Genre: American pop/rock
Places I remember: FOPP (Covent Garden), this week, for a fiver
Fab, and all the other pimply hyperboles: My Old School (hilarious clip from 1973 - check out the miming! the fashions! the hair styles! and a very bored Walter Becker!!)
Gear costume: Show Biz Kids, You Gold Teeth et al
Active compensatory factors: This is one I had on a bespoke cassette for decades: I never got around to owning a proper copy. Walked into FOPP this week, saw it displayed and thought the time is right - what with CDs becoming increasingly obsolescent an' all.
My memory and love for this album was jogged a few weeks ago via a Mojo article - one of those 'Last night a record changed my life' articles by a musician. It's one of those albums.
It is an absolute classic - as are a few other Steely Dan discs. Every track on this oozes class and self-confidence. These guys knew they were on fire.
Special mention to Jeff "Skunk" Baxter on guitar. As this comes from when SD were an actual band (as opposed to Becker/Fagen and sundry studio session wizards), the prominence and distinctiveness of Baxter's playing is a standout feature of this set.
Where do they all belong? Sandwiched between debut Can't Buy a Thrill and third album Pretzel Logic, no difficult second album syndrome for Steely Dan!
