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l've never thought of Steely Dan's 70s music as laid back. I say its their balanced style that turns off the kind of music listeners that are mostly staying in their corner expecting for everything to be like what they're used to. I frequently see others mention Prince & Steely Dan as their favorite artists. I grew up with a lot of Prince and I like a lot of his songs. I had his debut as the only Prince LP in my top 500, but he would peak later on inconsistent albums (1979-1984).
Henry, how can you say that David Palmer does the singing on Reeling In The Years? He only sings 2 songs on that album and clearly that's not one of them. I also disagree about the rhythm. They don't rely on it, but there's still a lot of it. I still don't understand why some describe them as complex/difficult and others say stiff/predictable. An example of the balance that I'm talking about.
Steely Dan's first single was Dallas/Sail the Waterway in '72. Dlrty Work was never a single or b-side.