Hello friends! Come celebrate the sixth anniversary of the Radio Dial blog with a wintery tune by a pioneer of rock/jazz fusion, which just so happens to feature a really cool (pun intended) music video. Get yourself a nice cup of hot chocolate and maybe a cinnamon churro to go along with it, wrap up in your favorite blanket, and listen to Steely Dan founder Donald Fagen, and his track "Snowbound"!
"At nervous time, we roll downtown… we’ve got scenes to crash…
We’re gonna trick and trash… we’re gonna find some fun."
"Snowbound" is an album cut from the 1993 LP Kamakiriad, a concept album that follows Fagen’s narrator as he goes cruising in a futuristic car, all the while commenting on his experiences as a middle aged gentleman. The album is considered to be the central installment of a larger trilogy beginning with the 1982 LP The Nightfly (containing fantasies from Fagen’s youth), continuing through the middle age observations of Kamakiriad, and followed by 2006’s Morph the Cat, Donald’s reflections of old age.
The song itself is about enjoying the nightlife of the city despite a blizzard hitting the town. At least that’s what it appears to be about on the surface. I suspect it actually exists as a metaphor for enjoying what little youth remains as one enters the "blizzard" of middle age. I’ll reach out to Donald and see what message he was trying to convey with his lyrics. Hopefully he’ll check back with me soon.
It was not issued as a single, so it had no chance to chart on the Billboard Hot 100, but given the dance pop, hip hop, and alt rock heavy musical landscape of the time, I suspect it wouldn’t have reached the top 40 at all, even though it truly deserved to. It was probably way too mellow (and cerebral) to achieve full pop chart success. In fact, the only charting single from the Kamakiriad LP was "Tomorrow’s Girls", which peaked at US #32 AC, and US #20 Mainstream Rock Charts, but again, no Hot 100 appearance.
"Let’s stop off at the Metroplex, that little dancer’s got some style…
Yes she’s the one I’ll be waiting for… at the stage door."
Despite all his "street cred" from his prolific hit making days as a member of Steely Dan, Fagen as a solo artist has only achieved one top 40 single, the brilliant "I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)", a look back on the optimism of the late 1950s, which peaked at US #26 pop, and US #8 AC in 1982.
And speaking of Steely Dan, "Snowbound" was produced, co-written, and featured bass and guitar by the late, great Walter Becker, (I wish you much peace in the next life, Walter), making this tune essentially a Steely Dan reunion track. Fagen and Becker even toured as Steely Dan in support of the LP, which Becker produced for his former bandmate.
"We sail our icecats on the frozen river… some loser fires off a flare, amen.
For seven seconds, it’s like Christmas Day… and then it’s dark again."
Now let’s discuss that awesome stop motion music video, shall we?
Despite the obscurity of the tune, a rather memorable video was produced featuring "auto people" that resemble sentient versions of bobble head dolls crossed with Fisher-Price "Little People" cars. These little characters are seen going about their lives in the wintery city, waking up, driving, reporting to work in a factory, and visiting a club, where they watch a video of a dancing cowgirl, who pops up periodically throughout the clip.
Donald Fagen himself also appears as an auto-person living in a control tower, and appearing on TV screens as a "Big Brother" type figure. He doesn’t care for it much if you sleep on the job! But keep watching through the end, as the tables are turned on his overlord like persona.
Directed by French film director Michel Gondry (Academy Award winner for Best Original Screenplay as one of the writers of the 2004 film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Gondry has also directed memorable videos for Bjork’s "Human Behavior" (teddy bear!), White Stripes’ "Fell In Love with A Girl" (LEGOs!), Foo Fighters’ "Everlong" (The Evil Dead!), and Daft Punk's "Around the World" (Androids! Skeletons! Weirdness!)
So check it out, and don’t be surprised if Fagen’s tune inspires you to sleep-in the next time you see the chilly white stuff falling from the sky!
"Snowbound! Let’s sleep in today… Wake me up… when the wolves come out to play"
The Dial is taking January off, but I’m already working on articles for 2018, including a quirky new wave entry from Thomas Dolby, a romantic soul ballad from DeBarge, and a hip hop classic by The D.O.C., produced by none other than Dr. Dre! The Dial will return triumphantly in February!
And from the entire Radio Dial family, we wish you Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings, Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and any other positive holiday related greeting that may apply to you and your life! (And above all, have an awesome Festivus for the rest of us!)
I’d also like to extend my sincerest thanks for your interest and support over the past six years as I sort through my music collection, and deliver my musing and ramblings on the songs that I find worthwhile. This blog and my readers mean a lot to me, and your comments and views are quite appreciated!
Keep checking in with the Dial into the New Year, and be sure to tell your friends to check us out!
Kyle's Radio Dial... The more you listen, the more you REMEMBER!
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