In 1978, Steely Dan released a song that didn’t fit ‘Aja’. It became one of their biggest hits
Steely Dan wrote ‘FM’ in 1978 as the title song for a film, while they were working around the time of their album ‘Aja’. Though recorded by the band and several notable musicians, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen did not consider it a fit for the album, seeing it as a quickly completed commission rather than part of the record’s ambitious design.
Fagen and Becker wrote the song in less than a week, with Fagen on piano and keyboards and Becker playing bass and guitar. Jeff Porcaro played drums, Pete Christlieb contributed saxophone, and Eagles members Glenn Frey and Don Henley joined Timothy B. Schmit on backing vocals. The film’s producer, MCA Records, was separate from Steely Dan’s label at the time, ABC Records, adding a further reason to keep the track apart from ‘Aja’.
In short
- Steely Dan wrote ‘FM’ as a film theme in under a week.
- The song was recorded around the time of ‘Aja’.
- Becker and Fagen kept it off the album.
Explained simply
Steely Dan were an American rock band formed around songwriters and musicians Walter Becker and Donald Fagen. Their 1977 album Aja was known for carefully arranged songs and contributions from a range of studio musicians.
The band wrote “FM” for a film of the same name, with several well-known musicians contributing to the recording. It was released separately from Aja, in part because the film was backed by a different record company from the one that released the album.