I have several questions to ask concerning Steely Dan:

What Steely Dan tracks did Woody Herman's band cover on the Chick, Donald, Walter and Woodrow album?

The tracks Woody Herman's band covered are: Green Earrings, Kid Charlemagne, I Got The News, Aja and FM.

On the New Year's Eve edition of "Whistle Test," Reelin' In The Years was shown and dated as 1978. This obviously can't be from 1978 as the band consisted of all the original members, plus the fact that they stopped touring in 1974. When was this film made and are there any video tapes of Steely Dan commercially available?

1978? A "Whistle Test" blooper! An earlier version I saw of that particular piece of film was dated 1972, but I don't know where it was shot. I'm not aware of any commercially available videos of Steely Dan in action, though Roger Nichols was working on one of them in the studio around 1980 when legal complications put an end to that project. Let's hope this situation is remedied forthwith!

Is the David Palmer mentioned on the Danny Wilson record credits the same one who sang with Steely Dan? And is David Palmer's Big Wha-Koo still going, and if not, what is he now doing?

I don't know for certain, but I would doubt it's the same David Palmer. Does anyone out there know what has happened to the Big Wha-Koo and Dave Palmer?

Was it Rosie Vela who appeared in the film Heaven's Gate playing a "beautiful girl."

Yes, she was credited as Roseanne Vela and it was definitely her. I'd recognize that hair anywhere!

David King of Abingdon, Oxon, writes:

What was the origin of Here At The Western World which only appears on Greatest Hits? And secondly, am I right in assuming that the original Dallas/Sail The Waterway singles were mono, as they are on the Plus Fours 12"?

Year(sic) of the Western World was originally slated for inclusion on The Royal Scam. Donald Fagen said in a 1977 Sounds interview, "We had it laying around and we liked it a lot but it didn't fit on Scam and we thought we had too many songs in that tempo on this album (Aja) so it's still sitting around. We'll get it out sooner or later."

Certainly a stereo version of Dallas exists, as it's to be found on one side of a white-label promo copy of that single. As for Sail The Waterway, I can't say.

Al Smith of Rotherham, South Yorkshire, writes:

Whose is the extra hand on the Countdown To Ecstasy photo, as pictured on the back cover of the October '87 issue of Metal Leg?

The extra hand on the board belongs to Roger Nichols.

Should Berry Town (last Metal Leg) in fact be Barry Town?

As I see it, there are two possibilities here: one is that Becker and Fagen altered the phonetics of the name when the song finally appeared on Pretzel Logic; (Barrytown is much better in my opinion) the other is that it's a pure misprint on Bellaphon's part.

Murray Coelho of Romford, Essex, asks:

Do you know what Steely Dan songbooks are available?

Songbooks include: Steely Dan Vol. 1 (Can't Buy A Thrill/Countdown to Ecstasy); Vol. 2 (Pretzel Logic/Katy Lied); Double Deluxe (Royal Scam/Aja); Complete to Aja; Gaucho; The Nightfly; The Great Songs of Steey Dan. Anyone know of any others?

Last modified on Mon Apr 15 16:01:48 1996