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

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

I'm saving my "too low" card for my #1, and I will play it if it winds up any lower than #1. (And if I'm at my computer in time to play it.)

Rudy's Bar and Grill, a popular drinking establishment in New York City. Located on 9th Avenue & 44th Street in the heart of the formerly-infamous but now-gentrified "Hell's Kitchen" district of Manhattan. Rudy's is a lively and informal "dive" bar best known for its cheap drinks and free hot dogs, and regarded by many as the perfect place to get legless after work.

Two of mine are left--either could be #1, or not. I really hope the other five aren't Aja/Groucho.

Black Cow: A type of soda. Depending on who you ask, a true black cow consists of either Coke or root beer mixed with either milk or ice cream (with optional chocolate sauce). There's even an alcoholic version, containing Grand Marnier and cold coffee.

xp they can't be. not enough songs left!

"_____" is such a bizarre hit i can't begrudge it placing high or even hitting #1

Okay, that's good. (xp)

i taught myself how to beatmatch using 2 copies of aja by practicing a live loop of the first 8 bars over and over for days

it's great how one can buy 2 pristine copies of these albums for cheap at most record stores.

that is rad as hell gr80

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-O6_FD-TXCN0/U0G9CVfdalI/AAAAAAAAAzg/oizL5QN0-KY/w640-h320-no/Babylon+Sisters.jpg

7. Babylon Sisters
From: Gaucho
Released: November 21, 1980
1,129 Points, 44 Votes, 4 Number Ones

TOO LOW

one of my all-time favorite songs.

My #1. Too low. I can't cry anymore.

xp I mean Black Cow not Babylon Sisters

I thought this had a shot at #1.

ilx's absurd overcorrection of Gaucho's traditionally bad rep continues to bug me, but it least y'all got the best song right

of the remaining 6, there's only one mayyyybe two songs that i wouldn't be happy to see at #1

song is the ultimate desultory beach (or pool) party jam in my personal experience

i mean, c'mon:

drink kirschwasser from a shell

Babylon Sisters works so well as the final track on the 'Reelin' In The Years' compilation

Gaucho doesn't have any more of a "traditionally bad rep" than Royal Scam

Gaucho doesn't have any more of a "traditionally bad rep" than Royal Scam

― Euler, Sunday, April 6, 2014 5:09 PM (16 seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

back in the 80s and 90s? no way

too low! (i didn't vote for it)

in my ~1990 red Rolling Stone album guide, Royal Scam gets 3 stars & Gaucho 2 1/2 stars. seemed like both were widely considered the closest to duds in their catalog

xp

yeah not to say Scam was tops in the canon but Gaucho was the one that took forever, didn't equal the success of its predecessor and effectively ended the band for a decade

this beat "Black Cow" by just 12 Points, those 4 number ones are what actually put it over the top.

Kirschwasser: A type of German brandy made from cherries. The name comes from the German words Kirsch (cherry) and Wasser (water), and true to its name, is colourless rather than red (though artificially-coloured varieties exist). Trivia fact: it takes over 20 pounds of cherries to make a single bottle.

Sunset: Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles — the "Boulevard of Dreams", which runs from Central LA to the ocean, via Hollywood. Made famous by the classic 1950 Billy Wilder movie — also infamous as the site of Hugh Grant's 1995 liaison with hooker Divine Brown.

ha, there are a few of these:

Santa Ana Winds: The seasonal Santa Ana winds are hot, dry and strong easterly gusts which blow across Southern California between September and February. "Santa Ana" is Spanish for "Saint Anne" and refers to the Santa Ana Canyon near Anaheim, where the winds were thought to originate (however, in reality they come from near the Rocky Mountains). A boon to surfers but a nemesis to firefighters and homeowners, the hot winds are said to fuel aggression and can even foretell a coming earthquake — the so-called "shake and bake" syndrome.

TJ: Tijuana, a city just across the Mexican border from California. Being less than 30 minutes from downtown San Diego, Tijuana is a popular destination for Californians seeking good times and cheap booze.

I cannot not think of this song every time I drive PCH and see the distant lights from across the bay (either north or south). such a depressed exhausted decadent song, it's amazing. My #1!

colorless / artificially colored, the result of an elaborate process of reduction, loss of virginity......
it's an alternate greatest hits title, no? "Kirschwasser: The Very Best of Steely Dan"

Go on I'll call it..."Deacon Blues" for no 1

Not jinxing my #1 by calling it yet.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-kpZAtwAGeuk/U0HHPluBvJI/AAAAAAAAA0M/3j9-loiGoSs/w640-h320-no/Rikki+Dont+Lose+That+Number.jpg

6. Rikki Don't Lose That Number
B-side: "Any Major Dude Will Tell You"
From: Pretzel Logic
Single Released: April 25, 1974
1,158 Points, 46 Votes, 4 Number Ones

Did not vote for this great great song. Magnificent solo.

my #1. such a weird, complex, abstruse, yet ridiculously catchy and marvelously open-ended, pop hit.

not 'what it's about' (that ew story i'll link to whenever the now overrated - ht armond - 'my old school' finally places is probably right on that front) but the gay reading of this song is probably one of my more favorite analyses on ilm

to this day i remain puzzled by the switch from first person plural in the first line to first person singular in the second.

I called Deacon Blues two weeks ago. still stand by it (and crossing my fingers)

xp similar pronoun weirdness in the first verse of "My Old School," with the referent of "you"

Rikki my #3. love the drum sound going into the first lyric so much, ba-dum-ba-dum, "we heard you're leaving..."

SEYMOUR DOAN LOSE THAT NUM-BA
YOU DOAN WANNA CALL NO-BODY ELSE

i am totally blanking on what 2 of the remaining 5 could be, stoked for the madness

also love the strange rhyming pattern in the verses: ABBC

and euler otm about that opening drum sound.

"Rikki" was the song that turned me around on the Dan--for years I didn't really pay much attention them (though I'd heard "Do It Again" "Reelin'" "Hey 19" and "Peg"). To me they were just some AOR band like Santana or something. But then I heard "Rikki" on the radio and decided I had to now more about this group.

xxp: I know all 5, but no idea what order they'll be in.