Damn…this is one that I never wanted to do…Walter Becker, half of Steely Dan, died last night at the age of 67. I am still catching my breath about this…the Dan has been my favorite group for decades now and the plan was to see them for the 7th time in October here in GR. I knew there was something seriously wrong with him when he missed most of their concerts this year, and he didn’t look well at all in the youtube video of a concert from May….but his death still hit me like a ton of bricks, to use the old cliche….the Fagen/Becker partnership has given us some of the best, snarky and literate music that was really hard to describe…but the themes of old guys and young women, of outsiders that really liked being outsiders, and yearning for pasts that never were still resonate to me…and always will….RIP Walter…I’m going to miss you….