Format | Label | Number |
LP | ABC | ABC 779 |
LP | Probe | SPB 1079 |
LP | ABC Command | CQD-40010 |
LP | MCA | MCA-1592 |
LP | Geffen Records | B-0034988-01 |
LP | Analogue Productions | AUHQR 0010-45 |
CS | MCA | MCAC-1592 |
CD | MCA | MCAD-31156 |
CD* | MCA | MCAD-11887 |
SACD | Analogue Productions | CAPP 135 SA |
*
The Classic Original Album |
Countdown To Ecstasy BODHISATTVA: Dias the Bebopper meets Baxter the skunk beneath the Bo Tree in this altered blues. RAZOR BOY: The legenday "Giant Girlfriend" of the Camden, New Jersey area sees the spectre of Benny King as a child in a nightmare of cosmic proportions. THE BOSTON RAG: Enervated after an attack of unrelieved nostalgia, Jeff "Skunk" Baxter sheds his outer skin and stands revealed as a Wild Boy. YOUR GOLD TEETH: In this number, several members of the Dan get to "Stretch Out". SHOW BIZ KIDS: The Dan moves to L.A. and is forced to give an oral report. MY OLD SCHOOL: A poignant memoire inspired by the "Giant Girlfriend", sometimes referred to as the "Anima Camden" PEARL OF THE QUARTER: Oo Lah Lah. KING OF THE WORLD: "I think my face is on fire". |
THOUGHT |
THOUGHT + FEELING = ACTION DR. G. ERIC PAGE And how. COUNTDOWN TO ECSTASY is unique amongst the Steely Dan albums in that it is the only one written and arranged for a working ensemble. For this reason, the arrangements were influenced for the better by the known instrumental textures and musical personalities of the band itself, and also for the worse by the horror and prolonged ennui of the odious weekend outings forced on us by our manager during the very recording process itself. So, for example, the period charm of Jeff Baxter's cunning Echoplex work was somewhat offset by the damaged condition of his amplifier (and nervous system) from last weekend's debacle in, say, Tucson, or maybe even Portland. And similarly the pleasing stretched out quality of some of the charts was balanced against the fact that lyrics were not written until the last moment and then by a songwriting duo who were certain they had a Hellhound On Their Trail. Public humiation of the type we were subjected to as a result of some of our appearances during this period - let's say most or even all of our appearances during this period - while in the long run perhaps a powerful character-building element in the young lives of the authors, in the short term proved disruptive and generally detrimental to the creative process. Even our all-too-infrequent rounds of Percodan Scrabble were increasingly useless in dispelling the unrelieved existential angst that surrounded our little excursions and the days and nights of shame and terror which preceded and followed them. It's a pity that there is no textual sign available to us now which would be the equivalent of that plangent sound which Harvey Keitel made towards the end of "The Bad Lieutenant" - because that, o loyal fandom, would go a long way towards cluing you in on how we felt about touring in those terrible days. ![]() ![]() |
+ FEELING |
when listening to the opening snare drum beats on "Bodhisattva" -
surely Doug Sax the mastering engineer noticed, as we did, that there was a slight retard
about halfway through? Did he not see, as we now did, that the backwards tape echo effect
in "King of the World" was a bad idea, badly executed? What about that tape loop
we used for "Show Biz Kids"? Was that the stroke of genius we originally thought
it was, or just another horrible mistake?![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
= ACTION |
guitar line would not be record properly. Roger made a spiffy little window
edit (look it up), and we were able to punch in the missing notes. For a lark we sent the
little piece of defective tape back to 3M. Months later, they sent us their report. The
piece of tape had a tiny blister where the oxide had bubbled up from the backing. Inside
this little blister was a drop of mustard. Some clot up in Minnesota had taken his
sandwich into the room in the plant where the huge sheets of mylar were coated with oxide,
taken a bite and squirted a tiny drop of mustard onto the mylar on the exact spot where we
were going to put Denny's guitar part. In effect, our efforts had been sabotaged in
advance by a careless worker. This was to haunt us over and over in the years to come.![]() ![]() (to be continued) -DONALD FAGEN AND WALTER BECKER, 1998 |
|
Track List
Bodhisattva Razor Boy Boston Rag Your Gold Teeth |
Show Biz Kids My Old School Pearl Of The Quarter King Of The World |
Bodhisattva
Would You take me by the hand
Bodhisattva
Would You take me by the hand
Can you show me
The shine of your Japan
The sparkle of your China
Can you show me
BodhisattvaBodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
Bodhisattva
I'm gonna sell my house in town
And I'll be there
To shine in your Japan
To sparkle in your China
Yes I'll be there
Bodhisattva
BodhisattvaDrums: Jim Hodder
Bass: Walter Becker
Guitar: Denny Dias (1st solo)
Jeff Baxter (2nd solo)
Piano/Synthesizer: Donald Fagen
I hear you are singing a song of the past
I see no tears
I know that you know that it may be the last
For many years
You'd gamble or give anything
To be in with the better half
But how many friends must I have
To begin with to make you laugh[Chorus:]
Will you still have a song to sing
When The razor boy comes
And takes your fancy things away
Will you still be singing it
On that cold and windy dayYou know that the coming is so close at
hand
You feel all right
I guess only women in cages can stand
This kind of night
I guess only women in cages
Can play down
The things they lose
You think no tomorrow will come
When you lay down
You can't refuse[Chorus]
Any news was good news
And the feeling was bad at home
I was out of my mind and you
Were on the phone
Lonnie was the kingpin
Back in nineteen sixty-five
I was singing this song
When Lonnie came alive[Chorus:]
Bring back the Boston Rag
Tell all your buddies
That it ain't no drag
Bring back the Boston RagYou were Lady Bayside
There was nothing that I could do
So I pointed my car down
Seventh Avenue
Lonnie swept the playroom
And he swallowed up all he found
It was forty-eight hours til
Lonnie came around[Chorus]
[Chorus and fade]
Got a feeling I've been here before
Watching as you cross the killing floor
You know you'll have to pay it all
You'll pay today or pay tomorrow
You fasten up your beaded gown
Then you try to tie me down
Do you work it out one by one
Or played in combination.
You throw out your gold teeth.
Do you see how they rollI have seen your iron and your brass.
Can't you see it shine behind the glass
Your fortune is your roving eye
Your mouth and legs
Your gift for the runaround
Torture is the main attraction
I don't need that kind of action
You don't have to dance for me
I've seen your dance before
Do you throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they rollTobacco they grow in Peking
In the Year of the Locust
You'll see a sad thing
Even Cathy Berberian knows
There's one roulade she can't sing.
Dumb luck my friend
Won't suck me in this time.Got a feeling I've been here before
Won't you let me help you find the door
All you got to do is use
Your silver shoes
A gift for the runaround
Use your knack darlin'
Take one step back darlin'
There ain't nothing in Chicago
For a monkey woman to do
Do throw out your gold teeth
Do you see how they roll
[Chorus:]
While the poor people sleepin'
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin'
All the stars come out at night
While the poor people sleepin'
With the shade on the light
While the poor people sleepin'
All the stars come out at nightAfter closing time
At the Guernsey Fair
I detect the El Supremo
From the room at the top of the stairs
Well I've been around the world
And I've been in the Washington Zoo
And in all my travels
As the facts unravel
I've found this to be true[Chorus]
They got the house on the corner
With the rug inside
They got the booze they need
All that money can buy
They got the shapely bods
They got the Steely Dan T-shirt
And for the coup-de-gras
They're outrageous
Honey let me tell you[Chorus]
Show biz kids making movies
Of themselves you know they
Don't give a fuck about anybody elseYou know you go to ...
Lost Wages, Lost Wages, go to Lost Wages
I remember the thirty-five sweet goodbyes
When you put me on the Wolverine
Up to Annandale
It was still September
When your daddy was quite surprised
To find you with the working girls
In the county jailI was smoking with the boys upstairs
When I heard about the whole affair
I said oh no
William and Mary won't do[Chorus:]
Well I did not think the girl
Could be so cruel
And I'm never going back
To my old schoolOleanders growing outside your door
Soon they're gonna be in bloom
Up in Annandale
I can't stand her
Doing what she did before
Leaving like a gypsy queen
In a fairy taleWell I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico
She said oh no
Guadalajara won't do[Chorus]
California tumbles into the sea
That'll be the day I go
Back to Annandale
Tried to warn you
About Chino and Daddy Gee
But I can't seem to get to you
Through the U.S. mail
Well I hear the whistle but I can't go
I'm gonna take her down to Mexico
She said oh no
Guadalajara won't do[Chorus]
[Solos to fade]
Drums: Jim Hodder
Bass: Walter Becker
Guitar: Denny Dias,
Jeff Baxter (solo)
Piano: Donald Fagen
Backup Vocals: Sherlie Matthews, Myrna
Matthews, Patricia Hall
Horns: Lanny Morgan, Bill Perkins, Ernie
Watts, John RotellaHorns arranged by Jimmie Haskell
On the water down in New Orleans
My baby's the pearl of the quarter
She's a charmer like you never seen
Singing voulez voulez voulez vous
Where the sailor spends his hard earned
pay
Red beans and rice for a quarter
You can see her almost any day
Singing voulez voulez voulez vous[Chorus:]
And if you hear from my Louise
Won't you tell her I love her so
Please make it clear
When her day is done
She got a place to goI walked alone down the miracle mile
I met my baby by the shrine of the martyr
She stole my heart with her Cajun smile
Singing voulez voulez voulez vous
She loved the million dollar words I say
She loved the candy and the flowers that I
bought her
She said she loved me and was on her way
Singing voulez voulez voulez vous[Chorus]
Hello one and all
Was it you I used to know
Can't you hear me call
On this old ham radio
All I've got to say
I'm alive and feeling fine
If you come my way
You can share my poison wine[Chorus:]
No marigolds in the promised land
There's a hole in the ground
Where they used to grow
Any man left on the Rio Grande
Is the king of the world
As far as I knowI don't want your bread
I don't need your helping hand
I can't be no savage
I can't be no highwayman
Show me where you are
You and I will spend this day
Driving in my car
Through the ruins of Santa Fe[Chorus]
I'm reading last years papers
Although I don't know why
Assassins cons and rapers
Might as well dieIf you come around
No more pain and no regrets
Watch the sun go brown
Smoking cobalt cigarettes
There's no need to hide
Taking things the easy way
If I stay inside
I might live til Saturday[Chorus]
Drums: Jim Hodder
Bass: Walter Becker
Guitar: Denny Dias, Jeff Baxter
Piano: Donald Fagen
The Midi-sequense , on this page is My Old School.
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June 08, 2023
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