Steely Dan: One Of The Greatest Bands Of The ’70s Or Music That Will Rot Your Teeth?
Originally I was just going to post a quick link to this astounding live bootleg of Steely Dan in London in 1974, where the band cranks up for performances of tunes like “Bodhisattva” and “My Old School” that are so raw and totally wired they’re almost punk. (You know, in the context of Steely Dan.) Though it took me awhile to set aside my own pubescent punk prejudices against Becker and Fagen’s whole aesthetic, I now want Katy Lied played at my funeral, and while you know my blogging partner and I agree on most things, here we part ways, because the last time Steely Dan were even mentioned to Maura, she informed me that they made her “teeth ache.” (Something she felt so strongly about that she had to repeat herself.) Needless to say that I haven’t quite looked at her the same since, but now the question is whose side are you on: the team that would be happy on that proverbial desert island with a copy of Citizen Steely Dan, or the team that reaches for the Orajel at the sound of smooth ’70s jazz-pop?
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Steely Dan Live at the Rainbow, London, England, May 20, 1974 [BigO; HT: LPTJ] Steely Dan – “My Old School” [YouTube]
