http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3834&rws=%2Fdonald-fagen%2Fmusic-videos.rssThe singing half of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen dripped with grad school irony while showing off a library of pop, jazz and R&B influences when sincere singers ruled the 1970s roost. Maybe that's why the original wave of Indie rockers hated him so much -- he's just like them, but with complex harmonies and chords replacing the Velvets and punk rock. After Steely Dan ran its course, Fagen released the excellent <I>The Nightfly</I> in 1982. A new sweetness was apparent on this theme album involving a 1950s adolescent dreaming about adult romance and adventure. The rest of the Reagan decade was a professional wash for Fagen, but at least he got around writer's block by penning the score to <I>Bright Lights, Big City</I>. He later called Steely Dan's Walter Becker in order to get a creative kick in the butt, and together they crafted <I>Kamakiriad</I> (1993), a typically sunny/bleak Fagen theme album that took the listener on a tour of retro-futurist ennui. Since he and Becker were working together again anyway, they reformed Steely Dan. - Nick DedinaJazz Rocken720Mon, 23 Nov 2009 08:29:25 -0800 http://static.realone.com/rotw/images/logo_rhapsody_113x22.gif http://www.rhapsody.com/goto?rcid=art.3834&rws=%2Fdonald-fagen%2Fmusic-videos.rss The singing half of Steely Dan, Donald Fagen dripped with grad school irony while showing off a library of pop, jazz and R&B influences when sincere singers ruled the 1970s roost. Maybe that's why the original wave of Indie rockers hated him so much -- he's just like them, but with complex harmonies and chords replacing the Velvets and punk rock. After Steely Dan ran its course, Fagen released the excellent <I>The Nightfly</I> in 1982. A new sweetness was apparent on this theme album involving a 1950s adolescent dreaming about adult romance and adventure. The rest of the Reagan decade was a professional wash for Fagen, but at least he got around writer's block by penning the score to <I>Bright Lights, Big City</I>. He later called Steely Dan's Walter Becker in order to get a creative kick in the butt, and together they crafted <I>Kamakiriad</I> (1993), a typically sunny/bleak Fagen theme album that took the listener on a tour of retro-futurist ennui. Since he and Becker were working together again anyway, they reformed Steely Dan. - Nick Dedina