Steely Dan is not a rock band in the traditional sense; rock critics have called it everything from a "concept" to a "non-band." Whatever the configuration is labeled, it is an outlet for songwriters Walter Becker and Donald Fagan, the only two permanent "members." The pair met at Bard College in the late 1960s. Both were jazz fans with a warped sense of humor who liked beat poetry, absurdist literature, and songwriting. They joined a few bands (including one, the Bad Rock Group, which included a novice drummer and sometime actor named Chevy Chase) before devoting their energies to songwriting. Becker and Fagan sold a few songs to the Brill Building, but only one was ever recorded. Nonetheless, ABC Records in Los Angeles gave them a publishing deal. The company found that most of the pair's lyrics were too dark and quirky for its stable of artists, but recognized their quality and appeal. Eventually, ABC recommended that Becker and Fagan form a band and record their own songs. They recruited some local musicians, named their new group Steely Dan (after a dildo in William Burroughs' book Naked Lunch), and cut Can't Buy a Thrill. One of the tracks, "Do It Again," was a surprise top five hit and launched the totally unprepared group into the rock mainstream.
Even in the early 1970s, when almost anything went in rock an roll, Steely Dan was an unusual group. Their sound was rooted in jazz, but was also influenced by pop, R&B, classical, and folk music. Their lyrics were poetic, but the meaning of those lyrics was not always clear to audiences; most were sarcastic and loaded with obscure references. The band's music was post-folk-rock for the intellectual set, indie rock before such a thing had a name. Many listeners commented that there was something vaguely sinister in many of the band's lyrics, but their melodies were strangely captivating. Their arrangements were loaded with complicated jazz harmonies and time signatures, yet the songs were hooky enough for pop radio.
Becker and Fagan realized that they hated touring while on the road to support Can't Buy a Thrill. They dissolved their backup band in 1974 (two of its members, Skunk Baxter and Michael McDonald, went on to join the Doobie Brothers) and devoted themselves to studio work.
Critics often dubbed the music of the "reformed" Steely Dan "slick," "glossy," and "chilly," and complained that their records lacked passion. Consumers failed to notice, and Steely Dan's mid-1970s output—particularly The Royal Scam and Aja—went platinum, despite their sophisticated jazz orientation. After Aja, Becker and Fagan spent three years in the studio crafting the follow up, Gaucho, which reached the top ten on the album charts but was pilloried in the press as antiseptic, pompous, and overly arcane. In the aftermath Steely Dan officially dissolved. They unexpectedly reunited in the early 1990s to—of all things—tour in support of Fagan and Becker's respective solo albums. In 2000 they went back into the studio to cut Two Against Nature, which won the Grammy for Album of the Year.
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Bob Dylan, The Beatles, Charlie Parker, Spike Jones, Jeff Beck
Must Haves:
 "Reelin' in the Years"
"Bodhisattva"
"Kid Charlemagne"
"Babylon Sisters"
"Rikki Don't Lose that Number"
Nellie McKay, Prefab Sprout, Everything But the Girl, Suzanne Vega, Barenaked Ladies
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