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

Kid Charlemagne was my number 1. My favorite Dan tune since 1978.

The lyric "You'd go to LA on a dare and you'd go it alone" alludes to a story in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test about a trip taken by chief Prankster Ken Kesey.

Fagen, sitting in with Levon Helm's band, covering the Dead:
http://youtu.be/WRscoPmXA0U

It's all a rich tapestry.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-8Ieg9D9MFu0/U0Hbbwk0UGI/AAAAAAAAA3s/EjgC4B_dK74/w640-h320-no/Doctor+Wu.jpg

4. Doctor Wu
From: Katy Lied
Released: March 1975
1,252 Points, 44 Votes, 7 Number Ones

that's the one I was forgetting about

too low

Wu my #1. Are you with me.

never been a huge fan of the song. although i had Double Nickels On The Dime before i had Katy Lied, and never much liked the cover much, cool as it was that the Minutemen covered the Dan.

i neglected to vote for "dr. wu" and i am completely perplexed as to why. i had apparently spent the last piaster i could borrow on some other katy lied track.

How much of a Minutemen bounce does this song get? Would it be Top 5 without their cover?

no idea. the thought of it being their most loved non-hit by some distance is a little ridiculous to me, though.

In my case it was sublime bounce.

i had no idea this song was so loved, it did make my ballot but number 4 overall is somewhat surprising.

amazing song, languid and bittersweet

I've only heard the Minutemen version a couple of times.

Great song great cover. It's not KoW though.

Was hoping for "Rikki" or "Dr. Wu" at #1. No luck. Maybe it'll even be one I've never heard.

i kind of seriously doubt "dr. wu"'s top 5 placement has anything to do with a minutemen cover

yeah, Wu was considered a highlight way back in the seventies (Xgau called it their greatest song). the minutemen version is minor.

dr. wu is perfect. will be miffed if peg gets #1

You guys don't know Cubans and Biscayne Bay.

i voted for all of the top 3 and adore them all and would be happy to see any of them at #1.

I think everybody here will be miffed if one or the other of these gets #1. I'm looking at you, Deacon Blues.

xp: whoops. well, I guess not.

(xposts) As I mentioned on the other thread, Marcus also singled out the "all night long" lyric as one of the greatest ever written--it's always been an acclaimed song.

yeah, remember the Marcus line. Deacon Blues is the only one of the remaining three that deserves such a high placement

now that it's reasonably clear "chain lightning" is not gonna make a surprise top 10 appearance, this is as good a time as any to post:

donald fagen talks about "chain lightning":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_KCcxFKTuk

there are a few of these "fagen talks about" youtubes, including one about one of the tracks still to come, and they're all great chord-porn, but this is my fave. dude would make a great music teacher.

Doctor Wu is my favorite song of all time, by SD or anyone

I'm listening to "Deacon Blues" now. Sorry--all I can think of is the Bangs line, "tasty licks and all that Traffic twaddle."

fuck Bangs

I hated it at fist but once the lyrics kicked in I was sold for life.

Xgau: "not only is "Deacon Blues" one of their strongest songs ever, it's also one of their warmest."

President Keyes: "fuck Bangs"

*first

For what it's worth, he wasn't referring to "Deacon Blues"--I am. (Fuck clemenza!) Not sure what he what he was talking about.

7 number ones is what really grabbed me about "Doctor Wu."

Doctor Jing Nuan Wu (1933-2002), an acupuncturist and artist based in Washington DC. Emigrated from China to the US at a young age and graduated from Harvard to become a Wall Street venture capitalist, finally setting up a Taoist clinic in Washington in 1973. Apparently helped one of the band members to overcome drug addiction in the mid-70s, hence the lyrical tribute.

(I love Lester Bangs of course but am at peak SD defense mode now sry)

There's an EMP project to be written about Cuban-American/Nixon imagery in the Dan.

"cuban-american imagery, nixon's shadow and traffic twaddle: steely dan in the '70s."

I'm a little defensive too right now--feeling a generational split in these results (old people = first four LPs/ younger = next three), but maybe I'm wrong.

Nope. Love the first two, adore Gaucho and Katy Lied.

guys let's not spoil this now

age ain't nothin but a hashtag

"that stupid song" was Dylan's "Visions of Johanna" -- supposedly, it was played on the PA before every 70s Dan show.

old people = first four LPs/ younger = next three

i don't agree with this at all, but if i did, i'm not sure which segment i'd give album number five to.

Catching up late here - I was one of the number ones for "Babylon Sisters," which I've loved for like five years, but the song didn't turn mythic for me 'til I actually moved out to L.A. And I wish I still had a car every damn time I hear it. Aja and Gaucho really start to open up when you're actually on the West Coast, especially if you're a Northeast transplant like me. "Dr. Wu" another one I considered for #1, along with the song I'm pretty sure will take the top spot.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-bcq7GqdtriE/U0HlGb_kBqI/AAAAAAAAA4U/FrxOl8If0e4/w640-h320-no/Peg.jpg

3. Peg
B-side: "I Got the News"
From: Aja
Single Released: November 1977
1,314 Points, 57 Votes, 3 Number Ones

I've got classic albums: aja playing right now. just got to the michael mcdonald vox part on Peg as this was posted.

love, love, love "Dr. Wu"......two of these next three, otoh, are just not top 10 Dan tracks for me. But what the hell--they're pretty great songs.

xpost: ok, gonna be VERY surprised if I have the wrong #1 now....

Aja and Gaucho really start to open up when you're actually on the West Coast

^^otm

yes

kinda glad it's not #1 but i do love 'peg' so much, the way the solo just careens in, maybe my fave backing vocals in any song, at a minimum my fave michael mcdonald vocals. probably one of the earliest songs i can remember being a hit, hearing on the radio, hard to describe the glee i felt at 14 putting on 3 feet high and rising and having that sample pop up.

There's gotta be some really dark subtext to "Peg" ("It will come back to you"?) but I still haven't grokked what it is.