Polled At Last: STEELY DAN - ILM Artist poll #50

(also: i'll confess i was activity anticipating what sort of image Gaucho would get and pp did not disappoint)

Just checking in. Who is the other person who had The Boston Rag at 1? Bring it back now!

Looooove the synth

and the guitarists answering every Fagenism.

"Pretzel Logic" was my #1--but it was actually "King of the World" that I thought would win. I'll resign myself now to an Aja or Gaucho #1

I was one of the #1 voters for KOTW, really was pulling for it to crack the top ten

I think of "King of the World" the same way I think of On the Beach's cover: as one of the greatest encapsulations of the last few months of Nixon. (Countdown came out in July of '73, so they jumped the gun a bit.) What it must have felt like to experience that, I mean. Even though I know they're almost certainly singing about something else--the big one in California, probably.

A Monza for the "King of The World" graphic? Too perfect! Can't comment much now, but will say pp's images own.

Great pic for a great song.

this part of the poll must be the title track graveyard, expecting "Aja" and "Dr. Wu" next

just finished re-listening to "Pretzel Logic" and wondering how i actually didn't vote for it.

the big multi-tracked Fagen harmonies on choruses like "King Of The World" and "Pretzel Logic" are catnip to me, so great

You're fucking kidding me. This is my favorite SD song

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-PQHOspGyLGI/U0CZvHw-M0I/AAAAAAAAAog/ulZZWdnIOPY/w585-h320-no/FM.jpg

16. FM (No Static At All)
B-side: FM (No Static At All) - Reprise
From: FM Soundtrack
Single Released: 1978
722 Points, 34 Votes

Gutted about the king of the world placing. But if u don't vote u can't bitch

kick off your high-heeled sneakers. It's party time.

haha, yes you can.

xpost

great song and did make my list but was my very last entry or number 20.

8 of my top 10 remaining, so I wd appear to be Mister Consensus....

Who is that

dunno, but he likes 'dirty work'

Haha, I see what you did there, PP.

No I mean the girl

;-)

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-_gNsSlX6xj8/U0Cmv6-bgkI/AAAAAAAAApM/754bJvmZSkk/w448-h439-no/FM_%2528No_Static_At_All%2529.jpg

1978: FM (No Static At All) (B-side: FM (No Static At All) - Reprise)
Label MCA
Chart: 22 US Pop, 30 US Adult Contemporary, 49 UK

This was the first single Steely Dan released on MCA Records (which had released the soundtrack), predating MCA's acquisition of ABC Records by one year.

Three versions of the song by Steely Dan exist. The first two versions, "FM" and "FM (reprise)", originally appeared on the FM soundtrack album and the 12" single. "FM" has a running time of 4:50 and features a guitar solo outro. This version of "FM" also appears on the original 1982 release of the compilation album Gold, the compilation album A Decade of Steely Dan, and the compilation album The Definitive Collection. "FM (reprise)" is an instrumental reprise of "FM" with a prominent saxophone solo and has a running time of 2:53.

A third version of "FM" was created by removing the guitar solo from the end of the original track, and using the FM (reprise) saxophone version as a new ending, yielding a running time of 5:06. This hybrid version appears on the 1991 compilation Gold (Expanded Edition) and most every release after that. It is possible this remix was done so that compilations would not feature two different versions of the same song back to back.

should i save the rest or post a few more tonight?

maybe one more imo. leave some mystery for the last day.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-l_BXgw30nqQ/U0CrjP87XuI/AAAAAAAAAp0/neWrU_fMZg4/w640-h320-no/Aja.jpg

15. Aja
From: Aja
Released: September 23, 1977
732 Points, 30 Votes, 3 Number Ones

Surprisingly low.

Then again, five of my top ten have already shown up. (This was among them.) But I thought I was part of the consensus with "Aja."

such a beautiful song, so reminds me of living in Southern California. that drumming! this was also my #15, so bravo about its placement.

Steve Gadd/Wayne Shorter breakdown puts this tune over the top IMO.

Up on the hill
People never stare
They just don't care
Chinese music under banyan trees
Here at the dude ranch above the sea

for a long time i found "Aja" offputting, but i finally gave in and found its appeal a few years ago, after seeing SD kill it live, and also hearing this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggWYeXVbzdY

ah, fuck, it......TOO LOW!
love Shorter and Gadd, but also the melodies....

Okay, fourteen songs to go, and by my count there are twenty-one songs from the first seven albums that have not been listed yet.

Actually, as far as I can tell, there are a total of three songs from the first seven albums that have not been mentioned in this thread yet. Any guesses?

i've been to a dude ranch above the sea tbh, but that's a story for another thread

Banyan: A type of tropical fig tree. The term "Banyan" includes many subspecies such as Indian Banyans, Chinese Banyans, Sacred Figs, and the sinister-sounding Florida Strangler Fig! In all cases, the banyan's distinguishing feature is its branches, which send out shoots that grow down to the soil to form secondary trunks. Of historical interest is the fact that Siddhartha (the young Buddha) was apparently sitting under a banyan tree when he received enlightenment. The specific tree in question is known as the Bodhi tree — sharing the same root (no pun intended) as the word bodhisattva.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8xf5etKrZH4/U0C5erd0IjI/AAAAAAAAAqk/y37JGg2TrCw/w640-h320-no/Show+Biz+Kids.jpg

14. Show Biz Kids
B-side: "Razor Boy"
From: Countdown to Ecstasy
Single Released: 1973
761 Points, 32 Votes, 2 Number Ones

lol @ graphic

pplains hit it out of the park with that one.

a song that did end up making my list, surprised because at first didn't think it had a chance.

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-j3pSZNs8va8/U0C9Ts_S-tI/AAAAAAAAArM/wxaocSNgJtc/w547-h552-no/steely-dan-show-biz-kids-abc.jpg

1973: "Show Biz Kids" (B-side: "Razor Boy")
Label: ABC 11382
Chart: US Pop 61

The song features a slide guitar solo by Rick Derringer.

The song was sampled by Super Furry Animals on their 1996 single "The Man Don't Give a Fuck".

The song was also covered by Ricki Lee Jones on her 2000 album It's Like This.

flip that record over

I was one of the #1 voters for KOTW, really was pulling for it to crack the top ten

― some dude, Saturday, April 5, 2014 7:57 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I was the other one. I'm just disappointed "Show Biz Kids" finished ahead of it. I mean COME ON PPL.

king of the world and aja two of my top three. genuinely surprised neither broke the top ten.

Is the fact that "Show Biz Kids" is so musically repetitive and boring supposed to be an ironic meta-commentary? Did SD just not give a fuck about anybody else, and this is how they showed it?

I'm with you SlimandSlam

"Aja" and "Gaucho" were my #1 and #2, so TOO LOW!

"Aja" is their symphony, and it truly stands alone in their catalog.

Steve Gadd/Wayne Shorter breakdown puts this tune over the top IMO.

YES! Also, the ending when Gadd finally hits that epic drum groove is the best way to end a song ever.