Steely Dan Newsletter | Issue 54
'Katy Lied' at 50
"Katy Lied" at 50
In the contemporary landscape, the music project has taken the place of the rock band. With the economy getting worse and streaming platforms eating up band revenue, it’s now more cost-effective to do it all yourself. But some digital alchemists have turned this bug into a feature, with artists like Jon Maus, King Krule, Have a Nice Life, Cindy Lee, and Mac DeMarco cooking up low-rent masterpieces in dirty bedrooms across the globe.
However, some artists got there first — namely, Steely Dan with Katy Lied, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2025.
Why Do Millennials and Gen Z Love Steely Dan?
There is certainly something in the band's career arc that anyone under 40, let alone a musician class mostly impoverished by streaming, would envy. Becker and Fagen, two stoner types, met at Bard College in New York's Hudson Valley in 1967, bonded over a shared love of music, and eventually formed Steely Dan in 1971, naming it after a mechanical dildo from William S. Burroughs' cult novel Naked Lunch.
The Steely Dan album their label hated
Steely Dan's overjoyed label, ABC Records, were understandably convinced that they had a long-term hit-making machine on their hands.
“Aja by Steely Dan is the blueprint… If there was a formula for every kind of success you could have in music, that record embodied it”
Top-tier ’70s-style AOR is back on deck with Young Gun Silver Fox, whose guitarist and co-founder Shawn Lee shares how rare, oddball and collectible guitars are the wind in their sails.
'The Second Arrangement': The long-lost Steely Dan song
One thing Steely Dan always prided themselves on was their meticulous attention to detail. Their writing and recording process was so painstakingly exacting that it became the stuff of nightmares for the session musicians tasked with helping them bring their intricate and shimmering creations to life.
The meaning behind Steely Dan song 'Brooklyn'
Let’s be real. Getting a song written about you is a dubious honour. Sure, you may be getting a beautiful love song written about you, or a tribute to your close friendship. It can happen.
💬 The excellent Expanding Dan newsletter
Donald Fagen talks about 'Eminent Hipsters' with Leonard Lopate (RIP)
In a 2013 interview, Fagen discusses his memoir with the longtime New York radio host who died this week.
📷 The awesome Barney Hurley X account
Barney Hurley is no longer with us, but his X account will forever be loved and truly essential for fans of Steely Dan (and so many other related, legendary artists).
Outtake from Hideki Fujii's album cover photoshoot for Steely Dan's 1977 masterpiece, 'Aja' (model Sayoko Yamaguchi)
Rickie Lee Jones with her producer, Walter Becker, during the recording of her 1989 album, 'Flying Cowboys', at Cherokee Studios, Hollywood, California
💿 Steely Dan: Every Song Ranked
There’s no story anywhere in music like Steely Dan.
Have a GREAT day! 😎