In the new series “From the Archives of Brian Sweet,” Expanding Dan joins forces with the author of the definitive Steely Dan biography, Reelin' in the Years, to explore his extensive trove of never-before-published interviews. This edition unearths an artifact of Sweet’s deep collection of Steely Dan radio interviews. (For additional background on this series, check out my recently published interview with Sweet.)
When Steely met Steele, it was May 6, 1973. In one of their earliest radio appearances, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker sat down with Alison Steele, the sultry voiced disc jockey known as the Nightbird. Fagen was 25 years old, Becker just 23. In a week’s time, “Reelin' in the Years” would reach its peak at No. 11 on the Billboard singles chart. Two months later, Steely Dan would release their sophomore album, Countdown to Ecstasy, a fact that somehow goes unmentioned during the interview.
Listening to the broadcast today, the conversation is perhaps most notable for its undercurrent of awkwardness. The late Steele was a polished DJ, a total pro, and she manages to cultivate something approaching rapport with her reticent guests. Still, she inadvertently stirs some of the boys’ now well-known bugaboos. At one point Steele inquires where Becker and Fagen get inspiration for a song like “Reelin'.” In reply: radio silence and uneasy laughter. When she asks how they’re enjoying touring, you can almost hear the young messieurs squirm.
What’s most cringeworthy, though, is the general context of the interview: Here are two cynical nonjoiners appearing on a radio show prominently sponsored by the United States Army Reserve. One can only imagine what Becker and Fagen were thinking as they listened to Steele read rah-rah promotional copy urging listeners to enlist in Uncle Sam’s corps—and only minutes after she had played their antimilitarist song “Fire in the Hole.”
Were Becker and Fagen horrified by such an unholy alliance? Maybe. But it’s not a stretch to think these incipient connoisseurs of irony found some delight in the absurdity of the whole scene. Suddenly they had become the most unlikely cogs in the great American rock and roll promotional machine.
Buy Reelin’ in the Years by Brian Sweet directly from the publisher, Omnibus Press.
Transcript
[Plays “Reelin' in the Years.”]
Alison Steele (voice-over): You’re listening to Steely Dan, brought to you by the United States Army Reserve, and I’m Alison Steele, the Nightbird.
[“Reelin'” continues.]
Steele: Steely Dan, from their excellent album, and we have as our guests in the studio, Walter and Don from Steely Dan. Welcome. How are you?
Donald Fagen: Fine.
Walter Becker: Doin’ fine.
