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Countdown to Ecstasy

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Untitled
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[1]
Robert Christgau(A)[2]
Rolling Stone[3]

Countdown to Ecstasy is the second album by rock group Steely Dan, released in July 1973. The album was written and recorded in rushed sessions between live concerts and produced two Billboard Hot 100 hits, "Show Biz Kids" and "My Old School," which have continued to be popular both on radio and in concert.

The album was originally released in two-channel stereo and also in a special four-channel quadrophonic mix. There are some significant musical differences between the two mixes.

The song "My Old School" was reportedly inspired by an incident during some of the band members' college attendance. In its March 24, 2006 edition, Entertainment Weekly details a return trip to Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York by Donald Fagen, in which he describes a raid by sheriff's deputies in May 1969.[4] Fagen, Steely Dan bandmate Walter Becker, and some 50 other students were arrested. Charges were dropped, but the harassment was the origin of the grudge alluded to in "My Old School." Fagen was reportedly so upset with the school being complicit with the arrests that he refused to attend graduation. The same article speculates that a Bard professor's wife, Rikki Ducornet, was the inspiration for "Rikki Don't Lose That Number."

A live version of the song "Bodhisattva" was used as the B-side for both "Hey Nineteen" and "Babylon Sisters", released as singles in the 1980s.

Both "Bodhisattva" and "My Old School" are playable tracks in the video game Rock Band 2, the latter as downloadable content.

The cover art to the album originally included only the three pink figures seated up front, but because there were five musicians who played on the album (they are pictured on the back) the two ghostly figures to the left were added by the record company to "balance" it out.

Track listing

All songs written by Becker and Fagen.

Side one

  1. "Bodhisattva" – 5:19
  2. "Razor Boy" – 3:11
  3. "The Boston Rag" – 5:40
  4. "Your Gold Teeth" – 7:02

Side two

  2. "Show Biz Kids" – 5:25
  3. "My Old School" – 5:47
  4. "Pearl of the Quarter" – 3:50
  5. "King of the World" – 5:04

Personnel

Steely Dan

Covers

Production

  • Producer: Gary Katz
  • Engineer: Roger Nichols
  • Assistant engineer - Miss Natalie
  • Album design: Dotty of Hollywood
  • Photography: Ed Caraeff

Reissue

  • Reissue Producers: Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
  • Remastering engineer: Roger Nichols
  • Reissue design: Red Herring Design, New York City
  • Consultant: Daniel Levitin

Charts

Album

Year Chart Position
1973 Pop Albums 35

Pop Singles

Year Single Label & number Position
1973 "My Old School" (B-side: "Pearl Of The Quarter) ABC 11396 63
1973 "Show Biz Kids" (B-side: "Razor Boy") ABC 11382 61

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Robert Christgau review
  3. ^ Rolling Stone review
  4. ^ Back to Annadale
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