In 1977, there was an ill punk rock wind blowing through the music industry. The Sex Pistols and the Ramones were shocking music fans, much like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones had shocked parents in the 1960s, with their brash, abrasive music and threatening lyrics. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker were quietly tucked away for months in a recording studio in Los Angeles during the first year of the Carter Administration. That Johnny Rotten ill wind would have no impact on their jazz influenced, well wrought perfectionism.
Fagen and Becker met in college in 1967 and quickly formed a musical bond. After a stint touring with Jay and the Americans, they were hired as staff songwriters for ABC Records. Recognizing that their music was too complex for most of the label’s artists, Steely Dan was formed as an avenue to release the duo’s songs. For the benefit of young, sensitive readers, I will not describe the origin of the band’s name. Google is your friend.
By 1977, the band had released five albums, receiving consistent critical praise and had Top Ten pop outings with “Do It Again” and “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.” However, their 1975 and 1976 albums (Katy Lied and The Royal Scam) had only yielded one minor hit, the ominous “Black Friday” which snuck up to #37 on the pop charts. The Aja album, with the lead single “Peg,” would spark a commercial resurgence for the band, selling over five million units.
Which leads us to why we are here today. “Peg” has thrown a monkey wrench earworm into my cosmic brainpan for the better part of the past year. It bubbles under, resurfaces, then bebops to and fro. It’s my favorite foreign movie.
There are 37 musicians credited on the Aja album. Regarding the recording process, Rick Marotta, “You go in there and you play and you try to get into it and they’ll say, ‘Yeah, that’s really good,’ and then the next day somebody else is doing it – a whole other band. It wasn’t like they played musical chairs with the guys in the band, they played musical bands. A whole band would go and a whole incredible other band would come in.”
Starting with a twelve-bar blues piano progression, Fagen incorporated jazz chords and a swing band style chorus into “Peg.” Chuck Rainey’s melodic bass playing is prominently displayed, while Jay Graydon contributed a Polynesian pedal steel influenced guitar solo. It has been said that Michael McDonald’s chorus vocals were overdubbed 13 times, to replicate the number of horns in a big band. Instead of sounding like a mish mash of influences, the song works seamlessly as a contemporary 1970s pop song. Additionally, the engineering of the record is remarkable. Every minor musical nuance is crystal clear.
Lyrically, “Peg” is as literal or as impressionistic as you want it to be. Car radio listeners could simply hum the words about a movie star. More intent fans could ponder the relationship between the narrator and the girl – what kind of letter did she send him? And what kind of clues were “pin shot” and “blueprint blue”? Is the song about a pin up model, an aspiring actress, or an adult film star.
If you’ve forgotten how superbly that Steely Dan combined Los Angeles studio musicianship with their own brilliant take on jazz influenced pop and rock music, give “Peg” a listen. It will come back to you.