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

It's hard to remember first hearing the song, but I think the key change caught me off guard, which would imply it's not a traditional use - after all, the chorus sounds like it's completely winding down before that point. Of course nowadays I anticipate it.

yes, good point. the last "I come from" before the key change seems as if it's about to be faded out, and then bam!

my #2!

this is the one I put on mixtapes to fool Dan-skeptical acquaintances; they invariably love it....

That's two in a row I voted for, love them both. Love the shift of mood from the upbeat intro to the verse on Midnight Cruiser, and the piano chord on "my old friend" is one of my favorite chords in their discography (with lots of competition obviously.)

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-84_ycbhmnlY/Uz75Bpy0MxI/AAAAAAAAAVg/1sOJqASUPsY/w640-h320-no/Home+At+Last.jpg

38. Home At Last
From: Aja
Released: September 23, 1977
408 Points, 19 Votes, 1 Number One

whoa

i know this super highway
this bright familiar sun

Such a leisurely amble of an arrangement; it makes the chorus harmonies sweeter.

Surprised to see that this is the first song from Aja. Purdie's gonna be pissed.

you done underappreciated the hitmaker

"she serves the smooth retsina." such a nice hellenic touch, to go with all the other ones.

TOO LOW!

I had it at #5

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-evWZYn_peOs/Uz7-_BLqQ2I/AAAAAAAAAWM/Par2u-1c26Q/w640-h320-no/Don%2527t+Take+Me+Alive.jpg

37. Don't Take Me Alive
From: The Royal Scam
Released: May, 1976
418 Points, 20 Votes, 1 Number One

the first song from my ballot to make it.

Agree with the upthread discussion of how fun SD is to sing along to - "Home At Last" is probably my favorite. ("Black Cow" is unfortunately pretty much impossible.)

"Any World...," out of all the Michael McDonald features, is the one that tends to bring the old SCTV bit to mind: http://youtu.be/b0HzWMqLeiE

my favorite dan lyric!

i hear my inside
the mechanized hum of another world

"Home At Last" was my #1. it's the song where I first ~~~got~~~ the Dan

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-heo8q-vii7w/Uz8E_o5VkcI/AAAAAAAAAW4/pgCNmKOkPNs/w640-h320-no/Glamor+Profession.jpg

36. Glamour Profession
From: Gaucho
Released: November 21, 1980
427 Points, 21 Votes

I mean, I'd been listening to them for years, but "Home At Last" sinks way deeper. Fagen's voice at its most arachnid, lost amidst its own webs; and the triumphal horn break mocking his own self-mockery.

brut and charisma
poured from the shadow where he stood

Too low!

Hollywood, I know your middle name...

OK, that is crazy low.

i know, such a great song.

One of my personal favorite ilx posts

all aboard
the Carib Cannibal
off to Barbados
just for the ride
Jack with his radar
Stalking the dread moray eel
At the wheel
With his Eurasian bride
--

good luck unpacking all that

― J0hn D., Tuesday, July 1, 2008 11:03 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Only figured out recently that this song was the origin of John Cusack's character in One Crazy Summer. I thought they both were referencing some old celebrity I didn't know, which is kind of SD's MO

character name*

I chose "my rival" over "glamor profession". There I said it. Cool song and useful if you secretly wanted to rate a Nightfly song in the tracks poll.

Here's where I'll not only point out the first misspelling in the graphics, but also plug their very user-friendly website.

xps (which was in response to me not knowing SHIT about gaucho but talking shit about it anyway)

I'm no headphone fetishist, but "Glamour Profession" sounds killer over them. So many synth parts I didn't hear. And that stately tread.

Giving the world another "Cherchez La Femme" was a true and noble cause.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5kQ-kR8CJG8/Uz8JBdW2RzI/AAAAAAAAAXg/uFu-xLFCRn4/w640-h320-no/Bodhisattva.jpg

35. Bodhisattva
From: Countdown to Ecstasy
Released: July 1973
433 Points, 20 Votes, 1 Number One

Is this the rockin'-est song that the Dan ever recorded?

probably the fastest, although other definitions of rockin'-est may favor a more guitar-driven track

"Any World" and "Home At Last" are both huge songs to me personally. wish they'd been higher but oh well.

You can tell em that tonight santa Monica has been set on fire!

I've struggled mightily to turn the groove from "Glamour Profession" into a smooth house track, but haven't quite made it work yet.

This must be the song studied by China Crisis and which persuaded them to call Becker.

man it is kind of funny watching you folks lose all of your critical faculties when discussing this band

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-VjNDpVU6sws/Uz8VRg4SQoI/AAAAAAAAAYQ/0iKkL-x7420/w640-h320-no/Your+Gold+Teeth.jpg

34. Your Gold Teeth
From: Countdown to Ecstasy
Released: July 1973
468 Points, 23 Votes, 1 Number One

love this song my number 13.

listened to this one on my drive to work this morning

another of my top tens

^^^^
What is STEELY DAN? What are its major forms? How does it work, and what role does it play in our society?
What is its relations with class interests? Who does it help/harm most? What contradictions does it contain?

"Glamour Profession" and "Your Gold Teeth" my #2 and #3.

Tobacco they grow in Peking.

guessing that every song from now on will have at least one #1 vote

my #1! this song has everything: a killer groove, clever lyrics tucked into a subliminal bridge (tobacco they grow in peking), and a weird piano/guitar riff. it's also long!

and even being long, one of the best parts happens right at the end (6:10) as I think somebody already mentioned.