Steely Dan – “Do It Again”, “Reelin’ In The Years”, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” “Pretzel Logic”, “Haitian Divorce” and “Hey Nineteen”
In the early Seventies a band from New York (really a duo, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, with additional musicians) called Steely Dan began having a series of hits, such as “Do It Again”, “Reelin’ In The Years” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”.
At the end of the decade, or easing into the next one, “Hey Nineteen” reached No. 10 in the US and 11 in the UK.
There were of course others as well, but these are the ones I remember.
I have their compilation album “Steely Dan/greatest hits”, a double album from 1978, which also features “Pretzel Logic” (the title of another album as well) and “Haitian Divorce”. Like their other albums, this too was produced by Gary Katz.
Here’s “Do It Again”, from the album “Can’t Buy A Thrill”, live on the Midnight Special in 1973:
And “Reelin’ In The Years”, from the same album, also live on the Midnight Special in 1973 (introduced by comedian Bill Cosby):
From the “Pretzel Logic” album, “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number”, No. 4 in 1974:
“Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” performed live over 20 years later in 1996:
And the title track of “Pretzel Logic”:
Two years later, in 1976, came “Haitian Divorce”, from the album “The Royal Scam”:
“Hey Nineteen”, from the 1980 album “Gaucho”, sung live here in 2006
Now that’s what I call “Reelin’ in the years”…
Paul