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

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.

Re: show biz kids, with every song I've revisited due to this poll, the poll has been correct though.

King of the World behind show biz kids is a travesty on par with the 2000 election hanging chad fiasco.

Haha. I am inclined to agree. But I will study first.

Fagen and Derringer are the only ones in SBK who get to have any fun. Everyone else plays the same plodding riff (which doesn't even rise to the level of "groove") over and over and over and over. Bill Magill otm.

the #1 voters must speak!

Yes, reveal the secrets!

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-PqJucx523L0/U0DLVjcvYMI/AAAAAAAAAr8/7qVwS6sjlPw/w640-h320-no/Bad+Sneakers.jpg

13. Bad Sneakers
B-side "Chain Lightning"
From:: Katy Lied
Single Released: March 1975
767 Points, 39 Votes, 1 Number One

I can't. GO TO BED.

<3 bad sneakers <3

Is this like "My Bad Old Sneakers"?

My Bad (Sneakers)

"And for the coupa-de-GRAHHHSSS/they're OUTRAGEOUS" is one of the shittiest lyrics ever, that track spoils CTE bigtime

will all 7 classic period LPs have a top 10 track?

my bad sneakers is a classic example of a song i accidentally love, despite my best intentions.

absolutely did not vote for it.

kinda wishing i voted for Aja

love Bad Sneakers. being down 'n' out never seemed so alluring.

tbh I fucking love the countermelody the instruments play in the verses. But I did not vote for it.

Charlie, I wasted a vote on I got the news that I wish I have to Aja.

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

― kornrulez6969, Saturday, 5 April 2014 23:53 (Yesterday)

http://libcudl.colorado.edu/sheetmusic/Images/Rag/RagBoston/RagBoston01b.jpg

Didn't have to think v.hard about it:

The Boston Rag, my favourite Dan song - the piano! The way it unfurls! "Any news was good news / And the feeling was bad at home / I was losing my mind and you were on the phone..."

Show Biz Kids in second place, really need to make a beardo edit of one of these days.

― etc, Friday, 20 June 2008 04:06 (5 years ago)