your Em11 Dm9), but hadn't decided on whether the other two chords were simple A and G or whether there was a 7th in there somewhere ...

In case it makes a difference:

my D/E (low to high) = E D F# A

(add a G and you get your Em11?)

and C/D = D C E G

What are the spellings for your Em11 and Dm9?

It would be nice to compare notes on the chords to the chorus of N. Girl - lots of cluster type chords ...

My version should be up on my site in a day or two - I'll let you know.

Howard

Bob - You seem to have a great ear like our old buddy Howard Wright. Check out his site...

http://www.ph.ed.ac.uk/~haw/music/tabfiles.html

Great Steely tabs there. And lots of others as well.

Howard,

Thanks for the input. By the way, where do I get the "musical extract" from the SD website? Must've missed it thus far. Also, on Jack of Speed, for ..."he's changed..." chords are Emi11, A7, Dmi9, G9.

You can take my arms, my eyes, my dog, my sallad, my brain, my dick, but you can never take the spring away from me!

If anyone's interested, here are a few J of Speed chords to try:

Intro:

F#m7 E/F# F#m7 E/F# (repeat once)
F#m7 E/F# D6/9 F#m7
F#m7 Bm7 D6/9 F#m7

the verse chords use these smae shapes, plus a few others ...

For the intro and verse chords, stick to the Steely tradition of triad in the right hand, single note in the left. For the main F#m7 E/F# riff, you have triads of A and E in the right hand, keeping the E as the top note.

Howard

#9 in Canada:
http://news.excite.ca/news/ap/000326/09/music-albums-tracks-list

#19 on Billboard:
http://news.excite.com/news/ap/000324/10/ent-music-charts

From the Toledo (OH) Blade - lacks passion who is he kidding:
http://www.toledoblade.com/editorial/sounds/0c26cds.htm

Bob - you're already ahead of me with those Neg Girl chords! I've started writing the guitar chords out to add to my page, but I've not quite finished yet.

Anyhow, here's a few thoughts:

Intro chords - I hear m11 chords as well as m9, e.g:

Gm11 Ebm9 Fm11 Dbm9

pretty close to your m9 chords though - only an extra note here and there.

Next, the C/G E/G as you said, then Emadd9 and Esus2sus4

then:

C/G E/G F13

C/Bb Fsus2 C/Bb Am11

Bbm7 Bbm6 Gm7 C7#9

Abmaj7 Abmaj6 ... then go to the official SD website and read the musical extract!

A few differences to what you had, but a lot of common ground too.

Were you working out on guitar or piano? If guitar, did you have specific voicings/shapes in mind?

Howard

JW: Well stated. As Peter Gabriel sings on the last track of his album, "So", "We do what we're told to do."

In other words, the machine may hold the brush but the musician feeds the machine.

Happy Listening,

SEMB

Miz Ducky - damn! But thanks anyway.

THE Stranger - so you lied when you said you liked the Sign In Stranger-cd "Technicolor Motorhome"?

Hutch - oh man, the Ice Hotel is far north, I never travel north of Stockholm. Hate it up north. There's only mountains and snow in the winter, mountains and flies in the summertime. Very scary. And there's hundreds of miles to the nearest doctor.

Audi and out from the cleanest hippie in the kitchen,

C

RICHMOND DAN FEST 2000 PICTURE GALLERY IS NOW UP AND RUNNING! ***

VISIT US AT:

http://www.geocities.com/danfest2000/

PLEASE SIGN THE GUEST BOOK WHEN YOU'RE THROUGH CHECKING OUT THE GALLERY!!!

*** note: this version of the gallery has been heavily edited from what was originally posted for those who were there. hope you enjoy!

Check out the links to YGK's music and Hutch's High Roller Band!

Midnite Cruiser & OptiMystic

would someone PLEASE send me a sound clip attachment via e-mail of the famous "introduction" on the song Bodhisattva from decade of steely dan? you know, the one where the drunk/stoned guy introduces the band and can't remember their name? he kept calling them "mr. whatever".

I have some interesting amateur interview sound clips of donald fagen for trade

Yeah, Fletch. Very confusing song. For example, I don't think anyone has actually ever gone the speed of light, much less skated backwards at it. And, like, how can someone be "Teddy" and "Jack" at the same time? Is this an allusion to the Kennedys?

I have turned on my "DorkScreen" software to keep objectionably literal-minded content off my computer.

Not my nancy - 'trading four bar solo's'??
That don't make sense to me though. It doesn't say either the Jack, or his woman are musicians? And why would they be solo-ing if she stayed? lol...perhaps I'm just confused.
The swear-word thing seems to work for me more.

Stranger: I like you. Inevitably, though, you remind me of the scalper character in Fast Times at Ridgemont High.
(His name? Anyone?)
If it's not in the dictionary, you don't get it.

JWMalibu your take on drums is incredible.
Sorry, a waste of finger movement.

Unless you're able to read my own handwriting/script, the meaning of what I write will be diminished. Surely the computer/hypertext diminishes the meaning of what I write.

Two Against Nature is the long awaited breath of fresh air.
A great bridge to the 21st Century.
The perfect art crime in an imperfect world.

GO TO THIS GNARLEY PAGE!!! IT'S TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!!

www.liespeopletell.com

CHECK IT OUT TODAY!!!!

Oops!! That first C chord is a Cmaj7(#5)..Sorry about that!

I've never seen "The Manchurian Candidate" on the screen, but all this talk got me curious so I found a detailed plot synopsis somewhere on the net

http://www.filmsite.org/manc.html

Be aware this synopsis is totally Spoiler City regarding the movie plot. Me, I didn't care that I was being spoiled. :-)

Anyhow--wow, does that movie ever sound creepy! Several orders of magnitude beyond "Gaslight!" Adds a whole new dimension to "Gaslighting Abbie" the song--now I'm wondering what in hell else the cheerful psychopaths did to Abbie's brain, let alone her deck of cards.

/the Mam'zelle
not playing with a full deck

So for those interested in chords for the intro to Negative Girl: Gmi7(add 9), Ebmi7(add 9), Fmi7(add 9), Dbmi7 (add 9), Dbmi7 (add 4) then C in bass, w/G and then E triads on top (both triads in 2nd inversion, this effectively defines a CmiMa7 chord). Next we have Esus (.."couch somewhere") Repeat and then Bb6 alernating w/Bb(b5) .."I wait..", A7sus, Bbmi then G7sus C, Cmi Abma7, Ab6 followed by the F# to E figure. This should give anyone interested a start.

Hank: Great find!! Musta been telepathy but as we were watching the PBS tape this morning - the kids are hooked on Gaslighting Abbie as well as Janie Runaway - this burrow in my brain was buggin' me again that GL had something to do with Walter and Donald getting together, shedding Jay and the Sicilians, then putting together Can't Buy a Thrill ("a little tweak and then she's out of here"). I think Hoops proclaimed, then retracted, the songwriting notion a while back. It's one of those recurrent themes/allegorical MOs...a reach, but have to "analyze this" now.

fezo-- thanks! I appreciate it!

Thanks, Hank. I knew I wudn't crazy.

DrMu-- I have that picture up as my wallpaper.

KD/Not My Nancy:

Becker: Some of Jay's friends were the same guys from Good Fellas - they were not all fictional characters. I think what his life was like - he was married to the niece of one of the guys, which I think was a survival move: he was levering himself up into a position where he could be forgiven some debts. We would see them once in a while around the office. Some guys would come in and say, 'Hey Jay! Whyn't you get these guys to take a fuckin' haircut?' Or they'd come backstage after show and say, 'Hey Jay, your voice sounded beautiful, but that drum, that fuckin' drum's givin' me a headache! Can you tell 'em to turn down that fuckin' drum?!'

Fagen: See, now you can't help talking about this stuff, it's like you're in a groove...

Becker: I know. I'm programmed. It's like The Manchurian Candidate. In fact, I'm thinking of going over to Elsa Lanchester's house after the interview!

Fagen: How about a game of solitaire to pass the time?

Becker: Good idea! I'm thinking of catching the Senator's speech later, down at the Press Club. Wanna come with me? You can carry some of my stuff. See, I've identified with my captors now - I'm thinking of going into journalism.

-- Mojo, October 1995 (see http://www.steelydan.com/mojo.html)

What kind of a woman is Franny? Can't Little Miss Hollywood do any better than a pity fuck of old college boyfriend after all these years? Who's the real loser? What a shame about her. Bitch.

Hi, a huge fan here. Very interested in how to play some of the new stuff on piano. I have a very good ear, but find it very challenged on 2vN! Have figured out a few snippets here and there, like the intro to Negative Girl, some stuff from Jack of Speed, but much remains. Of course I will buy the 2VN music book when it comes out, but in the meantime, do any other keyboard players want to talk?

kidz if you want some fun:

http://www.geocities.co.jp/MusicStar/6433/index.html

If we could only get our lame duck leader to realize that his best chance at a legacy is to pimp the new one ;-)

Oh, MP3 of 2ndA demo link there...

Fletch- I agree with the folks who said "trading fours" means trading four-bar solos. But I'll bet the four-letter word interpretation crossed D&W's minds and they liked it.

"Trading eights" has an internal consonance that would keep the line moving a little more. (I've got a lot of nerve, copy-editing Becker & Fagen, but this is all among friends.) I will grant that hearing Fagen sing "fours" gives the world a classic FagenVowels(tm) moment--"tradin' FAHHWNS." Right there with "ain't nothin' in Chicago for a monkey woman to do -- AHH-EH-YAH-HAAAWWN."

KD- that's gotta be it, don't you think?

TvN is still in the Billboard top twenty I see; ahead of all the other prominent 2/29 releases, unless one counts Bone Thugs and Harmony as prominent. I can name that tune in 116 notes.

Some other chart notes . . . the other 2/29 release ahead of our heroes is "Hooray for Boobies". Sounds more to me like the appropriate B-side for Janie Runaway . . . how in the hell is "Californication" still in the top thirty aftre almost a year? It was one of my favorites of 1999 but the content doesn't seem to fit the typical profile of a long running hit.

KD: great interview with the Mavs owner. you ask some questions that aren't the typical journalistic faire. fun to read.

JW Mal - that last post almost brought tears to my eyes.....

Don & Walt should put you on staff!

Q

Not my nancy - didn't someone say 'trading fours' meant swapping swear words? Is this the meaning you take from it? I have no clue myself....lol

Fletch

Susie-Q.....I feel the same way(s).

I'm also Indiana, Lafayete, but only since 1996.

And I'm also 19, so that might (screw) things up.

I have always been a huge SD fan, at least since I was 11yrs old and heard "PEG" for the first time, and I've been hooked ever since ... I have been provoked to introspection, moved to tears, I always FELT the songs ... the intricacies of the lyrics and arrangements prove that Walter and Don are true artists in the purest sense in that what they create is definitely ART ... thankful for all the greats from the past and looking forward to future hits.

I have always been a huge SD fan, at least since I was 11yrs old and heard "PEG" for the first time, and I've been hooked ever since ... I have been provoked to introspection, moved to tears, I always FELT the songs ... the intricacies of the lyrics and arrangements prove that Walter and Don are true artists in the purest sense in that what they create is definitely ART ... thankful for all the greats from the past and looking forward to future hits.

I have always been a huge SD fan, at least since I was 11yrs old and heard "PEG" for the first time, and I've been hooked ever since ... I have been provoked to introspection, moved to tears, I always FELT the songs ... the intricacies of the lyrics and arrangements prove that Walter and Don are true artists in the purest sense in that what they create is definitely ART ... thankful for all the greats from the past and looking forward to future hits.

Here's my take on the drum machine/loops/sequencing issue ~

Granted...taking into account the probable recording budget that "Two Against Nature" had, it's only natural to question why drum loops/sequencing were used ~ especially since we're so used to hearing excellent live drumming/percussion on previous SD releases (excluding the solo work). On the other hand, D&W have repeatedly stated that they like a "straight-ahead" beat which doesn't distract from the melodic/harmonic development. Some have suggested that the overt metronomic looping in "West of Hollywood" was intentional; used to evoke the seconds ticking away in a therapy session...maybe, maybe not. I agree that the looping in "WOH" in particular is noticably repetitive, and I can only assume that is effect they were going for. I look at the loops & samples as yet another color on the musical palette....not meant to REPLACE real percussion...much in the same way Max Ernst used old steel engravings in his art.

As for drum machines, sequencers, samplers etc...I've seen people sit down in front of Bosendorfer pianos and play bad renditions of "Hearts & Soul"...I've also seen people like Joni Mitchell, Todd Rundgren, Frank Zappa & Peter Gabriel who've taken these "machines" and crafted incredibly beautiful music with them. I've heard drum programming that even I, who has been fiddling with these gadgets for close to 30 years, SWORE it was a real drummer. I've heard sequenced music that was so emotional it brought tears to my eyes. The type of brush does not make the art, the artist does...and these tools are just another color of paint on our collective palette...NOT meant to replace another color, but to add...

Not My Nancy- I did think the same thing, but only because it reminded me of a Don and Walt interview, don't remember from where or when, in which the movie is brought up, and Mr. Fagen (I think) asks Walt if he wants to dole out a hand of solitare. I'm probably remembering the circumstance wrong, but I've had a few too many Diet Cokes with some other substances involved. JB, you bastard.

Also, in that Bernard Hoskyns (sp?) book that Ms. Oleander pointed me at, 'Waiting for the Sun,' it mentions Cass Elliot being addicted to a downer called Dilaudid, or some other spelling. Either way, the sound of the spelling in the book is the same as they way D+W wrote and sang in my favorite song on the new Steely Dan album.

Apparently Jim Carrey and Renee whatshernameegger are an item thanks to 'Me, Myself, and Irene.' C'est la vie. C- French student in high school. Laters.

Chat anyone? 8pm PST, 11pm EST

/The Mam'zelle

http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=5481

ME, MYSELF AND IRENE review....

Folks, this is the best film from the Farrellys yet. Is it funnier than KINGPIN or THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY? Well, that’s subjective, but I’d say it’s right in there. But what I mean by it being their best film is that the narrative and story are genuinely wonderful.

It’s very hard to review a comedy, especially a Farrelly comedy without giving some stuff away, but I’m going to try to do it.
The Chicken Sex Scene with a tad of bondage is fantastic. You’ll remember that one for a very long time, though I can tell you... Right now, this very second... You’ve got the WRONG image in your head.

Sorry, getting ahead of myself there.

The film is about a Rhode Island Motorcycle Cop with a serious bout of schizophrenia. You see, one side of Carrey (Charlie) is a nice sensitive non-commital pussy, and the other side of Carrey (Hank) is this breast-feeding dildo loving aggressive pansy raunchmeister.

Carrey is not pulling a MASK here... nor is he really channeling any of his other characters. His aggressive side is... well, something to behold.

I guess the early seeds of this character would be seen in Matt Dillon’s Pat Healy character, but... that is just a starting point. This character will drag your brain through funny shit so rank that you’ll run home and exhaust your supply of Q-Tips and Lysol.

However, the best part of the whole film. And what makes this movie friggin GREAT, is this.... Charlie (Carrey) has three large Black Men (it is not like Kaufman on Letterman btw) as his sons.

What’s brilliant about them is that while they are black and highly influenced by the humor and language of standup acts like Richard Pryor through Chris Rock.... They are absolute geniuses.
The humor and chemistry with these guys is priceless. It’s a GREAT comedy trio. Everything that The Fat Boys wanted to be, but with a new comedic twist that just had me howling.

I don’t know anything about these guys, there were no credits, but man oh man.... They are going to be hugely popular. 10 to 1, they’ll have either their own television series (boo!) or film franchise (yes! Yes! YES!) to play in for the future. They were pure magic together. Do not separate these guys!

The albino that the fella on COMING ATTRACTIONS said was Chris Elliot... WAS NOT CHRIS ELLIOT. He was a real albino. And that’s a key.

You see, the Farrellys love to bring in unique faces and characters. Large breasted women, the mentally disabled, farm animals, albinos, midgets/dwarfs/little peoples and so on.

They have the good sense to realize that just stuffing a bunch of used to be funny has-been comedians into a film and have them stare wide-eyed at a sight gag... is just plain boring.

However, populating the film in the real world, and completely throwing out ‘politically correctness’, playing with sight gags and raunchiness.... talking about everything from paraplegic love to necrophilia to... whatever it may be... Well... That’s funny.

At one point in the film, they basically turn the Albino character into the penguin in THE WRONG TROUSERS, for all intents and purposes.

Also, when things happen, they don’t pull the punch. They follow through.

Renee Zellwegger? She’s adorable and cute and is very good as the dame in the midst. Her explaining to Charlie about a sex issue that gets brought up is friggin hilarious.
This film is riot funny. I missed whole segments of the film because my eyes were teared up and squeezed shut from laughter. Shit, the mascara was even running like a toxic river behind Mr Burns’ power plant.

All I know, is this film is going to play like a mofo all summer long. This is real damn funny, and hell... they’re not even finished with it.

But mark my words... Those three black children/grown men of Jim Carrey’s in this movie... They are going to be stars!

I love 2vN. Here's what I don't like:

-General renunciation of hooks. (Sometimes Cousin Dupree sounds almost like it's mocking the idea of melodic hooks.)
-Soloists' failure to find passion/rage. (I contrast Aja, which also had exquisite structure but moments of wild release--Shorter, Gadd, e.g.)
-Schmalzy little keyboard figure segue Fagen drops into Jack of Speed right before the second verse (1:13, then again at 4:06).
-"Trading fours" is great poetry--except "fours," the word, sounds wrong. Could it have been "trading eights"?
-The really shallow sound on the snare.

Liking so many things, though...right now...

-The way Potter hints that the end is coming in his West of Hollywood, gradually working the dominant chord right before the ending resolution.
-The way Barney's bass in Gaslighting Abbie moves from sycopation to even quarters after "lil' Miss Abbie--bye-bye" (1:12)... very '70s disco, retro but spot-on cool.
-Am I the last person in America to realize that "a nice relaxing hand of solitaire" in Abbie is the line used in Manchurian Candidate to trigger the pre-programmed assassination plot? Kinda cute.
-Just about everything about What a Shame About Me...I'm reading the speaker's response to the proposition as a disarming way of saying he's a loser, but he's not going to be used, especially by someone who's gotten everything in life. Anyone? Anyone?

Bigfan- Sorry but I didn't catch any of the shows at the Wilkes-Barre arena. I think you're correct about the name of the facility.
Can't say for sure about the CSNY gig, may not have happened. There is a very large outdoor venue in the Poconos at the Montage Ski resort. It's mid-way between scranton and Wilkes-barre. They've hosted Hoarde, Lallapalooza and Lilith Fair.Anyone have any suggestions for a northeast Danfest. I'll also throw my hat in the ring to help host a NYC get-together.

Agree that Aja album has seductive powers. I can personally attest to it. Whatever.

HAVEN'T WE FINISHED WITH THIS DRUM MACHINE THING YET?

Drum machines can sound bad for a couple reasons...

The sounds can fall short of the mark... or...

The programming sucks.

Many of the one man bands I've heard use the damn presets, and loop the same 4/4 pattern ad nauseum. They must die.

But, a drum machine can also be used to move individual hits back and forth in tiny increments to put them right smack dab in the pocket, to replace a flubbed note, or to replace a sound completely.

I find nothing at all "cheating" to think that a drummer's performance was recorded, his snare drum isolated, one hit was sampled, and then he played that sample from triggers. Then those MIDI events were further tweaked back and forth in time to make it perfect.

Someone once told me they could ALWAYS identify a drum machine. I said "...bullshit. You might be able to tell bad drum machine usage, but how do you know you haven't been fooled by good programming?"

Received this e-mail at the website:

From ChairmanWow@aol.com

At 4pm on http://www.ThePublicRadioStation.com will be debuting my new rock'n'roll show, The Electric Explosion. This week it is a glorious 1.5 hour retrospective of Steely Dan. It is full of great music.... and my own uniquely stupid commentary. All you need is Real Player G2 or better.

If you miss it Sunday, it is on several times during the week. There is a schedule on the website. Enjoy.

On Thursday afternoon, VH1 played the live, PBS version of 'Cousin Dupree' as a video, and announced that the 'Storytellers' program will air on May 1st. The official page hasn't confirmed this. Also, later in the afternoon I saw a TV advertisement on VH1, playing clips from the PBS special with actual 'TvN' audio over the top. Hey, it's not like I'm watching a whole lot of VH1...

allmusic.com has given 'TvN' four stars, but no review has been posted yet. I'm anxious to see what Stephen-Thomas E says.

Also, heard "Reelin' in the Years" in an airport yesterday, with some soprano sax-sounding keyboard playing the vocal melody and the twin lead break. I, well, I laughed...

Howdy, DanFanGangLand!!

Glad to hear Altamira's nice review of David's band set----can't wait to visit Florida and see him sometime.

Speaking of Florida, I would definitely concur with Q about the live "Memphis Blues Again" set with a fantastic version of "Show Biz Kids" with Mike McDonald leading up the vocal.

If any of you are interested in a tape of this, let me know!!

Smile, heck it's Saturday!!

Saludos!!

Michael
; )

In the spirit of the 70's song "18 With A Bullet," which reached exactly that spot on the Billboard charts, the magazine shows some sense of history this week:

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000324/en/music_charts_13.html

Hey...#19.

A while back someone (thank you, someone) posted one of the many Becker/Fagen TAN interviews in which they mentioned there were at least some intact snatches of drum machine on the tracks. This has been bothering me. I know B&F were well-intentioned, trying for the best sound they could get. They were also honest. But drum machines are painting by the numbers. A crossover from art to technical bullshit. One of the great musical ripoffs of the last 20 years has been the preponderance of these one-man bands. You walk into a bar and they have one guy with a combination computer thing that lays down the beat and background while he lays out some stuff of his own. It's a desecration. Let him just play a piano or guitar on his own and that's fine. But as soon as he uses some programmed machine to take the place of musicians, the whole thing turns phony.

On tan, I did notice that there is not a whole lot of creative drum work. I'm thinking of West of Hollywood, where you just have a 2/4 incessant drum beat. (Correct me if I'm wrong here, cause I am not a musician). At the same time, I love W of H. It starts out as a competent pop/rock tune and progresses into fantastic jazz riffs, almost as though it were a progression of the art of Steely Dan itself. We have a lot of musicians on this board. Please educate me. But be gentle. I'm sensitive (just kidding, lay into me. Tell me why I'm right or wrong).

I'd consider myself lucky to get away with $85 tix! I was expecting 2-3x that. I'm still voting for at least giving Vega$ a shot (or would that be pull?)

Beast w/o A Name-hope you enjoyed your stay! I wouldn't hold my breath for another LBB show from the Steely Damned, though the last word I got from lovebob is that they may start doing some out of town shows. Nothing concrete yet.

Minor Dude-well, good thing I'm not trying to seduce you! Actually, those soaring horns throughout the album put me in a VERY romantic mood, and my maybe-beau appears to be responding the same way. The tone of wistful longing in the title cut is irresistable to me, and of course, the long instrumental is perfect for some close, slooooooooooooow dancing.

I'm with you regarding the tone of 2vN. I think that's why it's currently on the shelf instead of in the CD player. Even though I think the musicianship is phenomenal, I find myself turning to the other albums. Or maybe it's just because it's springtime and my thoughts are turning to.....

aja

yes, that was intended irony, Gaucho Amigo

ha,ha,ha

(any minordude): Hey I love some Wilcox myself. Ironically, many of his songs are about people with, let's say, difficulties of one sort or another. We're not talking John Denver here and even he wrote about "pass(ing) the pipe" around the campfire. The songs of Wilcox and the songs of SD retain a sense of warmth and HEART despite being about confused or deluded people. D&W are merely twisted romantics. Sentimentalists? Definitely. Nostalgists? Absolutely. The best music comes out of love & it's inherent pains, not hate & it's attributes. That's what's wrong with many current styles of music and why virtually none of it will be memorable. That and the fact that it sucks.

Miz D.: I love to hear more proverbs of Danvangelism (there, I've joined them). All the kids that work for me are solidly and irretrievably cultified. Hell, tomorrow at whatever soirre' I am performing at, in addition to our daily bread, they will be drinking from a large breaktime goblet of the wine of Dan Valley's newest vintage. Sharin' the love, y'all.

Aha, another Puget Sounder! Howdy, Mike--there's a bunch of us on this board, including our gracious host StAl.

Yeah, one of my favorite things about that PBS show is watching Donald in performance mode. What a trip! A friend who taped it turned me on to this trick: view that bit at the end of Pretzel Logic, when Donald loses his glasses, in slow motion. His facial expressions are nothing short of astonishing!

/the Mam'zelle
who has no business being awake at this hour of the night, er, morning, er, whatevah

Midnite - I checked my e-mail before I left home around 11:30 AM on Thursday and the pictures hadn't arrived yet. Whatever you want to put up is fine with me, as long as my hair isn't sticking up or anything. ;^) I trust your judgment.

David in the Florida Room - Great show, man! You sounded fabulous. It was great to finally meet you in real life. Tom (a member of my family)and I enjoyed listening to you, and we enjoyed chatting with you as well. The Dan set was a real pleasure to hear, and I was delighted to hear you perform the Clapton song - since you sound so much like him, I had been curious to hear you do one of his songs - most appropriate. Playing TAN on the sound system was a great afterword to your set; we could hear it all the way out on the pier.

Tom just asked me to bookmark the GB for him; I had been telling him that this is a great place to chat about recording equipment and other musical topics, so I guess I piqued his interest.

Sorry about my previous post where I neglected to come up with a cute moniker and false address. Wait a second, isn't Federal Way Washington obliquely refered to in the Becker song "Surf and/or Die"? Anyway, I'll gradually trim the name & address info in subsequent posts until I am largely unrecognizeable and totally irrelevent. By the way, where the hell is the spell checker located on this thing?

Just finished watching the PBS special for the 2nd time. At the end of Pretzel Logic it appears as though Donald really enjoyed himself. In fact, he's a fuckin mad man behind the keyboard! Glasses falling off etc. etc. Now this is what I call entertainment. Great show, and Walter blows me away on them gut strings.

Chat anyone?

aja- wooing with Aja, huh? hmmm...I don't find that album that romantic for some reason....lol.
In fact, recently, I have been thinking of the Dan, 'Get over it, and write something positive!!'. Maybe another Any Major Dude or something.
Don't know why they have to concentrate on lowlifes and misfits of society all the time. That's what's kinda stopping me from recommending 2vN to anyone. It's sleaze covered with treacle....lol
I do like the album, but, there's enough in the world to bring me down already without listening to tales of junkies and sexual deviants.
Time for me to put on some David Wilcox (How Did You Find Me Here, is a good one), and clean the system out a bit :)

(any) Minor Dude.

chris nubies
it was from an e mail.

deferring to odp,
p

NOOO! They're starting in the NW! Over Mem Day! This ain't Fair! We got 2 cars doing their bi-annual big buck breakdowns.. I'm hustlin' logs to pay for 'em & now I gotta scramble for another shoebox full of cash for tickets.. And Portland? The Rose Garden? I'm short vacation days at work & dollars for tickets and the Gorge is an 8 hour haul.. And Freezing at night this time of year.. But.. I'll make it.. (sigh).. somehow.. i always dooo...
(but it ain't gettin' any easier...)
Meeting The Challenge Of the NW Frontier..

Art C- You know what's really ironic? That you posted what you did under a false name! What a Shmuck, I mean Shame about you!

Had my first TvN sighting out and about today. Gaslighting Abbie was playing at a local Trader Joe's on the beautiful Monterey Peninsula. Lovely way to start my weekend whilst buying some luscious wines on a Friday evening.

I haven't been able to stop playing the new one since Leap Day. But hearing it played somewhere other than my house or car was something special. Don't ask me why. Just was.

Still sorting out the lyrics, 'course, that's true to some extent for a lot of what they've written. Things keep changing.

Can hardly wait for their announcement of actual dates and venues. Caught all the Shoreline shows in the '90s, and would love to do Shoreline, Concord, Sacto, etc. if they really hit all of those venues. We shall see.

Enjoy it all ~

Aja: Thanks much for the hospitality offer. I'm on a whirlwind visit... family, meeting up with my fiancee and visiting friends in LA then exploring Palm Springs..

Amazing when you visit family. Almost as soon as you get there.. the idiosynchracies begin to drive one nuts.

Hopefully, the Steely Damned will once again make their way to The Big Apple to LBB, where I will definitely take in the gig..
perhaps even sit in and blow a sax solo.. I'm no Lou Marini, but no slouch, either..

I am the king of the world as far as I know, well me and Wendel anyway. I know the story with the music union.

Signal...

Tour info is beginning to trickle in. At the Meadows (Hartford, CT) site they've got an "Ask Jimmy" link. Jimmy being Jim Koplick, concert promoter extraordinaire and president of the Meadows Amphitheater. The guy's been around forever promoting stuff in Connecticut.

Anyhow, I asked when and how much for the Dan this summer and I got back the following...

"It looks like July 9. Tix will go on sale April 8 and the tix are $85 $65 and $25."

I guess the ticket gouging rumors are not unfounded after all. $25 for the lawn is about right but anything under the roof is gonna be $65 and up...

I'm there regardless...

And thanks to all who have downloaded the 2vN Screen Saver and CDSD... Hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed creating them...

Minah, what a shame about you(?)

Big Fan and others, isn't it a shame people aren't mature enough to point out mistakes among regular GBers in a way which delivers the point ,but still preserves respect for the "sinner".
Most disturbing, of course, is that such people do not have the character/decency to post under their real id's. I guess it's because they are actually embarrassed by what they are saying.
How ironic.

Altamira....I've gotten limited approval on pics from everyone. I guess you don't have access to your e-mail since you're in Florida. Do you think you'll have any objections to the pics? I don't want to post the URL here until everything is edited per approval of the attendees. I'm working 12 hours tomorrow and will do the final edit Sunday morning and hope to post the URL here Sunday afternoon. If you get a chance let me know what you think. Hi to David in the Fla Room!!

Have fun stormin' the castle!

MCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

Hutch-it was a little thank you for something nice he did for me (he fixed something mechanical-and I got to be the damsel in distress).

But you're welcome to beam on out here anytime-the weather's beautiful and the music is playing!

aja

joe - Stick around... it gets better.

Hey! Any of you collectors of rare Dan ever heard of Shout to the Top Records (label) and a live boot of some Calif. shows entitled "Naked Lunchboard"? A friend of mine saw something about it in the current Ice Magazine.

aja - You give gifts to your prospective beaus? Gosh...
Scotty... beam me to San Diego!

Alta - Hope you have a great time in Florida darlin'. Say howdy to David for me.

Clas - Have you ever been to the Ice Hotel in Sweden? I saw a story on the TV news about it a while ago. Amazing... a hotel made entirely of ice with all the furnishings made of ice. An ice bar and even ice glasses to drink from.

nice site

I've been working on a new maybe-beau (with a bruised heart) and my first gift to him was "Aja" (I liked the mood better than 2vN for seduction-I'll save 2vN when I'm ready to get serious). Last night I had to drop off something at his place (while wearing my prettiest dress, of course) and when I got there he had "Aja" playing. I think he's falling (ooooh, this is the best part)!

aja

When my mail stream (not to be confused with my male stream) slowed to a trickle I guess I might have suspected the worst, but:

...my email server has the 24 clap...

Oleander, I need another one of those shots. This will be the last time...I promise.

oh well, Beast, I'd bag thinking about *my* hospitality and consider doing some dime dancing with aja to loveBob's Rockola...

mW

Heheheheheh ... I've just succeeded in perverting--oops, I mean converting!--another of my twenty-something friends to the First Church of Dan. This one is a co-worker of mine here at Ye Olde Evil Empire of Redmond WA. I had been burbling on at him for some weeks now about Dannish stuff in general and the buildup for 2vN in particular. This had motivated him at least to the level of saying "gee, I'd be interested in hearing this new album." I immediately lent him my office copy of 2vN (bought specifically for attempts to seduce--I mean convert!--coworkers). In a day or so he sent me an e-mail saying "I really like it--I'm going to go out and buy it this weekend." Aha! The sweet taste of success! Now if only he can find a store that isn't sold out of it! (Details, details ... )

/the Mam'zelle
proudly observing the great Dannish tradition of corrupting those younger than her

Sorry, Huge Fan ~ I was referring to the "Roger Ebert" post ~ you and I posted at exactly the same time :)~

.....because Big Fan a (few posts under yours) said SD hasen't played an indoor arena since 1993. I quoted his remark in my first sentence.I guessed you missed it JW.

...and you're telling us because?

Big Fan- "No indoor venues since 1993" Ok in 1996 they played The Rose Garden in Portland, and some basketball arena in Tampa. I can't remember 1994, but '95 they played Roseland.

"Turn up the Eagles the neighbors are listening" -DATED!!!!!

"They stab it with their Steely knives" -TIMELESS!!!!!

Hello, everybody - I'm in Florida now. I've been seeing Dan-related plants like oleanders and banyan trees, and I'm greatly looking forward to hearing David in the Florida Room at Beach Pierside tonight. I'll give you a report on it later.

Beast w/o a Name-you should have let me know you were coming! I'm a hospitable San Diegan. No Steely Damned shows this weekend (one was supposed to be tonight; scheduling problems as usual) but Rockola is playing at the Catamaran and lovebob is always good for Steely Dan analyzing on breaks. If you see a petite blonde that never stops dancing come say hi-that's me.

St. Al hates SoCal? Geez, I wish everyone did-it's getting mighty crowded here. Maybe it's time to start talking about raging wildfires and earthquakes.

ruby baby-that's the spirit. And I'm so glad to see you back and kicking! You've been in my thoughts lately. You're damn right we're gonna have fun anywhere!

aja

Clas: like your theory about the "doctor friend uptown." I fear there's one problem, though--Fordham Road is up in the Bronx, north of Manhattan. That would still be referred to as "uptown" in NYC parlance ("uptown" and "downtown" are used there as directional terms, rather than specific locations). Our negative girl could have spaced out and overshot the stop on the subway, but somehow I doubt her drug-craving reptile brain wouldn't allow it.

My guess about Negative Girl's occupation is fashion model, based on the refs to "at the edge of the frame" and "spinning out of the frame" -- plus a play on "negative" itself.

Just a few weeks before 2vN came out, I saw a made-for-TV movie called "Gia," a based-on-a-true-story biopic about an ultra-negative-girl/junkie-girl high-fashion model (they use the term "chasing the dragon" in the movie as a matter of fact), who had the dubious distinction of being the first "famous" female to be public about the fact that she was dying of AIDS. (At least I think I'm remembering that last distinction right--ant any rate, after lots of wild-ass behavior she dies a messy death.) Astonishingly well-made for a made-for-cable-TV piece--it's available at video rental joints, if anyone's interested.

/the Mam'zelle

That dr Friend uptown She Has To See in "Negative Girl" wears a thread to John Lennons "Cold Turkey", dr Roberts, a celebrity doc, upper East, Manhattan. The Negative Girl is a Showbiz Queen.

Yes, I am one who knows and keeping notes.

RUBYBaby - cool, I'll see it on West of Hollywood Gallery soon?

C

sooutrageous,
Not that I doubt you, but I spent a few minutes looking at fan sites for CSN&Y and I don't see any listing for the Wilkes-Barre venue. I do see two nights the the First Union Center in Philly (where the Flyers, et al play). Isn't the venue in Wilkes-Barre the First Union Civic Arena used for a minor league hockey team. Anyway if they did play there - how were ticket sales? Ticket sales at other venues have been slooooooow. You can still get seats 10 rows back on the floor at the Hartford Civic Center- of course they are $200 apiece face value - ouch.

I don't think you'll see D&W playing any indoor venues in the US on this tour - they haven't since 93. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton metropolitan area has what maybe 125,000 people, which makes it 1/4 the size of the next smallest city they will probably play. And while it is only 2 hours from NY and Philly, very few people other than guestbook members are going to make the trip, esp when they are playing several venues in and around both cities. And while the Pocono's have a great deal of NY's there - I have a great joke about that - it would have to be a weekend show to get them there. I know for a fact Hartford is getting a weekend show - and there are just so many weekends in a month of touring.

So at $75 or so I don't see them playing there indoors and I don't buy that they are playing there, I'm sorry - although I have been wrong before. My grandparents lived across the river in Kingston while I was growing up so I know the area fairly well. Make sure you are not following Gloria Estefan's bus while driving in the area.

Dudes and Dudettes, the live "Show Biz Kids" from the Memphis show in '74 can be found fairly easily on what is probably the best complete show from that era, the CD boot titled "Memphis Blues Again" - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED from the Q man and other more respectable members of the GB.
It can be found on ebay routinely or I'm positive some of your GB brothers ad sisters can at least point you to a tape!

listening to it right now - happy with the present , but lodie, if someone could take me back in time for just one show..............

Q

Greetings from my old stomping grounds.. Southern Cal. I know St. Al... you hate this fucking place. Sometimes it's hard to blame you.

Vacations are good things. And what a better way to trumpet the beginning of a vacation by hearing Donald Fagen's New Frontier playing over the loudspeakers at Cincinatti airport during my layover - a longer than expected layover I might add.. four hours to wait for a jet that actually works. I'd rather wait for a jet that flies than not wait for one that doesn't.

mWorld: I wish I could attend the West coast dates and experience your unique brand of hospitality, backyard fruits and all. If you make it out East..say to Jones Beach (presuming they play there), please join me and mine for some of my own hospitality at the alcohol patrolled parking lots of Long Island for some clandestine imbibing...

Cheers to all frothing with anticipation of the announcement of the official dates !

ruby ruby ruby....some of Gibson's books are harder to get into than others.....I found Neuromancer hard going too. It's like you're just thrown into another world without explanation and expected to know what's going on....lol
A friend of mine recommended reading Gibson's 'Burning Chrome' short stories first, which familiarizes you with 'the sprawl' where everything takes place.

Fletch

Wisconsin in the year 2000: Rose Bowl win, Final Four appearance.

Definitely.

I just read William Gibson's article about the Dan off the official website- I was wondering if anyone has a copy of Gibson's first article about the Dan that he wrote awhile ago- I searched around on the net but I couldn't get it-

I need it for a term paper I am working on about cyber-communities. I am trying to work Steely Dan into the paper somehow...much to my professor's distress....
thanks for the help
katylied

aja: I'm willing to give Las Wages a shot! We'd have a f*#@%ng blast! Of course, we'll have fun wherever we go...it's the company that counts! I'm also open to any CA location. Even SacOtomatos! Are they really going there?

I can't wait to hear Smashmouth on "Do It Again." What I want to know is why did the movie guys get everybody else to do the songs? They obviously want Steely Dan music...why not the real thing? WB and DF get royalties, right?

clas: Needlepoint is somewhat like that pointy french painting in that the picture is made dot by dot. However, I'm going to create a picture using a needle and thread of many colors. Stitch by stitch. It will not appear to be impressionistic in style. I think I'm make it realistic, but symbolic.

Oleanderbabe: I'm still reading Neuromancer. It's not one of those books that I can't put down until it's done, but there are sections I must get through before I put it down. Many SD references! I would sure like to be Molly sometimes. She kicks ass. On the other hand, she has no choice...

stal: Now that you've made the forum for asking Really Good Questions That Don't Suck, I can't think of any! I used to have so many... i won't give up, tho.

rb

Interesting.....
Someone on the message board of the Yahoo Steely Dan Club interprets the 'she' in Almost Gothic to be an old house!
You know, it could be....never thought about it.

'She's all buzz, then she's noise free' = haunted?
Hmmm...maybe not.

Fletch

On Andy Metzger's Awesome website, the Steely Kind will find a number of rare or unreleased gems! Including a live version of Show Biz Kids, from '74...WOW!!! Fucking WOW!

That band smoked...for a couple of guys who didn't think that their band was particularly good live, Donald and Walter et al. totally smoked! This particular track is better than anything I have ever heard live...

By the time '74 rolled around and the boys added M. McDonald, Jeff Porcaro and Royce Clayton to the mix, they were untouchable, un-fucking-touchable!

WOW!

Jive!

PS I love the unreleased track from the Katy Lied sessions...Mister Sam...great cut!

prrl- WHere did you get those tour dates?

All this talk of the summer tour ... it's great to have something like this to look forward to.

Sooutrageous:
What's the name of that new venue in Wilkes-Barre, PA?

I guess I'll have to be the first to say it:

"The summer ... the summer ... this could be the cool part of the summer."

Daddy G
Master of the Obvious

Can anyone help me find a copy of "Hoops McCann Band" LP, CD or Casette?

The West Coast dates await!!!!!!

I tend to agree with those that say Vegas will be nearly impossible to get tix to, but considering how much fun we'd have I say we should at least give it a shot. If we can't do it, any of the SoCal locations will be great (how can you go wrong in Southern California?).

Mr. Chow-don't wait 'til November to visit! Come join us in June and have 2 summers! SoCal is like Australia upside down-we even planted eucalyptus trees everywhere (we're still working on developing a cool accent).

aja

*bigfan, the Wilkes-Barre venue may not be that much of a stretch as a summer SD tour stop. They just built an ulta-modern 17,000 seat arena in the area which has already hosted Neil Diamond, ZZ Top & Skynard, Chili Peppers & Foo-Fighters and CSNY. Elton John is playing there in a two weeks. According to the local promoter booking for the facility, they plan to sign an entire slate of headline acts throughout the summer.
I have a weekend home in the Wilkes-Barre (pocono's) area and I would be thrilled to offer my efforts to help host or co-host a Danfest if this date actually happens. As I stated on this board previously, I have a friend who owns the Woodlands Resort (big time place, big time fun)near Wilkes-Barre. He's a huge SD fan. He'd probably be willing to book an SD tribute band and some great NYC jazz stuff at his place for our gathering. Lot's to do in the area. (and NO,I don't work for the local Chamber.)
Steve

I would vote for Wilkes Barre, Pa for an east coat Danfest - sure to not sell out - cheap local motels and the Poconos are in easy driving distance. Maybe Saratoga - did it sell out in 96?

Greatwoods or whatever, The Meadows, Jones Beach -all sure to be quick sellouts and tough to get anything but lawn seats.

BTW the Wilkes Barre venue gives the list away as not being completely official - or had you all figured that out already?

Damn, Mr. Nichols! Just READING about that recording rig makes me feel like I'm still recording with a Casiotone, a Roland CompuRhythm and a boombox! Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my chin...

My vote for the West Coast DanFest goes to the Universal or Irvine...Big Fan is right on the money about the LV ticket prices.

YGK ~ Plug away, bro...your music deserves it!

Wormbie Tom ~ Hope you're feeling better! I knew you'd eventually come around regarding TAN...

cara mia ~ Joni's a sweetheart, isn't she?

Midnite ~ Nice work by Shirl!!! Please send a 150-200k jpg, and I'll set up a new room in the gallery for youz guyz!

Q ~ Thanks, glad you're enjoying the fruits of our artistic labor! Hoping all is well, and looking forward to seeing you in LA when the Dan shows up!

Fletch ~ JM's version of "Man from Mars" from "GOMH" does kick!

Working on a new photomontage of "Almost Gothic" in the same styles as the others...WHICH can be seen at:

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/tan.htm

JayDubz

Not really...

Recorded on Sony 3348 48 track digital machine.

Transferred to Protools through 2 Otari UFC-24 boxes and digitally through 888/24 boxes (later changed to 3
ADAT bridges and 888s kept for extra I/O)

Edited and tuned and flown areoun in Pro Tools, then put back onto the 3348 digitally, compensating for the
roundtrip delay.

Overdubs done on 3348, put into PTools as backup, and if flying or adjusting or comping was needed.

After final tweaks, everything back to 3348.

Mixed from 3348 through analog console (Neve 8078 with 56 channels of Flying Faders automation.)

Mix printed through Apogee PSX-100 96k to Genex and 44.1kHz to Pro Tools.

Thats all I can remember right now.

Roger

This summer tour should be named The Reach Deep 2000 Tour. The new release is selling like hotcakes and you can bet that the ticket prices will riding the wave just West of Hollywood. CSNY got 200 bucks for top seats , and their voices are gone. 2VN will generate additional sales, that would not be the case if SD was just playing the old material...... my guess 60 BUCKS for reserved and 30 for the nosebleed section...... who will be be playing sax on the tour?

shameless plug: shameless plug: shameless plug: shameless plug:

for those of you who didn't get Technicolor Motorhome 1999 - the SD Guestbook Compliation - and are interested in new music by a SD fan, you can now hear tracks from my EP and evolving album "WUNDerground Radio" on the Internet Underground Music Archive - www.IUMA.com

type in Malcolm Hunter and you should be there - plays mp3s and Real Audio....

my apologies - but thanks

ygk

hey Fezo

you forgot morrison and hendrix

but yes it's been a steller year

Neil Young has a new album and live acoutic dvd of the pre album tour coming out, can't wait, and joni's standards is due any day

as for the boys, this new one has me very excited

almost gothic, jack of speed and shame about me are right up there with the best stuff they have ever done

is the pbs special, making of AJA, or anything else available on DVD? I just purchased a player and wow!

The Eagles were definitely turned up and it was rather hot while Hell was Freezing Over. Felt like front row seats and all from the warmy confines of my topsoilant music room

Al Green kicks some serious boutte (boo tay)

the Today show appearance should go a long way in disproving the Donald is vampire theory

I think it'sd going to be a scream when SD plays live on the Today Show on May 5 at that outdoor stage they set up in Rockefeller Cebnter

fezo....yeah, I'm still waitin' for Columbus too but I think Tuesday's gone with the wind. *sigh*

Altamira & oleander....please e-mail me ASAP!

lets see . . . so far in Y2K we have new product from our heroes and Roger Waters is touring the states for the second consecutive year but this year he's stopping an hour from my house (!!!).

now if it just turns out that Lowell George and Ronnie Van Zandt have been hidding in caves for the last twenty three years, i'll be a happy man.

Miz Ducky - humble and lowly is a nice state

damn the closest venues to New Orleans are Atlanta and Houston
Looks like I'll take my Michigan vacation when the Detroit show is up and try to make Atlanta and some backpacking in southern North Carolina.

Cara Mia - wow, I am envious of your visits with Joni
SO she is playing Atlanta the same day that Crimson debuts new material in Nashville

the sparkle of your china

T

Oh....almost forgot....
After that observer article about the Dan appeared in our newspaper (the Herald), Our big music store here in Auckland (Real Groovy Records) appears to have sold out of 2vN!!

They had a fair few copies too....and a listening post for it.

Fletch

Hiya all!
Guess what I brought home today from the music store? (even though I couldn't really afford it :(
Yep! You got it. A VHS tape of the Steely Dan, Making of Aja, from the Classic Albums series. Was good to see, as we haven't had it on the TV here yet.
Quite funny to see Donald almost hunched over his keyboard like Frankenstein working on his monster.

Only just finished watching it. Some nice jams on the end there...good for kareoke? (sp)

Fletch

Aja - Can you make it November? I can make it then. Cheers!

Billboad Magazine mentions ODP, concert dates:
http://www.billboard.com:80/daily/2000/0322_07.asp

Good luck getting tickets to a Las Vegas show - will be the most expensive and toughest ticket to get of the tour - at least it was in 1996. All of the big shots and entertainers wanted to see them there and they played a very small venue - it will be worse for this tour with the new album out.

In Sync surpases 2AN as the online favorite:
http://www.billboard.com/daily/2000/0322_01.asp

track#1 : yes. track#2 : end is stupid. track#3 : Dr. John. track#4 :who makes the traffic interesting? pretty lame words. Sounds like Michael Franks. track#5 :why re-write "Western World"? track#6 :best one track#7: worst one track#8: "aja" but with a lame chorus. track#9 : drums are playing double time.

When I used to peek in here and some were bickerin' and snickerin', I figured it was that 20 year restlessness syndrome, so it is very nice to be at the party now before too much booze is consumed and those few who can't hold their liquor start getting mean...these are such heady and gay times in Danville.

I am buying another 2vN as a hostess gift for my stay in LA next week. Then when my friend gets sucked into the whirlpool of obsession over these new sounds from W&D, she will gladly host me again for the concert date(s) out that way. We will want to meet you other SD addicts/connoiseurs. We are pretty women. We are musical. We can hold our liquor.

Mr. TomtheWorm with the hurtin' head:
I was at the Warner Bros. taping the second night (Saturday) for Joni's PWWAM video and was relegated to the ghosthead shot region and never appeared for posterity. I did take nice photos that night which appear on the discussion list for her SIQUOMBness, and have another lovely shot of my meeting her on her birthday in Atlanta that same year. She will be returning May 19th for her 12 city tour with symphony orchestras. It's going to be a wonderful season! I wish SD would also make Chastain Park their choice of venue for the Atlanta gig.

As I think about a kitty as the object of Donald's affections on AG, doesn't that seem too blatant for the lyrics, i.e. the "black cat" metaphor? I am leaning toward the idea of something smarmy like the BDSM theory, since the tune is so bouncy, light, and carefree...that cognitive dissonance thing, you know?

xoxoCIAOxoxo,
cara mia

Damn if this tour thing don't put the pup in yer tent:

I'm warming up a the new (unofficial) blue (as in Deacon) Danvan:

Universal Amphitheatre June 13 & 14.
Irvine Meadows?

Looking forward to meeting some of (as they say in Doc K's neck) 'y'all',
mW

damn, the parking lot of the Orange 7/11 didn't make the list of the tour stops.

i guess there's still hope, though, since the official announcement has yet to be released.

gotta be August!!!!!! I'm praying they avoid Cynthia Woods Pavillion during the dog days: 100 degrees and 90% humidity at 7pm. I mean I'd like to see the bare midriff section with dripping sweat as much as the next guy - but the downtown Aerial Theatre is a dark cool space so thrilling and new!!!!!! Good acoustics I hear...otherwise it's Gatorade ice baths for everyone hourly!!!!

JWMalibu....I'm still working on something for the WoH Gallery but Shirl, my significant other, did something this afternoon she'd like to submit. It's called "Two Against Nature" and the URL is:

http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/6974/2vN.jpg

Hope it's worthy of the Gallery....she & I hope to submit more in the near future. Thanks!

MC

> Below is a list of the cities for the Steely Dan tour. We don't have the
> exact dates yet--they'll be forthcoming.
>
> Tickets for these shows will be extremely expensive.

> STEELY DAN TOUR CITIES
> Spokane, WA
> Portland, OR
> George, WA
> Boise, ID
> Concord, CA
> San Diego, CA
> Las Vegas, NV
> Phoenix, AZ
> Los Angeles, CA
> Irvine, CA
> Mountain View, CA
> Sacramento, CA
> Denver, CO
> Milwaukee, WI
> Chicago, IL
> Detroit, MI
> Toronto, Canada
> Cleveland or Cincinnati, OH
> Wilkesbarre, PA
> Saratoga, NY
> Pittsburgh, PA
> Columbus, OH
> Holmdel, NJ
> Wantaugh, NY
> Hartford, CT
> Camden, NJ
> Columbia, MD
> Mansfield, MA
> Charlotte, NC
> Atlanta, GA
> Raleigh, NC
> Mannassas, VA
> Virginia Beach, VA
> West Palm Beach, FL
> Tampa or Orlando, FL
> Houston, TX
> Dallas, TX

sellin all my stuff,
prrl

New Steely Dan stuff at CDNow, goto http://morethanmusic.cjb.net/cdnow

Aw shoot, Tom -- I hope I didn't make you feel like you needed to be lowly and humble ...

I like you just fine, man. No apologies needed.

"Oh dear!" re your passing-out incident! Take good care of that brain, Tom ... we wants you around for a good long while yet.

/the Mam'zelle

boy was I an arrogant pompish poo head the other day

Miz Duckster quotes me directly

"Sorry but anyone with two ears can hear that the drumming on the new album is not up to their previous standard of excellence."

sorry my opinion only

I hope I wasn't implying that everyone here is without criticism of the Dan. Not the case, but when people blast me for my opinion., well I guess I retaliated in an inapproriate manner not becoming my lowly humble worminess. Does thou accept my cordial and sincere apology?

And my whining on the new album was more a "something's missing or not right" than an all out "I don't like this mommy and I wanna spoil it for everybody else and take all my toys and go home right now". I like it alot, I just can't get into the drumming from a realistic audio standpoint.

however my ears did pickup that something was amiss
the sampled drumming to perfectly fit time
when you sample, you compress, and viola it's doesn't swing as well. And any musician knows what makes music is the space and the mistakes.

so where does this samping place us? no fear on the live setting where the drummers will get a little playful with straight time signatures but also won't sound so mechanicaland sampled. How about Don and Walt release a version of the album with the live unsampled drum parts for us purists? Please, prety please

I'd rather have the boys making a guy like Porcaro play the track eighty times over till they had their cut stellar like in the 70's than do the digital editing no no of sampling things to death

on to the gb

Daddy G - thanks soul brother, take me to the satute of libety to get some birth control devices... (wild and crazy Festrunk brothers rule)

cara mia - you were at the Joni show! so where are you in the crowd? on what song do they scan to you and your croonies?
wow tell me more on this

not so outrageous steve - thanks for the gentlemanly support
we see eye to eye, have you been churning a little topsoil lately?

on the personel note - I passed out at work yesterday and was rushed to the emergency room. My concussion from last week's accident was making me overly light sensitive and dizzy. The catscans showed no brain hemorraging so I only have a severe concussion, very grateful it was not something worse. I am finally able to get some proper rest

off to wormdom

T

So far there are 3 dates in our area (LA and Irvine Meadows). We can shoot for Vegas if it's announced on 4/9, or do either of the SoCal dates instead. What's everyone's preference? As for me, I'll go anywhere!

aja

My version of Hell: Listening to Dave Koz repeatedly play Steely Dan covers over the "fuzak" system at a Vons supermarket which sells nothing by canned cheese food.

Walter did some sampling , but the In Crowd copy appeared on Shame......I`M glad someone else heard that too, i thoughti was not at the throttle more or less.

A salute to the music of SD is being made and features the top names of SMOOTH JAZZ. The tribute is called No Static At All and Sax man Dave Koz states that SD was one of his main influences. The release will be all instrumentals and will cover 11 SD tunes . The songs selected were the ones that hit the charts. I am aware that this site is pretty much anti- Smooth Jazz, but its still neat when you are honored by your peers...Southern Fried Danfest posts shows the camraderie that exists here.

Beast - thanks for the post - Pollstar has yet to catch up:
http://www.pollstar.com/tour/a.cgi?Artist=Steely+Dan&Date_From=&Date_To=&StartSearch.x=33&StartSearch.y=13

Looks like a late summer tour for the east coast - hot, sticky - perfect beer drinking weather.

Earthbound - better have started saving last year already.

DanFestians....check your e-mail!

YGK....need your e-mail address my friend.

Waaaaa-HOOOOOO! This Pacific NW grrl is so THERE! Ready, like, about three months ago!

Oh man, I feel a howl comin' on ....

aaaaaarrrrrrRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

My favorite Dannish partner-in-crime, Diane, and I are currently looking into renting/borrowing an RV so as to best max out on the Gorge scene. I'm gonna be trying my damnedest to get one night in the Golden Circle (first 15 rows) -- I wanna be close enough to the Guys to throw roses!

Honey, we will be there. Hope to see as many of y'all as possible.

/an incredibly jazzed Mam'zelle

P.S. I've added a couple more thangs to the bottom of my SD page--a couple of funnies, one of which appeared in this GB a few months back. Check it out--http://www.drizzle.com/~mizducky/steely.html

Agreed...IMHO, "Almost Gothic" is about a dominatrix.

Go To Ticketmaster:

http://www.livedaily.com/archive/2000/2k03/wk3/ThreeSouthernCaliforniaAp.html

Looks like the Pacific Northwest will be the first U.S. stop on May 31.

St. Al, You Lucky Devil!

Hello Everyone- Once again I'm sad to have missed another Danfest.Sounds like you all had a great time...no surprise.Is there an Honorable mention for "most Dan Fest's missed"?
2vN is constantly playing on my Cd player and I'm in Awe.I Feel that the current state of Steely Dan is at a place where it should be. The songs are definately "Dan" and have not disappointed me one bit.the Quality of recording and of the Players is in my opinion just great.Sounds like The Guys at this point in time...2000. the Title cut in "6" cooks!Love all that Voodoo stuff.
I'm a bit "season" weary from all the Gigs here but hope to attend a Dan Fest sometime in my life. Been enjoying my Lurking here though and a big hello to my Friends. David

Steely Gal - Almost Gothic girl aint seeing no Dr Friend uptown god damn it.

Q - thank you. But you're wrong, I have no soul. Look at the Back To The Apes-painting - that's a selfportrait from late 70's.

But my feet are solemates.

C

S&M dungeon and the narrator is one of her clients.

This dark place is so thrilling and new. Better value for your money than the Western World these days.

Almost Gothic...my take....The woman is either a manic depressive or has some type of bi-polar disorder. That is why she needs to see her Dr. uptown. Could this be the same Dr. Warren Krueger that makes an appearance in WOH? Somehow, I doubt it since AG is set in NYC and WOH is obviously in Cali.

I heard on the radio yesterday that they expect Steely to be in NYC sometime in August. I am leaving August free of all plans until I find out the dates.

Clas - your painting redeems you as a human being. Very impressive.
Good show, mate

Us rednecks are diggin' it too

any one want some Skoal ?

Q

PS JW I have not forgotten you! - and your painting is great too - I just didn't know Clas had a soul - I was wrong!

See you in L.A.

re Almost Gothic;

Fletch - my guess is that the woman/girl is changing her moods from one minute to another.

C

cara mia.....LOVE Joni's Man From Mars, about her cat. You HAVE to listen to her do the version from the 'Grace of my Heart' soundtrack though (if you can find it. Some got released with Joni doing the vocals, and some with that other woman whose name I can't remember, but who gets the credit on the cover.)
If you can find the 'Joni' version though.....it's WAY better than the Taming The Tiger version.

All this talk of cats though....lol
To me, really, what the phrase 'First she's all buzz, then she's noise free' means, is that his lady friend when he 1st knew her, or when he 1st talks to her, just talks and talks, and now she doesn't say much to him at all. (sound familiar, guys?)

Fletch

RUBYBaby - tell me, what is a needlepoint? Is it the artistic technic, popular among French artists way back, pointism? But you replace the brush with a needle? You got to tell me honey.

Brain Dead Dawn - "Both extol the marvelous dual nature of women, and do so in a way that illustrates the yin/yang of girly mystique."

Exactly my point. I was shopping with The Wife the other day, she asks with The Honey Voice;

"What kind of cookies do you want honey?"

The big clod says - "these cookies", and I show her what kind of cookies I want.

"NOP! I think THESE cookies are what we want, don't we?"

"But why did you ask..."

"Shut up!"

C

oh shit

Roy.Scam: Stop it, no, pleez stop it, I can't take anymore!!!

ole: thanks sweety

PBS attendees: What was the face value of the tix?
(Concerned about tour costs this summer)

I've been reserving comment on the lyrical impact
of the New One, but it seems to me that cats are
merely referred to on AG. Why would "black cat"
mystique be applied to cats in general? The tone
of the track lends itself to the old theme of
recognizing that you can never get back to that
initial cherry buzz. Hmmm... need more time.

Broke away from 2vN today with AIA. Got to admit
that the new line-up, by comparison, appears tighter
and hotter. Oh man. I'm really getting anxious to
see the full tour list.

KD: I got your vinyl, man. "Chick, Donald, Walter, & Woodrow" (anybody ? CD would bring say forty-plus) Awesome stuff. Also have vinyl for Hoops McCann Band Plays the Music of Steely Dan. I am decidely low-tech at this point in techistory, so the best I could do would be a cassette through the mail. That's the closest thing I have to upload capability (and that's assuming the turntable belt hasn't dryrotted). Another possibility is the new modern small big band version of "Maxine" on Anthony Wilson's newest CD, I think it's called "Adult Themes" or something equally appropo.
Now before any tape could be made, I would have to make sure that your rebuff of my so-called "remix idea" was not a thinly veiled dismissal of Mssrs. Morse & Holdsworth, as these guys are OBVIOUSLY geniuses. Not anywhere NEAR a SD album, however. Actually I would love to hear some real re- or partial mixes
a la import Kama singles. Those partial mixes were epiphanies. Where are the import singles from this album? I could deal with a few alt-grooves, alt-solos, just for fun. Or LIVE tracks.

At this point, musically, I am with this new music AS MUCH as Aja or any other Dan album. Lately I have listened to Scam & Decade alongside 2VN alongside my normal schizoplatter of stuff. That music for me, like for many of you, is ingrained in my personal history, but as of tommorrow A.M., as of now, I am on in the continuum of life and music. Nothing will replace this album for me. It stands alone as itself and it's brilliant....on to the next one, boys.

Record of the Year (Y2K): 2VN
Producer of the Year: WB & DF
Male Vocalist of the Year: (by a runaway) Donald Fagen
Guitar Player of the Year: Walter Becker
Songwriter of the Year: WB & DF
Lyricist of the Year: WB & DF
Song of the Year: Gaslighting Abbey or ?
Jazz Group of the Year: Steely Dan

Walter has cited Chicago blues as an influence.
He means Chicago jazz for example Cousin Dupree's groove matches precisely with 'In Crowd' by Ramsey Lewis

You gotta love these guys- they're gods!

The drums/percussion is superb. They used the same method for comparing/selecting guitars; try a bunch of drummers, or machines and go with whatever sounds best.

Daily, I survey downtown Chicago in my '90 Accord with SD thumping deep in the street. If a wealthy, wise, fanatic would like to upgrade my best efforts to spread the love and the music with a Beamer or perhaps a Chrysler, E me.

Golly gosh, you Richmond fun-festers, I'm suffering that "shoulda, woulda, coulda" syndrome! Thanks for all the reports. I must meet you all soon. I think I shall come out of early retirement and hit the road for some Dan shows...yeah, I think my life's "work" for the next few months has come to me with such clarity.

Maybe I will start early...
Mr Edd B: what are you doing the weekend of April 1st? I'll be a few miles South of Hollywood taking in an Ambrosia show Friday night. Are you unattached? Are you decent looking? If you are attached, are you still decent looking? How do you act in public places?

So Donald likes Gothic felines? I have a theory he got inspired from Joni Mitchell's "Man From Mars" on her TAMING the TIGER CD and had to do her one better! Joni loves them cats...

Hey, Wormie, that reminds me, I attended Joni's taping of her "Painting with Words and Music" in May of '98...enjoy your DVD!

xoxo,
cara mia, digging dotty oldsters writing about their cats

soout- nice post! I've read im many interviews that Donald and Walter are pretty firm in letting the touring players know that they DON'T want the solos the same as the records. I would say that 90% of the fans would like to hear Tom Scott's and Larry Carlton's licks played note for note. I say deal with it! I cried the first time I heard Donald and Walter play Black Cow live. The last thing on my mind at that moment, was wanting to hear Ari Ambrose doing his best impersonation of Tom Scott. I really don't care. As long as they keep making records and keep touring, I'll keep my mouth shut!

Ok, everyone, I needs help. (I mean, besides the obvious)

Me and a friend are putting on a roast, like the Friars Club, only younger. It will be well-attended, I will be well-sauced, and it will be very funny. What I need is music.

After listening to a clip of Woody Herman's vesion of "Green Earrings," we've figured that's the way to go. That sort of up-tempo, brassy, orchestra pit-ish music that wouldn't sound out of place either at the Oscars, a Bob Hope special from ten years ago, or a Senior PGA event on NBC.

Though I am going after the actual Woody album, I'm pretty sure what I need will be located elsewhere. Does anyone know where I can find this sort of music? Everyone here knows their stuff, so I figured I'd ask.

almost gothic = adventures in menopause.

a love song.

Alrighty ~ finished another photomontage ~ "Jack of Speed"
~ http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/tan.htm

Roy ~ Thanks for the R&R Jeopardy enouragement! I've been cramming maxx trivia into my brain!!! Sounds like you guys had a great time in Richmond ~ LeftCoasters ~ now that we have some tour dates, we should start planning our little fiesta!

Stranger ~ To say I'm impressed would be a vast understatement...thank you VERY much!

hey all, my first big interview:

http://www.onhoops.com/content/articles/Mar2000/cuban.html

with new Dallas Maverick owner and Broadcast.com billionaire Mark Cuban.

OnHoops: No Static At All

(ok, that was silly...)

Fox 411

Roger Friedman

7:00 a.m. ET (1200 GMT) March 21, 2000

Steely Dan Next for Rock Hall?

Rock group Steely Dan — which recently released its first album in 20 years, called Two Against Nature — may finally wind up in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

The group released its first album, Can't Buy a Thrill, in 1972 and was eligible for admission in 1997.

But being iconoclasts, founders Walter Becker and Donald Fagen immediately tried to pick a fight with the Hall. The ongoing saga can be found on their web site, steelydan.com.

In a story I wrote, published two weeks ago in The New York Observer, the duo detailed some of their antics in this regard. Fagen said he had heard the Hall had rejected his offer of his original upright piano for an exhibit, the same piano he learned to play jazz on, even though it was already in Cleveland, the same city as the museum. He also offered the hall dozens of old 3-M digital recorders, as well as a case of honey mustard.

"That was for Jann Wenner personally, though," Mr. Fagen added, referring to the Rolling Stone founder who is behind the museum.

The good news is that Terry Stewart, director of the museum, tells me the piano offer never came to him and that he indeed would be interested. "We know they sent out a bunch of letters," he said, "and they were very funny. We never heard about the piano but we'd certainly be interested."

If the parties meet and discuss their differences, it's possible Steely Dan will be inducted next year — one year before the punk rock movement becomes eligible.

It's deja vu all over again. Once more, I have to second Aja's confession on her previous post to having replaced 2vN with the Aja disk in my stereo.
I read a wonderful piece(I can't recall the journalist or the publication) among the myriad SD articles to hit the streets lately about being a true SD fan and how the music keeps quality company; you're either in on the joke or you're clueless. The writer speaks to how our love of the unquantifiable thing that is Steely Dan is stoked by the winds of fate and rekindled throughout the wax and wane of lives. In light of the recent 2vN release, I proceeded to listen intently and deliberately to the SD catalogue and endeavor to qualify what this SD thing was, as it related to my pathetic life.
I'd like to preface this piece by providing a bit of my personal history vis-a-vis SD. I'm turning
41 in May and I've been listening to SD pretty much non-stop since Can't buy a Thrill.I saw them live twice during the early 1970's in the NYC metropolitan area. I can still remember the shows as if they actually happened yesterday. The air rife with smoke, anticipation and the promise of a life replete with such memories. When I was 15, I really dug Bodhi and Any Major Dude. For years, Reelin' was my absolute favorite song.(That fucking solo!) These memories are so very vivid. They are indeed highlights of my otherwise mundane Big City upbringing.
My fervent love for all things SD was rekindled white-hot during college with release of the "triumvirate" Katy Lied, Royal Scam and Aja. There was nothing I did not worship about these recordings. They truly provided the soundtrack to my life. I guess I empathized with the sordid cast of characters who appeared all-to-often throughout the penetratingly poignant lyrics; unrequited and daunted by love and life.
During the early 80's I moved to LA with my older sister who was at the time working on-air in the radio industry. I was extremely fortunate in having access (through my sister)to many interesting and talented people in the music business. During that period my sister dated Skunk Baxter for a few years and through Jeff,I was afforded the opportunity to meet many of the individuals involved with the SD sound. I talked with Mike MacDonald, Tom Scott and Michael Omartian, among others on a number of ocassions about their work with Becker & Fagen.
During my discussions with these guys, I formed the opinion that the session players were indeed the crucial conduit to progressively jazzy SD sound throughout the mid & late 70's. They were able to interperet(under the unyielding eye of D&W) SD's distinctive signature through countless takes and long grueling hours in the studio. I loved this aspect of SD;The unsurpassed compositions. I loved the absolute perfection that came with the micro-production of each track, each beat, each nuance, each turn of phrase.I loved the way the musical talent of these session players was exploited and incorporated into what became the SD sound. I loved the instrumental soloing: the melodic perfection of a Larry Carlton riff, the uncanny fit of a Tom Scott chart, the majestry that is Pete Christlieb and Steven Gadd.
I recall playing the Gaucho album for the first time way back in 1980. I remember listening intently to each track, eagerly awaiting the transcendent moment when that biting guitar lick would rear its sleek head, that soulful tenor solo would bat its world-weary eyes, that high-hat clap would snicker with sarcasm. Sadly for me,that moment never came.
I've caught faint flickers of that moment: Michael Brecker's all-too-abbreviated tenor solo on Maxine, the foot-tappping bass-line on Walk Between the Raindrops, the sax's hypnotic ethereal quality on The Dunes endless fade, Walter's surprisingly melodic turn on West of Hollywood. But I'm still waiting, as I was 20 years ago, for that magical moment: that instant so wholly present on Aja and Royal Scam.
I've seen SD several times during the 90's. (Little Big Band at the China Club, NY Rock & Soul, the 2 reunion tours the recent Sony Stusio tapings). If I am to be totally honest; each time I attended a live performance and listened to the "old stuff", as thrilled as I was (and I was walking on air for weeks afterward each time), I never did "get" the soloing of the touring musicians. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed their work, but how does one improve upon perfection? How can you listen to Larry Carlton's body of soloing with SD and be truly content with someone else's take on that eerily exacting work. I waited 1000 years it seems for SD to play Black Cow and when they performed it in 96, I was disappointed by the interpretation of what I had come to idolize as my ultimate musical "momemt"; Tom Scott's hauntingly gripping solo.
I've debated this session player thing with quite a few people on this board and I must admit that I may have been wrong in my inital assessment of their musical talents. The new guys may indeed be countless times more capable than Carlton, Gadd, Christlieb and Scott. But I still enjoy their collective, recorded work on the SD albums circa mid 70's more than any musical SD session player's efforts since.
I still love SD. I truly feel D&W put their collective heart & soul into 2vN. I think Nightfly and Kamakiriad were "The Bomb". But I have not felt that spontaneous magical moment since Aja. D&W are big boys. God knows they're class 1 ball-busters. (Ask the jounalists, session players and Fans who question them during their "online Chats"). They can certainly handle my opinion on the current state of SD. We've waited 20 years for these guys to get their pathetic demon-plauged lives together and deliver the goods. Am I satisfied: yes! Am I content?:Well....... "I'm still worrying about the future, but maybe this is it."

It's deja vu all over again. Once more, I have to second Aja's confession on her previous post to having replaced 2vN with the Aja disk in my stereo.
I read a wonderful piece(I can't recall the journalist or the publication) among the myriad SD articles to hit the streets lately about being a true SD fan and how the music keeps quality company; you're either in on the joke or you're clueless. The writer speaks to how our love of the unquantifiable thing that is Steely Dan is stoked by the winds of fate and rekindled throughout the wax and wane of lives. In light of the recent 2vN release, I proceeded to listen intently and deliberately to the SD catalogue and endeavor to qualify what this SD thing was, as it related to my pathetic life.
I'd like to preface this piece by providing a bit of my personal history vis-a-vis SD. I'm turning
41 in May and I've been listening to SD pretty much non-stop since Can't buy a Thrill.I saw them live twice during the early 1970's in the NYC metropolitan area. I can still remember the shows as if they actually happened yesterday. The air rife with smoke, anticipation and the promise of a life replete with such memories. When I was 15, I really dug Bodhi and Any Major Dude. For years, Reelin' was my absolute favorite song.(That fucking solo!) These memories are so very vivid. They are indeed highlights of my otherwise mundane Big City upbringing.
My fervent love for all things SD was rekindled white-hot during college with release of the "triumvirate" Katy Lied, Royal Scam and Aja. There was nothing I did not worship about these recordings. They truly provided the soundtrack to my life. I guess I empathized with the sordid cast of characters who appeared all-to-often throughout the penetratingly poignant lyrics; unrequited and daunted by love and life.
During the early 80's I moved to LA with my older sister who was at the time working on-air in the radio industry. I was extremely fortunate in having access (through my sister)to many interesting and talented people in the music business. During that period my sister dated Skunk Baxter for a few years and through Jeff,I was afforded the opportunity to meet many of the individuals involved with the SD sound. I talked with Mike MacDonald, Tom Scott and Michael Omartian, among others on a number of ocassions about their work with Becker & Fagen.
During my discussions with these guys, I formed the opinion that the session players were indeed the crucial conduit to progressively jazzy SD sound throughout the mid & late 70's. They were able to interperet(under the unyielding eye of D&W) SD's distinctive signature through countless takes and long grueling hours in the studio. I loved this aspect of SD;The unsurpassed compositions. I loved the absolute perfection that came with the micro-production of each track, each beat, each nuance, each turn of phrase.I loved the way the musical talent of these session players was exploited and incorporated into what became the SD sound. I loved the instrumental soloing: the melodic perfection of a Larry Carlton riff, the uncanny fit of a Tom Scott chart, the majestry that is Pete Christlieb and Steven Gadd.
I recall playing the Gaucho album for the first time way back in 1980. I remember listening intently to each track, eagerly awaiting the transcendent moment when that biting guitar lick would rear its sleek head, that soulful tenor solo would bat its world-weary eyes, that high-hat clap would snicker with sarcasm. Sadly for me,that moment never came.
I've caught faint flickers of that moment: Michael Brecker's all-too-abbreviated tenor solo on Maxine, the foot-tappping bass-line on Walk Between the Raindrops, the sax's hypnotic ethereal quality on The Dunes endless fade, Walter's surprisingly melodic turn on West of Hollywood. But I'm still waiting, as I was 20 years ago, for that magical moment: that instant so wholly present on Aja and Royal Scam.
I've seen SD several times during the 90's. (Little Big Band at the China Club, NY Rock & Soul, the 2 reunion tours the recent Sony Stusio tapings). If I am to be totally honest; each time I attended a live performance and listened to the "old stuff", as thrilled as I was (and I was walking on air for weeks afterward each time), I never did "get" the soloing of the touring musicians. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed their work, but how does one improve upon perfection? How can you listen to Larry Carlton's body of soloing with SD and be truly content with someone else's take on that eerily exacting work. I waited 1000 years it seems for SD to play Black Cow and when they performed it in 96, I was disappointed by the interpretation of what I had come to idolize as my ultimate musical "momemt"; Tom Scott's hauntingly gripping solo.
I've debated this session player thing with quite a few people on this board and I must admit that I may have been wrong in my inital assessment of their musical talents. The new guys may indeed be countless times more capable than Carlton, Gadd, Christlieb and Scott. But I still enjoy their collective, recorded work on the SD albums circa mid 70's more than any musical SD session player's efforts since.
I still love SD. I truly feel D&W put their collective heart & soul into 2vN. I think Nightfly and Kamakiriad were "The Bomb". But I have not felt that spontaneous magical moment since Aja. D&W are big boys. God knows they're class 1 ball-busters. (Ask the jounalists, session players and Fans who question them during their "online Chats"). They can certainly handle my opinion on the current state of SD. We've waited 20 years for these guys to get their pathetic demon-plauged lives together and deliver the goods. Am I satisfied: yes! Am I content?:Well....... "I'm still worrying about the future, but maybe this is it."

Miz Ducky-I believe you have always gracefully disagreed. As a matter of fact, I enjoy it when you disagree with my interps 'cause it usually opens my eyes to something new.

Fletch-thanks, but I can't take credit for that. The Danfesters came up with it. AG sure sounds like my cat Josie, who's got me wrapped around her beautiful paws and knows it. She wouldn't lie to me, would she? If I could master flirting like she has, I'd be dripping with men.

Roy.Scam-promise you won't ever leave this board, okay?

ole-interesting comparison between WOH and In a Silent Way. However, I think the tempo (or something like that, I hate it when I don't know the right musical terms!) of Silent Way is much more fitting to that type of drumming style. Before I get pelted with tomatoes, let me state that I am NOT complaining about the drums-just pointing out how that that drumming style has very different effects in each song, one much more successful than the other, IMHO.

and sooutrageous-amen to Steve Gadd. I don't think we'd be rhapsodizing about "Aja" so much were it not for him. And on that note, quite honestly and hate to blaspheme, but 2vN has been replaced in my CD player by "Aja". It just has more soul to me. IMHO! Now I'm going to hide behind something because I hear tomatoes rustling in bags.

aja

I dunno, Megan. Down in Orlando, the future ... looks desperate and dark.

Suggest hopping the next bus for NYC.
OK to bring a friend.

I was only "hey nineteen" when I first had the PLEASURE of hearing Steely Dan. Now I don't know how I'd get on without them.
Donald Fagen has the voice of an Angel. Don, Walt, make my life worth living by coming to Orlando.

Interesting comments on Almost Gothic. It does carry with it a certain feline stealth.

I find the song quite similar to Billy Joel's Always A Woman. Of course, not in a musical sense. But rather they seem to be thematically parallel. Both extol the marvelous dual nature of women, and do so in a way that illustrates the yin/yang of girly mystique. They allow the listener to grasp the inherent dichotomy and leave with a feeling of sentimental acceptance.

Simply wonderful.

Nice recognition Barely Glibb...you know, about the coming and going of the horns in Glamour's Profession...

Let's just think...purposeful effect???...perhaps they are emulating the "Rise and Fall" lifestyle of the song's "hero"???

Nah...must just be an awful chart by D+W...yea, that's it

Jeeesh!

Long Live Hoops McCann and the Muffin Man!

Jive!

PS Meet me at midnight at Mr. Chows

Clas: I'll send him back to the studio. He's really just a shadow of the man we once knew anyway.

I've decided to do a Dr. Wu needlepoint. I've almost got the design finished in my head. I need to graph it out a little, then I can start. You may be the first to see it.

I'll let Nisse grace my screen for a while. I just have to perform a cat scan first...

I love that Cat theory of Almost Gothic!

topsoilTom: feeling better, I hope!

rb

Roy.Scam: Lol

Fletch: Thanks for the link, man. I just saved all those little pictures to my computer (SDMalibu1, SDMalibu2...). I also just skipped my first class because of that link...

steviedan: kidding or no, I don't want Holdsworth or Morse tapping and fretting over any Steely song, save for the privacy of their own studio (without tape rolling, of course).

Rock and Roll Jeopardy Transcript

Moderator: Our score stands at JWMalibu with 6100, Cletis the Slack Jawed Yokel holding at zero, and Jan Weiner with minus 1250. It's your board, JWMalibu.

JWMalibu: I'll take "Best Rock Group In the World Ignored By the Hall of Fame" for 400.

Moderator: The answer is, "During the seventies, this group, who sang 'Black Cow' made the best music by any group of human beings of any type anywhere on this planet; no argument; don't give me any shit about this."

BEEEEEEP!

JWMalibu: Who is Steely Dan!

Moderator: You bet your sweet ass 'who is Steely Dan'.

Jan Weiner: Who IS Steely Dan?

Moderator: Shut up. Okay, Jdubs, it's still your board.

JWMalibu: Best Rock Group for 500, please.

Moderator: The answer is, "These guys are so fuckin' good, I'll kiss...

BEEEEEP!

JWMalibu: Who is Steely Dan.

Moderator: You know what, JW? I like you , boy. I'm just gonna skip this Double and Final whateveritis and give you a bye right to the finals at the end of the year. Jack, tell these two losers what they get.

Jack (on loudspeaker): That's right . Cletis and Jan, don't forget to pick up your home copy of Countdown to Ecstacy as you leave; and, Jan, you owe us 1250 dollars. ... Jan? ... Where'd he go?

RS

Altamira - me too, I find myself listen to the chords under the sax in West Of Hollywood. Amazing song.

Check out the West Of Hollywood Art Gallery, very Steely Danish, it's JW Malibu being busy again, with his constant energy:

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/wohgall.htm

RUBYBaby - if you still using the "Dr Wu" painting as wallpaper, please put it back... there's a hole in the wall where it used to hang.

Cut and paste the addy below for HEAPS of pictures of the Dan.
It's part of the Alta Vista image find thing, and it searches the net for picutres of the subject you choose (only found over 10,000 for the Dan!!!)

http://www.altavista.com/cgi-bin/query?pg=q&what=web&q=Steely+Dan&stype=simage&oprem=1

Fletch

Jive, yes, the horns on Glamour Profession are constantly running out of air and catching their breath. Thank Goodness Donald had the good sense to sing at these points so as not to humiliate the brass.

Personally, I don't hear a shred of Zappa on TVN but I did recently see "200 Motels" on TNT.

About Doctor Warren Krueger. The "D" stands for Donald. The "W" stands for Walter and the "K" stands for Krantz. Roger Nichols, of course, is the RN.

Whoa...

I just finished listening to "This All Too Mobile Home", which should have found its honourable way onto the Countdown Album, and a revelation just struck me...

The narrator in the song is Cousin Dupree...seriously!

On the new one Cuz tells us that he's "spent a lot of time in a Rock 'n Ska band", or "hauling boss crude in those big rigs"...but how do we know that this is true???...he could easily be lying to us...what if he was just as morally bankrupt way back when???...what if it was he who was chasing "a girl" in his "All too mobile home"???

And what if his "girl" was actually another cousin, or perhaps a "busty aunt"???

OK, that was sick...but you never know...

Jive!

PS Truly, "Mobile Home" is a great tune!

I believe that the Horn charts right after the chorus in "Almost Gothic" are an SD tribute to Frank Zappa...

Frank loved to use horns (certainly not to the effect of Donald and Walter) after a chorus to change, or shake up, the feel of the song! Different chord progressions, different keys, different time signatures...

So...I feel D+W, who have always respected the "individuality" of FZ, paid him a tribute! This stuck out at me from the 1st time I heard the song's clip on the SD Website...pure Frank!

Love Live the Muffin Man!

Jive!

PS Responding to a quote from this guestbook a while back...I LUV the song "Glamour's Profession"! Precursor to WOH or not, it is a musical and lyrical Tour de Force!

Here's the solution to this "problem":
D & W can produce the omnipresent "REMIX" album...Yeah, it can be an expensive import two-fer with all new versions of the tunes layered with extremely complex parts by say...Drum Corp International All-Stars, Zappa-alumnus percussionists, Steve Morse, Alan Holdsworth, chanting Monks, and anybody else who can throw alot of chops around. This would satiate the contingency who needs their "socks removed" so to speak. The note density could be frightening. All musical breaths could be filled. NO RESTS NO RESTS....

I have posted ad nauseam about this drum thang, but worm reinstated the debate so here's chapter two.
Bruford: I love all Bruford's work (Yes, UK, KC, Earthworks, & some of his best work to date, the new one "Blue" with Levin, Botti, Torn, etc.). Yes died when Bruford left. Bruford does swing, but he is definitely not a SD drummer. It might be interesting, but generally he has totally the wrong feel. Feel & groove are what prevail on 2VN. Anybody that thinks this album has no good drumming is looking for Buddy Rich or Steve Gadd. Fancy drumming is not on the work order for this album. Percussion was my co-major instrument (with cello) in college. I LOVE FANCY DRUMMING. But I don't need it for this album to be a total musical success. There was no fancy drumming or bass playing on Motown records, but it's certainly not "lightweight".
I hope the stuff I said about Carlton was not interpreted as disrespect. I was just saying that solo work one to one against Krantz...you know. Mush indeed ! Mush in your ears, homeslice !
Clas: I respect an absolute moment of silence for your cat. I have a 19 year old cat named Bartok. He is amazingly healthy but incredibly eccentric and wise to human ways. He's been around longer than my kids and I can really relate to your loss. My profound sympathy.

Forgot a category:

Best Irony--Nine Netgeeks and no laptop.

Re: drums in WOH--they seem to me like a drone under the rest of the music, especially under the sax solo, so as not to divert even the tiniest bit of attention from it. Speaking of ragas, that's what the vina does, gives a rich drone in the background to support and emphasize the sitar and tabla riffs. Come to think of it, what did Tony Williams do on "In A Silent Way"? He had to play the same damn thing nonstop for 18 minutes or so, and it had the same dronelike quality.

Yowie!

That was some Fest. They all seem to have their own flavor--from Cajun spice to stone free to Margaritaville--but this one was bees rolling around in pollen-heavy flowers, warm, buzzing, laid-back, stings sheathed. I'm afraid my penchant for fantastical and surrealistic hyperbolic pseudoreportage is gonna take a backseat to mellow reality. Or what I thought of as reality anyway.

Leave it at this: the envelope, please--

Hos' with the mos': Hutch, the most modest and laid-back power guitarist ever. Dude can PLAY.

Most Meritorious Marrieds--Midnite & Opti, as has been mentioned. You are an inspiration to us all.

Longest Leash--tie--Hank, fezo, Roy, & ole

Best costume by category:
Sheer volume--Roy.Scam, who worked around his yellow stripe to show us his hey 19
Best concept & execution--fezo, "Snowbound" (I'm sure a lot of people were wondering why the hell you were wearing that tie in March)
Best sound effects--YGK, "Black Cow"
Subtlest--tie--Hank Silvers, "West of Hollywood" (Kid Clean), and Hutch, "Kings"
Bluest--the Midnites, "Deacon Blues" (I guess individually you'd be "Deacon Blue")
High Concept--Altamira, with the Steely palette
Best Misunderstanding--oleander, who wore her Bat Sneakers

Best Guesser--tie--YGK and Hutch

This year's Pin Your Ears Back Award goes to--again a tie--the High Roller Band, who also turned our eyebrows into smoldering little nubs, and the irrepressible Bill, who could make a turnip feel like Jimi.

Best Risk-Taking--YGK, for sharing his terrific tunes-in-progress. Judging from his admiring audience, not much of a risk after all.

Best Virtual Attendee--Q, whose generosity was not in vain. Runner-up--Earthbound. We would've done our best to give you some reparative good memories.

Best Party Run--Hank & ole

Best Introductions--Saturday, when everyone had to introduce themselves with at least two names, many of which were not to be found in any dictionary

Best Ever Jammin' By Total Strangers--the Saturday nite crew

Best One-Liners--the Scam. Did you have any doubt? He also won Best Green Beer Mustache Residue, but that was announced earlier.

Best Censored DanFest Photos--Ha! You'll never know!

Best Description of DanFest Raison d'Etre--Salman Rushdie, "The Ground Beneath Her Feet": "Wherein lies the power of songs? Maybe it derives from the sheer strangeness of there being singing in the world. The note, the scale, the chord; melodies, harmonies, arrangements; symphonies, ragas, Chinese operas, jazz, the blues: that such things should exist, that we should have discovered the magical intervals and distances that yield the poor cluster of notes, all within the span of a human hand, from which we can build our cathedrals of sound, is as alchemical a mystery as mathematics, or wine, or love. Maybe the birds taught us. Maybe not. Maybe we are just creatures in search of exaltation. We don't have much of it. Our lives are not what we deserve; they are, let us agree, in many painful ways deficient. Song turns them into something else. Song shows us a world that is worthy of our yearning, it shows us our selves as they might be, if we were worthy of the world."

We regret that Mr. Rushdie cannot be present to accept his award.

As I write this posting, I'm listening to Steven Gadds wonderful work on the title track of Aja. Before anyone responds, please
cue the Aja disk to its title track. I hope we can all agree that Gadd's session work on this song is the best drumming on any Steely Dan piece to date. Listen to the magical way he manipulates the cymbals throughout the song. It's truly hypnotic. His soloing at the end is unrivaled on any pop record I have heard.(In my opinion).
I do agree that the drum work on WOH is indeed appropriate for the song. I too marveled at how invigorating the "groove" is on this number. Listening to many of D&W's recent interviews, I noticed that they keep speaking of "finding and staying" in this so called mystical "groove". I think they have accomplished just that on 2vN. The "groove" is fantastic on every song. If they've sampled session drummer's work or recorded them live, it makes no differnce to me. (but then, I'm not a musician and this concept of using a drum machine does not fly in my face as a grievous insult.)
I do think however that they used drums on past efforts as more an instrument of "expression" vis-a-vis Gadd's Aja work and not necessarily just for providing a backbeat or "groove" as they seem to have done on more recent recordings. Gadd's work once again, is more appealing to my personal tastes. The session drummers may be as good; their talents are simply employed differently on Kamairiad and 2vN.(Groove now being the primary desired result).
One final thing while I'm on this mellow rant here: to everyone who keeps dissing Larry Carlton and his recent solo efforts; please go back and listen to Kid C and Don't Take me Alive. His newer work may indeed leave much to be desired, but he sure played his heart out on Royal Scam and Aja. From listening to his SD work and reading his interviews, it's evident that he had a unique soloing style(every solo had a distinct beginning, main-body and ending) that lent itself perfectly to D&W's compositions at the time. He may not be the guitarist he once was, but he certainly kicked-ass in his prime. I'll keep believing that till I kick.

Later, Steven

Anybody notice the modem sound in the right channel background during NEGATIVE GIRL just after Fagen sings "...crying on the phone, I need you here"?

re: drums. I dunno. Some sampling, re-sampling and looping for sure...but based on the PBS show they hired guys who can just nail the funk grooves on Gaslighting Abbie and What A Shame About Me! Plus Fagen states in one of the recent interview cited here that they recorded each song live in the studio initially with at least a trio. That's why the damn thing is so tight with some nice conversations. Don't buy any direct comparisons by teh "music critics" of tvN with Aja or Gaucho. There are tastes of many with some overlooked nods to PL/CTE structures. But this album sounds no more like Aja or Gaucho than Royal Scam sounds like Katy Lied. A possible exception is JOS which sounds like a tribute to their whole 70's catalog. There is ONE album tvN sounds like only with better engineering and more bop - that is "Alive in America" or as I call in Dan in rehab. Fabulous performances. The Dan tight little big band sound. The surprising horn outro could ooze into Almost Gothic.

Back to lurk - I'm busy hunting down the Houston Chronicle critic:
Ą sounds like Aja - C+
what's next?
Ą Beethoven's 7th sounds like his 3rd - C+
Ą Dylan's latest sounds like Blood on the Tracks - C+
Ą All of Miles' 50s quintet recording sound alike - C+
Ą another suite by Tchiakovsky? - C+
Ą damn, the bare midriff section is sexy - C+
Ą Sting's latest makes me wish he'd perfect the tantric sex thing and quit recording (OK, that's legit)

aja- thing about the cat sounds cool :)

the 'She's all buzz, then she's noise-free" always brings recorded static to my mind, eg, from radio or records, or something.
'No static at all'?? :)

Fletch

Finally I have enough time to write a longer post about the Richmond Danfest. What a wonderful weekend! I regret not getting to hear Hutch's band play, but it was still a delight to finally get to meet all those wonderful people. I had gotten to know everyone through their posts, but it was a marvelous revelation to meet them in real life and get to know them even better. It was a real priviledge to spend time with such charming folks as Oleander, Hutch, Roy, Midnite, OpiMystic, fezo, YGK, and Hank Silvers, and we all seemed to be most comfortable in one another's company - instant friends, but then we have known one another for quite some time. Danfans are such warm, friendly, smart and interesting people.

It was a true delight to hear the excellent musicians among us, along with the guest musicians, play and sing. I'm really looking forward to hearing the recording made at Bill's studio, particularly since I didn't hear it all that well the first time - I wasn't feeling well that night and spent much of the time at the recording studio sitting on a couch in the office with purple spots flashing in front of my eyes - talk about being "laid out on the sofa," I sure was! I hope that picture of Bill and me with our arms around each other turns out, what an honor to be photographed with him!

Many thanks to Ole for arranging the gathering, and to her and Hank for providing the snacks - I was eating the carrots at work today.

Sooutrageous - Regarding the drumming on West of Hollywood, yes, it is repetitive and almost mechanical in its sound. But I think this is most appropriate to the sound and feel of the piece; the rest of the instrumentation has a similar sound. The harmonies, while most interesting and a bit startling in some of their abrupt jumps from chord to chord, are repetitive also. During the four-minute sax solo, I don't listen to the sax, I listen to the underlying instruments. The repeating chord cycles and the almost metronomic drumming produce a nearly hypnotic sound that I find captivating - I often listen to that track over and over again, and I wish it were long enough to fill up an entire CD - it would put me into an altered state of mind which would, due the propulsive sound of the piece, be highly energized and provide the perfect mental state for, say, doing housework or producing those documents I churn out for my home business. Wow, what a sublime upper that would be; better than caffeine.

Regarding the drumming on TvN in general, it sounds, to my untrained ears hearing it on my crappy boombox (my apartment is too small for a real stereo), like something that was produced, at least in the early stages, by a human drummer. That was one of the first things I noticed about the CD; it seemed to me to be a stark contrast to the highly mechanical sound of the drumming on 11 Tracks of Whack. I listened to TvN for the first time on the reasonably good stereo in my friend Dave's truck (an intentional choice; I figured it would sound better there than on my boombox), and one of the first comments I made to him was how relieved I was that they were using human drummers rather than drum machines.

(A perhaps unrelated aside - a while back, I listened to Dave's copy of Stevie Winwood's Higher Love - dang, talk about machine over man! Even the bass was programmed! I do strongly prefer to hear real instruments played by actual people. I can understand how sampling is a great boon for musicians who work alone since it allows them to create sounds that would be unavailable to them otherwise, but for well-to-do professional musicians who can afford to hire people to play instruments, I strongly prefer that they do; I find it a much more congenial and satisfying sound.)

I'm just gonna say this...

Following a very fast-paced, 3-month romance that
took my would-be fiance and me from St. Louis to
D.C., Baltimore & Shenandoah, to San Diego & San Fran,
to Chicago & Grand Haven, MI, I made a birthday run
to Richmond.(Our b'days are the same day). We ate at
the Tobacco Company - oh yeah! - and the next day was
the last day I saw her. She spoke of soul searching
and other stuff, but this was THE woman, and she got
away. A big memory, which confirms the SD-HeavyMemory
theory, is having called her during the set break at
the '93 Indy concert. But anyway...

Sounds like a very cool retreat for all the DanFessers.
Good for all dem souls! Do put together some sort of
graphic display. I'm picturing ALL of you dancing
uncontrollably to 2vN on 11! (With hoots and hollers
during Becker's string-checking solo on GA esp.)
It's so cool that a studio was thrown into the works
too, and what's up with adventuring into the woods???

I have a feeling there's gonna be some really wild
reports from the field all summer. Uhhhhh-huh...
Hopefully DanFests'll be sproutin' up everywhere!
NOTICE: If the sked includes Indy this year, I would
certainly host a Fest at that time. I know Hoops is
gearing up for a Chicago stop too, so we'll see.
I know how part of my summer vacation is gonna be spent!

Oh yeah, I was checking out the dead.net site for the
g'friend, and under the Weirsauces.com listing of where
to purchase Bobby's wares ;- }, I spied a shop in Leawood,
Kansas -- Dean & DeLuca's -- Hearty gulping indeed!!!

L-U-V to all yuse, ciao

As much as I love SD and am eternally in their debt for 2vN, the drumming did sound ersatz to my Ampeg afflicted ears. Especially the snare. It sounded too tight for the real deal. But it's a win-win situation. Think it sounds good now? Imagine how great the new stuff will sound this summer with a live, ass-kicking drummer!

Hey now- despite the venerable rep Edd shows his ass which turns out to be just as egotistical and defensive as the rest of us big assholes. Maybe that's why he has been of few words- you know, like trying to keep the fact covered. Ballah is suddenly not looking so bad.

So what.

Hey, I agree with Tom. Drumming isn't at all how it was back in the Aja days. But the music still is the best anybody'll hear in a long time.

thanks to all for the well wishes on the Richmond Dan Fest. I can't say it any better than the fine folks who were there have said it already. We're ready to "go back, Jack, and do it again" anytime!!

oleander....please let us know you got home alright....we've heard from everyone except you....thanks again for doing such a wonderful job!

DanFesters: we should have the pics uploaded Wednesday or Thursday and will e-mail you ASAP when they're up! Subject to each persons approval we'll then post to the Guest Book.

MC & Opti

Oh yeah ... I'm not any too thrilled with the jumping-on-Tom for his opinion, either ... especially that of the ubiquitous Anonymous Poster(s).

/the Mam'zelle
who is not afraid to stand by her opinions, nor
to disagree with folks, nor to
identify herself as
Ellen Brenner
mizducky@drizzle.com
http://www.drizzle.com/~mizducky

My dear Wormian Tom--

I have absolutely no problem with you, or anyone, expressing their personal opinion here, or anywhere, about music, or anything.

I guess what I (in my opinion) find uncomfortable is when you make statements like this:

"Sorry but anyone with two ears can hear that the drumming on the new album is not up to their previous standard of excellence."

I'm sorry Tom, but when you (or anybody) makes statements like this it reads as if you are implying I am deficient in some way if I don't share your opinion (i.e. there is something wrong with my hearing, as opposed to the fact that I simply don't share your tastes).

I in fact don't share your opinion. But I do not think either you or I are deficient. Tastes do differ. I personally happen to like the drumming on 2vN just fine (and it's not because I'm being knee-jerk Dan-worshipper either; I just happen to like it just fine). You don't like the drumming, and you've stated your reasons. This is groovy. I totally respect this. Can't it be left that way?

Peace, buddy?

And I guess this goes for my personal $0.02 about all and sundry in the expression of opinion. Much angst has been prevented in cyberspace as well as in real life by the simple use of the "In My Opinion" tag.

Thass all fer now ...

/the Mam'zelle

I called my brother-in-law today, who is in a music production school in San Fran, and he sheepishly told me that he thought the new one is the "weakest effort" the bend has ever put through. I couseled him to simply keep listening.
His beef was that it was "over-produced" , "too perfect- the drums" - yada yada yada.

On te CD the music kicks ass, to hell with all the gripes,

but live the material kicks - and so does the band this time (a great Shame that Chris Potter will be missing).

This IS their best tour yet.

A whacko,

Q

Hey guys, everyone back off worm man a bit. He's entitled to express his opinion. We all love SD but that doesn't mean they're infallible. Maybe the drumming isn't what it used to be. Perhaps we miss the creative horn charts of old. Maybe the session player aren't what they once were. WHATEVER! This is SD we're talking about. They're still the best gig in town. We can all agree to that. So what if worm brain thinks the drumming leaves a bit to be desired. I'm already down by law on this board as committing the blasphemous sin of saying I miss some of the old session players.
Being a SD fan means we're mature enough and secure enough to stand by our own opinions without the need to be defensive, if you will, and offensive, if you won't. It shouldn't be Anathema to express an opinion here.
I know absolutely nothing about playing a musical instrument, but I must admit that the drumming on WOH sounds completely repetitive.(By the way, this is my favorite cut on the entire disk). Whether this is a drum machine or not, I don't know and I could care less. Listen to the fucking drumming on this song folks. It doesn't change at all throughout the entire piece. If it isn't a drum machine (and once again I could care less and this doesn't diminish the quality in the least in my opinion), it might as well be! Maybe you guys all love SD more than me. Perhaps you're more musically in-tune. Or maybe it's just our personal opinions that differ. I'm inclined to believe the latter.
I've followed wormbrains posts on this board and I must say he's been nothing if not courteous and polite. Let's allow others to express their honest opinions on this board without the fear of being utterly vilified.

Kudos to all the DANFESTIANS back from Richmond. It sounded great. Can't wait for pictures.

Steve

Looking back on Danfest 2000...thanks, everyone, for making every day a fun day.

Altamira: If Walter ever asks me to recommend a voice coach, I'll give him your name. (grin)

Fezo: Appreciate the insight into publishing law. Sounds to me like a little hocus pocus here, a little "habeas corpus" there, and you're in like Flynn...at least, you make it sound easy.

Hutch: The Shamrock, the jam session at Bill's studio, and especially your stories. And even more for finding an open gas station at 2:00 a.m. Sunday.

Midnite Cruiser + Optimystic: Looking forward to seeing the pictures full-size! Shirl, I really liked the cat stories -- you two take good care of your 6 Good Cats, now. And let me know when you come up with a skin for MusicMatch...

Roy: What you said. Yow. Plus, I hope Bill got your song right on the tape, because I'd like to hear it again.

YGK: Good to hear your first-person reports on the NYC tapings. Thanks too for sharing your new stuff. Let us know when you've polished those puppies.

ole: Quelle fete! Tu es tellement gentille et genial. Little Buddha is watching over my monitor tonight. "Needless to say, the party broke up..." but only reluctantly.

I have a problem with whoever said all the drums on the new album were sequenced using samples from session guys.
That sounds like utter c**p to me. The section of article below is from the August '93 issue of Keyboard Magazine. In it, Donald discusses the arguments regarding drum machines vs. live drummers. Of course, this was relating to Kamakiriad, but I doubt his thoughts of the subject would have changed too much, with regards to 2vN.

--snip--

Keyboard: So most of the keyboard parts on the album [Kamakiriad] were cut by you playing to a click?

Fagen: Right, or to some kind of simple sequence. Sometimes it was just a drum machine.

KB: Was this a new way of working for you?
F: Yeah, I'd never started with a model. I had done stuff to clicks with a band, but the technology wasn't all that great last time I made a record [laughs]. In fact, at that time, we had our engineer, Roger Nichols, invent sequencing machines for a couple of tunes, because there weren't any out at that time with the fidelity we wanted. On the new album, I would start writing at the piano, but once I had the song laid out I would use a sequencer to arrange it. Then once the structure was there, I'd throw down my keyboard parts.

KB: Did any of these sequences wind up on the album?
F: We left a few in here and there, but most of the sequenced stuff and just about all of the drum stuff that was originally mechanical [ie. electronic and sequenced] was replaced by live musicians.

KB: Live drums are almost a trademark of your work.
F: Yeah, I don't like the mechanical thing. Drum machines are pretty sophisticated; you can make a drum track that sounds kind of realistic. But the details and subtleties of a live performance give you an excitement you'll never get from something that never changes.

KB: Even when the drum part is just a backbeat, a steady hi-hat part, and a bass drum kick...
F: ..it's different when it's played live. In just playing around with this stuff, I've found that the difference between having a groove and not having a groove can be a tenth of a millisecond, or less. That's how detailed a live drummer's sensibility can get. It would be very hard to duplicate that with a machine.

KB: Of course, there are "humanizing" programs now for drum sequences.
F: But those are random. Random won't do it for you. You end up with, essentially, a bad mechanical drummer.

KB: Why do you still write your songs at the piano?
F: Because that assures you that the song will have some musical integrity. When you start on a machine, you let the machine write the song. They sound best when they're doing certain things, so you tend to go with things that sound best on the machine. You end up getting manipulated. But if you work on the piano, that won't happen; you'll get something with really sound mucical quality.

--snip--

Thrilled to see how quickly the new album made the UK charts - my local record store had sold out a couple of days after release day. Had to make do with the MP3 clips from the website.

Some predictably stunning stuff on it, with "Almost Gothic" the stand-out track to my ears. Not convinced "West of Hollywood" justifies its length - couldn't we have had a tenth track, like a proper version of some of the great old demos: Let George Do It, or The Old Regime?

YGK - You had to take a bus to DC? Bleah! I was most fortunate in that the four-hour-late train enabled me to get back home sooner than I had expected. When Hutch dropped me off at the station, the late train had just arrived. After pleading with various Amtrak employees, who kept telling me to go talk to someone else at the other end of the train (I ended up running up and down the platform for the length of a very long train three times), I was finally able to convince them to let me board, and so I avoided a long wait for the train I was supposed to be on. I did feel for all the people who had their connections screwed up, though.

Worm brain:
Slappa my hand ... black soul man!
To all the DanFesterers who were lucky enough to be in Richmond this past weekend -- from your posts it sounds like it was every bit as great as I thought it would be. Kudos to all involved in the planning and I'm looking forward to the photos in the days to come. Geez I wish I could've been there.
If I had my way ... I would move ... to another lifetime.

whoever wrote the note on Donald's sequencing the drum parts

please e lab or ate

I understand it now thatnks. SO my ears are not mush, to think Donald would digitally sequence the tracks to make them too precise makes it even worse, so he ruined the damn rythym section

I bet he did the same thing to Kama

I could tell that the drum sound wasn't all there, it just didn't sound right, too compressed and precise. Hey I may not be a drummer but my brother is and I have a set in my house that I work out my timing with, so I know what drums sound like

also I have a real high end system, so Don either eq's this stuff to sound bright so it sounds good on mid fi or his hearing is gone in the upper register or both (take your pick)

so the live versions will swing successfully

ho de ho

T

Congratulations all you Danfest freaks who put some faith back in humanity for me. Wish I could have been there, too. But I'm glad my cake made it for one more season!

wormbreath: The drumming is not the same as it was for the other albums - correct. Here's a piece of info worth considering: IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE! It's new material of a slightly different style. Actually, each one of SD albums are pretty different from all the rest (Aja & Goucho are the most alike to my ears, but very different from all the previous ones.)
While Donald and Walter haven't lost their edge these past 20 years, they don't seem to have that "teenage angst" in their earlier stuff. And that's fine with me. There's enough of that stuff out there now.
In my opinion, the drums are very appropriate for the songs. I think if they used a canned drum loop, we would certainly notice that! I appreciate that they chose not to.

just my 2cents
rb

AG about a cat? I love it-how creative. "She's all buzz, then she's noise free"-sounds like a purring cat to me.

tom-zion it is-and good for your for standing your ground!

Welcome back Danfesters-and thanks for sharing the stories of the weekend with all of us who couldn't be there. You've set a high bar for Danfest West.

aja

worm: i have two ears and i think the drumming is fine.

by the way, just because someone disagrees with your analysis of an issue here, it doesn't mean we're all in the bag for our heroes.

for example, i prefer the vocals on Fagen's two solo projects. more soul and angst.

roy: cool take on the cruisers' obvious affection for one another. it was inspirational (the affection, not your take). reminded me of being similarly blessed which i unfortunately sometime forget.

ruby: great cake!!!

So blame the Donald and his computer, not the drummers.

the dan fest sounded neat
wish I could have been there
zion from vegas - I am game there Aja

Jane Street - did I gush over Weinberg? not
I think his drumming is simplistic, but at least he varies it up and can start and stop a rythym unlike 80% of the drumming on TvsN. Bruce was great and the e-streeters really moved it
and no I did not soil my pants in any way, must we revert things to guttural levels to make a silly point?

Sorry to spoil the Steely Dan is infallible mode that prevades much of this guestbook. Are guests not intitled to their own opinions even if they are not 100% idol worship? Sorry but anyon ewith two ears can hear that the drumming on the new album is not up to their previous standard of excellence. Really, they should have just dialed in a drum machine and saved the session men fees altogether.
The guys on the record have great precision, too good, it sounds like a programmed piece, but less soul and swing.

sorry I am not whining, only being critical of one severe flaw in an otherwise excellent record. I know the tour will swing

I do think Bill Bruford would really work with these guys
but nobody wants to touch that comment for some strange reason

I purchased a dvd player the other day - wow
can't wait for the dan goodies to come out
I swear that the eagles were playing live in my music room this weekend, incredible imaging (as good as the HDTV I've seen)
and I just bought the Joni Mitchell Painting With Words And Music

sorry to step up on the platform
so uneloquently

thanks for all the support, my head is still really killing me
but I am grateful to be alive

T

"Clean this mess up or we'll all end up in jail."

Yes heard that too, just now from sources in LA.

See you at Universal Amphitheatre!!!

Goin To California - stayin' at the Clampitt's with the rest of the rednecks in Beverly Hills...

Q

June 17th at Irvine Meadows? Has anyone else run across this date and venue?

Edd: "Dr. Wu," totally. It's not tape hiss, it's the sound of rolls of tape winding up, fast-forwarding, whatever.

I tried to believe that she was saying "cleanest kitchen in the city," but it's all t's. Kitten, no doubt.

Sounds like Richmond was a blast! wish I coulda been there! can't wait til summer...

The Richmond Danfest was the most fun you can have and still stay within the constraints of the laws of our land.**
Many thanks to Oleander,Your Cruise Director, who provided organization, planning, prizes, a central location, snacks, her usual wit and erudition, and even gave us all some groceries when we left.
And thanks to Hutch, a Richmond resident, great host and a Will Rogers caliber story teller.
Friday night: Oleander, Hank Silvers, YGK and myself saw Hutch's group The High Roller Band play at the Shamrock (a good-old-boy bar with an Irish name run by a Korean guy, so you figure that one out.) Though the play list wasn't aimed at the Steely Dan demographic, they were tight, strong ,and excellent. If you can make me enjoy a Kiss or AC/DC number, you know you're playing your ass off. Hutch, if I had your hands, I'd turn mine in.
Gathered Saturday with the addition of Altamira, fezo, and Midnite Cruiser and OptiMystic (a couple who actually make marriage look like the greatest idea since food). All great and funny folks. Opti wins the award for best sustained laugh. We listened to some Steely Dan rarities (courtesy of Hank), some excellent YGK advance recordings, and then we all had one of those great meandering conversations that you could only have with people you just met but you think you've known since Can't Buy a Thrill. I couldn't recall all the subjects we sat around and talked about but I know we touched on Ralph Cramden, fox hunting, and the art of making the lights go on and off during sex.
Dinner at the Tobacco Company was expensive and terrific. The Steely Dan costumes were characteristically oblique. The answer to fezo's costume was, "for seven seconds, it's like Christmas day; then it's dark again." I'll let you non attendees use your imagination to figure out what type of clothing would say that.
Then we all went to Valhalla Studio as the guest of Bill Shelton who graciously opened up his studio, his equipment, his instruments, his musical talent, and his 500 watt personality to a bunch of strangers. Man, we had a good time. Everybody that wanted to got to play, sing, and be heard (and recorded). We jammed into the night with the help of local musicians, Bill, Kevin Callahan and Robin Diamond (a sensational singer who claims that's his real name.) We got to witness something never-before-witnessed: Hutch and YGK jamming together. Forgetaboutit. Don't even ponder trading fours with either of those guys unless you're ready to go down hard. Righteous work fellows!
And Ruby, the Better-Than-Cake Sex was delicious. ... No I didn't; I said Better-Than-Sex Cake. Anyway thanks for the recipe; I kept on eating the stuff even knowing I was about to spend a jackson on dinner.
So Hank, Ole, YGK, Hutch, fezo, Altamira, Midnite, Opti, Bill, and the High Rollers: Peace and thanks for a great time. Looking forward to the pictures and tapes.
I'm not worthy; I'm gonna hurl.

RS

** All the laws of our land except, of course, for the really stupid ones.

.....anyway, BIG thanx to Oleander for providing a centered place to meet and hang, Hutch for the music and the music opps, and having the opportunity to meet Roy, The Cruisers, fezo, Alta, and Hank. I'll be psyched to see the pix.....

ygk

Wow! What a great weekend!
I don't think I've ever met a nicer group of people. I felt like everyone was an old friend I'd known for twenty years. It just re-enforces what I've believed for a long time... music can bring people together in ways that nothing else can. And Steely Dan's music brings the very best people together. There's no doubt about that.
Many thanks to Oleander for pulling it all together and making it so much fun. You're the best, girl!!!
The jam at the studio Saturday night was one of the best I've been to in a long, long time. Midnite, Roy and YGK had the groove going like you've never heard before. And then Roy picked up the Martin acoustic and sang one of his songs for us. Just beautiful! And we got it all on tape!
Midnite, Shirl, Ole, Roy, Hank, fezo, Alta and YGK... it was truly a pleasure to meet all of you and hang out together.
Yes, a good time was had by all!

Hutch

....from my sleepy state, I must state that the Richmond Dan-fest was the genuine article, populated by ~10 folks (including Mr. Steely Dan) who were able to check out Hutch's band Friday night (the ringing has stopped), enjoy the company, conversation of an all day hang, enjoy a festive dinner - even though the band didn't know any Dan covers, and the jam session in the woods of Virginia, which, at first hearing, seemed to produce some memorable, dirty blues tracks. We were fortunate to have a bunch of musicians in our fest group who all contributed handily to the vibe. Bill - the studio host - was generous with his space, thoughts and technology such that, as MC mentioned, we may have a "disc" from Richmond 2000. The music was great, but the conversation caught in the studio in between cuts was fitting, surreal and grabbed a hold of the vibe.

During the Fest, we did break out the concept that AG could be a romantic and nuanced description about a house cat. Numerous Fest attendees - who are owned by numerous cats - were able to fill in and connect with the song from that POV. I do know that my gf - who holds the 'Kitt'n' name in the house, as opposed to the other 2 'cats' - thinks the song is about her. The song does have fantastic moments/lyrics describing common feline behaviour.

Overall, an extremely worthwhile trip from NYC, despite the crowded nature of Sunday trains delayed 4 hours, and the ensuing bus ride to DC.
Things we learned from the trip: Don't watch "Eyes Wide Shut" in your hotel room at 12:30 AM waiting for the pace of the film to get better. It doesn't happen - even at 3:30 AM.
Do begin listening, again, to 2vN an hour out of Richmond and watch the lyrics describe your head.....

ygk

Errata - I meant to write "so there might be an interestin recording coming your way soon." Sorry about that; I shouldn't write so late at night!

Such eloquence...

Edd: Before you stick the needles in your eyes, can I have the tickets?

or if you like, give me the tickets then I'll stick the needles in your eyes you ignorant fuck

"...'78 all over again..."

Most performers grow somewhat in 22 years.

I'd rather stick needles in my eyes than attend one of Springsteen's overblown events...

Fletch - kitten?

Okay, this aint working "...but yours was kitten clean".

god damn it Walter, why did you have to take me to the pound?

Wormian- Oh please stop complaning about Steely Dan drummers. After all, you just got through cumming after watching a Bruce Springsteen concert. Why don't you start the Max "the dork" Wienberg fan club. Now he's a great drummer. What a joke!

Geography won out over history as the visionary foresaw. East coast dates will be late summer. Doesn't give you much time to prepare St. Al. What's the weather like there that time of year - cold, damp? Warm, sunny?

Holding steady in Canada:
http://news.excite.ca/news/ap/000319/11/music-albums-tracks-list

A review from a student at Colorodo State - Go Rams?
http://news.excite.com:80/news/uw/000317/entertainment-music-124

Off to a good start in Europe:
http://www.billboard.com/daily/2000/0313_02.asp

Skunk still doing his thing on the political front:
http://www.ocweekly.com/ink/00/28/commie-schoenkopf.shtml

re: tape sound on Dr. Wu...

Dr. Wu? Or Bad Sneakers? There's some well documented noise at the beginning of BS...

Um, Clas.....that's 'cleanest KITTEN in the city' isn't it?

Fletch

Thanks guys, you are all kind. Nisse says thanks in heaven.

Hey now!

I detected this connection with "Almost Gothic" and "Kid Charlamagne". Listen:

"...but yours was kitchen clean..."

and in "Almost Gothic":

"...kitchen, kitchen, the cleanest kitchen in the city..."

That brings us to decide wether the girl is the Kids daughter, or his daughters daughter. I mean, such thing as a clean kitchen is running in the family.

Another "Must Be An Outer Inspiration" for The Two is Jackson Brownes "My Problem Is You" - "Negative Girl".

This really blows my mind off.

Can I ask you guys for a silent moment, it's about a year since I put my Red Cat Nisse to sleep. He became 18 years old. All I am asking for is two quiet minutes here.

C

Hello to all! I have great high hopes that all are well and fine and everything smiling and gladness is prevailing. PBS finally aired the "In the Spotlight" piece. I have completely HOOKED my boyfriend on the special stuff that is the Dan! We have been listening to ONLY Dan albums for two weeks!!!!! Bliss I tell you, this is simply just bliss!! This is very good. It is especially fun for me because I can relive those moments when I too, started playing air instruments in the living room, on a natural high, commenting on that perfect change in Home at Last,scatting my way to the end of the song with zou zii zou zii zou zzee zzouh zii zou zii zou... etc... When I am finished disecting Two vs Nature, I will be posting something special about the lyrics in a hot Fever Dream of my own. I assure you it will be special and I fell honored to have been asked to share a bit of my knowledge. Oleander and I have discussed this, and because I am a voudou preistess, and just currently (ironically) finished my final initiation ceremony, I am going to pick out all of those "ju ju" related lyrics to enlighten some of you in different perceptions of what we are hearing. Perhaps this can help us all to "Sing between the Lines and Acquire a Different Perception, and Higher Vision of our esteemed gods, Walter Becker and Donald Fagan. Turned out my beau has a client who has a wife who works for PBS in Miami, so the following day he came home with a videotaped version. It is the sweet things in life.....Anyone needing a copy, just ask. I'll figure out a way to make it happen. It is good to see everyone is still reelin in the 411 on all the doings and happenings and sharing thoughts peppered with the unique intellect that fuels this page. Ducky , sorry to see you had a bad cold. I have many tried and true tea like remedies not just for screening out the sorrow, but with a less abrasive effect that Niquilesque stuff, "one of these" could surely beat those pesky nasties we have from time to time, hovering over our chakras like a shadow.I do hope you are much better. Ole, thanks again for asking me.... so much!! Your e mails are so fun to get. Like a little present waiting for me. It is such a huge priviledge to feel so much more a part of this incredible energy we have here. This po' ol' preistess had to get up some fundage to go buy the disc. I will be in touch soon, my precious conduit. Until then, may all things Dan be fluttering about you like fairies during the Beltane Feast. Oh yeah, and a soothing Steely Dan lullabye, whispering you to sleep. Much love and respect, Goodnight, Chere

Just as I was sending my last post, my email sounded off, and behold...the new SD newsletter has arrived!

"The US Tour will kick-off in the Pacific NorthWest, May 31st"

Ooh My...Portland? Seattle? They must play the Gorge...and, of course, Vancouver, BC, Canada???? They did the last 2 trips, so...

We will all find out on April 9th!

St. Al...surely you must have an enormous party planned for this historic honour already...just kidding...I know and appreciate how hard you work!

Look forward to seeing you (and others) @ the Washington show(s)!

Two months to plan...hmm...

Jive!

I picked up the remastered version of "Katy Lied" last summer, and heard something that I didn't pick up on the original MCA CD my Dad owns.

At the beginning of "Doctor Wu," from 0:00 to 0:01, you can hear what sounds like a reel-to-reel winding up. The sound is really prominent on headphones, but I can hear it as loud as Phil Woods on regular speakers too.

Anyone else hear this?

"It started out good
Then it got lots better,
Makin' up the rules as we went along,
But with a business like this
There's an gnarly downside"

How did I know a huge "but" was coming after things were moving along so nicely for the characters in this song...

Zo-lar is my cat with four paws
One for each cardinal point
"Nothing like that stupid dog compass"
she says with nary a purr
Occupied with her fur

The cleanest kitten in the city
Landing on her feet foursquare
Even when dropped from the highest height
My cat lands upright
Opposing the predominant view

almost heaven

almost gothic is about my plummer

negative girl is about cassandra

and jack of speed is about the cocaine
that Earl Flynn used to put on his penis to numb it and keep it hard for hours during his hollywood escapades of the 40's

any other questions you have?

I'm headed over to Ballah's place
the doublewide with the electricity turned off

wow, just got back from a 3 1/2 hour bruce and the e-street show

wow and then some. This was 78 all over again!!!

forgot about my severe concussion for a while and got lost in the music and dancing in the aisles. Do NOT miss this show (first e street tour in 12 years and maybe the last one!)

I think the Dan should hire Bill Bruford (Crim and Yes fame) to play their summer tour. The man's keen sense of time, syncopation, stop start precision and total improv would push them into the stratosphere

now why when the boys history involved having ten drummers play on a track to insure it's perfection in the 70's, would they release a great album with the most inferior uninspired lightweight drumming on it in the 90's

what e us gives?

what a shame about me

DJ Mitch - But Almost Gothic might be about a cat. We were working on the cat theory yesterday, and I'm sure someone will be ready to post something about it soon.

Damn, what an incredible weekend that was! I'm stil sizzling; that was way cool. I'm sorry I missed Hutch's show on Friday, but that time at the studio was something else indeed. Wow, what a trip. I'm looking forward to hearing the CD. And you never know, clips from it might appear in a format you all can hear. From what I've heard, the microphones picked up some good conversation as well, zo there might be one interestin recordin soming you way soon.

Anne

Glad all you Danfesters had a great time. There were rumors flying around the chatroom tonight about the tour, so everyone up for Danfest West hang tight-the wingding might be getting off the ground.

Nice chatting with you Miz Ducky, St. Al, Ed Beatty!

aja

Hi again
Tried the chat and got in, but couldnt get the damn thing to work (just so you dont think I was being snobbish...)

Ill keep trying
toodles

Chat anyone? It's 8;15 pm PST right now--I'll hang out for about 15-20 minutes or so to see if anyone turns up (that is, if my ISP's network link doesn't go casters-up again).

Obviously all the guitar players under discussion must have talent or they would not have been involved with SD. Wadenius didn't seem creative to me at all. Zingg was remarkably articulate, melodic and inventive. Krantz just seemed to thrash out this wall of mush that dind't even remind me of the SD original he was playing. Carlton is awesome as a player of other peoples material. His own records don't do much for me.

RE: Handling Ballah
I spent 15 years as an attendant in a mental institution. I submit the following: For the grossly obnoxious, we had a program named "Extinction". When the blather became extreme, we completly ignored the poor wretch. After a short period, tears would flow, followed by a rapid retreat to their room, whereupon they would usually penetrate their rectums with either their fist or the action figure of Yoda that mom had left on her last visit. When the screaming subsided, we'd strap them into a clean jacket for a ride to the hospital ward and two weeks of Prolixin. These bloviation marathons usually coincided with full moons and election cycles.

Greetings fellow DanFesters! Just wanted to let you all know we made it home safe and sound. We're going through the pics on the computers now and it looks like we've got a bunch of great ones! Can't wait to send them out but the DanFester's get first peek and first approval over what everyone else will see. A few probably won't be seen outside of the DanFest participants.

We had the greatest time and everyone was so nice. A special thanks to oleander for giving us her guidance, planning and execution to make things so fun and pretty much non-stop! Also, a special thanks to Hutch for showing us around and arranging the jam session out at Valhalla Studios. And one, last, extra special thanks to Bill Shelton for allowing a bunch of strangers into his studio for what I'd have to say was the most fun I've had in one night in a long, long time. Rock on Bill, I know you will!!!

Words just can't express how much we enjoyed this weekend. Every minute from the time we arrived until we all left early this afternoon was such a blast! You guys & girls really are the best! Shirl says to thank everyone for making her feel so welcome too. She'll be doing the collage and fine tuning the pics to upload and will e-mail all you Festers to see what you'd like to share with the rest of the guestbook. Thanks again to everyone who was there for the best weekend we've had this century.

DAN FEST 2000 was a smashing success!!!!

Midnite Cruiser & OptiMystic

Ms Ducky,

Is it drizzling today?

Hey Ed, that's okay. Euphoria, huh? Isn't that one of those little towns in central Pennsylvania, not far from Bird-in-Hand and Blue Ball and Intercourse? :-)

/Miz Ducky
who spent many childhood vacations being amused while her parents schlepped her through the Pennsylvania Dutch Country

Ok! We're ready to go. I hope everyone has been thinking hard about the question you wish to ask the band. Here is the url:

http://www.trackyourstuff.com/questions.htm

A couple of things regarding this process... I know this isn't going to be a popular decision, but we've decided to restrict this to one question per person. Because of the scope of this project we feel it's the only way to keep things under control. We're expecting at least 300 - 400 questions for consideration. If we allowed multiple questions it could easily get out of hand. Your question must be submitted by Sunday April 9th.

Tour dates in Los Angeles have been announced. Based on these dates it appears the band may be hitting the West coast first.

YIPPIE!

StAl

Ms Ducky,
You are correct,but I am as I posted in EUPHORIA...

Ed(looking for tickets even as we speak) Beatty

... Segue notation 442: If ya takes Pick Up Sticks from Brubecks Time Out, it sets up JOS really well.. West Of Hollywood sets up several cuts from McCoy Tyners Infinity... check the sax similarities with Michael Brecker throughout both albums..
And the rest of the story is that boozers often have 12 guage mouths (un)controlled by BB gun brains.. Ol' Sweet-Cheeks would be a real hit in the shower room of the county clink.. A little Deep Cleaning would be good for him..

Hey Ed--you forgot to mention that you got that info about Universal Ampitheatre off the Official Site, which has just been updated again. :-) (Where the *&%$ does one buy tix online for that venue, anyways? Ticketmonster isn't being helpful--yet.)

There's a couple other new tidbits too, as usual ...

/the ever-helpful Mam'zelle

Universal Amphitheater here I come...

gentleman loser: Shhhhhh! Be vewy, vewy, quiet! We're hunting ballahs ... heheheheheh ...

No, really, it is my (probably in-vain) hope that, if we all completely and totally ignore the dude in question, he will go away. Especially since he's admitted in so many words that he only posts his little missives for the attention. (As do we all, to be sure, but the vast majority of us guestbook habitues also have some goals of civility, friendship, and communication--not to mention savoring our shared love of the Dan.)

Anyhoo--if I haven't already said so (sorry, suffering from Can't Remember Shit syndrome)--welcome, g.l., pull up a virtual chair, pour yourself a libation and jump into sharing the sensations.

/the Mam'zelle

P.S. -- Richmond crew: hope you partied hearty last night! My love to y'all! (Damn, wish I could have afforded another East Coast jaunt ... these things could become addictive ... )

Jesus, I wish I was somewhere near Richmond. Any news on posting some pictures from the festivities?

Fletch: thanks much for the article on Dan, I enjoyed reading it

2vN still hasnt left my stereo since I bought it. Is that normal?

Im new to this list and I have a quick question: what's the story with ballah? Actually, Im sure he will tell me himself...
toodles

Hi again from New Zealand all. The following piece was published in the New Zealand Herald, so I thought I'd type in all out for you. Of course, only when I'd FINISHED, I see if was an article from the Observer, and that you've probably all already seen it...lol....DOH!!
Anyhow, I'm gonna put it here anyway. Spent too much time typing it out not to. Apologies to anyone who's already seen it...

DOING IT AGAIN
--------------------

Twenty years - has it really been that long?
- after their last album, the pop geniuses of
Steely Dan are back on the record.
Euan Ferguson reports

"I don't know if it's the greatest chord in the world", drawls Donald Fagen, sprawled over
a chi-chi sofa in a forgettable New York hotel, "but it's not bad. It's a pretty good chord."
They've got the Steely Dan chord now. It's a chord, and a feel, which is so instantly
recognisable by professional musicians that they refer to it through this shorthand rather
than sol-fa notation.
It’s a pretty neat thing to have a chord named after you, so we talk about it for a bit, and
Fagen and Walter Becker, his co-collaborator and intellectual sparring partner, perk up.
Fagen and Becker ... Steely Dan. The musicians’ musicians. Named after a giant steel
dildo in William Burroughs’ The Naked Lunch, they’re one of those things you either
adore and revere or haven’t a clue what all the fuss is about.
Talk to non-combatants, the civilians, the ignoroscenti, and you’re met with blank
looks. And then, while the ambulance is on it’s way, those in the know will gently
explain just what they’ve been missing: nothing less than the best band in the universe, of
all time, ever.

Twenty years have passed since the last album. When Gaucho came out, the world was
different. Diana wasn’t yet a virgin; Michael Jackson was black. Two Against Nature is,
absurdly, the first official Dan album since then.
Fagen brought out two solo albums, the first of which, The Nightfly, is the most
required listening of all time, ever, for anyone who wants to drive, or keep thier brain
intact, or bed a French actress.
And the new album is astoundingly good. It’s no different, really, in style or emphasis: a
touch cooler, slicker. As ever, one has to listen to it a dozen times before the knowing
admiration kicks in.
What the pair have always set out to do, from their Tin Pan Alley days, writing garbage
for those who would pay, to the first hits - Do It Again, Haitian Divorce and the rest -
and way beyond, through drugs, breakdown, redemption and reluctant fatherhood, is
simple.
They wanted to combine the best of the 20th Century’s music into one fine,
ever-listenable, intellectually snobbish slice. it could have been horrendous, but it’s
glorious.

To take the finesse of Jazz without the pseudo meanderings; to take the drive of soul
without the posturing; to take the beauty of classical changes - for Fagen enthuses at
length about Ravel, Debussy, Poulenc, Satie, Faure - without the wittering French
longueurs; to take the snap of pop without it’s zip-busting immaturity ... the recipe, then
and now, is close to perfect.
Perfectionis their aim, they freely admit, and they’re unforgiving in it’s pursuits.
Unforgiving of their fellow musicians. Although they insist that their current line-up of
session men is “the band we’ve always wanted to have - they’re great musicians, and
they’ve been listening to Steely Dan records since they were teenagers,” the pain remain
notorious for the ruthlessness with which they fire anyone whose playing is less than
perfect.
They’re also uncompromising with themselves. Their shows are notoriously unshowy,
they’re live numbers clinically perfect, the they’re comfortable with that.
“I can never remember listening to some great jazz musician and thinking, ‘Jeez, this
guy’s just not that much of a showman, y’know?” says Fagen. “It’s a concept that’s
pretty alien to us. I mean, we’re not going to have smoke bombs, or, or ...”
“... Or be firing missles out of our guitars.”

Uncompromising in their conversation, which is as fiercely clever as their lyrics. It ranges
from literary influences (Burroughs, Gibson, Vonnegut) to political credo, and a lengthy
discourse from Fagen on Herbert Marcuse, and Frankfurt School and the dangers of
“repressive tolerance,” all of which is fascinating, but, boy, are you expected to keep up,
for they’re unforgiving of their interviewers.
But unforgiving shouldn’t be taken as deadly serious or humourless. They happen to be
two New York Jewish intellectuals who love music so much that they can’t take it
anything but seriously. They also happen to be two very human men with a dry, dry
humour.
They must have been, back in the 70s, among the first living beings tobring irony to
California. Thier lyrics are both poetic and savagely tongue-in-cheek, as they explore the
American male psyche and the late 20th Century landscape, satirising capitalism, trying
to reflect their own sense of dislocation in America during those years.
Twenty years on, musically, there’s still sex and humour and fine chords and marvelous
brass. It’s astonishing how little has changed. Fagen regrets the lengthy gap but says “I
needed the time. We needed to grow up a little when we quit,” adds Becker. So have
they?
“Well, um .. we’re older, anyway. Growing up, you know ... you can easily overdo a
thing like that.”

As I leave the hideous chintz of the hotel suite, I sense they wish they too could be freed
from it’s flounced grip. These men were not made for chintz, but for hazy mornings and
smoky studios.
They were made for things formed from cork and rubber and brass, like Manhattan
diners, or bayou docks, or saxophones.
As I leave, they’re still discussing the chord.

ALMOST GOTHIC might be about a renovated house, and not about a lovestruck guy. DANFEST in Richmond sounds like a good time and just after the release of 2vn..makes it even better. Keep those updates coming...... GO PEPERDINE !11 SEED MY ASS

The Dan Fans have invaded Richmond in force! Hank Silvers, Oleander,YGK and Roy Scam were out at the club last night to hear the band. We had a great gig and the SD table was most kind to us.
Mr. and Mrs. Midnite Cruiser, fezo and Altamira came in today. YGK brought down a couple of his new songs for us to hear. Great stuff indeed! So were off to dinner downtown tonight and then it's out to the studio for a little party/jam session till the wee hours.
(... uh, Ole... what time did you say the limo is picking us up?)

Hiya, DanFanDom!!

Well, effectively dubbed the video to cassette to CD-R, did you get those 'royalties' I sent, Walt & Don??

They said, 'it can't be done' to connect powered speakers to amplified source without an impedance matcher or preamp. It is 'cheap', not free, hook up the powered speakers via a phone/RCA connector splitter, hook to the headphone jack, crank it up!!!

BOSE engineers, it can't be done?? Don't tell one of us 'DanFans' that, eh?? Boston Acoustic engineers, it can't be done, heck = easy enough.

<----put on thinking 'cap' like the NYC black and white crowd in the 'In The Spotlight' video, nah----rather have my Hard Rock Cafe, Atlantic City ball cap on. Could see the 'red-eye' = "Goodbye Look" in the crowd's eyes.

They call Oklahoma the 'Sooners', nah----the call Duke the 'Blue Devils, nope----they call Purdue the 'Boilermakers', nyet----they call "Alabama the Crimison Tide" = Yeah, that's it!!!

Q, have an extra February 'Warner Report' newsletter with Walt and Don on the cover, and the featured story if you want it.

KatyDanFan, wife, did you 'just' kinda sorta 'quick' have to leave for dinner before I hooked up the speakers, darlin'??

Have fun and a GREAT weekend!!!

Cheers!

ES

...that is, if you guys are up yet !

Hey, somebody in Richmond with a laptop, give us a report. A little blow by blow.

Stranger...

Norman Mailer, Orson Welles, Albert Einstein...Donald Fagen, Walter Becker...

The fraternal order of Genius perhaps?

Jive!

PS What a Shame About Me is such a great song!

The new new "remastered" series Japanese version/mfg CD's are being released to the USA soon. A friend of mine in Japan says they sound "even better"(?!) - and he says the cover art is different.
Everything from CBAT to Aja will be available - don't know @ the Japanese Gaucho schedule.

Just passing it along.........

Q

Yo DanFestians - and Ole specifically, did the Aja tape arrive ?

Hi Walter and Donald,
I've waited 20 years for you to bring out a new album, what can i say but WOW it was worth the wait. Two Against Nature hasn't been out of the disk player since i got it.Dont make us wait 20 years for the next one boys.
Your greatest fan from down under Greg

does anyone know how I can get in touch with anyone connected with one of the SD tribute bands in the NYC area. I have a friend who owns a large resort in the Poconos and he would like to talk with them about a possible booking. He's got a wonderful jazz club at his place and he's a big SD fan. (perhaps StAL or Hoops can provide some assistance?)

Folks, whoa nellie on this offhanded dismissal of Wayne Krantz. Now, when I caught the band at the local shed, Wayne had some timid moments. Catching him on that tour was a total surprise to me. I was already familiar with his work. If you have not heard his solo work, I would really suggest running out and getting it as most is going out of print as I type. He is by far a much more creative player than Carlton. While I would never suggest that anyone would be "playing down" to the level of SD, this was definitely not his modus normalus. I think Wayne was used to 55 and various small improvizational club environs. I don't feel his sound was translating well due to this, and he was holding back a great deal. Check out "2 Drink Minimum", a live offhanded trio performance that WILL convince you and demonstrate why the SOB was hired in the first place. Really, I have heard or own every Carlton album ("Alone/But Never Alone" is a beautiful album). As a professhun'l gittar player I must say, they both make me want to quit, but Krantz is a deeper musician, hands down. Please get the CD, hear him in his context. Maybe not the best player for SD (although I enjoyed him more as he loosened through the night), but one of the most creative tonal guitarists I have ever heard. My vote for tour guitarist is still Mike Stern and I swear I am not his agent... Best wishes to the soldiers from the Confederacy of Dan in their march on Richmond. Maybe I'll catch you guys next time. For now I am too newbie-ish. (God I hate that term, it sounds too corporate or like summer camp.)

Jive Miguel,
Mailer wrote The Naked and the Dead when he was 25.
Orson Welles, directed and produced Citizen Kane when he was 25.
Einstein put together his Theory of Relativity before he was 21.
Davey Crocket killed him a bear when he was only 3.

Very spiffy JW!

JW: bravo! bravissimo! Those pieces are wunnerful! I especially liked the "Negative Girl" one--goofball indeed!

/The Mam'zelle
off to stare into her ... scotch

"The sloe-eyed creature in the reckless room..."

"This house of desire is built foursquare..."

"This dark place so thrilling and new..."

What is "the reckless room"?

"What is "this house of desire"?

"What is "this dark place"?

What exactly does this Gothic do for a living and does the narrator of the song pay $$$ for her company?

Something strange is going on in this song.

Hobbled a phone line from the other side of the old homestead, so I was able to upload the first two "Two Against Nature" photomontages I've been working on this week ~ all source-images from early '50s "men's" rags...enjoy!

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/tan.htm

Off to the snow...

JayDubz

I agree with Ajax, Wadenius may not be the most spectacular player but when he plays he´s focused and adds something to the tunes.

You can learn a lot from a guy who's every other other word is Fuck.

"You might be a redneck..."

After I go and buy a DVD player last night in preparationfor the release of the Classic Albums Aja DVD next week I find this gem in my email from Amazon.com:
"We have some news concerning your order for "Steely Dan-Aja." We are sorry to report that the official release date for this DVD has been pushed back to 04/28/2000. We are very sorry for the disappointment."

Yeah me too. I should have waited. Anyway I canceled the rest of my order from them and bought a few titles tonight including Sheryl Crow's Globe Sessions.

Saw the 'Aja' DVD here yesterday in a music store (here in New Zealand). Would have bought it, but I don't own a DVD player!..lol

Fletch

Crass - Maybe I just caught Drew on a bad night ( 1st show, second coming, 8/93, Palace of Auburn Hills), because he seemed to have trouble finishing his solo's in the space provided. His licks were fast, but unfocused. The sound of the hall didn't help, either. Wadenius playing on 8/27/94 at Pine Knob was less frantic and more articulate. I don't think that it's any accident that 4 cuts from "Live in America" were lifted from that show. As for Krantz in '96, I wasn't impressed.But, then again, I didn't like the trumpet, either.

Ballah, the brown acid is bad

Altamira ~ I'll post the Danfest photos for you, just send the .jpgs to jwmalibu@msn.com, and I'll work up a page...

Ballah: so when you were young and went to school, did you ride a really short bus, or a long one?

Ajax: Sorry but I am forced to disagree. George Wadenius can't even think the notes Drew Zingg plays, so how in hell could his solo compare favorably? Larry Carlton is the hands down best ever, but Zingg does stuff Carlton never thought of. George Wadenius and Wayne Krantz were a waste of space on stage.

I must apologize to the GB for my critcal statements about our revered Walter's guitar work on the new one. I watched the PBS special last night and he was awesome. The Gaslighting solo is still not happening for me. I keep waiting for him to do something. Herrinton was equally great. I thought Herrington treated the older material with respect, staying faithful to it and not going over the top, but he still added some "stuff" within the structure that was very cool. The PBS special is one of the best shot concerts I have seen. The lighting and camera angles are really creative. The audio is very good with the exception that Donald's lead vocals are not as prominent in the mix as I would have liked.

KD,

I will be taking my camera with me and I recently bought a scanner so it will be easy for me to post the photographs. I hadn't heard of the on-line photo albums, but I'll check them out and set one up after my pictures are developed. However, I can't take any pictures of the festivities tonight since I'm going to Richmond tomorrow.

Hey Danfesters-have a wonderful time and hoist a few for me! And throw in some dancing to Hutch's band-I'd be dancing all night with you if I could. Wish I could be there-I enjoy talking with you all so much here and I'd really love to meet everyone in person someday. Again, have a blast this weekend!

aja

Daddy G--- Anna can strike my nerve any time she wants to.

KD:

You struck a nerve by mentioning Anna Kournikova. So fine, so young. Do you suppose she has a friend named Melanie?

For those of you lucky enough to be heading to Richmond for this weekend's DanFest, please be careful out there and have a wonderful time. Wish I could join you all, but I shall be with you in spirit. It would be great if someone could take photos and post them on one of those free online photo albums, such as Zing.

Erin Go Braugh!

Anna Kournikova is in 'Me, Myself, and Irene.'

Yes.

My modem line has been down for 4 days at home, so if I haven't answered an e-mail ~it's because I haven't received it yet...

Sooutrageous ~ I can probably help you with that sheet music, once Pac Bell fixes my line!

Ballah will be back. He needs the "attention."

The Political polls are down to Gore and Bush, that is if Buchannon doesn`t run, then it will be only Gore. The GB should decide about its feelings about the Poster that brings mixed reviews to the forum. The Zogby Pollster firm will count the results pro and con about Ballah.

Anyone know what happened to the remaster of Gaucho that was scheduled to be released February 1st? They remastered everything from Can't Buy a Thrill through Aja over the past couple years and had a Gaucho release date scheduled, but then .... nothing. Any info out there?

Thanks!

Ballah: The GB is turning on you just as i predicted last month. The off the wall humor and attacks were fine when seasoned with cumin and garlic. I think your tirades might be the after effects of Booze and drugs. I am probably one of the few here that looks forward to your posts and am not attempting to shoo you away. I think you could be a great journalist in real life. Dr. Warren Kruger is a Head Doctor and comes highly recomended, just mention the GB and he will squeeze you in.

http://www.billboard.com/charts/internet.asp

Is the Aja DVD supposed to be released on time, and if so will it be available in stores(I hate online ordering).

Big Fan: Thanks for that article. Of course the underlying "benefit" of DVD technology is that they can't be copied (thanks to those geeks in the CS departments of any campus USA) once VHS is rapidly phased out. Also
of good note not to by the most expensive player you
came across (as I almost did) because there WILL be
problems if and when the format changes (provided
those pesky hackers stop cracking the encryption
codes).
Steely Girl: Damn not I don't feel so out of place on this GB (even though you are still just a few months older than myself). Please spread the word to all of your
young friends (as I do daily) to go out and BUY MORE
DAN!!!

Unfortunately even the biggest pain in my sphincter must be addressed also:

Ballah: Please forgive me for replying to your weak-minded
posts. Apparently this appears the status quo and
goes unchecked up there at NIU. Why don't consider
Bobby Jones University, I think it may be an even better
fit!

About a month ago, a cousin of mine gave me a case containing about 15 CDs he didn't want... mostly modern (electric) Jazz stuff.... GRP All-Stars, Dave Grusin plays Gershwin and many others. Finally, after inspecting the contents of the case more carefully, I realized that 3 of the discs he gave me were artists produced by Walter Becker and engineered by Roger "The Immortal" Nichols.

One is by Andy Laverne called Pleasure Seekers, featuring John Patitucci and Dave Weckl (of Chick Corea fame), and Bob Sheppard.
This disc was recorded over 3 days in Jan 1991 in LA. It has many rewarding moments, particulary track 6 titled Sticky Mike's Frog Bar... it has that slow Babylon Sisters type groove. I will say that this disc also strays uncomfortably into that mid-late 80s yuppie dinner music sound with one of the early tracks featuring Bob Sheppard.

Another disc WB produced is Dave Kikoski. This one was recorded in Oct 1991, includes players such as Randy Brecker and Alex Acuna. Generous liner notes by WB and production again by Roger Nichols. This disc also has some great stuff on it, though you may want to avoid the jazz piano cover of track 2 Morning After.. reminds me too much of the original, and it was shamelessly sappy then and I don't need it now...

The third Becker produced disc given to me was also recorded in Oct 1991. All three of these albums are recorded over a three day period. This one is from jazz flute player Jeremy Steig. The disc also features George Wadinius on guitar. All I will say is that flute jazz is an acquired taste. It's not for everyone.
While the tunes may be great, the tone of solo jazz flute tends to be too relaxing to me... as in dentist's office or "picnic jazz".

Sorry Walter..

Out of these three discs, if you were going to add to your Steely Dan Family encyclopedia, go for Andy Laverne's disc. IMHO, the best of the 3 I've got.

I used to play alot of electric modern jazz at my college radio station in Boston. After awhile and far too much exposure, much of it sounds alike... some of it exactly alike, so I'm prone to being snobbish. Though Jean-Luc Ponty, Return To Forever, Chick Corea, Pat Metheny, Al DiMeola, Steps Ahead, Weather Report were always played on my show and always would have been had I stayed in school forever...

I also went out and picked up the remastered Aja disc. I've been hesitant because I have the box set, but wanted the track by track musician listing and new liner notes. Definitely worth it.
And through my new home stereo speaker, I couldn't be any happier. They get you to buy more, because the liner notes refer to other liner notes from the other new releases. Shrew move, guys..

Jive Miguel: Nice post. It's great to see fans with offer insights such as yours. The guestbook needs more heart and less DICK.

Ballah- Don't flatter yourself. You bring nothing to this guestbook. You're a BIG pussy hidding behind a little computer. Go fuck yourself!

sooutrageous--

FYI--The only person more well read than me in this "GB" is Oleander. And she can vouch for that herself.

Face it assholes. I'm of a higher intellect than any of you. If any of you dumfucks had two or three of your aging synapses still firing, you'd ignore the drivel that I spray paint grafitti-style across this lame message board. I've even told you that I'm attempting to evoke a response and you still respond. My experiments are successful. Your responses to my horribly crass posts will never be damaging to my ego because my posts are pure bullshit in the first place. You're simply here to amuse me. I know it's kind of sick on my part, but I enjoy it. And I like being the unknown element in the mix. I find comfort in reading all of the normal posts, full of Steely Dan references and lyrics decipherings.....and then I come upon my post---totally off topic, crazed, raving, idiotic. I guess I feel that I actually add a little spice to an otherwise boring and repetitive "GB."

Anyway, who cares, fuck off all of you.

Later assholes,

b'allah

From the Boston Phoenix:
http://www.bostonphoenix.com:80/archive/music/00/03/16/OTR/STEELY_DAN.html

I bought an inexpensive DVD player last night in preparation for the delivery of the Aja thingy next week - and the Pokemon Movie as well - that's how I sold it to the wife & kids. I chose The Matrix and Heavy Metal as my other first time purchases - something with some video effects or a killer soundtrack.

USAToday sates that DVD sales will surpass VHS by 2003 - D&W were always ahead of the curve:
http://www.usatoday.com/usatonline/20000316/2037339s.htm

Steely-Girl - you were only six at the time of Gaucho? O'boy. And yes, New York is close for a Dan-Fest, six-eight hours.

RUBYBaby - okay, Wakiki and Blue Sky will do.

Negative Girl is growing. That new one isn't that bad I thought it was.

Okay, have to ride like the wind to the borderline of Mexico,

Clas

Stevie Dan: Leave ignorance be, there just isin't any reasoning
with shit(on the bottom of your shoe non-the-less).
I think it would be a lot easier to just forward to

Ballah: Take your bullshit, racist, half-assed rants
down to Howard Street, (don't worry it's not to far in
the city) and see how quickly a bunch of greasy
McDonald's serving niggas (get the spelling right you
half-assed poser) get into YOUR ass!! By the way bitch
this ain't over with yet.

To all: Wish I could make the 'fest but St. Al could you please
post pictures of the marvelous times to be had.

Is there like a schedule or something ? You know, last night I posted that most of you seem to be intelligent people. But this "Bawler" person keeps showing up to challenge that implication. Since I started lurking in this GB, he seems to show up like every full moon or something and I'm thinking, maybe I don't know the schedule. I personally would like to avoid his infantile trite negative and narcissistic rantings. Can you filter him out ? (High pass filter). Can we vote on it ? Hey, new poll topic.
As far as your "music" goes, Bawler...rather than listen to it, I can just turn on a major appliance like a washing machine and hear just as much fucking musical content. I've heard it done, Bawler and I've heard it done better. I find it hilarious that this person guides themself to NONE OTHER THAN THIS SITE NO LESS to spew venom & "educate" us about music and the business thereof. That is phat. He is the original Marilyn Manson / Limp Bizkit fan but would never admit it. Dude, it is evident that not one musical bone resides in your pale pierced frame. Sea & Cake, Air, man I've experienced about two minutes too many of that sad shit. THAT's what's really wrong with the music business. Please do something about your virginity, you do not wear it well. When I see "Bawler" I'm scrollin'.

is there anyone who can direct me to a SD link where I can download SD sheet music.
I'd really be thrilled if anyone could actually email me the sheetmusic for FM, Black Cow and Deacon Blues.
My thanks in advance.

Tell you what. I played bass in various rock/jazz/fusion bands for 15 years. When I listen to stuff like "West of Hollywood", I see the vast gulf between "playing in a band" and being an honest-to-God professional musician. Jeezus, can these guys cook!
I didn't expect an album this good. By the way, in response to an earlier post, Georg Wadenius solo on "Third World Man" at Pine Knob in '94 was far superior to Zinggs' '93 effort, IMHO.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the DanFest in Richmond this weekend. Sounds like it's going to be a lot of good laughs and some good music. The little lady and I should arrive in Richmond Saturday around lunch. Will contact you when we arrive. Altamira says she'll be there too at about the same time. She's been busy but she'll definately be there. GOOD TIMES AHEAD!!!

Woo-Hoo!!!
MC & Optimystic

ok, ballah, you're right. But emocore still sucks.

I thought it was obvious, because of my overt hormonal drippings that made their way in on some of the drunker posts, but I am a dude, dudes.

Who do we have in the Final Four? I'm going with St. John's, Duke, Cincy (DerMarr will show up, I swear), and MSU. Not a whole lot of upsets this year.

Watch Utah.

ba'llah -we can all use alittle less of the bullshit your spewing over this posting site. I think you'd be better served if you'd read a book once in while as you mention in your scathing diatribe.
I can appreciate a good, scarcastic sense of humor, however you're really crossing the line with some of the comments you made on this board today.
Life is difficult enough. Heartache is too easily found. We visit this board to get away (if only for a moment) from all the ugliness and bullshit in this world. I'm not trying to be critical, you know what I'm saying is the truth.

Worm brain- read your posts about the custody hearing and your recent too-close call with the truck. You must have one hell of a headache. Your son is undoubtedly extremely proud to have such a loving and committed parent. Here's to a speedy recovery. Good luck to you.

Holy smokes, Tom! Boy am I glad you didn't get squished! Geez Louise!

/the Mam'zelle

Allen Martell comes to mind.. This was several years ago. We were building a car in Tech-Ed. This fat retard who lived in the slums of our rich town--I was surprised there were slums, but there were-- was in our group. Our car stunk, and we were having a hard time with it wich was tipical in Merril's class. I said, "Why don't we rebuild our car?" I asked. "Why don't you go blow a goat?!" Allen responded. All of his comebacks had to do with sucking a cock of something. "Go fuck your mom's dick" and "Ass Fuck" were also standard comebacks. So he goes "Why don't you go blow a goat?!" and my friend Josh responded: "That's intersesting! Please, tell me your logic behind it!" I laughed so hard that day....

Thanks for making me relive this, Ballah...

Worm Brain- I'll keep you in my prayrs. Stupid trucks....I've always hated SUVs

well it's been a hell of a week

my custody trial moved to late May and I nearly died in an accident

a truck ran into me on my rollerblades monday evening. I was two feet from the edge of the street and he was doing over 30 in a 10 mph zone, totally at fault. My rollerblade saved my life. it jammed the trucks tire and it skidded 3 feet and slammed my head to the pavement. The blade is deformed and all scraped with the metal pins severely sheared down, man was I lucky. It also kept my foot from being shattered, no broken bones at all. I didn't see it coming, blacked out and came to with a grill of a truck over me and my foot stuck under the front tire of the truck. I have a severe concussion and am being closely monitored (no blading for two weeks, damn!) but have full memory and my eyes are dilating properly, so if I don't slam into anything else I should recover fine
.
I am just totally greatful to be alive.

The Good Lord spared me and isn't through with me just yet

oh yeah, the song I was skating to was "Gasolighting Abbey

I am off for the weekend, and wanted to thank all of you for the warm thoughts concerning my son earlier this week, wish I could be East Fest Danning with you but will try to make the west coast fest

Special thanks to Ruby and Aja, I appreciated all your warm thoughts and concerns

do you flatten me with your truck, do you think it's time to be
in that ditch out in the valley that they're digging just for me

nope, onward to aunt faye's couch!

I read an article on the new album the other day, and a line stuck right out at me...

Donald was 32 when SD completed Gaucho...that means he was 29 when he created the AJA masterpiece...then burnt out by 32...

Yikes...this is scary in two ways, one, the level of genius he and Walter possess as artists...these are two frickin' brainiacs!
To be 24 and record a song like Do it Again, or write a song with such depth and maturity as Any World, whilst in their early 20's...Wow!

However, there must be a dark side...a price for such genius, such talent, such inner drive for perfection...For years I thought that Donald and Walter were just being modest when they said they didn't listen to, or like, any of their "old" songs, rather always striving to create something new, something better...yet, as we now know, these comments were true, and I think that gives us some insight into their "inner turmoil"...

Donald has said that he spent much of the '80's in depression, even so far as saying "clinical depression". How is this possible? How could it be true? Here was a 30-some-odd-year-old genius who had sold over 10 million records, was critically acclaimed, revered by his contemporaries, seemingly he had everything a person could want! Except Donald
wasn't "everyperson", likely he was his own worst critic, unable to produce a piece of art that would stop the demons inside from complaining...

Sadly, this led to only 2 solo albums through the '80's and '90's, and a handful of scores for others...Such a waste! Some of the greatest sounds in popular music were never written! Yet, it could be said that since this was the "Total Package" of Donald's genius, his musical history could not have unfolded any other way...in other words, for Donald to be 52 and writing brilliant songs, he had to endure the inner turmoil of his 30's and 40's, much like the turmoil he endured growing up a "jazz snob" in a manufactured culture of simple white pop! The indignation of his youth led him to write such blistering, ironic music, while his genius ensured that it was done at the highest level...

Happily, time (as it always does) has softened the harshness of his inner demons, it has smoothed the edges of his soul, allowing he and Walter to actually play (and enjoy)their old masterpieces! And amazingly, while Donald has "mellowed" within, his music hasn't suffered a beat! It is as blistering, sintilating, and ironic as ever! Ripe with the seeds of genius planted all throughout!

I wish to personally thank Donald for the richness he has brought to my life, and I hope that his "hiatus" will allow for the 2nd run of SD music to spill over into the new millenium!

Long Live the Dan of Steel!

Jive

PS Sorry for being soooo heavy...

Ballah Go away! You idiot!

Ouch, the truth. You really got me there with your oh so fast and witty response. Yeah, whatever. You've got about the same amount of wit as a dead dog on the side of the road. You've got the brains of an ostrich, you cretinous ball of sloth turd. Why don't you go scratch your armpit and smell it you stinky chimpanzee-monkeyape. I piss on people like you for fun, for frigging kicks, jackass. I piss down on you from high up in the clouds and laugh rays of sunshine out of my glorious mouth and the world is warmed by my radiant smile. I am the cause of global warming. My bowel movements are landslides. And when I fuck there are earthquakes. Bend to my will, the truth. I piss on you and crush you with the hand of b'allah. I shit on faggetasses like you for breakfast. I fart in the face of humanity. Goddamn it I crack myself up with the bullshit I write. And you idiots are actually stupid enough to respond to it. Well, if it weren't for me you fucks would all be bored to tears. Everyone's got to have someone to envy, someone to hate, someone to love in secret. You all must admit that you love and admire me though you're to fucking afraid to say it. You're all just quivering, fearful little leapfrogs who can't come out and own up to the fact that you're dealing with a superior intellect. I am your god. I am the god of the guestbook. Soon you will all bow in shame to the power of b'allah. Hear my words. Take them to heart. Prostrate yourselves soon, before it's too late. b'allah has spoken.....

heheheheeee, jackasses!!

!!!

!!!

!!!

!!!

!!!

!!!

!!!

!!!

!!!

!!!

yeah, and I bet you've never had anal sex you sick, cocain high, deluted old fool. What are you doing on the computor right now? Aren't your soaps on?

O' Mighty Ballah, we're still waiting for your harmonic analysis of "Negative Girl", since you are SUCH a musical hotshot...on top of being a racist fuck!

Oh, suck my horsedick, KD. You wouldn't know emocore if it bit you in your fat stinking ass. You think you're funny, huh? Well, I know about you-- you're just another of the complacent, pacifier-sucking sheep milling around in your own shit. Enjoy your sad little existence, grow old eating McDonald's hamburgers dipped in a mixture of ketchup and mustard and some other vile secret sauce, probably the semen of the greasy nigger who made it. NO, KD---You'll never experience anything strange or unusual. You'll just lie there in front of the TV, on a futon probably, scratching your hairsprayed head, agonizing over whether you want to watch Ally McBeal or MTV's Total Request Live. Yes, yes, KD, you're the type of person who actually watches the tampon commercials. You tape episodes of Dawson's Creek. You don't own a vibrator, and you've never had anal sex. You're fat and you wear tight jeans anyway, sometimes you wear those ugly stirrup pants, but most of the time you just galumph around in funky jeans and an old T-shirt, probably a concert T-shirt, maybe even something stupid like a Ben Folds Five shirt or Barenaked Ladies because you think those bands are trendy and "alternative." You've never been to Europe, never done drugs, rarely curse, and are offended easily. You were raised Republican and still cling to your Christian views which you were brainwashed with from childhood. You live a sad, sick, unfulfilling existence and are not even aware of it. Wake up, KD. Take a philosophy class. Fart out loud in public. Learn how to suck a good dick. Explore new kinds of cuisine, get drunk. Read a book for once instead of watching Boy Meets World. Live your goddamn life for once. OK, I'm just kidding, really, but will enjoy your stupid idiot reaction. Go ahead, fire away, make me smile. I will take a shit simultaneously while I read your boring and crappy response. I shit on your response in advance, KD. Haha, I'm really just kidding and have a hangover and only three hours of sleep. So anyway, enjoy your mediocre sick sad filthy boring life.

--b'allah

emocore sucks, why should we waste time tuning in to your ftp when we could be spending our time doing something that, uh, doesn't suck.

19yr old KD's gettin a fake id! basketball's been beddy beddy good to me.

Hey... don't be puttin' down cheese-jazz! I gots to have my cheese-jazz. What the hell would the world be without cheese-jazz? I remember when the post-bop cheese era first started to take over in New York. All the cats were backed up for a month. But hey... it was worth it!

God have mercy on my soul ... I do love hearing from Ballah. What ballah's he has!

Hey, any of you jackass fucks who want to learn a little something about good music, you know indie shit--shit that hasn't been tainted by the greasy hands of corporate America? Well any of you who might be halfass interested in slowcore, emocore, jazz infused indie pop, etc. check out this kick ass ftp site and don't give me any shit about how mp3s damage the musician's careers, that's fucking bullshit.

Here you go jackasses, just type this into your stupidass
browser:

ftp://mp3z:music@131.156.64.206/

At first I couldn't get it to work, so I highlighted the two readme.txt files and rightclicked them and then chose "move to folder." For some crazy fucking reason I was able to open the folders after that and download some awesome MP3s. Any of you Steely Dan fans might like Sea and Cake, a Chi-town group with heavy jazz influence. I'd consider them alt-jazz if I tried to tag them. Most of the bands on this site defy the tags that critics foolishly try to place on bands when they don't understand the sound or when the band is so original that it doesn't fall into any previous music category. So anyway, if any of you jackass fuckers want to expand your minds, find out what's really going on out there in the music world, then here's your first step. Oh, by the way, Air is one of the bands. I know you fucking idiots didn't like them for some reason. You might just want to adjust your hearing aid before listening, either that or attempt to look at things with an open mind for once and realize that there are other types of music other than fucking Steely Dan and cheese-jazz.

OK, that's all, assholes. Back to my steaming cup of "Community" New Orleans blend chicory coffee. What I wouldn't do for a shot of Brendan's in this right now, fuck it would do wonders for the hangover I'm nursing.

See you later, nutbags....don't forget to eat shit.

--b'allah

Welcome, Steely Girl! Yes, it is indeed fabulous to be able to enjoy a new SD release. It's like a Halley's Comet experience! But we get to keep it...

Clas: Hey, I'd love to come over for coffee! It sounds like a great brew. But my dream, old friend, is to be on a balcony overlooking the beach at Wakiki, drinking Blue Sky with you.

and CLAS: I'm surprised you only slept on the floor twice. Pompe let you have the bed all those other times. Good dog!

and CLAS: I would never gaslajt you. Actually, I shall protect you - you gaslajt yourself sometimes. My heart cries, "No!" You deserve better than that.

steviedan: SD Burn Out is like a systems over-load. It happens due to constant, prolonged, intense Steely Dan activity. Stal is strong so it took quite a while for him.
I hope he listens to my advice. If he doesn't, then Advanced SD Burn Out will set in. If that occurs, there's only one course of action. He will have to become Republican.

Everyone: the Rob Toth article on the Official SD site is a must read! And dig that photo of DF and WB! They remind me of the mafia. Daddy does live in that NY City!

rb

I agree with the post suggesting "King of the World" and/or "Your Gold Teeth II" for the summer tour. I've never seen the Dan before and am majorly excited about the prospects... I was born in 1970 and so heard their music throughout my childhood without really knowing who it was, but I always loved it. Eventually, I bought aja, and the rest is history...
I have the box set and have had a hard time keeping track of which songs are on which album because of its format- anyone else experienced this? i'm just now getting more familiar with "countdown to ecstasy" and am loving it...
the new one rules. i guess i'm one of the few who thinks "janie" is one of the best tracks. agree with everyone that WOH and AG are also real strong. i could do without gaslighting and negative girl, but they're not really so bad...

Internet sales are strong and steady.

Santana moves 345,000.

Time to call the radio stations and ask them to add JoS to their playlist.

Comments: Fav on Can't Buy a Thrill...Only a Fool Would Say That,
Fire In The Hole
Fav on the new one...WOH, Almost Gothic
Fav lyrics on the new one....Janie Runaway
Suggestions: I would love to hear Any Major Dude, Katy Lied,
Your Gold Teeth I and II on the summer tour.
How about a Steely Dan fest in NYC in the near
future?

Also, I am a relatively young Steely fan (25). This is the first time that I've been able to enjoy the release of a new Dan album. I was 6 when Gaucho came out, and I remember my Dad bringing it home and listening to it with him, but I was too young to revel in the hype or to fully understand the lyrics. The next thing I remember was Steely Dan breaking up. (Oh, what a dark day)

This whole 2VN experience has been a real pleasure for me. Thank God they are back and better then ever.

greetings fellow dans---finally the follow-up to Aja. Never thought anything could top it, this new CD is the greatest. Lets hope its not 20 years till the next one. Guess we all need to buy an extra CD to keep the boys at the top of the chart.

RUBYBaby! I am patient. When I'm not patient I am a patient. But what is Bare Midriff Section? Jo ar gaslajting an old frend öh?

And hey RUBYBaby, "Sleep On The Floor", I have done that! Twice.

And hey RUBYBaby, what about a nice cup of coffee and smalltalk? We got Community Chikory Coffee from New Orleans yesterday, 4 packages. It's plenty of coffee around our place now, come over!

And you have dr Wu as wallpaper, that's good to hear, then I know he's safe. Don't scare the dogs though.

StAl - did you read mr Malibus post? He wants some information about URL or something, the http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/wohgall.htm - link you know?

C

Good Steely morning to all.

Just a few comments.....

Jive: I belive you have something there with the Presence idea on Can't Buy a Thrill. Makes me think of days gone by...
A very important piece of the Dan puzzle. My Fav, Only a Fool Would Say That. A masterpiece of easy living.

StevieDan: Good work, keep pounding into those kids heads and they a bound to get it. Sometimes I wonder how anyone can not get it but I guess everyone is not a twisted as the rest of here!

Steelygirl: good call on the WOH/DB link. I agree with you on that one. Although Deacon is a little easier to sing along with (perhaps because I've heard it about 10,000 times more than WOH) WOH certainly has that same epic vibe. It is also my absolute fav on 2vN so i may sound a little biased.

BostonRag: How dare you suggest dropping Peg and most of all Josie. (sorry, didn't mean to sound so harsh, we're all allowed our opinions, even if I don't agree with them) I do agree with Green Earings though, I've seen Them 5 times now, including NYR&S and have heard it each time. I could also do without Black Friday, I guess I just don't get that one. I would LOVE to hear Haitian Divorce, King of the World, Parker's Band and perhaps With a Gun (one of my underground favs). Then again I'm just thankful to hear them live period. Can't wait for summer!

JW and Clas: Bravo! I loved the DART (Dan Art) site. I really liked "The Mu Chord", excelent work!

StAL: I loved your insight on your March 11th post (re:comparisons on Aja/2vN and sidemen). I think you've got it PEGged. Times change and so do people and their "mantras". I can't say that I enjoy getting older but the insight it's given me is priceless. There is simply no way to compare things from 20 years ago to today. Aja is timeless and is beyond judgement, perhaps 20 years from now the same thing will be true for 2vN. Thanks for all your hard work for the Danfans.

Thanks, Hutch and Oleander for the info on the Richmond DanFest. I am going to try like hell to make it up there. I'd love to meet you and the rest of the gang. If not however, there will always be next time.

Until next time...Peace, love and Dan

Razorboy

As the original "The truth", I would just like to point out that I did not post the item about Walter's waistline, nor do I care about it.

As for 2vN's drop to #15, please note that other big albums from last week fared even worse: Smashing Pumpkins down to #20 and ACDC down to #21. SD's still not doing too shabby.

Dropped to #15 on the charts - no hit single, no single released, no radio sation format that it fits into, just great music - seems just like their previous albums if you ask me:

http://news.excite.com/news/eonline/000315/16/santana-trumps-a

I think this has been published elsewhere, but it's dated 3/14/00:
http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2000/03/14/dan/index.html

KD keep em coming.

I listened to Can't Buy a Thrill on my way home from the Coffee House tonight...and I can't get over how there's such a unique "feel" to that album!

Do you hear it or sense it too?

From the gothic-like organ intro on Dirty Work to the power-chords of Kings...from the communal rap on Change of the Guard to Skunk's spanish halting Side 1...the cunning of the insane on Fire in the Hole...Skunk's guitar solo on Turn That Heartbeat Over Again...aah!

To me, there is such a feel of importance with that album. I mean I can listen to Katy Lied knowing that I'm going to hear an amazing songbook of music, or totally rock, let loose with Royal Scam...but when Can't Buy a Thrill comes on, I get serious, perhaps thinking that I am listening to a historic piece of work, much like reading the inaugural works of F. Scott Fitzgerald or entering one of Antonio Gaudi's initial architectural masterpieces...there is a presence of greatness, a live energy captured in the work that stays with it forever...

Either that or I just like the way it was mixed!

Jive

PS My favourite cut on Can't is...Turn That Hearbeat Over Again

Et Vous?

sooutrageous: Thanx for the kind acknowledgment. I have been digging this forum. I just happened to be new to the internet as 2VN was about to be released and you people have made this even more exciting. Most of you seem to be relatively intellegent people, so many of you may find me full of shit. That's.....okay as Al Franken would say, I have come to talk about The Music. I'll be watching your boy, Sonny, Jr. Tomorrow I'm gonna check to see if he has any recorded product.

Walter is looking at the floor for the following possible reasons:

1) He is trying to read those little lighted numbers on
his effects pedals.
2) He is acclimating/adjusting his head so he hears his
monitor or an onstage instrument to full effect.
3) He is trying to conceal his total glee. Suppressing
laughter due to onstage jibes & jive between Donald &
he.
4) Being a sensitive person, he may be a little terrified
of having his head position & frigging weight for god's
sake being picked apart by millions of viewers. This
has been proven sadly to be a well found concern.

Peace out

2vN vs Aja? I heard this comparison a little while ago and kinda thought it strange. There is a bit of a time/circustance difference between the two. Theyre both brilliant of course

2vN faves: What a Shame About me and Jack of Speed. Jesus, can these two ever do wrong?

I especially feel a sense of relief upon the release of 2vN as I have been waiting for this album my whole life. Im talking literally here, people. I have been on this earth only 20 years and have been listening to Steely Dan since birth. This disk has not left my stereo since the 29th, and Ive been reluctent to leave the room as Ill miss out on valuable listening time

Enough babbling. Im a newbie to the list, please be gentle
toodles

ps: what was the wall art on the PBS special?

STRAP IN TIGHT 'CAUSE IT'S A LONG SWEET RIDE
...to DANFEST EAST IV
RICHMOND VA
MARCH 17-19

FRIDAY NIGHT: Tunes by Hutch & friends and St. Patty's fracas at The Shamrock. Call 330 0617 locally for directions. Nineish. Look for the table with one red rose.

SATURDAY NIGHT: Dinner at the Tobacco Company at 8. Wear a Steely-themed costume if you're so inclined. Subtle is good. Prizes for best costume and best guesser. Again--look for the one red rose. Then: possibly jams with some bodacious Danfan musicians.

SUNDAY MORNING: The Traditional Hung-Over IHOP Junky Pancake Breakfast.

IN-BETWEENERS: Strictly improv.

For more last-minute info, e oleander1@earthlink.net

The Truth: You're pissed because your dick has shrunk as much as Walter has grown. That must really hurt.

I mean, what's your point anyway?

Just caught the PBS show again on DSS this time,and I have a coupla questions...

1. What is Walter peering at when he's playing thats on the floor right in front of him?

2. What was that wall art ?

Jive Miguel: I'm with you, man. Phil Woods. The man is a
master. Also in the pop realm, he is responsible
for the beautiful solo on "Just the Way You Are"
by Billy Joel. He probably hit them both in one
take apiece.

Home@Last: Got that album. Petrucciani, an amazing person in
one of his best contexts ever. For the
uninitiated, this piano player was like, two
& a half feet tall, had to have extensions
hit the pedals. A great loss for the jazz
world.

rubybaby: Loved the suggestions for treating SD burn-
out...but what is that anyway...don't take
me alive !

...Lately Janie is killing me ! What a great memorable melody to have such weird chord outlines. Jack & Gothic...of course. This album is a masterpiece. I play it in my store everyday (my punk & metal employees are past desensitivity and are now seeing the light). This thing MOVES people. There are peeps of all kinds dancing around to this music. All the naysayers need to get earwax removal products on the tip or buy Kid Rock and claim your spot in the moshpit of life. Long live Steely Dan !

To all you NYC and Philly SD fans. Just returned from a resort called the Woodlands, in the Poconos. Listened to this young kid playing tenor sax. He was absolutely amazing! I cannot describe how wonderfully talented this 21 year old sax prodigy is without sounding insanely hyperbolic. Evidently he's attending a musical conservatory in NYC and is being instructed by the likes of Phil Woods and Wayne Shorter on a daily basis. This is the same school that Chris Potter attended.
His name's Tony Carfora. Remember that name. This kid's going to hit it very big. The extremely tight quartet did instrumental versions of Do it Again, Caves Of Altamira and Black Cow. Tony's Black Cow tenor solo eerily rivaled Tom Scott' original. They cover some John Klemmer, Gato Barbieri and Sonny Rolllins stuff also. (Truly breathtaking. I had chills for 2 hours)
If you're near the Poconos or see Tony's name in the Village Voice, playing one of the local Jazz haunts, by all means check him out.

Steviedan, thanks for your response to my note. I read your posts here regularly. They're insightful and firmly opinionated. Don't ya just dig the hell out of taling all kinds of neat shit with other SD diehards. I love it. Keep it coming.

Kudos board for all the SD thoughts and throw-aways.

I'm no Big Fan, but here 'tis:

http://www.spin.com/heavy/dailyrotation/2000/03/09/1/index.html

unless Big Fan already posted, this, then I'm sorry...

Maybe its the sitting around as Webslave for steelydan.com ........

"....cute little bunny, comin up on-a my back pages...."

CHAT NOW ANYONE??

maj©

Maybe its the takeout from dean and deluca...with lots of hearty,gulping wine...

looking at some pics from 96, it looks like walt has put on a few (100) pounds since then

Almost forgot... my band's got a brand spanking new totally re-vamped web site. Still under construction but coming together rapidly.

http://home.att.net/~highrollerband

aja - You're apsatively right! Everyone's welcome to come join us in Richmond this weekend. The hotel info is on my post from March 3rd. I believe almost everyone is going to be staying at one of those two hotels. They're right next to each other.

A few people are coming in Friday and coming out to hear our band at a St. Patty's Day gig in town. And then Saturday night it's dinner at The Tobacco Company downtown. I'm working on setting up a little after dinner jam session for us out at my buddy's studio in the country for Saturday night. Looks like it's definitely do-able at this point.

I'll check out that Mode for Mabes, aja.

Hutch

razorboy-I can't speak for the Danfesters, but I can vouch that they're a great bunch of people and I'm sure you're welcome to join in the festivities. Scroll back a week or two and find detailed posts from Hutch and oleander with all the info you need. Wish I could be there!

aja

On behalf of Clas and myself, thanks to all for the positive feedback on our art! Much more to come...

I'm working on a new series of photomontages based upon TAN, which will be posted as they are completed. I've finished the first one this week ~ "Negative Girl" ~ We were up in Maine in '96, and my wife & I visited the Big Chicken Barn outside of Bucksport. It was literally a huge chicken barn converted into an antiques emporium; the first floor is all antiques and collectibles, and the second floor was all old books & magazines. Deborah collects old "Photoplay" magazines from the '20s, and scored some righteous deals on some issues which would've cost three times as much here in LA! As I dug through piles of mgazines looking for old '60s issues of Surfer magazine with Rick Griffin illustrations for my RG collection (no such luck in New England!), I happened across a pile of '50s "pre-Playboy" men's magazines such as "Swank"; filled with laughingly timid cheesecake shots, but also brimming with lurid "National Globe" photo-stories ala "Reefer Madness" and Charles Atlas advertisements. The source images used in "Negative Girl" are all from the stack of these magazines I ended up buying ~ very Dada!

StAl ~ I'd be happy to partake in the SD webring! Please send me the links, and I'll add them to the West of Hollywood Gallery site.

Miz Ducky, Midnite Cruiser & other artists ~ please consider participating in the WoH Gallery with SD-oriented art!

Ruby ~ "Home At Last" is actually not a photograph...it's a render of a 3D environment using a "Bryce-like" program called Terragen...

Attention musicians/composers ~ For those of you just joining out little community, last year we put out a compilation CD of original music composed by the musician contingent of the GB. It was wildly eclectic, surprisingly well-received and downright fun! The CD featured music from all North America, Europe & Australia ~ and was distributed to four continents (as well as to a certain River Sound Studio in NYC)! We plan on doing another GB Compilation this year. Please participate! All styles of music are welcome...the "bar" has been set from last year's project ~ I anticipate this year's composers will all try to outdo themselves from last year (I know I will!), resulting in some KILLER tunes!!! The deadline for this year's compilation is October 31, 2000 ~ giving us all plenty of time this year to come up with our own personal "Aja"s! I encourage all newbies as well as the stalwarts who DIDN'T contribute last year (you know who you are) to do so this year!

JayDubz

when Clas clips his toenails, Ballah is the yucky stuff that lingers underneath.

spooge?

What a great site!!!

Clas: flying saucers - Have you been talking to the Bare Midriff Section? btw, I'm sending you In The Spotlight. Try to be patient.
I now have Dr.Wu as wallpaper!

st.al: You've got a textbook case of SD Burn Out! If untreated, it can be terminal. Here's some helpful suggestions until you can contact Oleander for the full regimen:

1) Don't drink that Black Cow
2) Steer clear of the fourteenth floor
3) Don't wear your bad sneakers
4) No high-heeled sneakers, either
5) Go to the movies with everyone else
6) Keep that dark spot from your past
7) Turn swiftly, don't comb your hair
8) Do some more dirty work
9) Sleep on the floor
10) Drive East to the mountains
11) Stay out of Las Wages
12) Go ahead - take a dollar from the kitty

Hope this helps!

rb

For those of you looking for something new and like straight-ahead jazz with emphasis on sax, my recommendation is "Mode for Mabes" by Erik Alexander.

aja

St. Al - How about the song that should NOT be played
during the summer shows this year?

I'm getting tired of "Green Earrings". They've
played it on every tour including NYR&S Revue.

I also wouldn't mind if they put Peg & Josie to
bed for the summer.

The rating of Sidemen has Ballah in the top and Clas nowhere in sight.

Miz Ducky - My fave sideman on Two Against Nature:

The chart-copyist mr Blu.

Negative Girl is growing on me in a BIG way. I still can't beleive what a great album this is. It's still playing constantly on my CD player in my car. It's making my commute a little bit more tolerable.

So, I'm thinking that West of Hollywood is a Deacon Blues part II. Not only is this guy a loser in love, but he's also a loser in life. Dr. Warren Krueger can't help him.

For all you jazz + Steve Gadd fans, you may want to check out Trio in Tokyo, recorded at the Tokyo Blue Note, with Michel Petrucciani (all-time fave), Anthony Jackson....and the master on drums.....recorded in '97, but just released.

stellar.

Review from a student at UCLA - John Wooden was a God! This is his time of year.
http://news.excite.com:80/news/uw/000313/entertainment-music-76

USA Today review from 3/13/00:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/music/poprock.htm

Great idea for the poll Miz Ducky...

How's this for a lineup, just choose your favourite "Session" performance:

Can't Buy A Thrill -- Elliot Randall - Reelin'
Countdown... -- Rick Derringer - Show Biz Kids
Pretzel Logic -- Skunk - Title Track (not really a session player, or was he...)
Katy Lied -- Phil Woods - Dr. Wu
Royal Scam -- Larry Carlton - Kid
AJA -- Wayne Shorter - Title Track -- Steve Gadd - Title Track
Gaucho -- Steve Khan - Glamour's Pro... -- Joe Sample - 3rd World...
FM -- Pete Christlieb - FM
Alive in America -- Warren Bernhardt - Green Earrings
2vN -- Chris Potter - West of Hollywood

Wow, I just looked back at this list! This is the who's who of great performances in popular music!

Well...as much as I love the Axe...and I do, seeing that Royal Scam is my favourite SD album...I still have to go with Phil Woods on Dr. Wu!

"That's the finest thing I have ever heard...Can you do another take so that I can hear it again?"

Folks, Don + Walt simply ARE the BEST!

Jive

Hey, thanks everybody, Hutch, Lars, Miz, KD, RUBYBaby...

And Jive Miguel - I read somewhere, when I was younger, that there are no such thing as a dumb Canadian.

Yeah, thanks StAl. You know, JW Malibu has been extremely nice to me, wich I certanley don't deserve, so I can't possibly ask him for more favors. I'm glad you asked him.

And I have been up, but I sat down, all night tryin to make it up to you all guys. I have analysed all lyrics on Two Against Nature! Here you have the songinterpretentations:

The songs are about;

1. Gaslighting Abby - a flying saucer and collective unconsciousness

2. What a Shame About Me - a flying saucer and collective unconsciousness

3. Two Against Nature - a flying saucer and collective unconsciousness

4. Janie Runaway - a flying sausager and collective unconsciousness

5. Almost Gothic - a flying saucer and collective unconsciousness

6. Jack of Speed - a flying saucer and collective unconsciousness

7. Cousin Dupree - The Knoxville Intercourse

8. Negative Girl - a flying saucer and collective unconsciousness

9. West of Hollywood - a flying saucer and collective unconsciousness

C

sooutrageous & Mr. Chow: Thanx for weighing in on my query. Pat Metheny...I totally agree, I'm a big fan (I have every album he's put out & a few he hasn't). Introduced through Gary Burton & the early ECMs, however "We Live Here" is desert Island pick.
sooutrageous: I have the Sweetback album. Very tasty stuff.

Some other jazz albums, danlike on one level or another for me:
Only Trust Your Heart-Toots Thielemans: The Bill Evans lyricism of pianist Fred Hersch. Some Shorter compositions.
Thinking Out Loud-Frank Gambale: Some of these tunes could be unreleased dan writing. Shredding & sweeping galore for those who miss Carlton.
Between the Lines-Mike Stern: Ditto. Angular blues effect. Compositionally cool yet deep & emotional with Dennis Chambers to boot.

Donald & Walter are the Broadway Danny Roses' of NY jazz. (Only their acts don't suck). Big League Scouts in the modern little big band tradition, bringing us the Potters, the Wares (Bill, that is, miss 'em), the Krantzes, Beasley's & so on. More Basie & Ellington than Kenton. The kind of band that say, Jaco Pastorius was working for. The Blue Note influence of Horace Silver (intro Rikki), Wayne Shorter, Bud Powell. Surprisingly maybe, a heavy West-Coast influence, a Wes Montgomery effect. Cool yet not detached. Full of darkness & love. The Riverside side with obvious Monkisms & Sonny Rollins sax tones. I owe these guys, they only exaggerate my connection to jazz. They are much more a jazz band than a rock band, no argument in my book. Screw the Rock 'n Roll HOF. The Steely Dan Orchestra may be above all that...and you can still dance to it!

StAl--oh yeah, almost forgot, I had some ideas for the next couple of polls--all about sidemen/women. How about favorite sideperson on 2vN? Favorite sideperson in the live band as represented in the "In the Spotlight" special? (phrasing it that way so that folks can vote for a member of the Bare Midriff Section if they so choose) Or how about favorite Steely Dan sideperson ever? Or break that latter into something more specialized, like fave SD drummer or fave SD guitarist? That should keep us all out of trouble for a little while at least (yeah right).

/the Mam'zelle
ever attempting to be helpful

sooutrageous (love your name)-you reiterated my point exactly!

Just got a call from the new maybe-beau; he loves "Aja". We're off to a good start.

tom-you're still in my thoughts and prayers. Hope to hear from you soon.

aja

Hey there. I have just started reading the guestbook and really dig it. I didn't know there were so many other DanFanatics out there. I noticed talk of a "Danfest" in Richmond. It sounds like outsiders are not invited but I am going to be in Virginia Beach this weekend and noticed that Richmond is right on the way. I'd love to be able to stop if i know times and places. Could someone post or e-mail them to me if it is an open function. That's all I have time for now, thanks and talk to you soon.

great job miz ducky! love all that steely stuff!

JW and Clas -- what everyone else said. Gorgeous, gorgeous work.

While we're on the subject of websites: I just stuck my (webbed) foot into mine, completely redesigning it and adding a whole subpage about Guess Which Band (duh). Y'all are welcome to check it out, see who the hell this crazy duck-chick is, submit ***constructive*** criticism, and generally enjoy. The URL:

http://www.drizzle.com/~mizducky

You'll spot the link to "Steely Dan Musings" in the directory in the left margin. Have fun!

/the Mam'zelle
crankin' them thar electrons

Steviedan, I think Pat Metheny occasionally has a similar musical signature to Steely Dan. Have a listen to some ofd his stuff circa mid 80's. Have you listened to the Sweetback album (they're the musicians who comprise SADE. Stuart Matthewman is a wonderful sax player. Fairly accomplished songwriters also.)

Aja, There's nothing wrong with comparing 2vN to Aja. Sure 20 years have passed: the sounds is different but unmistakenly wholly SD. 20 years ago I was thinner, had more hair, more time on my hands and less money. People can tell I'm older. The life experience that has made me more seasoned, perhaps less foolish and a bit wiser than I was two decades ago is not as easily discernable without some form of intimate inspection. I waited 20 goddamned years for this album! Their musical direction has changed a bit. They're trying to be a cohesive unit to facilitate their new love of touring. I think this has detracted a bit from the quality of the finished product. (This is only my opinion.) To me Aja was the epitome of the SD creative process.It is the standard that I judge all other forms of music by. No other album (by any artist)can compare quite as favorably. We've rehashed this already but even DaVinci had only 1 Monalisa, Shakespeare only 1 Hamlet, Welles only 1 Citizen Kane.
I enjoy 2vN. Is it the best album I've heard in a few years?: undoubtedly. Is it wrong to want for more?: well, that's human nature. I'll enjoy this while I can as I already eagerly await their next effort.

JW and Clas...WOW!

The only thing is...with all the incredibly talented, intelligent people who frequent this website...

I feel like a dumb Canadian, eh?

Jive

tom-I'm joining with ruby baby-my thoughts and prayers are with you.

Hutch-thanks for saving me $20 bucks! I'm consulting you before I make any unknown jazz ventures. I'll check out Sonny Stitt (gotta get Weather Report, too).

Aja v. 2vN-I'm with those who say there's no comparison due to the time periods-D&W were at very different points in their lives and the music reflects this. It's like comparing yourself 20 years ago vs. now. Some things are better, some aren't (!) but hopefully you've progressed and developed perspective over that time which shows in your character.

However, I wanted to give a male friend (with whom I wouldn't mind a little more than friendship) a gift for helping me out, so I'm giving him "Aja". I'd rather he run to me than be a sugar daddy and take me to Spain!

aja

JW & Clas: The artwork is magnificent! Thanks for sharing it.

Is 'Home At Last' a photograph?

Clas: I wouldn't have guessed that anyone could capture Dr Wu and Josie so well. Baby, I'm amazed...

rb

tomworm: my heart is with you & the young one. I've been there, too. May the real Judge preside over this case...

rb

I think attempting to compare Aja with TAN is pretty pointless. They are completely different records and it is clear that Aja will never be bettered. They made Aja at the height of their creative powers as still relatively young men and the attitude of the music more than anything else reflects that. I think it is legitimate to compare TAN and Kama though as the similarities between them are substantial and have already been well documented on this board and elsewhere. It is natural to look back and compare but Don and Walt will never be 27 again.

wormbrain : got luck...thinking of you....going thrugh the same crap here...hang in there.

my take : love 2vN. great work. (but not in the same class as Aja, how could it be ?). after 20+ listens, still can't warm up to Neg.Girl...not sure why, but i'm not complaining, all other tracks are excellent.

don't be so anal-lytical, boys and girls ; just enjoy and be thankful to D&W.

Not to rush things being that it took 20 years to get to this point, and there's no need to compare the old work against TaN but let's try a totally senseless one. How many years until the next one?

Clas -- I agree. JW's site should be in the ring. The problem is he has to join it. Would you please tell him to join the ring...

Better yet. HEY JW! Why don't you join the ring?

Jive -- That was the one I was thinking of but I was hoping for something a little more creative. Perhaps that's my problem. I'm thinking too hard...

StAl

Proustian disorientation? I like that.

JWM and Clas: AWESOME.

more later...

Jive - I think you wrote about Aja vs. 2vN earlier. I have to agree. 2vN is great but Aja is a monster. I just saw the classic rock video (is it out in US?) and it opened up my ears to even more sensations on Aja. That tripple back-up vocals on Peg by MmcD! Garbage-can drumming.... . My vote goes to Aja.

JW & Clas - very nice galleries! So contrasting techniques and approaches. Your cultural roots are shown very clear.

Not one, but two new pieces in Salon:

http://www.salon.com/ent/music/feature/2000/03/14/steely/index.html

http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2000/03/14/dan/index.html

Steviedan - There is quite a strong Steely Dan / Pat Metheny nexus that is also prominently noted on the PMG website. I'd have to say that Pat Metheny Group would be most assimilative with SD. However, it could be that I just like them both a lot.

News!
Check out http://www.rickieleejones.com/news.htm

Looks like the SD connection lives on, she's working on a version of Show Biz Kids with some very impressive looking players!

San Jose Mercury - now that's a great name for a paper - just Billboard's top ten - but I just loved that name:
http://www7.mercurycenter.com/premium/ent/docs/entdigest13.htm

I've decided I'm going to start refering to myself as a visionary - I'm sure my boss will give me a bigger raise come expectation time - I just like the sound of it - visionary; much better than my actual title of technical specialist. I am sure I have all of the qualifications for being a visionary, and after a while, who will question it. Make note to self: Order new business cards from the secretary today.

Yes, welcome everybody to the Steely Dan Art Gallery, it's JW Malibu (who as usuall did a great job putting it together) and me this far;

http://www.thekatbox.com/casellastudio/wohgall.htm

StAl - shouldn't this be linked to the Web Ring?

St. Al, I have a worse problem than yours...I can't sleep because I haven't finished working @ the Coffee House! The pains of owning your own business, I guess!

An idea for the next poll...Best SD album of all time, including 2vN!

BTW...I can't get over the song "Almost Gothic" on the new one, especially from the bridge through M. Leonhart's trumpet solo...totally mystic to me...

Weird thing about Larry Carlton & Lee Ritenour: Both brilliant players, but neither has released a decent solo record in years...except the one they did together. These guys used to make good music until they got GRP'd.
32 JAZZ is a great jazz reissue label specializing in the old MUZE and ATLANTIC catalogs. Among other things, they have some of the best Pat Martino stuff, of course the Stitt things, & some really nice Rahsaan Roland Kirk sets.
I know that there are many jazzfan danfans out there. Whom do many of you feel are jazz artists who's music parallels the Steely-style most ? Brubeck ? MOnk ? Tesh ?...NOOOO. I have my own ideas but would like to hear some others. I think that Keith Jarrett thought their style resembled his just a little too close for the comfort of his lawyers.

I'm scared....

It's finally happened. Since around the middle of January a major portion of my collective thought has had bared some sort of relationship to the band we all love. Here I sit, mid-March, with terrible insomnia, dutifully editing the guestbook and preparing for another poll, when all of a sudden....

nothing

I can't think of a freaking thing for the next poll. I fear I've reach a critical point where I can no long apply creative thought to this website.

With this in mind, anyone got any good ideas for the next poll question. I need some help...or sleep...or both...

StAl

PS. Mitch -- The chat page is the 3rd most requested page on this website. It receives 3000+ hits per month. The problem is no one ever sticks around long enough for others to join

What other than a new project could make me feel like sailing again...or at least saying hello to my scurvy brothers and sisters after years in seclusion from the GB.(Hi Peg..long long time). TAN is amazing. Getting more so with subsequent listens. My two piasters: Ricky Lawson is amazing..what a snare sound.Way more in your face than the old Yellow Jackets stuff. Great time..(although I *do* believe this is the first time I've ever seen an album credit for ProTools Technician..makes ya wonder about computer clock times, eh?) Got to hear and meet the great Bernard Purdie at the summer NAMM show in Nashville..no ProTools required or desired.

hey

going to see John Paul JOnes swing it tommorrow night (tuesday)
I hear nothing but great

I am warming up nicely to TaN
still think the drumming mostly simplistic and too groove laden, but it will work live,

(switch to Father Guiardoci(sp?) voice)I am a real sure about this

if you are of the praying sort please pray for my 6 year old son PATRICK and I as I go to trial on full custody tommorrow. May God's will be done and Patrick placed in the best possible situation. This has been a 3 1/2 year nightmare and I have a great shot of getting him fulltime, boy would that make life truly complete. I stand resting in perfect peace right now regardless of the outcome and have Jesus to thank fully for this.

Almost Gothic, Jack of Speed and Gaslighting Abbey are great great tunes! will do a review for the local music scene paper and forward it to the list for friendly butchering first

off to the topsoil and maybe a Cheap Trick show tonight

Tombo
Wormvana

Thank you, Oleander, Hutch, and all for the warm fuzzy invite to your sure-to-be felicitous 20 year nouveau celebration. I do so want to be in Richmond, but I am interviewing a young Viking who wants to ravish me, and I have to see if he is presentable to my adoring public as well as you all whom I want to impress with my good taste upon first introductions. Maybe the next fest, and most certainly for concert gatherings.

Y'all are a hoot...and how about that Don and Walt being so accessible and informative and even gracious in their interviews?
Takin' a hiatus surely seems to agree with 'em. They are like some golden wedding anniversary honorees, acknowledging openly their mutual appreciation for sticking it out.

I have a question for you Hornblowers...what is that little rift called at the end of WASAM with the sax that makes me want to do the cha cha? Does it have a name associated with dance parlance?

Still over-dosing on WOH and sprinkling lightly with the rest,
cara mia

Two Against Nature - The Pamala Anderson Story, at a theatre near you

RE: Jack of Speed
Someone thought trading fours was trading four letter words, and I dissagree. As mentioned, it is a musical term, when you trade four bars. When you are, you are in close communication with the other person, and often expand on their musical ideas. You have to play close attention what to they're playing. I think what W&B meant by trading fours is that he's spending a lot of time with the Jack Of Speed, paying close attention to his ways, and copying them, which is really what you do when you trade fours for real. Also mentioned that Jack Of Speed might be a prelude to Deacon Bluse...Teddy could be the sax player and the Jack Of Speed could be drums or whatever, and could be trading fours for real. Who knows?

St. Al - would you get a spell check function on this thing !!!!!!!

Q

Well since there are really only about 5-7 people on the GB coninuously, I'll consider it..........

Q

Q- only if you pay for everyone.

Howdy, DanFanGangLand!!!

Ummm, well driving to lunch in the car (is there 'gas' in it, Abbie??) and listening to local station playing "My Old School", WoW, I thought it was my tape.

Nevertheless, since I am one of the 'few guestbookers' posted my 'real' email from time to time, I noticed someone hooked up the audio 'out' on the TV, and patched it into the audio 'in' on the cassette deck and was recording the "In The Spotlight" set on an audio tape, dang it!!

Now I 'have' to listen to that, right??? It sounds GREAT, where is that little audio 'gremlin', anyway?? Don and Walt, surely (Shirley) you would want the royalty from this 'dub', eh??

Noticed that noone has filed a 'trademark' for "Two Against Nature" with the US Patent Office for $325. WoW, Walt and Don, where are the 'suits' when it comes to 'common sense', geez??

<----bets Q has the Cashier's Check rolling into the Patent and Trademark office as he reads this 'post', and "Q", "Edd", "Andy", St. Al", and "Original Lester" are among the most sincere 'posters' on this page.

So much for 'ramblin', and that was a good one, "Bob Seger System ----Ramblin' Gamblin' Man", too!!

Favorite Zappa CD's are: "Waka Jawaka"/ "Hot Rats"/ and "Grand Wazoo", St. Al.

"2vN' isn't 'trademarked', either.

Doesn't El Supremo write about the 'same' type as I do, needs to get 'royalties' here for that.

Saludos!!!

Michael
; )

P.S.: KatyDanFan, would you leave "El Supremo" for just 'one night to drive west on "Sunset" to the sea???

Howdy, DanFanGangLand!!!

Ummm, well driving to lunch in the car (is there 'gas' in it, Abbie??) and listening to local station playing "My Old School", WoW, I thought it was my tape.

Nevertheless, since I am one of the 'few guestbookers' posted my 'real' email from time to time, I noticed someone hooked up the audio 'out' on the TV, and patched it into the audio 'in' on the cassette deck and was recording the "In The Spotlight" set on an audio tape, dang it!!

Now I 'have' to listen to that, right??? It sounds GREAT, where is that little audio 'gremlin', anyway?? Don and Walt, surely (Shirley) you would want the royalty from this 'dub', eh??

Noticed that noone has filed a 'trademark' for "Two Against Nature" with the US Patent Office for $325. WoW, Walt and Don, where are the 'suits' when it comes to 'common sense', geez??

<----bets Q has the Cashier's Check rolling into the Patent and Trademark office as he reads this 'post', and "Q", "Edd", "Andy", St. Al", and "Original Lester" are among the most sincere 'posters' on this page.

So much for 'ramblin', and that was a good one, "Bob Seger System ----Ramblin' Gamblin' Man", too!!

Favorite Zappa CD's are: "Waka Jawaka"/ "Hot Rats"/ and "Grand Wazoo", St. Al.

"2vN' isn't 'trademarked', either.

Doesn't El Supremo write about the 'same' type as I do, needs to get 'royalties' here for that.

Saludos!!!

Michael
; )

P.S.: KatyDanFan, would you leave "El Supremo" for just 'one night to drive west on "Sunset" to the sea???