Album: Can't Buy A ThrillAvg rating:
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Length: 3:50
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Step on in and let me shake your hand
So glad that you're here again
For one more time
Let your madness run with mine
Streets still unseen we'll find somehow
No time is better than now
CHORUS:
Tell me where are you driving
Midnight cruiser
Where is your bounty
Of fortune and fame
I am another
Gentlemen loser
Drive me to Harlem
Or somewhere the same
The world that we used to know
People tell me it don't turn no more
The places we used to go
Familiar faces that ain't smilin' like before
The time of our time has come and gone
I fear we been waiting too long
CHORUS
Hey Eileen,
You got that right. This 1st album is ground breaking.
Other than the Beatles, Dylan, Mitchel, Morrison,...what other bands put out seven great albums in a row?
Reckon would fit right into the Harry Potter universe!
..........Outstanding ..............
Agreed, with the proviso that I have never lost this album, in the almost 50 years I have owned it . . . pxd
just the opening verse makes this song one of their best
which means this in the universal list of best songs ever
ha
Drive me to Harlem or somewhere the same
Becker and Fagan: composers as good as Lennon and McCartney (puts on Nomex suit ...) who surrounded themselves with first-rate musicians.
As composers and high-end musicians, blow Lennon and McCartney out of the firmament. As songwriters, Lennon and McCartney remain unrivaled gods.
Night time, high out of our gourds, welding goggles on, in a Ming-era ancient Chinese walled city, pedaling recliner bikes through the cobblestone streets with an mp3 player and speakers in the basket of one of the bikes along with a half dozen cold beers. Rolling out of our domicile and through an arched stone gate into the main drag just as the solo hit. All the locals turning and smiling, stepping aside, accustomed to our antics in their town. I know everyone has their memory to tie to this song, and this is mine!
Bill just mentioned this comment! It's fun mental picture.
Agreed! That entire album is great.
..........Outstanding ..............
Well said!!! And a great segue from Miles Davis.
RIP, Walter Becker
Ahhh, you are not familiar with Felonius? It is to weep...
Of course excluding AC DC's: "Shook Me All night Long".
yes and yes
I guess that he must have been better at acting. Damn, he must have been a really bad drummer!
Kidding aside, I think CC fell into a rut. I always though that Bill Murray had way more potential, but always hope for a bit better run for Chevy.
Apparently he was a better keyboard player than a drummer.
The_jake wrote:
"What a coincidence. This just happened again this week. Same band and venue."
The 2015 concert was still kick ass. It looked like the entire venue was suspended inside the clouds. Trippy.
Thanks, I did not know that. Wikipedia: Sprawl trilogy - William Gibson - Story elements.
What a coincidence. This just happened again this week. Same band and venue.
I'm not a big SD fan, but I'm digging this.
"Thelonious my old friend"...
So freakin cryptic. So freakin cool.
i think they stopped touring after their 2nd album
From Wikipedia: A rift began growing between Becker-Fagen and Steely Dan's other members, who wanted to tour. Becker and Fagen disliked constant touring and wanted to concentrate solely on writing and recording. The other members gradually left the band, discouraged by this and by their diminishing roles in the studio. Steely Dan's last tour performance was on July 4, 1974, a concert at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California."
This was after Pretzel Logic, which was their 3rd album. Obviously they started touring once again - guess the money was running a bit short.
i think they stopped touring after their 2nd album
I mean, who start's a song with the lyrics:
"Thelonious my old friend, step on in and let me shake your hand.
So glad that you're here again, For one more time
Let your madness run with mine"
And watch out for guitar playing bodhisattvas!
It's just weird hearing a Steely Dan song without Fagen on the vocals!!
Too bad it suffers from a really *thin* sound quality. Compressed and distant ...
Drive me to Harlem or somewhere the same
Becker and Fagan: composers as good as Lennon and McCartney (puts on Nomex suit ...) who surrounded themselves with first-rate musicians.
Lennon & McCartney? Not for me, sorry. Another mediocre SD song.
Drive me to Harlem or somewhere the same
Becker and Fagan: composers as good as Lennon and McCartney (puts on Nomex suit ...) who surrounded themselves with first-rate musicians.
Can't Buy a Thrill is an anomaly in the Steely Dan catalog, the one album featuring the group's original lead singer, David Palmer. (Ironically, even here, Palmer sings only two of the album's ten songs solo, as well as a couple more duets with Donald Fagen.) However, the album is equally notable for including one song, "Midnight Cruiser," sung by the Dan's original drummer, Jim Hodder. Hodder (who as it happens also sang the lead on Steely Dan's debut single, "Dallas" — Donald Fagen was uncomfortable in the role of frontman at the beginning of the band's career) is an undistinguished vocalist, which makes him oddly perfect for "Midnight Cruiser," otherwise the most undistinguished song on the entire album. It's not a bad song, really, it's just musically faceless (the melody is highly reminiscent of Runt-era Todd Rundgren, and the production is oddly redolent of the smooth pop/rock of Carole King's Tapestry; good company, but still...) and the lyrics are not among Fagen and Walter Becker's most memorable. The slickly competent but lightweight "Midnight Cruiser" is probably what ABC Records thought they were getting with Steely Dan, which must have made the art-jazz explorations of Countdown to Ecstasy a rude surprise.
worth a "bump"
I have been a lifelong Dan fan since buying this album in '72. Wow, 42 years ago!!! 
True definition of GODLIKE.
Agreed that Steely Dan is a terrific live show which surprised me since they had the reputation of being studio wizards.
One of my fav SD songs I CANNOT GO THERE WITH YOU
Diggin' the Dan!
I saw them a couple of weeks ago at Ravinia (Chicago area). They are surely the tightest outfit touring today. Unbelievable musicianship and I really never realized how good Becker's guitar chops really are. That was a treat to hear him live.
However, that being said, some parts of the show really did feel like they were parodying themselves. Parts of the show were extraordinarily corny and hokey, and they had some pretty bad interpretations of some really good songs. Oh well, greatness can't continue unabated I suppose. Just ask my liver.
Does anyone else hear (Lee Michaels) âª"Do You Know What I Mean?" on the first 4-5 notes of this song?
I don't think its Becker singing, is it?
No. It's Jim Hodder.
I guess that he must have been better at acting. Damn, he must have been a really bad drummer!
Kidding aside, I think CC fell into a rut. I always though that Bill Murray had way more potential, but always hope for a bit better run for Chevy.
Oh the memories. I'm sure I still have this LP somewhere, even though I don't have a turntable anymore.
Ditto. I bought this in (about) 1974...it will always be part of the tapestry of my life.
This was released on Steely Dan's first LP - Can't Buy a Thrill in 1972
Oh the memories. I'm sure I still have this LP somewhere, even though I don't have a turntable anymore.
Can't Buy a Thrill is an anomaly in the Steely Dan catalog, the one album featuring the group's original lead singer, David Palmer. (Ironically, even here, Palmer sings only two of the album's ten songs solo, as well as a couple more duets with Donald Fagen.) However, the album is equally notable for including one song, "Midnight Cruiser," sung by the Dan's original drummer, Jim Hodder. Hodder (who as it happens also sang the lead on Steely Dan's debut single, "Dallas" — Donald Fagen was uncomfortable in the role of frontman at the beginning of the band's career) is an undistinguished vocalist, which makes him oddly perfect for "Midnight Cruiser," otherwise the most undistinguished song on the entire album. It's not a bad song, really, it's just musically faceless (the melody is highly reminiscent of Runt-era Todd Rundgren, and the production is oddly redolent of the smooth pop/rock of Carole King's Tapestry; good company, but still...) and the lyrics are not among Fagen and Walter Becker's most memorable. The slickly competent but lightweight "Midnight Cruiser" is probably what ABC Records thought they were getting with Steely Dan, which must have made the art-jazz explorations of Countdown to Ecstasy a rude surprise.
That's all well and good, but I still feel that this pre-golden-era-Dan beats the pants off of most of the post-Gaucho albums, and possibly even Gaucho itself.
Later Dan tends to be more and more staccato, with less melody, and this song just flows and lives.
Can't Buy a Thrill is an anomaly in the Steely Dan catalog, the one album featuring the group's original lead singer, David Palmer. (Ironically, even here, Palmer sings only two of the album's ten songs solo, as well as a couple more duets with Donald Fagen.) However, the album is equally notable for including one song, "Midnight Cruiser," sung by the Dan's original drummer, Jim Hodder. Hodder (who as it happens also sang the lead on Steely Dan's debut single, "Dallas" — Donald Fagen was uncomfortable in the role of frontman at the beginning of the band's career) is an undistinguished vocalist, which makes him oddly perfect for "Midnight Cruiser," otherwise the most undistinguished song on the entire album. It's not a bad song, really, it's just musically faceless (the melody is highly reminiscent of Runt-era Todd Rundgren, and the production is oddly redolent of the smooth pop/rock of Carole King's Tapestry; good company, but still...) and the lyrics are not among Fagen and Walter Becker's most memorable. The slickly competent but lightweight "Midnight Cruiser" is probably what ABC Records thought they were getting with Steely Dan, which must have made the art-jazz explorations of Countdown to Ecstasy a rude surprise.
this one deserves a 7 because it's too tedious, as described below.
I don't think its Becker singing, is it?
this one deserves a 7 because it's too tedious, as described below.
So glad that your here again for one more time let your madness run with mine"
Steely Life
Thelonious, my old friend, as in Thelonious Monk!
This song, though... not one of their more notable ones.
Not one of their bigger hits, and it's a bit slow-paced by today's standards, but still a great sound with great lyrics. I used to hate Steely Dan for some reason, but they've really grown on me over the years.
So glad that your here again for one more time let your madness run with mine"
Steely Life
A friend of mine has been in the lighting, stage and sound business his entire adult life and he tells me that every self respecting sound stage crew uses Steely Dan for their sound checks.
This was released on Steely Dan's first LP - Can't Buy a Thrill in 1972
This one's got no words, just a number......10!!
Thanks for sharing Stefen.......
Night time, high out of our gourds, welding goggles on, in a Ming-era ancient Chinese walled city, pedaling recliner bikes through the cobblestone streets with an mp3 player and speakers in the basket of one of the bikes along with a half dozen cold beers. Rolling out of our domicile and through an arched stone gate into the main drag just as the solo hit. All the locals turning and smiling, stepping aside, accustomed to our antics in their town. I know everyone has their memory to tie to this song, and this is mine!
Great memorance....thanks so much for sharing.
Made me feel like I was there.....
This song, though... not one of their more notable ones.
I'm with you friend! Classic song, classic album!
sorry I was lost there a sec, a tune some time back that sounded like Captain Beefheart?
Watch it, ptooey. You're talking about the men I love...
Yup, I know what you mean. Strange but moving. Where are you going midnight cruiser?
Correcto-MUN-do!
I found a streaming version here: https://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3920
The vocals and solos in the original dominate, IMO.
Night time, high out of our gourds, welding goggles on, in a Ming-era ancient Chinese walled city, pedaling recliner bikes through the cobblestone streets with an mp3 player and speakers in the basket of one of the bikes along with a half dozen cold beers. Rolling out of our domicile and through an arched stone gate into the main drag just as the solo hit. All the locals turning and smiling, stepping aside, accustomed to our antics in their town. I know everyone has their memory to tie to this song, and this is mine!
well in all fairness he did choose the username "UltraNurd" ....
What he said. I was in a poor musical state when I got to college and was introduced to SD and nothing was the same after that.
I must admit: it took me 20 years to understand that Steely Dan is indeed a wonderful band.
...and another 10 years to know what a (!) "STEELY DAN" is.
But that´s not an appropiate subject for the American market!
These Americans....hahaaaa!
vibrator, vibrator, vibrator...there you go Stingray. You Germans, hahahaha
I must admit: it took me 20 years to understand that Steely Dan is indeed a wonderful band.
...and another 10 years to know what a (!) "STEELY DAN" is.
But that´s not an appropiate subject for the American market!
These Americans....hahaaaa!
Original drummer Jim Hodder is the vocalist (see first post wa-a-a-a-ay down below...). Don't know about the bridge.
Well, depending on how canonical you consider the "Enterprise" episode "Acquisition", the Federation (and therefore Spock) had no formal contact with the Ferengi until the events of "The Last Outpost" from TNG's first season.
Hey Eileen,
You got that right. This 1st album is ground breaking.
Other than the Beatles, Dylan, Mitchel, Morrison,...what other bands put out seven great albums in a row?
Interesting you limited it the first 7!