Showbiz Kids: The Steely Dan Story 1972-80 (CD)

Steely Dan--a name derived from a sex toy in William Burroughs's "Naked Lunch"--spent much of the '70s atop the charts with jazzy, smart-ass pop-rock. The brainchild of hipsters Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, Steely Dan was less a band than it was a laboratory for the duo's singular musical vision, deftly rendered by a cast of studio heavyweights to rule the airwaves, but (owing to either stagefright or sheer impossibility) rarely trotted out on stage. After almost disappearing for more than a decade, Becker and Fagen had re-emerged by the '90s, throwing fans a few bones before finally taking the plunge into a full-fledged reunion.

• Category:  Music  »  Rock & Pop  »  General Rock & Pop
• Format: CD   Learn more about the CD format using Tower WIKI.
• Release Date: November 21, 2000
• Label: MCA Records (USA)
• UPC: 008811240721
• WAPI (Tower ID): 106610998
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Personnel includes: Walter Becker (vocals, guitar, harmonica, bass); Donald Fagen (vocals, whistle, piano, electric piano, organ, keyboards, synthesizer); Jimmie Haskell (arranger); David Palmer (vocals); Ben Benay (acoustic guitar); Jeff "Skunk" Baxter (guitar, pedal steel guitar, Spanish guitar); Denny Dias (guitar, sitar); Dean Parks, Elliot Randall, Hugh McCracken, Larry Carlton, Jeff Mironov, Lee Ritenour, Steve Khan, Jay Graydon, Mark Knopfler (guitar); Tom Scott (clarinet, tenor saxophone, lyricon); David Sanborn, Phil Woods (alto saxophone); Pete Christlieb, Wayne Shorter, Jerome Richardson (tenor saxophone); Ronny Cuber (baritone saxophone); Lanny Morgan, Bill Perkins, Ernie Watts, John Rotella (saxophone).

Compilation producers: Donald Fagen, Walter Becker.

Engineers include: Roger "The Immortal" Nichols, Bill Schnee, Al Schmitt.

Includes liner notes by Michael Phalen.

Digitally remastered by Roger Nichols (Digital Atomics).

One of the most lyrically and musically sophisticated bands of the 1970s, Steely Dan went farther than any other mainstream group in stretching the definition of what a "rock" band could be. Challenging the traditional notion of fixed personnel, the ensemble had a constantly shifting cast that revolved around core members Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, their obscurantist lyrics owed more to Donald Barthelme than Mick Jagger, and their unusual, jazz-schooled musical settings were miles beyond anything else one might hear on "classic rock" radio.

As the definitive, two-disc anthology SHOWBIZ KIDS makes abundantly plain, Steely Dan's real accomplishment was that they were able to break so much ground while remaining completely accessible and maintaining their considerable popularity through a string of complex, adventurous albums. SHOWBIZ KIDS hits all the high points, from the R&B-flavored early hit "Dirty Work" (featuring guest vocalist Barry Palmer) to the ubiquitous "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (complete with Horace Silver-derived bass line), and the slick, latter-day pop-funk of "Hey Nineteen." It quickly becomes clear that Steely Dan had so few imitators because most acts never had the guts to try.

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