Hello out there.
Hope you’ve all recovered – or have nearly recovered – from the fun and craziness of the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.
Next up for us, now in less than three weeks, is, of course, our solstice holiday celebration. Yeah, I know it’s still a while yet, but we keep inching closer.
For today, I thought we’d take a quick look in on a musical group that’s still out there performing. They started all the way back in 1971 in Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, only about 20 miles from Woodstock, NY.
(Musical Note: Although the famous music festival from August 1969 will always be associated with the town of Woodstock, the actual event took place on a dairy farm in Bethel, NY about 60 miles southwest of Woodstock.)
As for that band from nearby Annandale-on-Hudson, NY, they eventually became known as Steely Dan (named for a prosthetic phallus in William S. Burrough’s novel Naked Lunch) and went on to record some 15 hit songs, including three top 10s.
*Rank, Title, Peak Pos./Date
1. “Do It Again,” No. 6, Feb. 10, 1973
2. “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number, No. 4, Aug. 3, 1974
3. “Hey Nineteen,” No. 10, Feb. 14, 1981
4. “Reeling in the Years,” No. 11, May 12, 1973
5. “Peg,” No. 11, March 11, 1978
6. “Deacon Blues,” No. 19, June 10, 1978(
7. “Time Out of Mind,” No. 22, April 25, 1981
8. “FM (No Static at All),” No. 22, July 29, 1978
9. “Josie,” No. 26, Oct. 14, 1978
10. “Black Friday,” No. 37, June 21, 1975
*Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2001.
I went to an outdoor music event this past summer and saw a band called Logical Pretzel (an homage to Steely Dan’s seminal album “Pretzel Logic,” 1974).
The band was exceptionally good and even featured a lead singer who sounded a lot like Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen.
There are two things I’ll always remember about the talented cover band’s performance:
1. How many hit songs Steely Dan actually recorded. (And that I knew all the words to every single one of them.)
2. That their 1981 hit “Hey Nineteen” (released in 1980, climbing all the way to number 10 in February of the next year) was played just about every day during Summer 1981.
And every time I hear it, I think of that summer and all the summers since. I guess the magic of music just stays with you.
Given that you can find just about any musical selection in an instant these days, consider giving “Hey Nineteen” and some of their other hits a listen. Pretty great stuff.
Until tomorrow, gang.
JFish
ANSWERS FOR DAY 20 MOVIE QUIZ
1.) “Oh yes, oh yes, oh yes, the big Charleston contest. Those not tapped by the judges will remain on the dance floor.” (It’s a Wonderful Life, 1946)
2.) “You’re not ‘gonna fall for the banana in the tailpipe?” (Beverly Hills Cop, 1984)
3.) “Not only are you a cheat, you’re a gutless cheat as well.” (The Sting, 1973)
4.) “Andy Dufresne, who crawled through a river of shit and came out clean on the other side.” (The Shawshank Redemption, 1994)
5.) “It was better than sex. We held each other.” (As Good as It Gets, 1997)
6.) “Sectec Astronomy doesn’t mean anything.” (Sneakers, 1992)
7.) “He’s going to prove it to the whole world by giving an unknown a shot at the title. And that unknown is you.” (Rocky, 1976)
8.) “The cathedral that is Yankee Stadium belongs to a chapel.” (For Love of the Game, 1999)
9.) “Yeah, well he’s got a name…what’s your name?” (The Breakfast Club, 1985)
10.) “Put your hands on me, Jack.” (Titanic, 1997)
11.) “I got the rose bushes. I definitely got the rose bushes.” (Rain Man, 1988)
12.) “I saw some lean beef over there. Couldn’t I pay for it, get what I want?” (Serpico, 1973)
13.) “Make up your mind, man. Is he ‘gonna shit or is he gonna kill us?”
(Fast Times at Ridgemont High, 1982)
14.) “Your name is Col-el. It is forbidden for you to interfere with human history.” (Superman, 1978)
15.) “There will be no more drugs no more bad food. From now on it’ll be 50 pushups a day.”
(Taxi Driver, 1976)
16.) “Why don’t you get a megaphone and announce we’re coming? You make more noise than a busted chainsaw.” (48 Hours, 1982)
17.) “The tree that I made it from was split open by lightning.” (The Natural, 1984)
18.) “I came across time for you, Sarah. I love you. I always have.” (The Terminator, 1984)
19.) “What we have here is a failure to communicate.” (Cool Hand Luke, 1967)
20.) “I’m a schoolteacher. I teach English Composition in this little town called Addley, Pennsylvania.” (Saving Private Ryan, 1998)
@Copyright 2024 by John L. Fischer
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