So growing up near an FM radio most of my life, there always seemed to be a Steely Dan tune coming out or played to death. Reelin' In the Years, Do It Again and Peg...lots of other minor hits were also played over and over and over.
Well, being that was the case I kinda took them for granted over the decades and never really gave them much thought. In the late 80's I had superior sound equipment and owned their best of album, which got played a lot, but again I never really gave them a lot of thought.
Early this morning a monster thunderstorm woke me up. I had a tune stuck in my head from the Alan Parsons Project album I Robot. So I blurry eyed searched my vast CD selection and could not find I Robot. But I did find Show Biz Kids, a Steely Dan best of and popped it in my truck CD player after sunrise this morning and set out on a 2 hour commute. Perhaps lack of sleep had me feeling kinda buzzed like a high school kid riding with Cheech & Chong to a show....
But man I have total respect for that epic 70's band. Those guys quest for perfection really pays off in todays ultra-hifi sound systems. My truck can play concert level volume with virtually no road noise at 75mph. 6 full range speakers, 4 tweeters and a centrally located sub woofer really sounds wonderful with Steely Dan blasting from it.
So I arrive at work wondering who was that awesome bass player, who played drums on this or that, who were the backing vocalists. Those 2 guys had a who's who of sessionists marching in and out of the studio. Mark Knophler, Skunk Baxter, etc etc. I just kept thinking all day what a gas it must have been creating those works of art all through the 70's. They say Walter and Donald were monsters to deal with. Their pursuit for sonic perfection can certainly be head (and felt) these days.
Stunning. Just stunning.
All day at work I was humming and quietly singing "the Cuervo Gold...the fine Co-lum-b-yen"....
Well, being that was the case I kinda took them for granted over the decades and never really gave them much thought. In the late 80's I had superior sound equipment and owned their best of album, which got played a lot, but again I never really gave them a lot of thought.
Early this morning a monster thunderstorm woke me up. I had a tune stuck in my head from the Alan Parsons Project album I Robot. So I blurry eyed searched my vast CD selection and could not find I Robot. But I did find Show Biz Kids, a Steely Dan best of and popped it in my truck CD player after sunrise this morning and set out on a 2 hour commute. Perhaps lack of sleep had me feeling kinda buzzed like a high school kid riding with Cheech & Chong to a show....
But man I have total respect for that epic 70's band. Those guys quest for perfection really pays off in todays ultra-hifi sound systems. My truck can play concert level volume with virtually no road noise at 75mph. 6 full range speakers, 4 tweeters and a centrally located sub woofer really sounds wonderful with Steely Dan blasting from it.
So I arrive at work wondering who was that awesome bass player, who played drums on this or that, who were the backing vocalists. Those 2 guys had a who's who of sessionists marching in and out of the studio. Mark Knophler, Skunk Baxter, etc etc. I just kept thinking all day what a gas it must have been creating those works of art all through the 70's. They say Walter and Donald were monsters to deal with. Their pursuit for sonic perfection can certainly be head (and felt) these days.
Stunning. Just stunning.
All day at work I was humming and quietly singing "the Cuervo Gold...the fine Co-lum-b-yen"....
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