MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HUMAN INTEREST

Steely Dan labeled worst band ever by Pulitzer-winning critic who says 'only men love' it, Internet divided

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York magazine art critic Jerry Saltz’s tweets caused a storm, with many rushing to defend the band, to counter his perception of the band’s fanbase, and many more coming to agree with him

On Thursday, September 17, Steely Dan, the 1970s American rock and jazz fusion band, was trending on Twitter. For those who don’t know about the band and have never heard about it, Open Culture sums it up best: “Two pretentious, perfectionistic, and very talented white guys who love Bebop and R&B meet in passing at Bard College in 1967. They start a series of bands, one of them featuring Chevy Chase on drums. They rub everyone the wrong way and write songs too complicated for pop and TV but too good to go away, so they become a celebrated studio unit, named after a fictional steam-powered dildo in a William S. Burroughs’ ‘Naked Lunch’.”

On Thursday, for some reason, the internet decided to shower some hate on the band. Jerry Saltz, the Pulitzer Prize-winning New York magazine art critic, wrote on Twitter on Thursday, “The worst band ever is????  Steely Dan. You??,” adding, “Almost only men love Steely Dan.”

Saltz’s tweets caused a storm, with many rushing to defend the band, to counter his perception of the band’s fanbase, and many more coming to agree with him. “Because of this Steely Dan slander I will be listening to Gaucho then Aja in their entirety in the backyard tonight, please respect my family’s privacy at this difficult time,” wrote a Twitter user. Another Twitter user said, “This may be the worst take on music ever. Steely Dan’s music and artistry withstands the test of time.” Another Steely Dan fan wrote, “This guy should be excommunicated from society for this awful take and I'm only slightly joking.”

Several women were indignant about the insinuation that only men liked the band. “That's utter horse sh*t. I love Steely Dan and was lucky enough to see them in concert. Broad generalizations about women will get you nowhere, btw, especially when you're wrong,” wrote a Twitter user. Another woman wrote, “You're just doing this for clicks, right? Your patrons have all left you in the red? Your low rent friends are dead?... Son you were mistaken. This girl loves Steely Dan. And my BFF, she named her cat Aja.” Journalist Emily Nussbaum wrote, “I have no idea who else loves them except me, but this is not my experience.”

But there were plenty who agreed with Saltz. A Twitter user, sharing a photo of the band’s name trending on Twitter, wrote: “This is obviously untrue. Nobody loves Steely Dan” He further said, “Steely Dan is 100% the worst music I've ever heard in my life,” adding, “Only 67 year old guys that live in Evanston, drive Subaru Outbacks, wear dad-sandals and think The Park West is a great place to see a show like Steely Dan.”

Another Twitter user wrote, “I cannot stand steely dan and what they did to music..however they are not in the same league as the eagles.” Music journalist Jeremy Larson added to the discourse with, “Lonely men love Steely Dan.” A Twitter user said, “Steely Dan sucks a** and is a shining example of why a lot of proggy jazzy stuff is so boring despite having really good musicianship.”