#36 - Steely Dan

As if to make our point about jazz, who other to follow Thelonius Monk than Steely Dan, taking jazz to a mass audience?

Would the 1970s have been bearable without such intricately composed treasures as "Josie": the chorus being:

  "When Josie comes home 

    So good

    She's the pride of the neighborhood 
    She's the raw flame 
    The live wire 
    She prays like a Roman 

    With her eyes on fire" 

And if you don't know who they're praising, you've got something quite good coming.

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Each band or performer is graded on four things:
  1.  Innovation
  2.  Influence in my life--as a typical American
  3.  Integrity: the band's approach to music (just making a buck or honing a craft?)  
  4.  Immortality--am I, a typical American--still eager to hear their music

8/3/10/4 = 25 out of a perfect 40

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You-won't-believe-it department: In an earlier incarnation, the Steely Dan duo, Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, had as their drummer, a one Chevy Chase!