Steely Dan ~ Do It Again 1972 Disco Purrfection Version

The recent passing of Walter Becker saddened me and provoked me to pull out my Steely Dan tunes and listen to them all. Their hypnotizing blend of jazz with pop and R&B along with the enigmatic lyrics sung by Donald Fagen began in 1967 when Donald heard someone practicing electric guitar in a café. He went in and introduced himself to guitarist Walter Becker to see if he was interested in joining a band. They began writing music and performing together, hiring various musicians to assist. One such musician was soon to be comedian Chevy Chase who played the drums for them. After a move to New York, they snagged the composer and artist credits for the soundtrack of the 1971 film "You've Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You'll Lose That Beat" a film about hippie life that had Richard Pryor in the cast. Hitting the road with semi operatic vocalist Jay Black of Jay & The Americans who had a few hits like "Cara Mia" in the 60's fame earned them his disdain who felt that the duo were too controlling. Fortunately, the duo had a friend in Gary Katz who hired them as staff songwriters for ABC Records. Soon they began to work on their band concept and chose Steely Dan, a reference to the William S Burroughs book, "Naked Lunch". Their fortunes improved with the release of their debut LP "Can't Buy A Thrill" and their songs "Do It Again", "Reelin' In The Years" and "Dirty Work". Their next LP "Countdown To Ecstasy" in 1973, was recorded while they were on the road and the duo now feels that the distraction of live performing reduced the quality of their recorded work. They bounded back with "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" of off 1974's "Pretzel Logic" which was fortified with the talents of Michael McDonald and Jeff Porcaro from their touring band. They then decided to ditch the touring and lost the rest of the band. From this point on, they wrote and recorded, hiring studio musicians to help bring their visions to life and remained the only constant official members. They released "Katy Lied" in 1975 and then "The Royal Scam" in 1976, but had only one top 40 hit with "Black Friday" from "Katy" Their masterpiece "Aja" dropped in September of 1977 and became the very first million selling LP to be designated platinum. The 1978 song "FM" was their next triumph until they released the platinum selling "Gaucho" in 1980. They then broke up for twenty years. Fagen began successful solo career, and Becker went on to produce China Crisis' "Flaunt The Imperfection" from 1985. That same year, Gary Katz was recording Rosie Vela, a model from the US who was also a singer/songwriter. He was able to persuade the dynamic duo to back Vela on her "Zazu" LP resulting in a Steely Dan reunion. They continued to work together on Fagen`s "Kamakiriad" and two Steely Dan albums, "Two Against Nature" and "Everything Must Go", along with a live recording LP. They were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in 2001. "Do It Again" is the perfect example of Steely Dan with the shimmering keyboards and that insistent latin beat is the perfect antidote to the current spate of sound alike percussive cacophony that you hear on the radio today.