Producer Richard Perry, leaning Barbra Streisand into a decidedly rock arena, discovers a song by a new duo that'll fit perfectly on an LP with songs by fellow rockers Carole King & John Lennon!
Your pieces are like an endlessly growing family tree map, with the branches shooting off in all directions. Or more accurately, an orchard of family trees, and each newsletter is a branch offering tasty fruit to be picked. As a big fan of everyone you mention in this branchy piece, I still learned around 27 different new things about them I had no idea of prior. Babs does Steely Dan? I have that Babs album and didn't know that!!!
And I especially did not know about Linda Hoover -- the irony (and sadness) of an album titled "I Mean To Shine" taking more than 50 years to be released is thick. What a lovely song that is. I need to listen to the whole album.
Thanks so much, Steve! I love it that you have the Babs album! And, are so cool to mention it! I had all her '70s albums, too, including her "Classical Barbra"!!
I can't take the Hoover album off the turntable (OK, fine, the Spotify Play button)! All respect to Linda, but with 5 Dan songs on it, and virtually all of them playing on it, that may contribute a huge listening quotient....although, I DO love her voice! As I hinted to Robert, a separate Linda article may be in the offing! 'Twould be well-deserved!
Your comment means a lot, too, because this may well be as challenging as it gets: The juggling of disclosing (as your comment proved) little-known info about a famous band (an asset!), with the ballooning of that info suddenly becoming the article's liability!
I went over that thing (I think it ended up at around 2400 words) several times, straining to find ANYTHING I could/should cut out, but decided the piece would suffer more without this or that, than it would be improved by excising, say, 300 words over there!
Yes, Babs does Dan....I entertained myself, early on, with trying to find similar cover analogies...like, Lola Falana does a Rush song, or Nancy Wilson does "Aqualung"---a great car game on the next road trip!
Thanks, David....it means a lot to have been helpful to a dedicated fan! It was truly a fun, musical onion to keep unpeeling! I felt like I was constantly going, "I'm sorry, what?!" at every turn of uncovering the ever-deepening layers of who these guys kept having interactions with! And, all of them contributed to building the little stairsteps that eventually led to their stardom.
Another fantastic article Brad, such a complex interwoven story of characters. I love how all these separate threads come together into a coherent story. I’m particularly saddened by the “what could’ve been” aspect of Linda Hoover’s tragically delayed release. I’m halfway through listening to it (had to put Boston on hold) and it’s lovely.
I’m also intrigued about Omnivore Recordings, described in The Guardian article on last year’s release of her album as “a new label specialising in excavating obscure or unknown albums with an interesting history”. Sounds right up my alley!
Thanks, Mark! I'm immensely proud of this one, I must say. It's one that grew, quite simply enough, from "hey, Babs recorded a Steely Dan song" before Dan was ever Steely, to "good grief, look at all this stuff"! Hoover's career outcome was truly sad as it was unusual if not mysterious.
It WILL be interesting to see where Omnivore goes, and what it can uncover!
Different outcome obviously but Linda Hoover’s story has a bit of a “Searching For Sugarman” kinda vibe. If you don’t know what that means then go watch the movie of that name (but go in blind without any googling)
Haven't seen that movie, and telling me to NOT Google something about which I know nothing.....well, let's just say I have no will power! Go ahead, tell me to NOT eat fried shrimp!🍤🍤🍤Guess what I'll end up eating tonight!😁👍I'll try to check it out, though!
I'm hip. I'll try, 'cause it does sound interesting. When you first wrote it, I misread it as "Searching for Superman." Then, my first thought was back to Babs, who released a "Superman" LP in '77! Guess I'm having a "Yentl" breakdown!
I loved reading this and the whole Bard story! (Rikki Ducornet, who met Fagen at a party at Bard and who reportedly inspired "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," wrote the forward for one of my books:)
Thanks so much, Michelle....much appreciated! Thanks, also, for subscribing...'tis an honor to have you FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE! I had always wondered about who "Rikki" was, and it's cool to know her possible linkage to that song! Feel free, Michelle, to let us know which one of your 8 books her forward appears! I'd be happy to have my readers know!😁
Thanks, Bryan! It was an amazing one to write....not only unearthing all the info and unlikely threads, but the music! Once I read about that low-budget movie they scored, I had no hope of finding the music anywhere, but there it was, on Spotify (of all places)! Same with "Dallas," not surprisingly finding the Poco cover, but then the Dan takes!
It all started with, "I'm sorry.....Babs covered a Steely Dan song, BEFORE they were Steely Dan?!?" At that point, when Richard Perry pitches the song to Babs, Becker/Fagen are just another two unknown songwriting partners, like Lambert & Potter, Boyce & Hart, etc.! Amazing!
Yes, thanks much for this good read and education on early Becker/Fagen. Hadn't heard any of it and now I can be an even more annoying Steely Dan fan. Ha!
Great....thanks! YOU'RE the one I was hoping to hear from.....the true Dan fan! I've loved all their work thru the decades, but have never heard everything! So, as I'm writing it, I'm fighting myself, wondering if everyone who's a much bigger Dan completist than I would just be yawning their way thru this i.e. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know......."!
I appreciate your validation that what was news to me (all of it, really!) seems also to be new info to others!! Many thanks! You now have my permission to be that more annoying Dan fan!😁
Your pieces are like an endlessly growing family tree map, with the branches shooting off in all directions. Or more accurately, an orchard of family trees, and each newsletter is a branch offering tasty fruit to be picked. As a big fan of everyone you mention in this branchy piece, I still learned around 27 different new things about them I had no idea of prior. Babs does Steely Dan? I have that Babs album and didn't know that!!!
And I especially did not know about Linda Hoover -- the irony (and sadness) of an album titled "I Mean To Shine" taking more than 50 years to be released is thick. What a lovely song that is. I need to listen to the whole album.
Great work, as always.
Thanks so much, Steve! I love it that you have the Babs album! And, are so cool to mention it! I had all her '70s albums, too, including her "Classical Barbra"!!
I can't take the Hoover album off the turntable (OK, fine, the Spotify Play button)! All respect to Linda, but with 5 Dan songs on it, and virtually all of them playing on it, that may contribute a huge listening quotient....although, I DO love her voice! As I hinted to Robert, a separate Linda article may be in the offing! 'Twould be well-deserved!
Your comment means a lot, too, because this may well be as challenging as it gets: The juggling of disclosing (as your comment proved) little-known info about a famous band (an asset!), with the ballooning of that info suddenly becoming the article's liability!
I went over that thing (I think it ended up at around 2400 words) several times, straining to find ANYTHING I could/should cut out, but decided the piece would suffer more without this or that, than it would be improved by excising, say, 300 words over there!
Yes, Babs does Dan....I entertained myself, early on, with trying to find similar cover analogies...like, Lola Falana does a Rush song, or Nancy Wilson does "Aqualung"---a great car game on the next road trip!
Thanks for filling in some gaps in my knowledge of Steely Dan. I'm as hard a fan of them as they come.
Thanks, David....it means a lot to have been helpful to a dedicated fan! It was truly a fun, musical onion to keep unpeeling! I felt like I was constantly going, "I'm sorry, what?!" at every turn of uncovering the ever-deepening layers of who these guys kept having interactions with! And, all of them contributed to building the little stairsteps that eventually led to their stardom.
Another fantastic article Brad, such a complex interwoven story of characters. I love how all these separate threads come together into a coherent story. I’m particularly saddened by the “what could’ve been” aspect of Linda Hoover’s tragically delayed release. I’m halfway through listening to it (had to put Boston on hold) and it’s lovely.
I’m also intrigued about Omnivore Recordings, described in The Guardian article on last year’s release of her album as “a new label specialising in excavating obscure or unknown albums with an interesting history”. Sounds right up my alley!
Thanks, Mark! I'm immensely proud of this one, I must say. It's one that grew, quite simply enough, from "hey, Babs recorded a Steely Dan song" before Dan was ever Steely, to "good grief, look at all this stuff"! Hoover's career outcome was truly sad as it was unusual if not mysterious.
It WILL be interesting to see where Omnivore goes, and what it can uncover!
Different outcome obviously but Linda Hoover’s story has a bit of a “Searching For Sugarman” kinda vibe. If you don’t know what that means then go watch the movie of that name (but go in blind without any googling)
Haven't seen that movie, and telling me to NOT Google something about which I know nothing.....well, let's just say I have no will power! Go ahead, tell me to NOT eat fried shrimp!🍤🍤🍤Guess what I'll end up eating tonight!😁👍I'll try to check it out, though!
Trust me, if you haven’t seen the movie you’ll LOVE it! Better to watch it with no spoilers though
I'm hip. I'll try, 'cause it does sound interesting. When you first wrote it, I misread it as "Searching for Superman." Then, my first thought was back to Babs, who released a "Superman" LP in '77! Guess I'm having a "Yentl" breakdown!
I loved reading this and the whole Bard story! (Rikki Ducornet, who met Fagen at a party at Bard and who reportedly inspired "Rikki Don't Lose That Number," wrote the forward for one of my books:)
Thanks so much, Michelle....much appreciated! Thanks, also, for subscribing...'tis an honor to have you FRONT ROW & BACKSTAGE! I had always wondered about who "Rikki" was, and it's cool to know her possible linkage to that song! Feel free, Michelle, to let us know which one of your 8 books her forward appears! I'd be happy to have my readers know!😁
Another fantastically deep dive - I'm a huge Steely Dan fan and I'd never heard of 'Dallas'! I will need to hear it now ...
Thanks, Bryan! It was an amazing one to write....not only unearthing all the info and unlikely threads, but the music! Once I read about that low-budget movie they scored, I had no hope of finding the music anywhere, but there it was, on Spotify (of all places)! Same with "Dallas," not surprisingly finding the Poco cover, but then the Dan takes!
It all started with, "I'm sorry.....Babs covered a Steely Dan song, BEFORE they were Steely Dan?!?" At that point, when Richard Perry pitches the song to Babs, Becker/Fagen are just another two unknown songwriting partners, like Lambert & Potter, Boyce & Hart, etc.! Amazing!
Yes, thanks much for this good read and education on early Becker/Fagen. Hadn't heard any of it and now I can be an even more annoying Steely Dan fan. Ha!
Great....thanks! YOU'RE the one I was hoping to hear from.....the true Dan fan! I've loved all their work thru the decades, but have never heard everything! So, as I'm writing it, I'm fighting myself, wondering if everyone who's a much bigger Dan completist than I would just be yawning their way thru this i.e. "Yeah, yeah, I know, I know......."!
I appreciate your validation that what was news to me (all of it, really!) seems also to be new info to others!! Many thanks! You now have my permission to be that more annoying Dan fan!😁