Still in Rotation: Pretzel Logic (Steely Dan)
Still in Rotation is a feature that lets talented writers tell Midlife Mixtape readers about an album they discovered years ago that’s still in heavy rotation, and why it has such staying power.
I know Jen Kehl through her “Twisted Tuesday Mixtape” meme – a weekly linkup invitation to the musically minded to create a playlist and liner notes on their own blog, on a subject of her choosing. It’s great fun to see the variety of viewpoints on themes like “stalker song” or “best cover songs,” so check it out and throw your own hat into the ring! For S.I.R., she’s gone way WAY back into the archives.
Still in Rotation: Pretzel Logic (1974)
I was four years old, an impressionable introvert who spent most of her time hidden under her father’s gigantic stereo headphones, when Pretzel Logic by Steely Dan was released.
I identified easily with this “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” about a little girl who couldn’t, shouldn’t lose a number. The song ran like a movie in my head. Rikki had to keep that number, she clutched it tightly in her hand as she sat in the back seat of a car. And she didn’t want to call anyone else. It was the only one she owned. Even now, when I hear that song, I see Rikki sitting at a glass desk writing a letter to herself.
Lyrics were never what they appeared to be. But to a four year old lost in the lilting harmonies of the cascading jazz ninth chords, “We can stay inside and play games, I don’t know” was an irresistible invitation to sit on a white shag carpet and play Candyland, while the rain fell outside.
Pretzel Logic became my soundtrack. My father pushed my little desk up to the record player, and I would sit with my headphones on, listening to that album over and over. No crayons, no books, just me and the music.
photo credit: Myles Schneider
As the Icons of Irony, Steely Dan was the Alternative Band of the 70′s. While everyone was playing rock ‘n roll or disco, these guys were playing their own blend of jazz and rock. This was music unlike anything that had been played. I also enjoyed their confounding lyrics. It’s like reading and re-reading your favorite novel. Each time you get a little more out of it, but the movie you play in your head is your very own.
Beyond “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” I gravitated to “Any Major Dude Will Tell You.” When I hear the opening guitar of Any Major Dude, I feel the strumming in my heart. It’s the kind of music that forces me to tilt my head in order to process the whole song completely. And at four, I thought that song was about a Major in the army. But it didn’t matter because it was about the music, and the music never ever let go.
As I got older, one of my requirements for a mate was a love of Steely Dan. Not always the best way to rule out the loony tunes. But without a predisposition to Steely Dan, there was not even the possibility of finding my soul mate. It was a question always subtly slipped in on that first casual meeting, or that first blind date. It was a deal-breaker. It broke many a deal. However, it also spawned many heated conversations lasting well into the night. I was going to share Steely Dan with my children someday, and how could I do that without the compliance of my spouse? Someday my first favorite song was going to be my child’s first favorite song.
In 1993, Steely Dan had decided to “get the band back together” and go on the road. I was there. While “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” has not been on a set list since 1974, other songs off of that amazing album still are. And really, Pretzel Logic was only the beginning of my love for Steely Dan. I absorbed each new album as it was released. Each new song, each new sound, becoming part of how I would see music for the rest of my life.
I have Donald Fagan and Walter Becker to thank for my love of jazz. Even more than that, I have Donald and Walter to thank for my love of music in the purest sense. For my love of musicality. For the need I have for music to be beautiful, to be complex, to be artistic.
I know every note of every song on Pretzel Logic. When I hear the opening notes played on the mysterious marimba type instrument that signify the beginning of “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number,” I am always transported to somewhere good. No matter what is happening in that moment, everything is good and right and true.
That song is now a part of my son too. From the day he was born, he has heard Steely Dan. I made a special mix, just for him, of only their most beautiful songs. One of my greatest joys is when “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” comes on the radio and he tells everyone to shush, because “our favorite song is on.” Thanks to that magical duo, my son will also have an appreciation of music spawned by two guys from New York, naturally shy and infinitely gifted.
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Jen Kehl is a mom, writer, homeschooler, maven of music, self-proclaimed sensory processing disorder expert, food allergy pro, photographer, controller of chaos, John Cusack aficionado and all around interesting person who refuses to put herself into any one category (because that’s boring). Jen shares what is important to her in the blog My Skewed View at www.jenkehl.com, Tweets about pyromania and other antics @jenkehl and facebooks about antics that are more than 140 characters at www.facebook.com/myskewedviewbyjenkehl
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