More than any other track from their debut album, “Only a Fool Would Say That” points the way to what Steely Dan would evolve into.

Steely Dan’s “Midnite Cruiser” remains the song Jim Hodder is most remembered by. And it’s a fine way to be remembered.

Here’s an early indication that Steely Dan wasn’t going to dwell on romantic themes in their lyrics.

Some of the earlier Steely Dan tunes sound a little like they were meant for a different act. “Dirty Work” is like that.

Steely Dan explore the idea of people succumbing to their worst tendencies again and again, a theme that will get many return visits.

Steely Dan stuck with me through the years, because this brainy, Jack Kerouac-type hipster band remained appealing even as my tastes in music evolved.

by Pico So a couple of years ago we saluted the national shopping holiday called Black Friday with some musings about a 1975 Steely Dan song of the same name. This time, we’re going to mark the occasion with another ditty by the Boys From Bard (Walter Becker and DonaldRead More

by S. Victor Aaron You know the story: a band goes in the studio to records tracks for an album and finds they recorded more than what they needed for that record, so they leave one or two tracks off of it. You’ve also seen this play out: a majorRead More

by S. Victor Aaron I remember once or twice seeing the seventies folk-rock band America on one or two lists of most despised bands, and that always puzzled me. So what if the music is soft, my way of thinking goes, if the vocals are rich, the melodies robust andRead More

I’m a little biased when it comes to Steely Dan. But my biases can’t shield me from the realization that this is a mediocre Walter Becker song.