At this point, however, for Fagen and Becker, the process of developing this rapport between the heart and the head was too obscure or complicated, even for them, and drugs were, as they always are and will be, readily available and easier to digest, so they took them, because, let’s face it, it is much more complicated than the war between the head and the heart, the groin and the gut also have their say, yet they can usually be controlled like paper tigers if a person can attain peace of mind between the intellect and passions-and, of course, put a few bills or checks in the pocket.
Like Lou Reed before the formation of the Velvet Underground, Fagen and Becker wrote schlock songs in order to make money from 1969-1972, but as early as 1971, after Gary Katz, staff producer of ABC/Dunhill Records, got them to relocate from Brooklyn to Los Angeles and gave them a small room sparsely furnished with a desk and a piano, they were already conspiring to form a band and make an album of their own. Katz said the move was for the sake of convenience while Fagen commented it was for the necessity of inertia.
In 1972, they nonchalantly call themselves Steely Dan and release their debut, Can’t Buy a Thrill. When Fagen is asked how Burroughs work inspired them, he comments, He brought something new into literature, but most of his work is unreadable. The way he influenced us was through his use of science fiction and the erotic, though his flavor of the erotic was not the same as ours, while Becker adds, And the use of addiction as a metaphor for existence was very interesting. He wasn’t just a Bohemian joker: he had points to make. The cover of Can’t Buy a Thrill elucidates the flavor of Steely Dan’s eroticism: a collage that mostly consists of a few young female prostitutes in front of a porno arcade. The album spawns three hits, one about a compulsive gambler and a cuckold (Do it Again) and another about a young man kept by a married woman (Dirty Work), and when in a Steely Dan state of mind, it would seem highly probable that this woman is married to the compulsive gambler, who is Reeling in the Years, another hit from the debut. The original members of the band are Walter Becker (bass) Jeff Skunk Baxter (guitar), Denny Dias (guitar), Donald Fagen (keyboards), Jim Hodder (drums), and David Palmer (vocals).
In 1973, the personnel of the band changes and two more albums (Countdown to Ecstasy and Pretzel Logic) are released. Fagen is now the lead singer, and Becker is starting to play lead guitar.Before Fagen...»»
At this point, however, for Fagen and Becker, the process of developing this rapport between the heart and the head was too obscure or complicated, even for them, and drugs were, as they always are and will be, readily available and easier to digest, so they took them, because, let’s face it, it is much more complicated than the war between the head and the heart, the groin and the gut also have their say, yet they can usually be controlled like paper tigers if a person can attain peace of mind between the intellect and passions-and, of course, put a few bills or checks in the pocket.
The album spawns three hits, one about a compulsive gambler and a cuckold (Do it Again) and another about a young man kept by a married woman (Dirty Work), and when in a Steely Dan state of mind, it would seem highly probable that this woman is married to the compulsive gambler, who is Reeling in the Years, another hit from the debut. The original members of the band are Walter Becker (bass) Jeff Skunk Baxter (guitar), Denny Dias (guitar), Donald Fagen (keyboards), Jim Hodder (drums), and David Palmer (vocals).
