Silly categorization of SD music

[Klaus & Rooster]

Steely Fans,

a few days ago I commented a post on Twitter, where Steely Dan was categorized as "Yacht Rock". I don't like to label any music by silly categories, such as progressive rock, yacht rock, or any other genre you may think of. And furthermore, assigning this entirely silly label "Yacht Rock" to Steely Dan doesn't make any sense to me. A category basically combines a set of bands/music pieces etc. which share a stylistic feature. I feel repelled by putting SD into the same category like Christopher Cross, Boz Scags, the Eagles, Foreigner, Doobei Brothers. These are all honorable bands, but hey, the difference is quite obvious, ... at least to my ears and understanding of the Dan.

Any opinions?

Klaus & the Rooster

[Tabby Cat]

Post by Klaus & Rooster
Any opinions?
I feel repelled by putting SD into the same category like Christopher Cross, Boz Scags, the Eagles, Foreigner, Doobei Brothers.

Maybe you just don’t feel well. Donald Fagen performed many shows with Boz and Michael McDonald as The Dukes of September. I saw them play live together. They didn’t seem to feel they belonged in different categories.

Post by Klaus & Rooster
Assigning this entirely silly label "Yacht Rock" to Steely Dan doesn't make any sense to me.

How about if it makes sense others that are not you? Maybe those unfamiliar with the Dan beyond their big hits? A term is only as offensive as you interpret it to be. If YR provides a handle that allows not-yet fans to grab hold of some deep-cut Dan that they might not otherwise explore, that works for me.

I didn’t buy my first cutout single of Do It Again at Woolworth’s for 29 cents because I was expecting jazzy, art-rock band with inscrutable dark lyrics. I bought it because I’d heard the song on the radio and liked it. And when I found there was a longer, stereo version on Can’t Buy a Thrill, I bought that. I never gave one thought to category.

[Dan Drummond]

I think labels like Yacht Rock don't do anything for music in general, let alone Steely Dan. The whole 'Yacht Rock' thing for me, portrays a style of music that portrays soft, easy listening music which is almost like musical mashed potato, but not necessarily bad.

Steely Dan have a number of genres to their name (rock, reggae, soul, blues, jazz, funk, folk, etc.) so it would be wrong to use a one size fits all label. I change the metadata on all of my Steely Dan tracks to a 'Steely Dan' genre because I know what to expect from the material. The other band I really enjoy, who incidentally are opening for Steely Dan in the next tour, is Snarky Puppy, a band who also are difficult to pigeon hole into a single genre, which is one of the reasons I like them so much and they have introduced me to artists/bands and even genres that I wouldn't have heard otherwise.

As for enticing new listeners to Steely Dan, I've met so many people who have heard covers or songs with Steely Dan samples in, who wanted to hear the source material. Certain 'reaction' channels on YouTube also help to introduce people to Steely Dan (namely Jamel aka Jamal) - whose love for music in general is infectious (his reaction of FM and New Frontier are priceless).

The biggest challenge I've found when encouraging people to listen to Steely Dan, is their understanding or their interpretation of the lyrics. The most annoying was a outburst that Steely Dan sampled Kanye's Champion track :(

Klaus, do you know what happened to some of the posters from the old days (Timr and Diane?)


Dan

[Klaus & Rooster]

Hi Dan,

I share your position. I consider SD music to manifest a category on its own.

I honestly have no idea where the old posters went. I hope they are peeking in this group every once in a while and hopefully they recognize that there are other "old posters" (like us) to bring back some life.

Cheers,
Klaus

I think labels like Yacht Rock don't do anything for music in general, let alone Steely Dan. The whole 'Yacht Rock' thing for me, portrays a style of music that portrays soft, easy listening music which is almost like musical mashed potato, but not necessarily bad.
Steely Dan have a number of genres to their name (rock, reggae, soul, blues, jazz, funk, folk, etc.) so it would be wrong to use a one size fits all label. I change the metadata on all of my Steely Dan tracks to a 'Steely Dan' genre because I know what to expect from the material. The other band I really enjoy, who incidentally are opening for Steely Dan in the next tour, is Snarky Puppy, a band who also are difficult to pigeon hole into a single genre, which is one of the reasons I like them so much and they have introduced me to artists/bands and even genres that I wouldn't have heard otherwise.
As for enticing new listeners to Steely Dan, I've met so many people who have heard covers or songs with Steely Dan samples in, who wanted to hear the source material. Certain 'reaction' channels on YouTube also help to introduce people to Steely Dan (namely Jamel aka Jamal) - whose love for music in general is infectious (his reaction of FM and New Frontier are priceless).
http://youtu.be/QX3Oc-amUl8
The biggest challenge I've found when encouraging people to listen to Steely Dan, is their understanding or their interpretation of the lyrics. The most annoying was a outburst that Steely Dan sampled Kanye's Champion track :(
Klaus, do you know what happened to some of the posters from the old days (Timr and Diane?)
Dan