40 years ago today (6/21/81), Walter Becker and Donald Fagen announced the split of Steely Dan as Fagen would begin work on this solo album – the wondrous The Nightfly (released 10/1/82). The rest of the ’80s would be silent for Beck and Fagen on the music front until they reconverged in 1993, as Becker would produce Fagen’s second solo LP Kamakiriad, which would result in a full-blown Steely Dan reunion tour in 1993.
The duo wouldn’t release a proper new Steely Dan album till 2000’s Two Against Nature, yet this first era which ended in 1981, produced some of studio rock’s most magnetic moments. On the other side of the coin, check out this gawky yet entertaining performance of the original Dan in 1973 on broadcast TV…
