John Peel Wiki

Changes to the look of John Peel Wiki will take place in the near future due to a new skin being rolled out over Oct/Nov across Wikia. Please see the Wikia Staff Blog for further details. On this site, the changes will affect the navigation from the left menu, as well as introduce a fixed page width with narrower content space. Please be patient while adjustments are made for the switch to the new system.

UPDATE: As the change is now in force for some users, I have switched the navigation to the simplified one for the new system. Please check Navigation in the Help section if you can't find things. I also initially made small adjustments to the front page layout, but have now reverted to the old look until all users are on the new system.

COUNTDOWN: Just a reminder for people still using Monaco that the final switch to the new skin is due on Nov. 3. After that, it will no longer be offered as an option. Sorry. Nothing to do with me.

Steve W

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Steely Dan

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Steely Dan

Steely Dan

Steely Dan is an American jazz rock/rock band founded by core members Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, and their seven albums over that period of time blended elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop. Rolling Stone has called them "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies".

Recorded with a revolving cast of session musicians, Steely Dan's music is characterized by complex jazz-influenced structures and harmonies.....[They] toured from 1972 to 1974 before retiring from live performances, becoming a studio-only band. After the group disbanded in 1981, Becker and Fagen were less active throughout most of the next decade, though a cult following remained devoted to the group.... They have sold more than 40 million albums worldwide and were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in March 2001. (Read more at Wikipedia)

Links to Peel[]

Although we do not have recorded comments on Steely Dan made by Peel, logs indicate that he was at least a little bit interested in them: he was one of the only DJs to play their first single "Dallas " in 1972, an obscure song which would not even be included in their debut album "Can't Buy A Thrill " later the same year (and would later be disowned by Fagen and Becker themselves who, to date, still refuse to include it in any CD). The song's title may have had resonances for Peel, who retained memories of his time living in Dallas during his early twenties.

The title of their first album is a quote from one of Peel's favourite Bob Dylan songs, "It Takes A Lot To Laugh,It Takes A Train To Cry". He also played all of the first side of the band's fifth studio release "The Royal Scam" in April 1976, a few days before it came out. Perhaps their work was too close to the "adult-oriented rock" of 1970s FM radio to retain his interest after that, although it was widely praised in the music press and played on the radio by DJs such as Bob Harris and Johnnie Walker.

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Other Shows Played[]

(Please add more information if known)

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