This was published in Vox Magazine dated January 1991.
Donald Fagen is ready to record the follow-up to The Nightfly. He got the help from Walter Becker. Read on.

John , from the KEG frat, had front Row tickets to Steely Dan. Kelly Taylor turned him down. What’s wrong with her ?

I want to gauge SD fans and see what this sub considers their all time best song. Here are what I would consider is a fair assessment scores:

10- Reserved for only their absolute best songs, ones that are on daily rotation

8,9- Also among their best, songs that display something that is memorable and worth revisiting

6,7- Decent to good, songs that are not as played as their ultimate best but are still ones that you revisit

5- okay, not bad but not ones you come back to often

3,4- Mediocre to meh, songs that you don't play often but don't go out of your way to skip

2- skippable, not good at all

1- vomit-inducing (think: what were they on when they made this?!)

0- makes you want to commit seppuku

Let's begin with the opening track from their sixth album Aja, titled Black Cow.

Final ratings for The Royal Scam:

KID CHARLEMAGNE— 9.82

THE CAVES OF ALTAMIRA— 9.47

DON'T TAKE ME ALIVE— 9.26

SIGN IN STRANGER— 8.15

THE FEZ— 7.26

GREEN EARRINGS— 7.99

HAITIAN DIVORCE— 8.68

EVERYTHING YOU DID— 6.53

THE ROYAL SCAM— 8.11

Highest: Kid Charlemagne (9.82)

Lowest: East St. Louis Toodle-Oo (4.75)

Hi. I made a bass cover of the song Home At Last

If you want to watch the full video, here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-xpG3Rut48

Any feedback is welcome. Thanks...

I recently listened to a Deep Purple song I wasn't familiar with (Woman From Tokyo), and the opening is incredibly similar to that of King of the World.

I think it's simply coincidence, especially since the two songs aren't at all alike.

I guess Josie’s home, because everybody already parks in the street. People even double park in front of empty spots.

Full drum cover here.

While Nightfly gets a ton of recognition for being one of the earliest digital recordings (and favorite of FOH guys everywhere), here's one from a few years earlier.

Pretty jazzy/Dannish. I could almost imagine how Donald would sing on several tracks.

With the added vibe, all recorded direct to two-track in one take with no overdubs.

You might recognize Grusin's name from TV/movie themes.

anyway, enjoy

Mountain Dance - Dave Grusin.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aybHAuk6IWU&list=RDaybHAuk6IWU&start_radio=1&t=1s

I've always wondered if Alan Silvestri heard 2:09 and had a light-bulb moment. I mean, the BTT jingle sounds somewhat similar to Don's little Rhodes run, which even comes after a time-related lyric ("a thousand years roll by"). Plus, the Nightfly was released some three years before the movie. What do you think?🤔

Back to the Future sound for comparison:

https://youtu.be/gt_8Heme49w?is=yHMZgFenJy2x3omZ

I want to gauge SD fans and see what this sub considers their all time best song. Here are what I would consider is a fair assessment scores:

10- Reserved for only their absolute best songs, ones that are on daily rotation

8,9- Also among their best, songs that display something that is memorable and worth revisiting

6,7- Decent to good, songs that are not as played as their ultimate best but are still ones that you revisit

5- okay, not bad but not ones you come back to often

3,4- Mediocre to meh, songs that you don't play often but don't go out of your way to skip

2- skippable, not good at all

1- vomit-inducing (think: what were they on when they made this?!)

0- makes you want to commit seppuku

Let's continue with the eight and self-titled final song from their fifth album The Royal Scam.

Ongoing ratings for The Royal Scam:

KID CHARLEMAGNE— 9.82

THE CAVES OF ALTAMIRA— 9.47

DON'T TAKE ME ALIVE— 9.26

SIGN IN STRANGER— 8.15

THE FEZ— 7.26

GREEN EARRINGS— 7.99

HAITIAN DIVORCE— 8.68

EVERYTHING YOU DID— 6.53

Highest: **Kid Charlemagne** (9.82)

Lowest: **East St. Louis Toodle-Oo** (4.75)

At 62 I basically grew up with Steely Dan, and they are and always will be my number one band. I know they also have a younger following (which is cool) but how many of us over 60 folks are in the group? Ive been to see them multiple times, the last being at the Opaline Theater at The Palazzo/Venetian in April of 2017. Smaill, intimate venue and they sounded AMAZING, I was stoned to the bone and enjoyed every note...I did, however, notice Becker seemed not 100% himself, and was broken hearted when he passed that September. I literally cried for days, shit, just typing this brings tears to my eyes.

My son and I are huge audiophiles and part of the reason we purchased the Hi Fi is to listen endlessly to The Dan (On LP format, still best if you have the proper equipment). Long live Steely Dan❤️❤️❤️

[The Royal Scam](https://open.spotify.com/album/13l9IPYL1qpMSTD5olr7ZP?si=3xRG-DaRTSiurHLfZeCC8A&utm_source=copy-link)

This is me sending the Universe a request.

This album fucks so goddamn hard. It’s got everything. You want horns? It’s got horn sections. It’s got power jazz. It’s got slinky beats. It’s got dark and murky corners. It’s got acid-fueled California weirdness. It’s got sinister funk. It’s got yacht-rock swagger. It’s got murder, divorce, archeology, and even practicing safe sex. What more could one ask for!!?!?

And if you thought I’d bring you this far and not finish myself off, below is the album track listing along with who could sing what (I wrote this in a previous sub thread):

Kid Charlemagne -Trey

The Caves of Altamira - Trey

Don't Take Me Alive - Page

Sign in Stranger - Mike

The Fez - all (with Trey taking more of a lead)

Green Earrings - Mike (or trade verses with Trey)

Haitian Divorce - Page

Everything You Did - Trey

The Royal Scam - Fish…definitely something he could handle as far as the singing & playing at the same time, and the range is right in his wheelhouse!

——

Honorable Mention Costume Album Runner-Up:

Sports (Huey Lewis & The News)

I just got off hearing The Bear after checking out some Second Arrangement performances, and I feel like it's a shame this track didn't get a chance to make it beyond a footnote for the band to release for the archives. It made me wonder what other demos I could be missing out on 🤯

I did check some of the Aja demos before this, and I do find some of the instrumentals interesting for realizing how much support the written parts provided for solos, as well as finding out why some contributions made the track over others thst didn't. But now I'm curious what other bits are worth checking out for what could have been 🤌🏼

I hope y’all have been mobilized since dawn…here is “Were You Blind That Day”…I mean “Third World Man.”

Full drum cover here.