Steely Dan? (Actually a Grammy Thread)

Do not question the power of the Dan. :)

Seriously, was it me or did the majority of performances ROCK this year? I mean, Eminem and Elton were off the hook. Moby and Jill Scott were off the hook. Nnena Frelon and Take 6 were OFF THE HOOK. Madonna was mostly in tune for a change. Destiny's Child sang more than they danced. Bono managed to hit his notes WELL. That Canadian pianist was awe-inspiring. Paul Simon was... well, you can't win them all.

Still, I'm entertained that they hyped up all of the controversy around Eminem and then gave the Almighty Dan album of the year. That just fits in with my sense of how the world works.

Steely Dan is great and all, but "Two Against Nature" is simply one of their worst ever. I would have far preferred "Kid A" or "Midnite Vultures" (boy was that a longshot). Still, how much significance does the Grammy really have? I believe there were 13,000 people who voted for the awards. Some of my favorite albums haven't sold twice that. And I'm sure some of you have favorite bands that haven't sold that many in their whole carreer.

So "Who Let the Dogs Out" is best dance record of the year? Do I even live on the same planet as the Grammy voters?

okay seriously, this is just proof of the Metallica Theorem, here. rock dinosaurism being carried through into the new millennium, blah blah blah. i can't believe people ACTUALLY THINK THE GRAMMYS MEAN ANYTHING. can we talk about toni braxton's dress now?

What is the record this year that most Americans danced to? I suspect "WLDDO?" is probably near the top of the list.

The Steely Dan album I have still not been able to endure all the way through.

The New York Times last weekend contrasted the fuss over Eminem's nomination with the Steely Dan album which, they noted, 'includes a song whose narrator gloats over his affair with an underage girl and tries to pressure her into a threesome and another one about a man propositioning his young cousin.'

In the words of the scandalously under-Grammied Bananarama, seems it ain't what you say but the way that you say it.

Or how long you've been saying it. In terms of media sensationalism, Steely Dan are the alchohol and pot to Eminem's speed and ecstacy. Even if the former substances are ultimately more socially damaging than the latter, they're looked upon tolerably because the generation that sets the moral agenda "gets" them.

Which would make black hip hop the equivalent of glue sniffing - its existence is acknowledged and deplored, but its current or future participants are considered not worth saving, or protecting, and thus escape attention.

Hilarious and smart comparison, Tom, but I can't buy the Dan equivalent being alcohol and pot. That just makes me think of Black Sabbath. I prefer to imagine them as some mixture of well-brewed tea and extremely bright, sparkly, finely ground cocaine.

Make that 'Tim' instead of 'Tom' -- ah, you're both twins separated at birth or the same person anyway, I'm sure. ;-)

Harry Allen must be laughing, and I'm right there with him. Em's defeat at the hands of Steely Dan is really -- I mean REALLY -- goddamn funny. I will, however, be avoiding the streets of suburban Detroit for the next 24 hours. Vengeful bottle blond youths are likely running through the streets of Garden City, yelling "Steely Dan! Steely Dan!!" as they randomly snap their belts at anyone over the age of 20. "I went to whip this old guy with my belt and my pants fell down, yo!" Somewhere down the line, I'll celebrate the victory by listening not to Two Against Nature but Countdown to Ecstasy.

I do not agree that pot and alcohol are more socially damaging than speed and ecstasy.

I'm with my mum on this one. Pot and alcohol are okay, but alcohol without a pot, well that way skidmarks lie.

I didn't even know that Steely Dan *had* an album out at all. Heck, didn't Rick Springfield come out with something a short while back? Might as well've given it to him...