R.I.P. Walter Becker of Steely Dan

Steely Dan was never really my bag; I liked my rock with rougher edges, simpler chords, and a little less craft. I've never owned their music and I'm pretty sure I have never listened to a Steely Dan album front to back. Nevertheless, I've cued up Aja and Pretzel Logic on Amazon Music this morning in honor of the recently departed Walter Becker.

Remarkable how familiar this stuff is - I'm sure it's been ground into my subconscious through a thousand repetitions - on FM radio in high school and college, later in grocery stores, elevators. It was truly ubiquitous. In a 2003 interview:

Q: You are both longtime jazz devotees. Does it cause you any consternation that Steely Dan has been embraced in recent years by “smooth jazz” radio, one of the most vapid formats extant?

BECKER: “In a way it’s ideal. The more of what our music does violates the premise of its format that it’s presented in, the better. So, hearing our music in the supermarket, a Muzak version, is great. Don’t you think? I always feel fulfilled by that.”

 The funny thing is, I think I'd probably dig the songs a lot more if I heard the demo version (less laid back, stripped down, less polished) or if someone put together a compilation of covers by punk / blues / folk leaning artists.

 Rest of the interview here; it's pretty interesting.