Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

I never knew about their heroin addiction, but it explains a lot. I still adore the name Steely Dan and its origin. Very early 70's rock and roll to take that name.

Steely Dan's first album is, to me, the most impressive first album of the 70's--hard to believe they knocked out so many refined and well-produced songs on their first go-round. No other band has ever amassed so many sardonic, ripping, caustic-but-funny lyrics... they may have been jerks, but their songs sure were a refreshing break from all the other variations on an "I Love You" theme.

But their legacy looms larger as time passes, because very few of their songs sound "dated"... It all sounds fresh today, and when any one of them comes on the radio, even the overplayed ones, I never change the station.

Hey Bob, I definitely meant that WOW to include the whole string of folks named, not just Tom Scott. Of course I also think Josef Zawinul when I think of Wayne Shorter...

Here is what I remember about the history of Who Bought Whom and When:

First, Lou Adler, who owned the Mamas and Papas contract,and was producer of Monterey Pop, founded Dunhill Records in 1965 with Jay Lasker. Jay ran Dunhill, along with Adler and Bobby Roberts.

Dunhil was acquired by ABC in the summer of 1967, renamed ABC Dunhill, and Jay Lasker became functional head, and subsequently signed (along with Steve Barri) the bands Steppenwolf, Three Dog Night, Hamilton, Joe Frank & Reynolds, the James Gang, Steely Dan, Rufus (featuring Chaka Khan), Jimmy Buffett, the Four Tops, Dusty Springfield, and Bobby "Blue" Bland, among others.

ABC Dunhill was dissolved after being sold to MCA in 1979. In 1982 former Dunhill Records boss Jay Lasker took over as head of Motown Records.

MCA's acquisitions regarding ABC were as follows:

n 1979 MCA acquired ABC Dunhill Records along with its subsidiaries ABC Records, Paramount Records, Impulse Records, Dot Records and Dunhill Records. Chess Records was acquired in 1985. Motown Records was bought in 1988 (and sold to PolyGram in 1993)