This is a rather nice article about our louche hipster fantasy friends which i think mostly nails their appeal (and why others may not get it).
Steely Dan – preparatory reading for Sunday at the 02
by 16 Comments
Comments
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
That’s a pretty good lengthy read.
You’ll ideally need to set some time aside to appreciate it fully.
Except Walter won’t be there …
Good one!
Blimey, I love The Dan but I fell asleep twice during that read!
And as for Aja being their pinnacle – any major dude will tell you Aja was a last and ultimately failed farewell.
*splutter*
Pshaw. Contrarian nonsense.
Always certain, sometimes wrong (but not in this case)
For those of you already turning up the sleeves of your pastel linen jackets, sharpening the creases in your chinos, buffing the deck shoes and about to cruise down the aquamarine (er) Thames, the following article will reassure you just how with it you are.
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/oct/27/michael-mcdonald-doobie-brothers-hall-oates-toto-soft-rock-got-cool?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Have a great night.
I dunno about you, but I find it highly questionable to put the Dan in the same category as the Doobie Bros. ‘Soft rock’ indeed!
But it doesn’t, does it? The article references The Dan as above and detached from all the froth. Quite right too.
That’s okay then. I musta misread in haste.
Not sure it does, really. Seems to me they’d love to slot them into the “soft rock” category but have slight reservations over the jazziness and complexity of their stuff. Purely on the level of their lyrics they don’t really fit.
Totally agree, Mike.
They are smooth & polished without a doubt, but they are not soft.
Lyrically, the subject matter is adult to put it mildly and at times downright dark.
The dichotomy between the superficially ‘easy’ sound & the nasty subject matter is one of major appeals of The Dan for me.
I retract my retraction
Fans of the Dan will be delighted to learn that Uncut are to release one of their Ultimate Music Guides in a couple of weeks, devoted to this mystifyingly popular* band.
*in AW terms at least
Oooo!