Steely Dan is the apex of Yacht Rock. SD is the favorite band of professional musicians. Elements of jazz, funk, Rock etc are perfectly blended together
Steely Dan reaches everyone. You can claim to be a hip hop fan, metal head, pop, jazz...even country and they will touch you. I was just little kid in the '70s and knew they were good.
@@sallysharp3845 nobody on this thread claimed that. Both of us were just stating that Steely Dan was enjoyed by people who were primarily fans of other types of music.
Oh yes, same here, on desert island discs, they ask you for something you would want to take forever....i would say, box set of Steely dan/Walter/Donald music and poetry
Yacht Rock is a latter day description for something that never was called that when the music was created. A way to lump some music together into a genre that didn't really exist. So defining what it actually is, is not something I'd even attempt
Hey Nineteen is about a guy who used to be a cool ("dandy") college frat boy who thought he had "game" back in the late 60s (Fagen and Becker went to college at a small liberal arts hippy college called Bard in upstate NY in the late 60s). He was reminiscing about all the sweet young gals they used to meet from Boston (big college town). Then fast forward and he's now somewhere in a club or bar near Scarsdale and he meets this young gal who's college age, but he's now a decade or more older. He's amazed this gal doesn't even know who Aretha is. But he's having a good time, they are drinking Cuervo, and they smoke some weed (the fine Colombian), so the night is wonderful. But.....did he really hook up with this 19 year old, or is he really imagining it sitting at home drinking and smoking a j alone? SD always leaves room for interpretation.......
Hey at least she's legal, she's 19. Other Yacht rock songs Joe Jackson - Steppin' Out Olivia Newton-John - Have You Never Been Mellow Seals & Crofts - Summer Breeze Greg Guidry - Going Down Pablo Cruise - Love Will Find a Way Sade - Smooth Operator England Dan & John Ford Coley - I'd Really Love To See You Tonight
This is such a awedome smooth song. My 12 yr old self was just singing along when it first came out not realizing what it was truly about. Then a few yrs later I was laughing hysterical when it hit me. Still love it....skate a little lower now 🙂
I agree Seger is DEF not Yacht Rock. and though he’s incredibly soulful, I’d not put him in the Blue Eyed Soul category as well. The closest he might have ever come to ‘Yacht Rock’ might be ‘Against the Wind.’ You might wanna check that song out if you haven’t already…
Agree he is probably not Yacht Rock. He could be considered blue-eyed soul. I wouldn’t say Country-Soul, but I would say Rock/Country/Soul. Whatever he is classified as, he is GREAT.
I combed thru these comments yet NO ONE said anything about "Deacon Blues"!! Absolutely the best Steely Dan song...AND because they were perfectionists in every way, this song went thru MULTIPLE studio sessions with various musicians playing all instruments. With that said, the official studio version is a little over 7 minutes...BUT years ago, someone cobbled together all the takes (intro/outtro) into one take! It is exactly 11 minutes and found searching "Deacon Blues Extended" in RU-vid. If need be, hit me up and I'll find the link for you...been published a lot under different channels.
@Joe-Flow - Yes! Just in case the listener wasn't paying attention!!! The Dan certainly knew how to get the listener's attention, and tickle their brain!
I enjoyed the reaction! This song has gotten "airplay" through the years -- back in radio days and now in Muzak in all kinds of retail. You could hear it so many places. I'm so glad you listened to Steely Dan! Check out a groove "Gaslighting Abbie" that is such a strong, punchy groove and more "recent", from Steely Dan's Album of the Year Grammy winning album (2000) -- "Two Against Nature"
This song was Steely Dan's very last Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song stayed at the #10 spot for three weeks during the late fall of 1980. This song is a definitely banger!!!
Sweet dreams from Boston! You bet! This is the classic song for guys about 30 who know they have no business being with a 19-year-old babe but they just can't help themselves. Beautiful.
As a teen in the 70’s, soft rock was my go to. Still my fav, but now in my 60”s, I appreciate some of the classic rock that I didn’t listen to back then.
You guys are the epitome of this song. It's about how little to nothing different generations have nothing in common which makes it hard to relate. lately, I've been checking out all these reaction videos and they all have one thing in common. the music of the 60s began a series of music artists who hated being put into a genre because there was so much crossover. That's why many of these reaction videos try to classify this period's music as somewhat funny. The album's cover art is based upon a low relief sculpture by Argentine artist Israel Hoffmann. Entitled "Guardia Vieja - Tango" (Old Guard - Tango), the original is located in a street museum known as Caminito in La Boca, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Dan always makes me smile. I was 19 in 1974, for me now, it's like Hey 45! I'm still in the game. Dan, Dan, more Dan, you'll never look at or listen to music the same way again after listening to more Dan, they are the genre, real professional composers.
After the lyrics about Aretha Franklin and Queen of Soul, he sang about Soul Survivors, which was blue eyed soul. Check out there song Expressway To Your Heart from the late 60's❤
Carly Simon-You’re So Vain Poco-Crazy Love Seals and Crofts- Summer Breeze I’ve got dozens more, but it takes a while trying to see if they have already been reacted to. For example, Tasha has already heard It’s Too Late by Carol King or I would have thrown that in there.
I was 10 when their last album, Gaucho, dropped…Aja had been played all over am/fm radio, and rightfully so. Even a kid’s ears knew this was special music - a cut above.
At that time "The fine Columbian" would have referred to pot, not coke. This is before seedless mutant plants took over the cannibus industry. When he's singing, "The Cuervo Gold, the fine Columbian," he's hoping that plying this girl with pot and tequila will create a leveling wind. Something that'll get him through the door of their differences.
Part 2 Steely Dan Deeper Cuts These are "must react to" even more than many of the hits/popular often played tunes. Btw, I saw Steely Dan live over 20 times from 1993 to 2019. The original 5-6 man band toured live from 1972>1974. Then Fagen and Becker didn't want to keep touring, and wanted to work primarily at perfecting the studio albums. So the band kind of broke up in 1974 after Pretzel Logic. SD didn't tour again live until 1993. In the 70s, F&B didn't think they could successfully reproduce their perfectionist jazz fusion sound mix live on stage. 1. DOCTOR WU>Katy Lied Simply a masterpiece. Unfortunately only played live 7 times ever. I was very lucky to see 2 of the 7 live performances. A piano driven classic. 2. BLACK COW>Aja First track on the Aja album. Very funky, cool and sets the setting for a journey. 3. AJA>AJA Imo, the ultimate jazz fusion masterpiece. Too long and complex to be a "radio hit", but this song is the epitome of what Fagen and Becker were striving for. Fantastic musical passages and soloing by Steve Gadd on drums and Wayne Shorter on sax. 4. FM (No static at All) Not on a SD album other than a "best of" or Anthology. Song written for the movie FM, so also on FM soundtrack. Recorded shortly after Aja album in 1977 with same musicians, so it easily could have fit on Aja. Very funky and popular tune. 5. RIKKI DON'T LOSE THAT NUMBER>Pretzel Logic Actually a very big hit but still somehow overlooked gem. Another piano driven classic, very catchy melody. 6. BAD SNEAKERS>Katy Lied Another gem from the great Katy Lied album, which to me was the real precursor for what Aja became. A minor hit, a very popular live tune, again with that piano driven melody like Dr Wu. 7. RAZOR BOY/YOUR GOLD TEETH>>Countdown to Ecstasy Countdown is an amazing 2nd album packed with gems. The entire album is great. These 2 songs show how already their songs were not your typical 3 minute pop songs, they started getting jazzier and eclectic. I think they go together well and show how ahead of the game they were by 1973. 8. PRETZEL LOGIC>PRETZEL LOGIC Steely Dan could also play the blues. Minor hit, popular live tune. 9. DON'T TAKE ME ALIVE>Royal Scam Royal Scam was a strange album, its all over the place style wise, but this is a catchy melodic rock tune which just holds up. 10. ROYAL SCAM>Royal Scam This title track is a longer darker epic with great music and solos, again unusual but dramatic. 11. GAUCHO>Gaucho Another title track which is longer and fantastic musically. Hearing it live finally was so cool. 12. HERE AT THE WESTERN WORLD>NON ALBUM TRACK, released on the 2 cd compilation ShowBiz Kids I had to include this gem, maybe a top 5 tune for me. Rarely played live, if ever. A song that is worth listening to after you hear all these others. You'll wonder how it could have been an "out take". Its stylistically similar to Doctor Wu and to Rikki, Bad Sneakers etc. Beautifully piano driven. Hope you two can get to all these. I guarantee you'll love them all. Edit add>>Ok, it looks like you've reacted to my first 3 choices. Oh well, maybe your female friend hasn't though.
"The album's cover art is based upon a low relief sculpture by Argentine artist Israel Hoffmann. Entitled "Guardia Vieja - Tango" (Old Guard - Tango), the original is located in a street museum known as Caminito in La Boca, a neighborhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina." -Wikipedia
For me: Yacht Rock is low-key music you could play in a group of people that NO ONE can OBJECT to - because it's just AWESOME and, even if they DO REALLY listen to it playing in the background - it's INTERESTING and SOUNDS GREAT!!!!!
This is such a great reaction as always! They’re so beautiful, funny & clever. Take a deep dive! I’ve seen them live 9 or 10 times, but one time at the T-shirt stand, they were selling baseball jerseys and the name on the back was HEY and the number was 19. Wish I bought one.
Steely Dan rarely made even a sub par song, so narrowing down a list of "must hears" is tough. I've loved this band for over 50 years. Their music was the soundtrack to my Jr High, HS and especially college years. AJA came out my senior year in HS and it seemed like an album everyone had in college. I remember walking back to my dorm across the quadrangles in the fall or spring, and you'd almost always heard the Aja album blasting out the open windows. I played that album to death, and still do. So you will no doubt get a lot of suggestions for the popular "hits", like >Do it Again--Cant Buy a Thrill (first album, 1st song on album, 1st hit) >Reelin in the Years (CBAT also) (probably most well known song, huge hit, iconic guitar solo, nostalgic as hell) >My Old School--( Countdown to Ecstacy) not a major hit, but an iconic SD concert staple/encore >Show Biz Kids (Countdown) a very funky early tune that showed they were hitting all genres. Unusual. >Black Friday--Katy Lied another radio "hit" that shows a song about a collapse of the economy can still swing. Popular live tune. >Kid Charlemagne--Royal Scam Another popular live tune, probably closest the Dan got to Disco. >Josie--Aja (the Aja album was their peak, its a masterpiece, every song is great. Josie was a huge hit, and is a concert staple. Great tune. Upbeat funky jazzy. >Deacon Blues--Aja A very popular tune, more laid back and smooth. >Babylon Sisters--Gaucho Since you just did Hey 19, you might as well do the also very popular and danceable Babylon Sisters, they kind of go together. Its funky. Glamour Profession--Gaucho This tune epitomizes the SD smooth sheen that people mistake as "Yacht Rock". I think Gaucho is a notch below Aja, but its still a great album. That takes you from 72>80 when they temporarily split apart for about 12 years. So that's their initial 70s run. (Part 1. Part 2 in seperate comment)
I have always been a blues/rocker, but back in the day of disco, thats where I went, thats where the chicks were! But funk, yacht rock, look whre it came from , the 70's for the most part...I just found you guys and I like! Like you said, is just simple and relaxing...and most had a decent groove...plus, is a good launching pad if you want to explore further...Steely Dan is a genre unto itself...keep on keepin on!
If you want some instrumental soft-rock/jazzy songs, check out Spyrogyra. Good starting singles are Catching the Sun and Morning Dance. More than likely you will have heard parts of one or both somewhere at some time.
Love Steely Dan, but not sure they’d be classified as yacht rock or even easy listening. They’re more like a fusion of funky jazz and blues 🎷 Bottom line though- Steely Dan is GREAT!!
In my book there’s a line where yacht rock ends and soul (blue-eyed or otherwise) begins, and my line is drawn somewhere around older Hall and Oates or maybe Sail On by the Commodores. I’m still on the fence with Al Jarreau. Once a song reaches a certain level of “soul” it ceases to be yacht rock in my head. I love Stephen Bishop, for example, but he is in no danger whatsoever of leaving his yacht behind, lol.
You've probably heard many SD songs over the years, you just didn't know it. I grew up during the 70s and Steely Dan is a part of the soundtrack to my life.
T & T as you dive into more SD pay attention to their lyrics. They have songs about drug addiction , police stand offs , drug dealing , lust for younger women to name a few.
Steeley Dan has made many great records, but have always thought Aja and Gaucho were their best efforts. Must listens: Babylon Sisters/ Hey Nineteen/ Pretzel Logic/ Black Cow/ Reelin In The Years/ Show Biz Kids/ FM/ Hatian Divorce. Have always loved your channel.... you two are an awesome duo!
Blue eyed soul singer for example is Bobby Caldwell ~ What You Won’t Do For Love, George Michael ~ Careless Whisper, George Rafferty ~ Baker Street. ✌️❤️
Tee and Tasha, I don't think there is really a musical genera called yacht rock but I'm older so who knows. I do know that Steely Dan is classified as Jazz/Rock fusion. I know a lot can be said about the deeper meaning of the lyrics of many of their songs but I implore you to please, please, please pay attention to the music. Their mastery of musicianship is beyond compare. This is one of the reasons their Aja album was years in the making. Donald Fagen is such a perfectionist especially where the music is concerned that he would not release it before he felt it was acceptable. Thanks for exploring music that you're not familiar with and introducing it to others. I am so grateful that I grew up in the late 60's and 70's with all this great music as well as that of the 80's, 90's, 2000's and beyond. It makes me sad that so many people younger than say 40 just don't know of much of this great music. It was so important to so many people because of the thoughtful lyrics, singing ability and musicianship. So much of today's music is sung by auto tuned singers because they can't actually sing that well or played by programming a drum or other machine to generate the music that just sounds artificial. Not all of it. Not by a long shot but enough of it to be annoying.
I grew up in the 70's. I am a music fanatic! I love just about every genre. My music collection consists tunes from many generations but I am a bit biased as I truly believe that the music of my generation had such a great and eclectic selection. Even country tunes were played on the pop radio stations in the Chicago area. I have a list of 70's one hit wonders that is about 350 songs and of course all the other successful artists of the day including Classic Rock, Pop, Ol' School R & B, etc...I have so many recommendations for you guys, I wouldn't even know where to start. I will suggest one that comes to mind at this moment that I don't see on any of the current reactions and that is Phoebe Snow "Poetry Man". One of the sweetest voices I've ever had the honor and pleasure of listening to in my 64 years on this planet. It fits right in with your current reaction "Yacht Rock" discovery. May she RIP. Anyways, if and when you both get an opportunity, please give her a listen. Thank You both for these great reactions to a genre that is embedded in my heart and soul.
There were drum machines on many pop/rock songs before this song, but this was the first song that had a digital drum machine that you could program your own beats and drum sounds into. Previous drum machines were analog and mostly had preprogrammed beats. As usual, Steely Dan took things several steps beyond.
I haven't run across any reaction videos of Lovin' Spoonful ... You'd like Summer in the City ... Nashville Cats ... Rain on the Roof ... What a Day for a Daydream ❤
OK, you asked for requests, so here's my most beloved in the Yacht/Soft Rock niche: Reminiscing by Little River Band Love Will Find A Way by Pablo Cruise I Love You More Than I Can Say by Leo Sayer Arthur's Theme by Christopher Cross The Logical Song by Supertramp Poetry Man by Phoebe Snow Hold Me Tight by Johnny Nash Blue Bayou by Linda Ronstadt Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty Little Jeannie by Elton John Biggest Part of Me by Ambrosia Lotta Love by Nicolette Larson Summer Breeze by Seals and Crofts Magic by Olivia Newton John Being With You by Smokey Robinson Peg by Steely Dan
Released in late 1980. Takes me back to the eighth grade and the skating rink on Friday and Saturday nights and looking forward to the couple's skate when I could take few laps around the rink and hold hands with the girl I was crushing on. Good times...☺
Most of the musicians considered to be part of Yacht Rock were from the west coast. Many lived close to the Pacific Ocean and owned yachts of their own where they hung out together. Bob Seger was from Detroit so wouldn’t really be Yacht rock.
Neither were Fagen and Becker. They grew up in NYC and Jersey. They wrote mostly about marginal characters of society. They were late 60s long haired beatnik types who went to a small liberal arts college in upstate NY in the late 60s and were nerdy English majors who were as anti establishment as you can get. I can't even picture Fagen on a Yacht, much less owning one.
You always hear the statement "This band doesn't have any bad songs". Steely Dan is the only band I know of where that might literally be true (at least in my opinion).
In my opinion, you are 99% correct...the only Steely Dan song i can't connect with is "Everyones Gone To The movies" and the silly drumming....but every other song of theirs, is a diamond in my opinion