Steely Dan - The St. Louis Toodle-Oo Vol.1 ((Vinyl))

Following the tumultuous albeit fruitful recording of their 1980 album Gaucho, and their subsequent breakup soon thereafter, the next decade was somewhat quiet for Donald Fagen and Walter Becker, the gifted musical duo behind Steely Dan. Despite a number of producer credits to their respective names, the only releases that appeared with either as featured artist were two Donald Fagen solo records. The first, The Nightfly, came out to rapturous critical and commercial success, going Platinum on both sides of the Atlantic. Meanwhile, Becker was listed as an as an official member of China Crisis on their 1985 album Flaunt the Imperfection. However the pair had reconciled their differences by the end of the 1980s with Becker playing on and producing Fagen’s 1993 album Kamakiriad, which received praise from critics but failed the match its predecessor sales-wise. Following this semi-joint venture, Steely Dan reformed for a tour the same year. Becker and Fagen had retired from live performance in 1974 to concentrate on writing and recording, so their ’93 jaunt was something of a treat and a rare opportunity for long term fans. One of the 30 dates performed in the US this time round took place at the 20,000-capacity Riverport Amphitheatre in Maryland Heights, Missouri on 1st September 1993. Featuring a rich mixture of Dan classics with a few solo cuts included too, this set, recorded for live FM broadcast, finds the group in superb form and is now featured in its fully remastered entirety on this two part set.

• Genre: Rock and Pop