Ooookay, now that the discussion has veered toward Twin Peaks and David Palmer's post-Dan career, I do believe it's about that time! Wiki sez: Countdown to Ecstasy is the second studio album by the American rock band Steely Dan, released in July 1973 by ABC Records. It was recorded at Caribou Ranch in Nederland, Colorado and at The Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California. After the departure of vocalist David Palmer, the group recorded the album with Donald Fagen singing lead on all the songs. Although it was a critical success, the album failed to generate a hit single, and consequently charted at only number 35 on the Billboard 200. It was eventually certified goldby the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having shipped 500,000 copies in the United States. Well-received upon its release, Countdown to Ecstasyreceived perfect scores from music critics in retrospective reviews. Music and lyrics Like their 1972 debut album Can't Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy has a rock sound that exhibits a strong influence from jazz. It comprises uptempo, four-to-five-minute rock songs, which, apart from the bluesy vamps of "Bodhisattva" and "Show Biz Kids", are subtly textured and feature jazz-inspired interludes. Countdown to Ecstasy was the only album written by Steely Dan for a live band. "My Old School", a song about a drug bust involving Walter Becker and Donald Fagen at Bard College, features reverent horns and aggressive piano riffs and guitar solos. "The Boston Rag" develops from a jazzy song to unrefined playing by the band, including a distorted guitar solo by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter. Jim Hodder's drumming eschews rock music for pop and jazz grooves. Bop-style jazz soloing is set in the context of a pop song on "Bodhisattva". Countdown to Ecstasy also has themes similar to Can't Buy a Thrill. It explores topics such as drug abuse, class envy, and West Coast excess. "King of the World" follows the sole survivor of a nuclear explosion, and "Show Biz Kids" evaluates the Los Angeles lifestyle. "Your Gold Teeth" follows a jaded female grifter who uses her attractiveness and cunning. Music journalist Rob Sheffield said that Donald Fagen and Walter Becker's lyrics on the album portray America as "one big Las Vegas, with gangsters and gurus hustling for souls to steal." He viewed it as the first in Steely Dan's trilogy of albums that, along with Pretzel Logic (1974) and Katy Lied (1975), showcased "a film noir tour of L.A.'s decadent losers, showbiz kids, and razor boys." Erik Adams of The A.V. Club wrote that the album has a "dossier of literate lowlifes, the type of character studies that say, 'Why yes, the name Steely Dan is an allusion to a dildo described in Naked Lunch.' These characters hang around the corners of the entire Steely Dan discography, but they come into their own on Countdown to Ecstasy". The album was titled as a joke about attempts to rationalize a state of spirituality. The opening song "Bodhisattva" is about how buying and selling can lead to redemption. Its title refers to the Bodhisattva, those who have achieved spiritual perfection but who remain in the material world to help others. The song's protagonist asks them to take him by the hand and show him the "shine of your Japan / the sparkle of your China." Attracted by the lure of Eastern religion and material goods, he then pledges to sell his "house in town" in order to move and affiliate himself with the Eastern world. Fagen summarized the song's message as "Lure of East. Hubris of hippies. Quick fix". "Razor Boy" is a bitter, ironic pop song with lyrics that subtly criticize complacency and materialism. According to Ivan Kreilkamp of Spin, "Steely Dan speaks to us from that 'cold and windy day' when the trappings of hipness and sexiness fall away to reveal a lonely figure waiting for a fix. 'Will you still have a song to sing when the razor boy comes and takes your fancy things away?' Fagen asks a generation stupefied by nostalgia and self-involvement". Cover art The original cover painting was by Fagen's then-girlfriend Dorothy White. At the insistence of ABC Records president Jay Lasker, however, several figures had to be added when he found the discrepancy between five band members and three figures on the cover unacceptable. The proofs for the album cover were later stolen during a dispute over the final layout. Release and reception[edit] Countdown to Ecstasy was released in July 1973 by ABC Records in the United States and Probe Records in the United Kingdom. It was less commercially successful than Can't Buy a Thrill. The album failed to generate a hit single, and only charted at number 35 on the Billboard 200. Nonetheless, it spent 34 weeks on the chart, and was eventually certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), having shipped 500,000 copies in the United States. Countdown to Ecstasy was well received by contemporary critics. David Logan from Rolling Stone felt that the album's musical formula does not get redundant and said that, despite ordinary musicianship and occasionally absurd lyrics, Steely Dan's "control" of their basic rock format is "refreshing" and "bodes well for the group's longterm success." Billboard complimented the "studio effect" of the dual guitar playing and found the "grandiloquent vocal blend" catchy. Stereo Review called it a "really excellent album" with "witty and tasteful" arrangements, "winning" performances, "high quality" songs, and a "potent and persuasive" mix of rock, jazz, and pop styles. In Creem, Robert Christgau observed "studio-perfect licks that crackle and buzz when you listen hard" and "invariably malicious" vocals that back the group's obscure lyrics.He named Countdown to Ecstasy the ninth best album of 1973 in his year-end list for Newsday. In a retrospective review, Christgau said Steely Dan had achieved a "deceptively agreeable studio slickness" with the album, because of Fagen's replacement of Palmer, whom Christgau felt did not fit the group. In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rob Sheffield called Countdown to Ecstasy "a thoroughly amazing, hugely influential album" with "cold-blooded L.A. studio rock tricked out with jazz piano and tough guitar".Pat Blashill later wrote in Rolling Stone that the "joy in these excellent songs" and in the band's playing revealed Steely Dan to be "human, not just brainy", "like good stretches of the Stones' Exile on Main St." AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine found Countdown to Ecstasy musically "riskier" than the band's debut album and wrote that the songs are "rich with either musical or lyrical detail that their album rock or art rockcontemporaries couldn't hope to match." Chris Jones of BBC Music found Steely Dan's ideas to be "post-modern" and "erudite", and asserted that they were "setting a benchmark that few have ever matched." Music journalist Paul Lester viewed it as a progression from their debut album and wrote that "Becker and Fagen offered cruel critiques of the self-obsessed 'Me' decade", while their "blend of cool jazz and bebop, Brill Buildingsong craft and rock was unparallelled at the time (only Britain's 10cc were creating such intelligent pop in the early Seventies)". In his 1999 autobiography A Cure for Gravity, British musician Joe Jackson described Countdown to Ecstasy as a music revelation for him, bridging the gap between "pure pop" and his jazz-rock and progressive influences, while furthering his attempts at songwriting. Track listing All songs written by Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Side one "Bodhisattva" – 5:18 "Razor Boy" – 3:11 "The Boston Rag" – 5:40 "Your Gold Teeth" – 7:02 Side two "Show Biz Kids" – 5:26 "My Old School" – 5:48 "Pearl of the Quarter" – 3:50 "King of the World" – 5:04 Personnel Steely Dan Donald Fagen – acoustic and electric pianos, synthesizer, lead vocals Walter Becker – electric bass, harmonica, background vocals Denny Dias – electric guitar, mixing Jeff "Skunk" Baxter – electric and pedal steel guitars Jim Hodder – drums, percussion, background vocals Additional musicians Ray Brown – string bass on "Razor Boy" Ben Benay – acoustic guitar Rick Derringer – slide guitar on "Show Biz Kids" (recorded at Carabou Ranch, Nederland, Colorado, courtesy ofColumbia Records) Victor Feldman – vibraphone, marimba, percussion Ernie Watts, Johnny Rotella, Lanny Morgan, Bill Perkins – saxophones (6) Sherlie Matthews (6), Myrna Matthews (6), Patricia Hall (6), David Palmer, James Rolleston, Michael Fennelly – background vocals Production Producer: Gary Katz Engineer: Roger Nichols Assistant engineer: Miss Natalie Album design: Dotty of Hollywood Photography: Ed Caraeff Reissue Reissue producers: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen Remastering engineer: Roger Nichols Reissue design: Red Herring Design, New York City Consultant: Daniel Levitin Charts Album Year Chart Position (US Billboard 200) 1973 Pop Albums 35 Singles Year Single Label & number Position (US Hot 100) 1973 "My Old School" (B-side: "Pearl of the Quarter) ABC 11396 63 1973 "Show Biz Kids" (B-side: "Razor Boy") ABC 11382 61
Prefer side 2. 4 choice cuts. Bodhisattva My Old School Pearl of The Quarter King Of The World Show Biz Kids
Countdown To Ecstasy is my favourite Steely Dan album. The band sounds more comfortable and less tentative than on Thrill and they allow themselves to stretch out musically. IMO Countdown is like the anti-Can't Buy A Thrill as commercial considerations don't seem to be much of a factor here. I mean, by releasing "Show Biz Kids" as the lead single they had to know that radio stations weren't going to go near a song where the key line drops an F-bomb. The Dan were doing what they wanted at this point, and who cares if the album wasn't as successful as its predecessor. "Bodhisattva"- I can't imagine this album starting any other way. It's a humourous song that seems to be taking the piss out of the whole "raise your consciousness" movement. Or it could be simpler than that, maybe Fagen (who wrote the song by himself) just has much of a thing for Asian women as I do! He plays some cool piano as well, and I howled with laughter when I read about how they destroyed the ARP synth used in the solo when they were finished recording the track Dias' and Baxter's fingers are smoking on the fretboards as well- great harmonizing, great layering of the guitars here. "Razor Boy" - another Latin-tinged track that apparently started off as reggae. As he did on Can't Buy A Thrill, Jeff Baxter plays some funky pedal steel (probably the highlight of the song for me). A sign of things to come, Walter Becker sits this song out. "The Boston Rag" - I love this song. Most days I can never decide which is my favourite Steely Dan song, this one or the following track. Again, we've got the trademark funny, sardonic lyrics (I always chuckle at the verse about Lonnie Yongue, Fagen's old Bard College roommate who Donald apparently is still in contact with today). But that solo! Pure amp distortion to the max- Baxter fried his amp playing that solo, and it is one of the dirtiest, most pissed off sounding tones I've ever come across (Keith Richards should be so lucky). This is my favourite Skunk Baxter solo. "Your Gold Teeth" - More Latin/jazz influence. This song is a trip. For years I thought the off sounding chord Fagen plays following the Cathy Berberian line was a mistake- nope, it's intentional, which is hilarious. Denny Dias plays the guitar solo, and this, ladies and gentlemen, is my hands down numero uno favourite guitar solo in a Steely Dan song. Don't ask me why, I just think it's awesome- tone, phrasing, the lot. "Rag" and "Teeth" are invariably songs I find it impossible not to play over again once they're finished. "Show Biz Kids" - This is the only song on the album I don't like. The repetition of the eight bar loop they used as the backing track -even though I understand why they did it that way- annoys the bejesus out of me after the first couple of minutes. Don't get me wrong, "Show Biz Kids" is a great song, I just don't care for the execution of the basic track. I much prefer the arrangement the Dan uses for it now- brings out the funk more: "My Old School" - another funny song...I suppose you can't blame Becker and Fagen for being slightly bitter about their experiences at Bard- this song is a great two fingered salute. The horn section steals the show, especially their response to the "California tumbles into the sea" line Baxter played the solo on a guitar he built himself right before the session, by the way. "Pearl Of The Quarter" - it's songs like this one and "With A Gun" on the next album that actually makes me wish Steely Dan did a full country album, it's a style they manage to pull off pretty well. Interesting premise for a song, by the way- a guy who's in love with a prostitute and doesn't mind her choice of work. Again, these guys were -what?- 23, 24 years old when they wrote these songs? "King Of The World" - for me, this is the most "dated" sounding song on the album, and the only other tune I can take or leave other than "Show Biz Kids". I think it's the synth and wah wah guitars that date it for me. Another interesting premise for a song- the last man on Earth scenario. Anybody seen the movie (Panic In Year Zero) Becker and Fagen based the song on?
I love Countdown (and Thrill to a lesser extent) and it's almost supplanted Pretzel as my favourite SD LP (though the songs on that album are so good). I think they should have kept the core band going for longer..... Countdown was the album around when I first really heard them on UK radio (and then, not much).
My favorites on this one are Bodhisattva, The Boston Rag, Show Biz Kids, My Old School & King of the World.
Probably my joint favourite SD album along with Gaucho. Those two have the highest quotient of losers and scumbags, which is where Don and Walt excel and what I pay the entry fee for. The band's actual performance is a step up from the debut, mostly down to Skunk's guitar-playing. It's been said before but it's worth repeating that as much joy as the jazz-chops players from Dias and Becker to Carlton and Parks bring, no one makes it sing on a Steely Dan record more than Baxter. With that in mind, I'd like to nominate the guitar solo on 'The Boston Rag' as the greatest ever played by a human being and captured on tape.
As much as I love the "Your Gold Teeth" solo, I admit sometimes I am hard pressed as to which I like more- the "Teeth" solo or the "Rag" solo. Just can't decide, dammit!
My three favorite tracks; BODHISATTVA: a notable guitar orientated song that simply made me say DAMN! The first guitar solo was vintage Denny Dias with long slurry bebop lines. Absolutely fantastic playing. The second solo Jeff "Skunk" Baxter opens with sparse notes before diving into some speedier picking, tasty double stops to top it off with an addictive repeating lick. MY OLD SCHOOL: Though the details of the inspiration of the song are somewhat obscure (Incident of the narc/drug raid at Bard) many probably related to the song as a good ridden or graduation song. Heh But Jeff Skunk really hit a home run with this solo. In guitar player (1980), Jeff noted using his ”homemade strat-style” he built to be recorded direct-to-console . BOSTON RAG: Over the years, and often as a youngster - I learned to play much by ear. I would listen to a song and then pick up a guitar and mimic what I heard. The intro grabbed by attention beginning on a slash chord (F/G) and it required me to listen to the song a few times to separate the bass notes from the chords. I found the music well thought out. The lyrics interested me as much as Jeff’s solo with that soaked fuzz. (What I have read over the years) During his freshman year at Bard College a guy named Lonnie Yongue was his dorm neighbor; who was noted as quite the partier. And one he somewhat befriended. The song notes the kingpin being one named Lonnie who went on such a bender (he may have overdosed) he didn’t wake up for days. Donald was studying English Literature at Bard yet at the time was “miserable” and something triggered the notion of studying music. It was said Lonnie helped persuade Donald to pursue music more seriously. The next summer Donald attended a course at Berklee College of Music in Boston - but it was a short stint. Donald noted, Donald returned to Bard, though he also took a few music courses there and that is where he eventually met a guitarist at the college music club, Walter Becker. The rest is history. Bring back the Boston Rag: this may simply be an amalgamation of memories of Donald’s during his College years. He may be generally recalling an influential spell in Boston and recalling Lonnie and those crazy parties. Walter Becker may have introduced some ideas since the lyrics seems to jump from Boston to a vision of New York City, “So I pointed my car down Seventh Avenue”.
Yes, Countdown! *THIS* is the first fully formed album that sounds 100% like STEELY DAN. And also, to put it simply, this album effing ROCKS. From the opener "Bhodisattva" to the final "King of the World," there's not a duff track the album (in my opinion). Some of the Dan's best guitar work on the album, too, including the solos in "Bhodisattva," "The Boston Rag" (one of my favorite songs, and no, not just because the word "Boston" is in the title!), and "My Old School." The snarl of "Show Biz Kids," the simmering intensity of "Your Gold Teeth," and the songs where it truly sounds like Fagen and Becker have hit their stride make this the first of the stone cold CLASSIC Steely Dan albums.
^^But just what is the Boston Rag? And why does the author/his character wants us to "bring it back"? My own Steely Dan pet lyrics mystery/obsession... And what is that rhythm style on the blues changes in the guitar solo section (basically at the beginning of the section)? Sort of like a tango... but not really... Sounds like some very old rhythm style employed in jazz I guess... Anyway, CtE is still not quite "up there" for me, in the SD catalogue. Wonderful yes, but I never really liked My Old School, though the lyrics are great. Bodhisattva is a brilliant blues, but I've grown tired of hearing it constantly. MOS and B are lo-o-ong tracks... I agree with ohnothimagen about King Of The World. The thing is I've always had a soft spot for it, especially the synth melody of the chorus (probably because I'm a classic prog fan), but the rest does sound dated, for the day and for this group, and I wish it had been produced/performed in a different way. I think I enjoy the other songs left just as much as anybody else here thus far. But the crown achievement of this album for me is Show Biz Kids. My first real exposure to SD - the first album I bought - was the Greatest Hits, in 1978. Besides the big hits I was already familiar with, I think the song I had never heard previously that impressed me the most in the whole already fascinating set was SBK. That loop with the twisted words just mesmerized me (it still does). It made the track sound like absolutely nothing else I had ever heard. Later on, our little kids even requested this particular song to be played on the stereo from time to time! Yet many years later, my knowledge of English improved somehow to the point where I could actually get the lyrics for the first time, so I got to love the song even more!..
