Fagen, Donald: The Nightfly (CD)

After eight years and seven Steely Dan albums packed with questionable characters moving through all sorts of seedy situations, Donald Fagen went surprisingly personal on his debut solo album, The Nightfly. The album was titled after a character - Lester the Nightfly - created by Fagen based on jazz radio DJs he listened to as a kid in the 1960s.

Working with an esteemed cast of session players including Greg Phillinganes, Larry Carlton, and Steve Jordan, Fagen and company crafted one of the earliest examples of a fully digital recording. It required album engineers to take an actual class on digital technology. There were enough snafus along the way for Fagen to want to throw in the towel on the whole process.

After eight months of recording and 10 days of mixing, the LP was ready to go. The first sounds from the album arrived September 1982 in the form of lead single, "I.G.Y.".

The Nightfly was a resounding success for Fagen's debut solo outing, almost crashing the top 10 with a #11 peak on the Billboard 200.

1. I.G.Y.
2. Green Flower Street
3. Ruby Baby
4. Maxine
5. New Frontier
6. The Nightfly
7. The Goodbye Look
8. Walk Between Raindrops