Why do people rag on Steely Dan's "Gaucho" so much?

That said, I can hear the sinister subtexts beneath the steely glint of the soporific music. For sure.

(There had to be some dissent here...)

By contrast, I've never connected as much with Aja for some reason -- possibly because the great Roger Nichols didn't engineer it (and you can tell) or maybe because they continue down the Royal Scam road but try to humanize it with songs like "Deacon Blues". Either way it doesn't really work -- by this point, they're just too hardened and SoCal'd out to pull it off.

Gaucho is just sort of the culmination of what started with Scam -- the soundtrack to hitting on the chick who works at the bank at the local Ramada bar. Yes, all the love has gone out of it -- every character's a total piece of shit, and relationships are all transactions of some kind. Yet it's also perfect in its way -- the singles are career highlights, sure. But at its core are "The Glamour Profession" and "Gaucho", with their soaring Tom Scott saxes and lyricons, brittle guitar parts and more than a touch of Broadway in the vocals and song construction. And then it all ends, yeah, on "Third World Man", which is just disturbing, slow and vague. It's hard to feel "satisfied" by it all, but an appropriate note to go out on for sure.

gahhhhh

Johnny's playroom
Is a bunker filled with sand
He's become a third world man

Smoky Sunday
He's been mobilized since dawn
Now he's crouching on the lawn
He's a third world man

Soon you'll throw down your disguise
We'll see behind those bright eyes
By and by
When the sidewalks are safe
For the little guy

I saw the fireworks
I believed that I was dreaming
Till the neighbors came out screaming
He's a third world man

Soon you'll throw down your disguise
We'll see behind those bright eyes
By and by
When the sidewalks are safe
For the little guys

When he's crying out
I just sing that Ghana Rondo
E l'era del terzo mondo
He's a third world man

OTMFM - about 'Aja,' that is.

Gaucho was the record where Fagen and sound engineer Roger Nichols wrestled endlessly with the drum machine that Nichols had developed. The strain between Fagen and Becker was starting to show, as well.

Despite all that, Gaucho has Babylon Sisters, one of the most harmonically advanced pop songs I can think of. And it gets stuck in your head! Must hear now...

there, I said it

OTM. I bought it when it came out and have tried to get into it about 15 times — and aside from the lecherous "Who has a friend named Melanie?/Who's not afraid to try new things?" couplet in "Janie Runaway" and a little bit of "West of Hollywood", absolutely nothing has stuck with me. It's actually hard to listen to...

You can thank Keith Jarrett for that.

Is it "What Makes You Think You're the One" that I'm thinking of? The smashes right at the end of the song?

That's a review of Katy Lied, not Gaucho. And it does go somewhere, to this insightful place: "The music lets us know that their cynicism is no more a celebration of cynicism than their smack references are a celebration of smack, lets us know we can break the habit."

Gaucho is pretty devastating, actually. It's their most bitter album. I like that about it, but then again, I'm not entirely healthy.

Though not as lively as "Chain Lightning" or "King of the World," from back when they masqueraded as a rock and roll band rather than a "sophisticated pop/jazz group."

Masqueraded? What did they ever masquerade as? That's huge, fat bullshit.

My father actually dated a nineteen-year old in 1980. She took my sister and I horseback riding. Weird to think that she'd be 45 this year.

does anyone have the unreleased version of it? the mp3s aren't on this site anymore but the story seems interesting.
http://www.bigomagazine.com/archive/ARrarities/ARsdgaucho.html

40 years ago today

Mass Romantic yesterday, Gaucho today....what's next in line for the excellent album birthday celebration?

Seeing the Gaucho show in Morristown, NJ tonight. Has anyone seen them yet on this tour? They haven't done a Gaucho night yet, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect from the second set, but I'm crossing my fingers for "Bad Sneakers" and/or "Deacon Blues" which both seem like realistic possibilities...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bf7Dr7CzmM

Morris Mobley cover of Glamour Profession

fun cover, i like how he says "hoops mccain" instead of "hoops mccann," which makes me think he's talking about a black sheep member of that annoying family

We're double-bumping the Gaucho threads tonight.

Seeing the Gaucho show in Morristown, NJ tonight. Has anyone seen them yet on this tour? They haven't done a Gaucho night yet, so I'm not sure exactly what to expect from the second set, but I'm crossing my fingers for "Bad Sneakers" and/or "Deacon Blues" which both seem like realistic possibilities...

― J. Sam, Thursday, November 4, 2021 5:02 PM (nine months ago) bookmarkflaglink

In retrospect I was foolish to hope for "Deacon Blues." Looks like they only play it in the Aja shows :(

fantastic descriptions from the man himself

Donald explains Gaucho

new liner notes from the man himself for the upcoming reissue from Analogue Productions pic.twitter.com/dBlaEsYyZn

— Good Steely Dan Takes (@baddantakes) April 12, 2024