The one constant, abiding factor in the music and cool of Steely Dan is the partnership between its main members and driving force, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker.
From the first meeting of the pair in 1967 at college, they have forged a magical relationship, on a par with the great songwriting duos in the world of music.
In the recording studio, they have appeared to go over the top in painfully seeking perfection. They famously hired and fired session musicians almost by the dozen when recording albums, striving for that perfect sound that either of them had in their mind at that time. Every last bar of music had to be just right, and while it made for the peerless music we love them for, it must have caused both of them much agony.
In fact Becker fell victim to the 'LA lifestyle', having a self confessed drug problem in the mid to late seventies, and Fagen has suffered from long periods where he has been unable to satisfactorily make the music he wanted to.
This makes it even more amazing that they have returned to form in the last 5 years in such style.
Although Fagen made two classic solo albums 10 years apart, and Becker has done much production work as well as a solo project of his own, their best work seemed to occur when they worked together, and we have the New York Rock and Soul Revue to thank for getting them back together again on stage.
Again, the way they have enthusiastically thrown themselves into live work again despite the reticence of the early years, is truly astounding, and the shows have not let us down.
They can at times appear impatient with media when asked the usual vapid and inane questions, but they could go on stage as a comedy double act. You wouldn't get any toillet humour mind you, but they would keep you entertained all the same.
I conclude that during the years that they did not work together, the pair realised that without their 'other half', they were not at their creative best. It is to our benefit as fans that they gravitated back together, and hopefully they will continue in their present vein for many years to come.
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