The Nightfly is the first solo album by Steely Dan co-founder Donald Fagen, released in 1982. It was an early example of a fullydigital recording in popular music.[1] Although The Nightfly includes a number of production staff and musicians who had played on Steely Dan records, it is Fagen’s first release without longtime collaborator Walter Becker.
Unlike most of Fagen’s previous work, The Nightfly is almost blatantly autobiographical.[2] Many of the songs relate to the cautiously optimistic mood of his suburban childhood in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and include such topics as late-night jazz deejays,fallout shelters, and tropical vacations.
The Nightfly was certified Platinum in both the US and UK, and produced two popular hits with “I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)” and “New Frontier”. It also received several 1983 Grammy Award nominations. This relatively low-key but long-lived popularity led theWall Street Journal in 2007 to dub the album “one of pop music’s sneakiest masterpieces.”
- “I.G.Y.” – 6:03
- “Green Flower Street” – 3:42
- “Ruby Baby” (Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller) – 5:38
- “Maxine” – 3:50
- “New Frontier” – 6:23
- “The Nightfly” – 5:45
- “The Goodbye Look” – 4:47
- “Walk Between Raindrops” – 2:38
