Steely Dan

Steely Dan were an American rock band formed in New York City in 1972 by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen, whose collaborative songwriting and obsessive pursuit of sonic perfection produced some of the most harmonically sophisticated and musically distinctive records in the history of rock music. Though formally a band in the early years, Steely Dan was effectively a studio project from 1974 onward, with Becker and Fagen employing a rotating cast of the best session musicians in Los Angeles to realise their exacting vision. Can't Buy a Thrill (1972) and Countdown to Ecstasy (1973) established the duo's voice — jazz harmony married to rock energy, with lyrics of mordant wit and literary density. Pretzel Logic (1974) produced the hit Rikki Don't Lose That Number. Katy Lied (1975) and The Royal Scam (1976) continued to refine the approach, each record demonstrating increasing complexity in arrangement and production. Aja (1977) is widely considered their masterpiece — a landmark of studio craft, featuring performances from jazz musicians including Wayne Shorter, Lee Ritenour, and Steve Gadd, and winning the Grammy Award for Best Engineered Recording. It is among the best-selling and most critically respected albums of the decade. Gaucho (1980) continued the run before a lengthy hiatus. Becker and Fagen reunited in the 1990s and released Two Against Nature (2000), which won four Grammy Awards. Walter Becker died in September 2017. Fagen continues to perform the catalogue as Steely Dan, a body of work that remains virtually without peer in its combination of musical sophistication and pop discipline.