John, kirschwasser, the Studebaker Lark, the College of William & Mary. The website likewise includes an entry on Steely Dan itself, originally "a type of (imaginary) Japanese dildo, discussed in William Burroughs' notorious 1959 book Naked Lunch." Becker and Fagen "would often be sorry for having chosen that name," composes Brian Sugary food in his 1994 biography, Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years, "because critics and journalists were permanently searching for parallels in between Burroughs' book and Steely Dan." Yet Burroughs did contribute in the band's formation, as did a host of other creative and blackly funny literary minds of the 20th century.
In 1977, at the height of Steely Dan's first wave of fame, Becker informed Sounds publication that was Nabokov his "favorite author in the English language." That interview appears in Barney Hoskyns's Significant Guys: A Steely Dan Buddy (Overlook, 2018). In another, from Melody Maker, Becker addresses Nabokov's allegedly "having such a cold element as an artist, whereas it appears to me he can be the most touching, poignant and gorgeous author that I understand of.
Crazy things for little ladies, though a little twist in his character there." While Steely Dan's music hasn't drawn accusations of showing craziness about little ladies not quite "little," at any rate it has actually drawn and continues to draw such descriptors as "cold," "icy," and "vicious," along with the similarity "dry," "sterilized," even "soulless." (Becker and Fagen have on celebration played up this aesthetic reputation: for their 1994 Japan tour, they printed up pamphlets bearing the recommendation that "the Japanese people have long admired the icy and sophisticated rhythmic stylings related to the group Steely Dan.") Danfans and their stated opposites have actually long concerned one another with shared incomprehension, the previous's obsessive interest matched by the latter's invincible dismissiveness.
There exists Danophilia and there exists Danophobia, however both appear to be inspired by the exact same interrelated qualities of the band's music: what it's about, how it sounds, and how Becker and Fagen set about recording it. And certainly, what is Steely Dan's music about? In Check For Updates Gaslighting Abbie," a "hubby and 'ripe and all set' new flame drive partner crazy by the sea," as Robert Christgau summarizes the tune in his contemporary review of 2 Versus Nature, the album from 2000 that it opens.