Donald Fagen and Walter Becker have been ‘Steely Dan’ for over 30 years, and boy they’ve seen their share of ups and downs. The two met in 1968 at Bard College, located in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. They joined the pop group Jay and the American’s for a tour, then struck out on their own and has moderate success with their first hit “Dallas,” but really took off with their ‘Can’t Buy a Thrill’ album, containing the smash songs “Do it Again” and “Reeling in the Years.”
Over the years Donald has had his share of troubles, but the music has been the best ever recorded, In in our opinion, these are their top three albums…
‘Pretzel Logic’ took the band back to its jazz roots with songs like “Pretzel Logic” and “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number,” along with the song “Any Major Dude Will Tell You” that brought the ladies to the show.
The 1977 release of ‘Aja” brought the band the biggest commercial success with songs like “Peg,” “Josie” and “Aja.” The Aja album featured the guitar genus of Lee Ritenour and Larry Carlton.
“Can’t Buy a Thrill” should be considered a watershed moment for Steely Dan, primarily because it put the boys on the map with classic singles like “Reelin’ In The Years,” and “Do It Again,” from the album.
