Q 01/05

Walter Becker and Donald Fagen met in 1967 at which school in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York?

A) Bard

B) Vassar

C) Sarah Lawrence

D) Hamilton

Answer · why

A) Bard

Fagen heard Becker practising electric guitar at a campus café and asked, 'Do you want to be in a band?'

Q 02/05

Steely Dan took its name from an object in which William S. Burroughs novel?

A) Junkie

B) The Soft Machine

C) Naked Lunch

D) Queer

Answer · why

C) Naked Lunch

The object in question is a dildo; the pair, Beat-literature fans, had already name-checked it in an unreleased demo called 'Soul Ram'.

Q 03/05

Which future comedy star played drums in one of Becker and Fagen's college bands?

A) Bill Murray

B) Chevy Chase

C) Steve Martin

D) Dan Aykroyd

Answer · why

B) Chevy Chase

The group went by names including the Don Fagen Jazz Trio, the Bad Rock Group and the Leather Canary.

Q 04/05

What was the title of Steely Dan's 1972 debut album?

A) Countdown to Ecstasy

B) Pretzel Logic

C) Katy Lied

D) Can't Buy a Thrill

Answer · why

D) Can't Buy a Thrill

Its singles 'Do It Again' and 'Reelin' In the Years' reached No. 6 and No. 11 on the Hot 100.

Q 05/05

Steely Dan's top-selling album, released in 1977, was titled what?

A) Gaucho

B) The Royal Scam

C) Two Against Nature

D) Aja

Answer · why

D) Aja

It reached the US top five within three weeks and was one of the first American LPs certified platinum by the RIAA.