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

Hey nineteen,
that's PJ Harvey.
She don't remember
Soul II Soul...

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Thursday, October 20, 2005 1

This is the song I think of when I call SD the perfect frictionless surface. It just slides right past me; I can't get a grip on it.

as if this song didn't resonate w/ me too much already pp

hilarious pick for Hey Nineteen. this poll has done it's job in making me listen to Gaucho with fresh ears. wow!

My father actually dated a nineteen-year old in 1980 (or 81.) She took my sister and I horseback riding.

― Pleasant Plains /// (Pleasant Plains ///), Tuesday, January 10, 2006

And anyway, Dad would always hum this song. My first memories of the Dan.

tony soprano singing "dirty work" is such an amazing moment in that show

why did everyone know it'd be shut out of the top 10? is there some kind of backlash against it?

when they've done this live in recent years, right before they get to the cuervo gold/fine colombian part, the band vamps for a while as becker does a shaggy dog monologue about what all the boomers in the crowd are gonna do when they get home from the concert that ultimately pays off when the backup singers come back in, it killed me when i saw it live then was kinda cheapened when i found it repeated in tons of youtubes of other shows

the yearning vox are seen by some as insufficiently expressive of weltschmerz, I believe....

myself, I dig all the Palmer vocals, and think of him as a kind of instrument deployed by Fagan: "earnest rock vocalist" or whatever

https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-M4q4vO1cAA8/U0GpwjgCBxI/AAAAAAAAAww/pOrIDkJXQ5Q/w551-h552-no/steely-dan-hey-nineteen-mca-3.jpg
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-I1wYz-SwKIQ/U0Gp83HvkwI/AAAAAAAAAxU/yl4f7rsPqK4/w550-h552-no/steely-dan-hey-nineteen-mca-2.jpg

1981: "Hey Nineteen" (B-side: "Bodhisattva" (live))
Label: MCA 51036
Chart: 10 US Pop

Donald Fagen once said in an interview that his hope was that songs like "Hey Nineteen" would be enjoyed by soccer moms in dentist chairs bobbing their heads unaware of the filthy lyrics. From Brian Sweet's book- Fagen- 'Sentimental love is the stock in trade of every songwriter. Actually, we use it quite often, but we just try to change the angle a little and change the quality of the relationships a bit. It's innuendo and innuendo is a tradition in rhythm and blues.' Becker- 'I don't know how many songs we've written about whores--it must be every other one. It's all very deliberate. You can only say so much about love. I don't see anything unreasonable about "Hey Nineteen." I think that song's self-explanatory, if not strictly autobiographical. I figured a lot of people could identify with it.' "

"Hey Nineteen" peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early-1981 (one of only three Steely Dan songs to break the top ten), and #68 on the Black Singles chart.

Scarsdale: A town of about 18,000 residents located 25 miles north of New York City. Scarsdale is considered to be among the most upscale towns in Westchester County, which in turn is the most upscale of the areas surrounding NYC. The town is probably most notable for being the hometown of Linda McCartney and the former residence of Yoko Ono, not to mention lending its name to 1970s food fad "The Scarsdale Diet".

so now we are getting into the elite Top 9. the reason i say this is because all these songs got over 1,000 points.

These extra tidbits are hilarious, BeeOK. I don't know if you mean them to be. But don't stop.

http://awesomelyluvvie.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/popup-video.jpg

tony soprano singing "dirty work" is such an amazing moment in that show

otm. of the two big singles from the first album, i like "reelin'" more than "do it again," but neither of them prepared me for the majesty of steely dan to come. both of them kind of blend into the classic rock background for me these days: two good songs that i don't ever particularly need to hear. the chorus of "dirty work" is unexpectedly huge and beautiful and stately. a fantastic single, even if it wasn't a single, and, in its odd way, the first sign for me that there was something more here. a lot more.

What is the Black Singles Chart, why was it running in 1981, and how do the Dan get on it?

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-NFV2Eh9v0kI/U0GtWHcRSWI/AAAAAAAAAyA/-cmyTxsVu3s/w640-h320-no/Any+Major+Dude+Will+Tell+You.jpg

9. Any Major Dude Will Tell You
From: Pretzel Logic
Released: February 20, 1974
1,036 Points, 41 Votes, 3 Number Ones

black singles chart is the r&b/hip-hop chart now, the chart has gone by many names. steely dan made it the same way elton john or blondie did, by crossing over from pop radio to r&b radio.

#9 my #1

AMDWTY is good but i've always kinda felt it was overrated. placed exactly where i expected.

squonk. squonkette. thelonious squonk. squilly squonka. squonk if you love jesus.

TS: squonk tears vs. crocodile tears

#1 song becoming more and more clear

i love this strange little self-help tune.

even though i actually voted for it, i was shocked this actually made the overall Top 10.

Aw, that's totally a major dude! ace fucking job, pp.

I'm starting to be either pleased that my #1 made it so high or worried that it didn't make it at all

me too.

there's a fine line, in this poll, between #1 and #61.

nah, no fine lines, the band already snorted them

Squonk: A mythical woodland creature, originating in Pennsylvania. Squonks spend much of their time crying due to their ugliness, and when captured, will dissolve into a puddle of tears. Also the subject of a song on the 1976 Genesis album A Trick of The Tail.

a fine genesis song it is

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZRYQ4e2sPJI/U0G1DUvGpxI/AAAAAAAAAzE/Wl_wvFxWjjI/w640-h320-no/Black+Cow.jpg

8. Black Cow
From: Aja
Released: September 23, 1977
1,117 Points, 45 Votes, 3 Number Ones

uptown baby

so outrageous

love both of these and voted for AMDWTY. My Old School should come next. it's great and all but not really top 5 Dan (or number one CTE)

chain lightning surprise no. 1

high five to the 2 fellow Major Dude For Number 1 fans.

My #1 still has a shot, which is not usually the case.

uptown baby

― °ㅇ๐ْ ° (gr8080), Sunday, April 6, 2014 4:21 PM

i knew about that song when it was on mtv, but never knew about the sample until a few years ago.

will throw a minor fit if "kid charlemagne" is no. 1, but i'm about deacon blues/doctor wu/my old school/babylon sisters taking it

also the horns in the lord tariq and peter gunz song are also in "hips don't lie"

that's my contribution to the thread

xpost

this is one I've never got--too astringent? lyrically kinda meh? who knows, but.....never dug it.

I fear one you haven't mentioned yet, Brad....

didn't vote for it i think this is a great song lyrically. phrasing is exquisite, "surely will screen out the sorrow," "you will stagger homeward to your precious one"

I think our little wild time has just begun

I fear one you haven't mentioned yet, Brad....

oh yeah i guess it's possible that "with a gun" is up there

yeah, the lyrics are great! Had it at #8 myself, but I'm happily surprised to see it in the top 10.

xp there are more possibilities

Hey Nineteen was the last song cut from my ballot. And if I can I'd like to use my "Too low!" card, belatedly, for FM, which I thought would place way higher.

xp he's thinking of East St. Louis Toodle-Oo