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Donald Fagen

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Donald Fagen was born on 10 January 1948 in Passaic, New Jersey. He grew up in a new suburb, which he experienced as a prison. His first record was Reelin' and Rockin' by Chuck Berry, but after a visit to the Newport Jazz Festival he became, as he put it himself, a jazz snob. As a teenager he went to concerts by Charles Mingus, Thelonious Monk and Miles Davis in New York. Later he also fell under the spell of soul, funk and Motown.

Music and breakthrough

At Bard College he met Walter Becker in 1967. Together they first worked as songwriters, and in 1970 they started Steely Dan, named after an object from a novel by William S. Burroughs. Fagen sang and played keyboards, and the two wrote all the songs. After 1974 Steely Dan became a studio project in which Becker and Fagen worked with an ever-changing cast of session musicians. Aja (1977) became their best-selling album, followed by Gaucho. After the split in 1981 Fagen made the solo album The Nightfly (1982), inspired by his suburban childhood and his love of late-night radio. Later followed Kamakiriad (1993), Morph the Cat (2006) and Sunken Condos (2012).

Influence

Fagen and Becker brought jazz harmonies into the pop song and had their songs played by a changing group of top musicians. In this way the studio became their real instrument. In 2001 Steely Dan was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. After Becker's death in 2017 Fagen continued to perform under the band name until 2024.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to I.G.Y. from The Nightfly (1982). Notice the rich jazz chords beneath a relaxed pop rhythm, and the lyrics, which look back with a wink at the optimistic vision of the future of the late 1950s.

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

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Mentioned in other articles

See also

Categories: Artists