Despite acclaim, Steely Dan shut out of Hall of Fame

Kirk Baird

Friday, June 9, 2000 | 9:14 a.m.

It would seem the title of Steely Dan's latest album, "Two Against Nature," could have been called "Two Against The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Voting Committee."

Two years have passed and the Dan -- otherwise known as founding members Donald Fagen and Walter Becker -- became eligible to join the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

The band, which performs Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, has yet to be voted in.

Known for its fluid pop-jazz fusion with groove to spare, as well as its arcane, highly ironic lyrics -- such as "Gaslighting Abbie" from the band's latest disc ("You can choose the music/I'll set up my gear/Later on we'll chill and watch the fireworks from here") -- Steely Dan has multiple gold and platinum records, numerous hit singles and a diverse following among both its fans and peers.

During its career the band created such classic albums as "Katy Lied," "The Royal Scam" and the band's masterpiece "Aja," which, fueled by singles "Peg" and "Deacon Blues," was the Dan's biggest-selling album.

According to the Hall of Fame's website, 25 years must lapse since the release of the performer's or band's first record to gain admittance into the prestigious museum.

The Dan's first album, "Can't Buy A Thrill," was released in 1972.

The website goes on to state: "Criteria include the influence and significance of the artists and contribution to the development and perpetuation of rock and roll."

But there are those who feel the Dan more than match those qualifications, such as Sky Daniels, general manager of Radio & Records newspaper. Daniels said, for better or worse, the Dan helped to create a new sound.

"You go back to the early '70s, they truly proceeded what would become the smooth jazz idea and ultimately a radio format," Daniels said. "I think the idea of that music and sound, because it is so studio-driven and at its worst people say it was light, causes critics not to appreciate it the way they do Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground."

And Daniels admits to questioning some recent nominees who have been inducted. "Where I (say), 'I didn't think they were that influential and great.' "

Many of those acts -- especially the older influences -- were voted in on the basis of a seminal song or two, he said. "But you look at an act like Steely Dan. They have four or five albums which are classics. And 'Aja' is a defining record of its time."

Daniels is not alone in his belief. A quick cyber jaunt to the Steely Dan website -- www.steelydan.com -- reveals posted e-mail from fans who are angered over the perceived slight. Titled "Condolences From Our Readers," the postings range from foul and bitter to sarcastic and incredulous.

To wit: "I am a truly devoted fan of yours and have been for the past 25 years. Its (sic) a total sham that you were not inducted into the R&R Hall of Fame as you should have been. It just goes to show that they're just a bunch of NIMRODS."

Or: "Look at the bright side, at least your (sic) not Billy Joel." (Joel was inducted in '98, in the same year the Dan was first eligible.)

Even: "... it is painfully obvious that you have been spending too much time working on music and not enough time promoting the careers of producers, disc jockeys, record company executives, journalists and other industry professionals."

As for the Dan's reaction, they were unavailable for an interview for this story. But Fagen and Becker both have let their feelings on Steely Dan's omission be known on the band's website -- albeit in the duo's typically sarcastic fashion.

In a letter from Fagen and Becker addressed to Jann Wenner, Ahmet Ertegun and the commissioners of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, dated June 1997, the two offered the group "historically significant" digital multitrack tape recorders used for recording various albums to the Hall of Fame, "so that they may be viewed and enjoyed by all and so that they may be preserved for posterity."

Two paragraphs later Fagen and Becker -- tounges firmly in cheek -- went on to write: "It has been mentioned to us that we would be eligible for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame next year."

Adding to their bribe, the two also enclosed a check from Steely Dan's corporate account for $10,000 made out to Wenner "to get the ball rolling sooner rather than later," adding that they "hope that will be okay."

There was no word on whether or not the check was cashed.

Though Howard Kramer, associate curator of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, said he couldn't comment on any form of the museum's induction process, he does profess to being a big fan of Steely Dan's since the mid-70s, when he listened to "Can't Buy a Thrill" so often, "I memorized the space between the tracks in the vinyl."

Kramer said there are few groups that have been as lyrically adept and musically adventurous as Steely Dan.

"They almost make their music like directors make movies," he said. "They start with this big idea and then massage it, create it, edit it and get it where (they) want to have it. Some people certainly take that idea to the extreme, but a lot of people could probably take a lesson from them on editing what's art."

Kramer was referring to the reputation Fagen and Becker have earned as being studio hounds -- a tag that's not entirely fair.

In the Dan's heyday in the mid-70s, the band released four albums in a span of four years. In 1980 the band released what some thought to be the group's final album, "Gaucho," after Fagen and Becker went their separate ways, although they denied it was a permanent split.

Then in 1993 Becker produced Fagen's second solo effort, "Kamakiriad" and talk about a Steely Dan reunion was ripe.

Fans were rewarded -- partially -- when Fagen and Becker put together an 11-piece band and hit the road as Steely Dan for a lengthy U.S. tour, something the two hadn't done since '74. A year later Becker released his first solo album, "11 Tracks of Whack," with Fagen producing, followed by a summer tour by the band.

To many fans of the group it seemed a new studio album was just a matter of time. Seven years to be exact -- or some 20 years since Steely Dan's last studio album (the band released a live album in 1995).

And despite the long period between a new studio piece, Chris Foxx, program director/music director/afternoon disc jockey at KXPT 97.1-FM, said Steely Dan retains "a pretty core audience for our station," and is "one of the top-requested bands."

Foxx said the station currently has the new single "Cousin Dupree" from "Nature" on rotation, and has received numerous calls and requests for concert ticket giveaways.

As for the band's not being inducted into the Hall of Fame, Foxx said it's just a matter of time. "Becker and Fagen are two great musicians who are definitely deserving of being in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame."

Still, he said there's a reason the band hasn't been voted in yet -- popularity.

Previous inductees such as Billy Joel and the Eagles (who were also inducted the same year Steely Dan was eligible) are more radio friendly, he reasoned.

"How many radio stations in town play Billy Joel and the Eagles? A lot. How many radio stations play Steely Dan? Not many," Foxx said. "Their music doesn't cross over as much as some of the other artists do."

But Daniels doesn't agree with that.

Off the top of his head, Daniels figures the band has sold 40 to 50 million records and helped "take the idea of fusion and smooth jazz to the great unwashed public more than any other act."

"They're really worthy of this consideration in that regard."

Or, as Steely Dan said years ago in the single "Reeling in the Years": "The things that pass for knowledge I can't understand."

Kirk Baird is an Accent feature writer. Reach him at kirk@lasvegassun.com or at 259-8801.