Walter Becker and Donald Fagen

[@79SteelyMatt]

Becker and Fagen will never be touched again they were at the right place at the right time and their careers are really unequaled in the annals of music history-STEELY DAN is the greatest band ever hands down!!

[@79SteelyMatt]

Well now we are all crying for a different reason Christopher-Walter was my favorite musician of all time and one of the best funniest hippest cats that ever has been

[@glennmckenzie6799]

Christopher Davis I've done it too

[@richardmackota5267]

I totally agree with you. in terms of class and sophistication nobody in Rock, Pop etc; comes within a mile of those guys. Aja and Goucho are the supreme accomplishments of that era from 1970 to 1980.

[@smsm5128]

Agreed

[@Tool46and2]

Spot on my friend!

[@stephengriffin1428]

Bob was right to direct his question directly to either Walter or Donald individually as the two together tend to get in each others way chomping at the bit to get their point across. Their music never gets old even if the people who compose and perform it have to age. I must say these guys really are as hip as it gets even now. Time out of mind if you will...

[@TheStuport]

I'm a Proud Follower of The Dan of Steel

[@davidwatkins204]

Me to I coined the phrase Dan ist

[@davidwatkins204]

Me to, I coined the phrase Dan ist

[@videodavideo]

RIP Walter Becker.. most underrated guitarist!

[@dougzander4959]

Yeah. Time rolls on. Walter, you sure could play! You touched us all with your gift, a universal firebrand to pipe up our souls with blistering, inventive stuff!

[@TheFusedplug]

That was a good quickie interview I loved the question about "My old School" I must admit that's a lyric line that sticks in my head "..and I'm NEVER going back to my old school" and of course that brilliant guitar solo

[@philt4346]

That's an interesting observation at 5 minutes, linking SD's evolution to advances in broadcasting technology. I tend to think of fidelity as a studio resource, so eyes opened.

[@andyinoregon]

Always wished someone would ask them how disappointed would they have been if their jazz heroes had stopped performing live for 19 years in the prime of their careers. In hindsight, one solution might have been to play their new music several times a year with Johnny Carson's great "Tonight Show" band that already included tenor saxophonist Pete Christlieb who performed on their songs "Deacon Blues" and "FM."

[@golds04]

Sonny Rollins. Miles Davis. Lee Morgan.

[@mouzaiek1]

Walter Becker R.I.P.

[@TheFusedplug]

Well said .. and what a great loss to music, at least there are the recordings

[@michaelhaydn3493]

I like Steely Dan. It takes me back to Boston, but more ( Do It Again ) to Phoenix, not as a working musician, but as a fan. Because, well, you have to be there; and yes, anyone can be there. Just play, and listen to, the music of theirs! Unparalleled.

[@TheFusedplug]

Hi Michael I know exactly what you mean I often travel places to places in my mind and Steely Dan does tend to take my mind places even though I'm from the UK (I only visited USA once that was Dallas in 2005) but I had pictured in my head Steely Dans lyrically mentioned locations. I often felt like I was meditating when listening to music of theirs. I'm a child of the baby boomer generation so I had the luxury of my parents good taste in music from the 60's and 70's

[@jandejongh]

Walter, give them good rock out there! RIP!

[@samcockrell]

What’s not to love awesome music

[@Charles-tt3dr]

RIP Walter Becker

[@andyinoregon]

Saw them live for the first time on the '74 Pretzel Logic Tour and then the bastards didn't tour again for 19 years; and as great as those live shows were they never gave us a concert album. It was definitely frustrating being a Dan fan back then. Had to follow my favorite guitarist, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, over to The Doobie Brothers. Nothing illustrates the changes in the music industry more than the fact that Becker and Fagen could stop touring in their prime and make a fine living selling studio recordings, while today in their late 60s they're constantly on the road as either Steely Dan or The Dukes of September.

[@andyinoregon]

It's still the highlight of my concert-going career. I've seen the Dan since, but they seemed like a real band in 1974, not two guys backed by session musicians.

[@basehead617]

Even when they did play live they didn't play that often right? They also were less well known so i imagine the shows weren't huge?

[@andyinoregon]

Their 1974 album "Pretzel Logic" was dominating FM radio at the time. We saw them in a packed University of Toledo Memorial Fieldhouse, a large basketball arena for that era. My wife and I were avid club goers and it seemed that every cover band we knew from Ohio, Indiana and Michigan were there that night to see their musical heroes. And we all got a look at future rock legends Jeff Porcaro (Toto) on drums and Michael McDonald on Fender Rhodes piano and backing vocals. We actually recognized 20 year-old Porcaro who we saw two years earlier drumming for Sonny & Cher in a Fort Wayne, Indiana concert stop.

[@IronMan-tk8uc]

They didn't like to tour at all. It really must've been frustrating as hell when they ''broke up'' in '74. The core of the band was always Walt and Don and I think the other players (Jim Hodder, David Palmer, ''Skunk'' Baxter) noticed it. I think that's why when the break occurred, they didn't really offered resistance. That's my opinion.

[@andyinoregon]

@blitzdafurball I was clearly referencing the decade of the 1970s, when they stopped touring after July 1974 and didn't resume until August 1993. I thought the least they could do for the fans who supported that '74 tour was release a concert album celebrating the band members who helped put them on the map, none of whom participated in 1995's "Alive In America."

[@joeybenoit6269]

Skunk Baxter!! God bless him! Doobie Brothers! Pat Simmons! And all the kids in the Santa Cruz mountains! Namaste!

[@djfrank68]

WOW. Always good to hear from SD, but hearing Bob Rivers is a real blast from the past. I remember back in 1988 he was on 98 Rock in Baltimore and "lived" on the roof of the station until the Orioles won their first game. Turned out to be like 20 some days! ;-)

[@drumhaver223]

My puppy is named Walter. Named for Becker.

[@bradleyamor8854]

Steely Dan was excellent,fantastic talent ,Walter and Donald were the best duo for me anyway though i love other duo,s but the Dan music was for me the best!

[@The_Octopus]

Walter Becker was one of the best!

[@dragonflyearthmedicine3371]

amazing!!

[@joeybenoit6269]

Surf and or die! Walter Becker. Living in the islands! Makapuu Street! Oh yeah!

[@3gypt1an]

So when did David Icke loose his accent?

[@ThePoehladian]

Born 20 years later, they would have ben progressive metal heads. 🔥

[@dadduorp]

Nope. Read Fagan's book "Eminent Hipsters." These guys are dyed-in-the-wool jazzheads.

[@ThePoehladian]

@@dadduorp I wouldn't argue against that. Maybe jazz with a metal edge ? All in all, i love them just the way they are...... "Theres a special satisfaction when a job comes out so right, baby break out the good stuff, boss wantsta party all night". 😀

[@wayne3340]

Never would have been given a chance. Got to be pretty nowadays.

[@richardosmon9250]

So stupid

[@ThePoehladian]

@@richardosmon9250 Thanks for the enlightenment.

[@catazure]

Bob Rivers is effing stiff in this intro. Shizz.

[@joeybenoit6269]

The Dan turn me on to Buddha! Gautama Buddha Siddhartha! Bodhisattva!! Now I'm the king of the world 🌎

[@guitarman8686]

Lennon-McCartney

[@lindaharrison3240]

Ricky dont lose that number and Reeling years are about the most overplayed and yet least inventive of the entire SD discography. Goodbye radio.

[@TheSportsCoverageNetwork]

Those songs are great but they have tons that don't get no play that is way better than those 2 .Those two songs are in the top 25 not 3 so you are absolutely right

[@tomcoryell]

Listen to them again.....Listen to two of the greatest guitar performances to ever vibrate the air. Elliot and Jeff. Did I forget to say please?

[@marjoriemorgenstern9125]

@@tomcoryell no need to beg these peeps from "moron county" a term coined by Walter

[@tomcoryell]

Marjorie Morgenstern Hi Marjorie, I was being sarcastic when I asked “Did I forget to say please?” I play lead guitar and realize what it takes to play solos that are that good. I am firm in my belief that those two were way ahead of anyone at that time, no apologies ;-) What...you can’t read my facial expressions over the web?

[@marjoriemorgenstern9125]

@@tomcoryell no worries and who cares?

[@lastrada52]

Great FM voice Bob but the interview? What is this Sixteen Magazine? Discuss their hair? Where are the real questions? Sounds like a bunch of disc jockeys talking like fans at a backstage meeting with their heroes. Come on Bob -- you're better than that. Ask questions that would matter to a listener. This interview has no point to it -- I learned nothing. Recording techniques? They're not the engineer or producer. I've heard albums that were recorded just as good if not better than any Steely Dan album. Ask them why they are so difficult in the studio and find it necessary to use so many studio and guest musicians. Why was one drummer or lead guitarist better than another and be specific -- why did they choose who you did. Did they develop their sound possibly from Loggins and Messina (listen to "Pathway To Glory" 1973 -- predates Steely Dan but sounds like it could have been a Steely Dan song -- right down to the intense music break). This song was released when Steely Dan was doing pop music like "Reelin' In the Years." "Pathway To Glory," sounds like Loggins & Messina was a little ahead of the SD curve...explanation if any? I will admit, SD had eccentric song titles, lyrics, and catchy jazz melodies -- that may have been what attracted their songs to fans. Discuss where some of the songs and lyrics came from. Now that's interesting. The influence of writing in NY as opposed to LA. Solid questions. Do they intentionally write lyrics with places & things that many people are not familiar with just to pique their interest or are they being cute? Lots of people didn't know what a black cow really was. Etc... Joni Mitchell & the band Mark-Almond did this jazzy thing in rock before Steely Dan. Did they play a role in their development? Because few of the artists SD mention as influences actually play the music they record. You know, it's like I say Elvis Presley influenced me but I play music similar to King Crimson. Two different worlds. Fagan...ever take singing lessons or did you develop his own style? The interview on your show was actually PR for them and not a meat and potatoes interview. OK -- maybe you had to do what the radio station/producer dictated. It's like a commercial then. WNEW-FM in NY in its heydey would never interview a band like Steely Dan this way. Not the late Scott Muni -- but then he became a rock radio legend. I like your show Bob -- you have a great voice -- I can say that because I was once in radio as well and can appreciate your delivery. But the interviews, or whoever wrote it for you, needs to turn up the pilot light a little if they want to cook. You want your audience to tune in and wonder what crazy question you might ask a band like Steely Dan. I would. And don't ask them about their hair.

[@BennyNegroFromQueens]

Cool story bruh.