 Can't Buy A Thrill (1993) [ larger cover art ] |
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Musicbrainz DBFelonius my old friend
Step on in and let me shake your hand
So glad that you're here again
For one more time
Let your madness run with mine
Streets still unseen we'll find somehow
No time is better than now
CHORUS:
Tell me where are you driving
Midnight cruiser
Where is your bounty
Of fortune and fame
I am another
Gentlemen loser
Drive me to Harlem
Or somewhere the same
The world that we used to know
People tell me it don't turn no more
The places we used to go
Familiar faces that ain't smilin' like before
The time of our time has come and gone
I fear we been waiting too long
CHORUS
| coloradojohn (A Mile High and then some, Cherry Creek, Denver) | Posted: May 10, 2013 - 07:03 STEELY DAN at Red Rocks, August 8th...I can hardly wait! These guys have made some of the most cerebral and tuneful music ever! |
| hallogallo (Raleigh, NC) | Posted: Feb 05, 2013 - 07:46 Does anyone else hear (Lee Michaels) "Do You Know What I Mean?" on the first 4-5 notes of this song? |
| von_Hayek (Land of the early birds) | Posted: Feb 05, 2013 - 07:37 lemmoth wrote: I don't think its Becker singing, is it? No. It's Jim Hodder.  |
| d48m02h1918 | Posted: Dec 04, 2012 - 14:33 Oh my gosh - pure sonic bliss!!! Incredible guitar....  |
| justin4kick (The Netherlands) | Posted: Sep 01, 2012 - 07:34 Somehow this doesn´t sound very ´Dan-ish´ to me. |
| bindi (North Carolina) | Posted: Jun 30, 2012 - 11:25 favrood wrote: Funny to think of Chevy Chase hanging with these guys as their drummer at Bard College... I guess that he must have been better at acting. Damn, he must have been a really bad drummer! Kidding aside, I think CC fell into a rut. I always though that Bill Murray had way more potential, but always hope for a bit better run for Chevy. |
| gypsyman (just passing through....) | Posted: Mar 27, 2012 - 02:24 rtrudeau wrote: Oh the memories. I'm sure I still have this LP somewhere, even though I don't have a turntable anymore. Ditto. I bought this in (about) 1974...it will always be part of the tapestry of my life. |
| rtrudeau (Bay Area, California) | Posted: Feb 24, 2012 - 10:03 DaveInVA wrote:  This was released on Steely Dan's first LP - Can't Buy a Thrill in 1972 Oh the memories. I'm sure I still have this LP somewhere, even though I don't have a turntable anymore. |
| sirdroseph (Yes) | Posted: Feb 24, 2012 - 10:00 This is one of my favorite songs in the entire RP library.  |
| ce (the Netherlands) | Posted: Nov 21, 2011 - 05:58 lemmoth wrote: From Allmusic: Can't Buy a Thrill is an anomaly in the Steely Dan catalog, the one album featuring the group's original lead singer, David Palmer. (Ironically, even here, Palmer sings only two of the album's ten songs solo, as well as a couple more duets with Donald Fagen.) However, the album is equally notable for including one song, "Midnight Cruiser," sung by the Dan's original drummer, Jim Hodder. Hodder (who as it happens also sang the lead on Steely Dan's debut single, "Dallas" — Donald Fagen was uncomfortable in the role of frontman at the beginning of the band's career) is an undistinguished vocalist, which makes him oddly perfect for "Midnight Cruiser," otherwise the most undistinguished song on the entire album. It's not a bad song, really, it's just musically faceless (the melody is highly reminiscent of Runt-era Todd Rundgren, and the production is oddly redolent of the smooth pop/rock of Carole King's Tapestry; good company, but still...) and the lyrics are not among Fagen and Walter Becker's most memorable. The slickly competent but lightweight "Midnight Cruiser" is probably what ABC Records thought they were getting with Steely Dan, which must have made the art-jazz explorations of Countdown to Ecstasy a rude surprise. That's all well and good, but I still feel that this pre-golden-era-Dan beats the pants off of most of the post-Gaucho albums, and possibly even Gaucho itself. Later Dan tends to be more and more staccato, with less melody, and this song just flows and lives. |
| sirdroseph (Yes) | Posted: Nov 21, 2011 - 05:52  |
| lemmoth (NYC) | Posted: Aug 18, 2011 - 15:02 From Allmusic: Can't Buy a Thrill is an anomaly in the Steely Dan catalog, the one album featuring the group's original lead singer, David Palmer. (Ironically, even here, Palmer sings only two of the album's ten songs solo, as well as a couple more duets with Donald Fagen.) However, the album is equally notable for including one song, "Midnight Cruiser," sung by the Dan's original drummer, Jim Hodder. Hodder (who as it happens also sang the lead on Steely Dan's debut single, "Dallas" — Donald Fagen was uncomfortable in the role of frontman at the beginning of the band's career) is an undistinguished vocalist, which makes him oddly perfect for "Midnight Cruiser," otherwise the most undistinguished song on the entire album. It's not a bad song, really, it's just musically faceless (the melody is highly reminiscent of Runt-era Todd Rundgren, and the production is oddly redolent of the smooth pop/rock of Carole King's Tapestry; good company, but still...) and the lyrics are not among Fagen and Walter Becker's most memorable. The slickly competent but lightweight "Midnight Cruiser" is probably what ABC Records thought they were getting with Steely Dan, which must have made the art-jazz explorations of Countdown to Ecstasy a rude surprise. |
| lemmoth (NYC) | Posted: Aug 18, 2011 - 15:00 Rooney wrote: This isn't Donald Fagen singing the lead, and I've never given Dan anything less than an 8, but this one deserves a 7 because it's too tedious, as described below. I don't think its Becker singing, is it? |
| Rooney (Near Paradise) | Posted: Jun 16, 2011 - 18:41 This isn't Donald Fagen singing the lead, and I've never given Dan anything less than an 8, but this one deserves a 7 because it's too tedious, as described below. |
| douzzer (Houston, Texas) | Posted: Jun 16, 2011 - 13:45 jazzface78 wrote: "Felonious my old friend, step on in and let me shake your hand.
So glad that your here again for one more time let your madness run with mine" Steely Life  Thelonious, my old friend, as in Thelonious Monk! |
| Sasha2001 (Where the last of the union men run free) | Posted: Jun 16, 2011 - 13:41 So perfect! |
| robh (up t'north UK) | Posted: Jun 16, 2011 - 13:40 God, I love this tune and I haven't heard it in ages (yes, shame on me!) |
| Dave_Mack (Ball of Confusion) | Posted: Jun 16, 2011 - 13:40 Oh yes, Bill. Kudos for whipping out a Steely Dan deep cut. |
| kcar | Posted: May 15, 2011 - 23:22 lee_sf wrote: Just back from one of their three San Francisco shows. Surprisingly good — I hadn't realized how many hit songs they had. The audience was completely into the show. One of the most enthusiastic audience responses I've been part of for awhile. This song, though... not one of their more notable ones. Not one of their bigger hits, and it's a bit slow-paced by today's standards, but still a great sound with great lyrics. I used to hate Steely Dan for some reason, but they've really grown on me over the years. |
| meadowwoods (Dane County, WI) | Posted: Apr 14, 2011 - 09:38 Tedious. |
| mandolin (...drifting...) | Posted: Apr 14, 2011 - 09:37 ...less bone-grating to hear than their later music... |
| ziakut (A place with air, water and chocolate.) | Posted: Apr 14, 2011 - 09:36 Nice to hear this wonderful tune from a band I sorta got a 'stale' vibe from in the 80s. This album beams and I remember it well. So glad to hear this fresh tune again after so many years. Steely Dan lives on...yep. |
| favrood (Somewhere between here and there) | Posted: Feb 10, 2011 - 13:47 Funny to think of Chevy Chase hanging with these guys as their drummer at Bard College... |
| jazzface78 (you're gonna make me give myself a good talkin' to, NY) | Posted: Oct 07, 2010 - 09:36 "Felonious my old friend, step on in and let me shake your hand. So glad that your here again for one more time let your madness run with mine" Steely Life |
| sirdroseph (Yes) | Posted: Oct 07, 2010 - 09:35 A friend of mine has been in the lighting, stage and sound business his entire adult life and he tells me that every self respecting sound stage crew uses Steely Dan for their sound checks. |
| DaveInVA (In a hovel in effluent Damnville, VA) | Posted: Sep 05, 2010 - 09:28 This was released on Steely Dan's first LP - Can't Buy a Thrill in 1972 |
| johnjconn (chicago land) | Posted: Aug 04, 2010 - 09:27
In days past, the home stereo speakers had to be as big as a chair to get good sound quality. |
| the_real_mccoy (the final frontier) | Posted: Aug 04, 2010 - 09:21 Steely Dan rules. |
| sirdroseph (Yes) | Posted: Jul 03, 2010 - 12:29 This song just played on Fredro radio too! This one's got no words, just a number......10!! |
| peter_james_bond (The Burg) | Posted: Jun 01, 2010 - 16:27  |
| Cynaera (South of Neanderthal) | Posted: Jun 01, 2010 - 16:22 "Can't Buy A Thrill" is one of the most played vinyl albums in my collection. And now, it's gonna be the most played CD. Steely Dan - I don't care if they're named after a dildo (although it tempts me to read the book.) They're sorta awesome. |
| jkhandy (Near the ocean (in my mind)) | Posted: Jun 01, 2010 - 16:21 Stefen wrote: As per Answers.com, "Steely Dan named themselves after a sex toy mentioned in the novel 'Naked Lunch' by William Burroughs." Thanks for sharing Stefen.......  |
| Stefen (West Hollywood, CA) | Posted: Feb 26, 2010 - 17:44 As per Answers.com, "Steely Dan named themselves after a sex toy mentioned in the novel 'Naked Lunch' by William Burroughs." |
| dboseman | Posted: Jan 26, 2010 - 06:39 One of my favorite SD songs, and it sounds nothing like them. |
| danagraves (Former Berzerkley-ite) | Posted: Nov 24, 2009 - 10:10 ArbiterOfGoodTaste wrote: Night time, high out of our gourds, welding goggles on, in a Ming-era ancient Chinese walled city, pedaling recliner bikes through the cobblestone streets with an mp3 player and speakers in the basket of one of the bikes along with a half dozen cold beers. Rolling out of our domicile and through an arched stone gate into the main drag just as the solo hit. All the locals turning and smiling, stepping aside, accustomed to our antics in their town. I know everyone has their memory to tie to this song, and this is mine! Great memorance....thanks so much for sharing. Made me feel like I was there..... |
| lee_sf (2nd floor, corner) | Posted: Oct 24, 2009 - 00:36 Just back from one of their three San Francisco shows. Surprisingly good — I hadn't realized how many hit songs they had. The audience was completely into the show. One of the most enthusiastic audience responses I've been part of for awhile. This song, though... not one of their more notable ones. |
| nigelr (Coffs Harbour, Australia) | Posted: Oct 24, 2009 - 00:34 von_Hayek wrote: '70s Steely Dan: Always, always, always a 10! I'm with you friend! Classic song, classic album! |
| helgigermany (Germany) | Posted: Sep 22, 2009 - 10:45 Nice! |
| rtrudeau (Bay Area, California) | Posted: Sep 22, 2009 - 10:42 cc_rider wrote: I don't think I've ever heard this song before. I like it.  |
| orthomd (scottsdale, arizona) | Posted: Aug 21, 2009 - 22:48 its amazing this band did not tour for so many years......they are awesome live |
| BowTieDad (Stockholm, Sweden) | Posted: Jul 21, 2009 - 08:16 Everything with SD is.. mmmmmm sorry I was lost there a sec, a tune some time back that sounded like Captain Beefheart? |
| cc_rider (Austin Texas. Y'all.) | Posted: Jul 21, 2009 - 08:15 I don't think I've ever heard this song before. I like it. |
| EaLaSpada | Posted: Jun 19, 2009 - 14:22 ptooey wrote: Now, I normally can't stand Steely Dan - fantastic musicians who seem to be soulless robots. That being said, this song ain't half bad. I'm in for a 7. Watch it, ptooey. You're talking about the men I love... |
| peter_james_bond (Lunenburg, NS) | Posted: Jun 19, 2009 - 12:58 steeler wrote: The imagery, man, the imagery. Speaks to me, in mysterious yet poignant ways. Yup, I know what you mean. Strange but moving. Where are you going midnight cruiser? |
| ptooey | Posted: Jun 19, 2009 - 12:55 Now, I normally can't stand Steely Dan - fantastic musicians who seem to be soulless robots. That being said, this song ain't half bad. I'm in for a 7. |
| jagdriver (Tunin' in from the aptly-named Grass Valley, CA) | Posted: Mar 16, 2009 - 15:09 Stingray wrote: Great band - not-so-great song! Correcto-MUN-do! |
| ArbiterOfGoodTaste (Seattle, WA) | Posted: Jan 25, 2009 - 16:15 Andy_Bufton wrote: Check out the Capability Brown version of this if you can - superior IMHO. I found a streaming version here: http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=3920 The vocals and solos in the original dominate, IMO. |
| von_Hayek (Duesseldorf, Germany) | Posted: Jan 12, 2009 - 09:20 '70s Steely Dan: Always, always, always a 10! |
| ArbiterOfGoodTaste (Seattle, WA) | Posted: Dec 11, 2008 - 19:00 acawtho wrote: love the dan! beautiful music, great memories... love the dan!! Night time, high out of our gourds, welding goggles on, in a Ming-era ancient Chinese walled city, pedaling recliner bikes through the cobblestone streets with an mp3 player and speakers in the basket of one of the bikes along with a half dozen cold beers. Rolling out of our domicile and through an arched stone gate into the main drag just as the solo hit. All the locals turning and smiling, stepping aside, accustomed to our antics in their town. I know everyone has their memory to tie to this song, and this is mine! |
| acawtho (under the beautious skies of NM!) | Posted: Dec 11, 2008 - 18:54 love the dan! beautiful music, great memories... love the dan!! |
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