Description

Donald Fagen will forever be associated with Steely Dan the band he formed with Walter Becker and four other musicians in 1972

The smooth radiofriendly veneer of the duos songs made Steely Dan internationally popular and famous in the 1970s but the polish glossed over the underlying layers of anger disappointment sleaze and often downright weirdness lurking just beneath the surface The elliptical lyrics wereand continue to bean endless source of fascination What kind of person was capable of writing such songs

Fagen has always kept his true self hidden behind walls of irony confounding most journalistic enquiries with a mixture of obscurity and sarcasm Nightfly cracks open the door to reveal the life behind the lyrics and traces Fagens story from early family life in suburban New Jersey to his first encounter with Walter Becker at Bard College their long struggle for recognition as songwriters and the formation of Steely Dan The bands breakup in 1981 reformation in 1993 and Fagens parallel solo career are covered in detail