Lately I've been listening obsessively to Mike Caplin's brilliant remaster of the mighty Steely Dan's brilliant lost track from the brilliant Gaucho: The Second Arrangement. Prior to a month or so ago I'd been avoiding seeking out the various versions I'd heard were available on YouTube since I suspected that no matter how good the song was - and those who knew quite obviously thought it was more than a bit special - it was going to be a disappointment in the poor version of it that might have somehow survived the wiping of the original master.
Finally I listened and on a first hearing thought it sounded great but wasn't exactly an outstanding song in itself. A second hearing proved me wrong and almost convinced me that if it had made the album it would have been one of the stronger pieces. By the third hearing I'd decided it was up there with the title track (my favourite cut of all) and would have been one of the really great Dan singles if it had been released as such.
Listening to it today it occurred to me that Steely Dan pretty much provided the soundtrack for my time at university. Of course, we listened obsessively to numerous great bands, but none as consistently as Don and Walter's merry men. And it further occurred to me that I'm now experiencing a sort of revival of those long lost years, and a completely, magically, unexpected one.
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