Back in the day, the idea of a Steely Dan tribute band sounded like a “Saturday Night Live skit,” with John Belushi as the Walter Becker imitator and Chevy Chase posing as Donald Fagen. But the group named for a sex toy in a William Burroughs novel earned gold albums and hit singles with “Do It Again,” “Reeling in the Years,” “Rikki Don’t Lose that Number,” “Black Friday” and “Hey Nineteen.” “Peg” even became a standard for high school marching bands.
So, no surprise then that a group called Steely Dane exists for the purpose of replicating those songs onstage. The Madison act is 15 members strong, a testimony to the complexity of Becker and Fagen’s music.
Steely Dan was famous in the ‘70s as the band that stopped playing live after a single tour. After a short while, they were also famous for not being a band at all with Becker and Fagen hiring top players for their recording sessions. They were jazz fans. Steely Dan recorded a Duke Ellington song, paid tribute to Charlie Parker, employed jazz musicians and borrowed a riff from Horace Silver. But unlike the tedious jazz fusion players of that era—for whom rock music was a way of selling records—Becker and Fagen understood both worlds and honed their ideas to perfection in the studio.
Steely Dan’s lyrics were adult and ambiguous, cynical about society yet not without hope. They were masters of wrapping dark emotions in bright packages. Steely Dan split in 1981 with Fagen pursuing a solo career. They reunited in 2000 and—finally—discovered the pleasure of touring. Maybe they’ll come to Summerfest next year. Meanwhile, we have Steely Dane.
