Steely Dan: Iconoclastic Boogaloo

From Cash Box, written by Eliot Sekuler

"In our heart of hearts, we are really bizarre," comments Donald Fagen, comfortably crumpled like a ball of scrap paper on the couch. His friend and collaborator, Walter Becker, nods noncommittally, an attitude to which he is not usually prone. The conversation, expecting but not receiving further elaboration on the subject, slides into brief silence.

We were sitting in Becker's new Laurel Canyon house, perched pleasantly on top of Los Angeles, 3200 miles as the crow flies from Brooklyn. Fagen and Becker flew from Brooklyn three years ago, shortly after leaving the instrumental entourage of Jay and the Americans. Originally contracted to ABC/Dunhill as a songwriting team, they instead gave birth to Steely Dan, a pair of hit singles ("Do It Again" and "Reelin' In The Years") and an album that was certified gold a year after release.

Now there is "Countdown to Ecstasy," their second ABC LP, struggling its way through the top 40 charts and a single, "Show Biz Kids," that got lost some-where along the way. It was a strange choice for a single release, containing an oddball contrapuntal chorus and an entire verse that needed bleeping. "We're sadder but wiser in relation to that" says Becker, "but its always comforting to know that you've got something potentially obscene on AM radio."

With characteristic ambiguity, they are fond of comparing their song-writing process to the creation of "junk sculpture." "Some songs are completely mine and some are Walter's, but in most there isn't any cut-and-dried division. 'Boston Rag,' for instance, has my chorus and verses by Walter." Musically, both of them have a predilection for jazz, a slight disdain for theatrics and an amiable cynicism towards the pretensions of the rock "scene," but not for the music. "Someone sent me a newspaper clipping that described rock concerts as 'the inept playing for the untutored," said Walter, with more amusement than indignance. "That just isn't true. The music may be simple, not as sophisticated, say, as jazz or classical music, but some of the guys playing it a lot of the successful ones-are very, very good at what they do."

"I listen to music for its intrinsic musical values, as opposed to any dramatic or theatrical qualities," continued Fagen. "For that reason our lyrics are usually dry and objective. The content may be subjective, but it's pure music, pure lyrics." Within the complexities of their music, there is seldom anything thrown in for emotional content. They prefer to leave their compositions uncluttered by images that would allow the listener to relate on the basis of sentiment or any non-musical experience. As in jazz, then, the feelings of the audience are aroused not by story telling or catch-phrases but purely by the sounds of the music itself. "Actually," added Walter, "they (the lyrics) just appear to be passionless because everyone else's stuff is so soppy."

Steely Dan has undergone changes of peripheral personnel since its inception, but the original quintet has remained intact. Becker on bass and Fagen's keyboards are joined by drummer Jim Hodder to form the rhythm section. Jeffrey "Skunk" Baxter, an outstanding and very original musician who previously did studio work for Carly Simon, alternates guitar leads with Denny Dias.

Recently, the group has taken pains to enliven their stage act, adding vocalist Royce Jones and two girls, introduced as Porky and Bucky, who add some oomph to the choruses while dancing on the side of the stage. Fagen was asked, half jokingly, if he had thought of going "whole hog" with the idea; he could, for example, enclose the girls in cages and dangle them, Las Vegas style, above the band on stage.

Fagen: "Don't think we haven't thought of that. Unfortunately, though, unless you take the authority upon yourself, like Frank Zappa, for instance, you can only get people to do just so many things."

Becker disagreed: "We can get those people to do anything we want them to."

Fagen: "Yeah, but then you're assuming a burden of responsibility. I just couldn't ask them to do that routine with a real, live python; that's pretty dangerous..."

Becker interrupted: "Sooner or later," he said, "they will do the routine with the python."