GovernorSilver Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 Imagine hailing a taxi, and when you get in, you realize you're sharing the cab wiith Steely Dan. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tapes Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 I didn't really like Everything Must Go (2003) when it first came out, but it's grown on me. "Godwhacker" is an amazing tune. "Last Mall" too. So is Becker's "Slang of Ages", by the way! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adan Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 Loved the video. Watching it, I was conscious of how it seemed to come from a more innocent age, before everyone in the world had aspirations of becoming an internet influencer. And this was only 20 years ago! The video has a spontaneity, quirkiness, and streetyness (literally, of course, but also figuratively) that seems quintessentially Steely Dan. It's interesting that Becker is the chattier, wittier one of the two. He was clearly enjoying it while Fagen looks like he'd rather be reading an obscure penguin classic. I remember when Everything Must Go came out, I listened to is but feeling like they had made one album too many, that it showed too much of being the downside of a career as a duo. Which is probably not fair, but that's how I felt at the time. 1 Quote Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro Home: Vintage Vibe 64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ProfD Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 1 hour ago, Adan said: ....while Fagen looks like he'd rather be reading an obscure penguin classic. I don't think Fagen ever enjoys being interviewed.😁 Fagen seems less constipated while perched behind his piano and singing while wearing his shades.🤣 Nonetheless, I will always dig the music of Steely Dan.😎 1 Quote PD "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love and be loved in return."--E. Ahbez "Nature Boy" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mills Dude Posted April 4 Share Posted April 4 3 hours ago, ProfD said: I don't think Fagen ever enjoys being interviewed.😁 Fagen seems less constipated while perched behind his piano and singing while wearing his shades.🤣 Nonetheless, I will always dig the music of Steely Dan.😎 Good use of the word 'constipated' - About sums it up. There's some live vid on youtube, maybe its a episode of VH1 Story Tellers around the time of Two Against Nature, and its kind of the same things. Becker is pretty animated and as more engaging than you would expect Steely Dan to be. Then there's Donald with his terseness and "constipation". Hey, The Nightfly album still gets pretty regular play by me, perhaps more than Steely Dan records, so I'm down with Donald's constipation as long as he's offering up juicy tunes. 1 Quote Mills Dude -- Lefty Hack Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted April 4 Author Share Posted April 4 I too was surprised by Becker's social skills with the various taxi passengers. Fagen wasn't that bad either, imo. With Becker taking on more than his share of the socializing, Fagen looked relaxed and content. Come on, he was having so much fun with the "Uptown baby" thing. Neither was bothered at all by the snake draped all over that one passenger. Donald actually looked like he's gonna kiss the snake at one point. Becker didn't look too happy with that one girl trying to recite the lyrics to "Reelin in the Sheeves" 😀 I looked up the taxi cab video after stumbling upon this one. It shows some closeups of Donald having fun in the cab. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jazzpiano88 Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 The best interview I’ve heard of Fagen is the Leo Sidran one. Fagen seems to really respect him from him and his dad’s musical background, so he really opens up. It’s lengthy. Also, Leo has a nice technique of asking him to clarify quite a few of his comments. He also follows up with good insights that he bounces off Donald for confirmation or clarification. Regarding Becker’s chattiness, I think this speaks to the (my) observation that he was the more witty, cynical, sarcastic, ironic, etc, etc of the two. In the Shaffer interview Donald commented that by and large he would come up with the musical idea, and Walter would help fill it out and then provide the lyrics. And you can see that in his solo records’ lyrics, which are much more self reflective than the Dan. I believe those taxi passengers were heavily curated. Quote J a z z P i a n o 8 8 -- Yamaha C7D Montage M8x | CP300 | CP4 | SK1-73 | OB6 | Seven K8.2 | 3300 | CPSv.3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adan Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 1 hour ago, jazzpiano88 said: I believe those taxi passengers were heavily curated. Sure, you can tell by their makeup and hair they knew they were going to be on video. But it's not clear that they knew why. It's Vegas, so easy to imagine a lot of ladies who would respond positively to "how does $300 sound to spend 30 minutes being interviewed in a taxi?" The driver seems very familiar, I'm almost positive she's a professional actress. It's probably in the Youtube comments but it never fails that once I start reading youtube comments I'm soon wondering what the hell has gone wrong with my life. Quote Gigging: Crumar Mojo 61, Hammond SKPro Home: Vintage Vibe 64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammondDave Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 Thank you, I thoroughly enjoyed that! 1 Quote '55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GovernorSilver Posted April 5 Author Share Posted April 5 9 hours ago, Adan said: Sure, you can tell by their makeup and hair they knew they were going to be on video. But it's not clear that they knew why. It's Vegas, so easy to imagine a lot of ladies who would respond positively to "how does $300 sound to spend 30 minutes being interviewed in a taxi?" The driver seems very familiar, I'm almost positive she's a professional actress. It's probably in the Youtube comments but it never fails that once I start reading youtube comments I'm soon wondering what the hell has gone wrong with my life. One of the YT comments says the Steely Dan vid is from an HBO show called Taxicab Confessions. There were apparently 3 real-life cab drivers who doubled as hosts in this reality show, and only one of them was a woman - Rita Scott. Makes sense to me that the producers of Taxicab Confessions would take hours of taxicab conversation video footage and edit them down to the length of an episode - 20-30 min. or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HammondDave Posted April 5 Share Posted April 5 “Even the grim, depressing ones… and God knows there are plenty….” LOL Quote '55 and '59 B3's; Leslies 147, 122, 21H; MODX 7+; NUMA Piano X 88; Motif XS7; Mellotrons M300 and M400’s; Wurlitzer 206; Gibson G101; Vox Continental; Mojo 61; Launchkey 88 Mk III; Korg Module; B3X; Model D6; Moog Model D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.