Do It Again (Steely Dan song)
Encyclopedia
"Do It Again" is a song by American jazz-rock group Steely Dan
, which was released as a single
from their debut 1972 album Can't Buy a Thrill
. The single version differed from the album version, shortening the intro, outro and two instrumental sections of the song.
Released in 1972, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 18, 1972 and reached#6 on the US charts in 1973.
On the 1972 release, the song was credited as "Trad" (for traditional), although it was actually written by Walter Becker
and Donald Fagen
.
It was also included in the 2008 video game Guitar Hero World Tour
.
, with Donald Fagen
on lead vocals. The song uses a large amount of syncopation
in the vocal melody, not particularly common in rock music of the time.
The song was among the first in popular music to include an organ
solo
featuring a pitch-shifting technique. The tune also features an electric sitar
solo by Denny Dias
.
Steely Dan
Steely Dan is an American rock band; its core members are Donald Fagen and Walter Becker. The band's popularity peaked in the late 1970s, with the release of seven albums blending elements of jazz, rock, funk, R&B, and pop...
, which was released as a single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
from their debut 1972 album Can't Buy a Thrill
Can't Buy a Thrill
Can't Buy a Thrill is the first album by Steely Dan. Originally released in 1972, the album was a huge success. It went gold, and then platinum, peaking at #17 on the charts. In 2003, the album was ranked number 238 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time...
. The single version differed from the album version, shortening the intro, outro and two instrumental sections of the song.
Released in 1972, the song debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on November 18, 1972 and reached
On the 1972 release, the song was credited as "Trad" (for traditional), although it was actually written by Walter Becker
Walter Becker
Walter Carl Becker is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He is best known as the co-founder, guitarist, bassist and a co-writer of Steely Dan.-Career:...
and Donald Fagen
Donald Fagen
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, lead singer, and the principal songwriter of the rock band Steely Dan ....
.
It was also included in the 2008 video game Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series...
.
Structure
The original version of "Do It Again" is in the key of G minorG minor
G minor is a minor scale based on G, consisting of the pitches G, A, B, C, D, E, and F. For the harmonic minor scale, the F is raised to F. Its relative major is B-flat major, and its parallel major is G major....
, with Donald Fagen
Donald Fagen
Donald Jay Fagen is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the co-founder, lead singer, and the principal songwriter of the rock band Steely Dan ....
on lead vocals. The song uses a large amount of syncopation
Syncopation
In music, syncopation includes a variety of rhythms which are in some way unexpected in that they deviate from the strict succession of regularly spaced strong and weak but also powerful beats in a meter . These include a stress on a normally unstressed beat or a rest where one would normally be...
in the vocal melody, not particularly common in rock music of the time.
The song was among the first in popular music to include an organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
featuring a pitch-shifting technique. The tune also features an electric sitar
Electric sitar
An electric sitar is a kind of electric guitar designed to mimic the sound of the traditional Indian instrument, the sitar. Depending on the manufacturer and model, these instruments bear varying degrees of resemblance to the traditional sitar...
solo by Denny Dias
Denny Dias
Denny Dias is an American guitarist, most known for being a founding member of Steely Dan.- Career :Dias was working with his own band out of his basement in Hicksville, Long Island, when he placed an ad in The Village Voice that read: "Looking for keyboardist and bassist. Must have jazz chops!...
.
Cover versions
- The Brazilian funk jazz instrumentalist Eumir DeodatoEumir DeodatoEumir Deodato is a Brazilian pianist, composer, record producer and arranger, primarily based in the jazz realm but who historically has been known for eclectic melding of big band and combo jazz with varied elements of rock/pop, R&B/funk, Brazilian/Latin, and symphonic or orchestral music.Mainly,...
recorded an extensive funk jazz orchestration on the 1973 concert recording Live at Felt Forum: The 2001 Concert. He has covered the song on numerous occasions in the studio and live. A Deodato hit collection released in 2007 bears the title Do it Again. - Waylon JenningsWaylon JenningsWaylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
recorded a cover of this song in 1980 on his album Music ManMusic Man (album)Music Man is an album by Waylon Jennings, released in 1980 on RCA Victor. It was Jennings' final album in a streak of releases which mostly reached #1 on the country charts...
. Played at a faster pace, Waylon's version of the song is shorter than the original. This version also features his distinctive guitar solo in the middle of the song. - In 1983, ItalianItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
dance musicDance musicDance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement...
act ClubhouseClubhouse (group)Clubhouse is a disco and house music studio group from Italy. They climbed to #75 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 in 1983, with a mashup medley of Steely Dan's "Do It Again" and Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean". In 1991, they hit #1 on the U.S...
released "Do It Again / Billie JeanBillie Jean"Billie Jean" is a dance-pop/R&B song by American recording artist Michael Jackson. It was written, composed, and co-produced by Jackson, and produced by Quincy Jones from the singer's sixth album, Thriller . Originally disliked by Jones, the track was almost removed from the album after he and...
", a mashupMashup (music)A mashup or bootleg is a song or composition created by blending two or more pre-recorded songs, usually by overlaying the vocal track of one song seamlessly over the instrumental track of another...
/medleyMedley (music)In music, a medley is a piece composed from parts of existing pieces, usually three, played one after another, sometimes overlapping. They are common in popular music, and most medleys are songs rather than instrumental. A medley which is a remixed series is called a megamix, often done with tracks...
of the track with Michael JacksonMichael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
's (then recent) hit. This charted well across Europe. In the United States, while the Clubhouse version performed best in pop markets, a cover version by SlingshotSlingshot (band)Slingshot is a disco/dance music band from Detroit, Michigan. Members include Jack Tann, Greg Sawton, David Van DePitte and John Lewis.Their one and only chart entry was a medley of Steely Dan's song "Do It Again" and Michael Jackson's #1 hit single "Billie Jean"...
performed better in R&B and dance markets. Another version of the same medley was made in that year by Brooklyn Express, a disco group from New York. - Austrian pop star FalcoFalco (musician)Johann Hölzel , better known by his stage name Falco, was an Austrian pop and rock musician and rapper. He had several international hits: "Der Kommissar", "Rock Me Amadeus", "Vienna Calling", "Jeanny", "The Sound of Musik", "Coming Home " and posthumously, "Out Of The Dark"...
covered the song on his 1988 album Wiener BlutWiener Blut (album)Wiener Blut is the 1988 fifth album by Falco. It was dedicated to Falco's "daughter", Bianca, recorded in 1987 and should be the last album produced by Bolland & Bolland...
. - Art of Noise sampled the song for their version of Prince's "KissKiss (song)In 1988 Art of Noise released a cover of the song, featuring Tom Jones on vocals. The song became the band's biggest hit to that point, reaching number eighteen on the U.S. dance charts and number five on the UK Singles Chart, higher than the original in that country...
" with Tom JonesTom Jones (singer)Sir Thomas John Woodward, OBE , known by his stage name Tom Jones, is a Welsh singer.Since the mid 1960s, Jones has sung many styles of popular music – pop, rock, R&B, show tunes, country, dance, techno, soul and gospel – and sold over 100 million records...
in 1988. - The disco-funk orchestra Rhythm Heritage covered the song, coupling it with War'sWar (band)War is an American funk band from California, known for the hit songs "Low Rider", "Spill the Wine", "The Cisco Kid" and "Why Can't We Be Friends?". Formed in 1969, War was a musical crossover band which fused elements of rock, funk, jazz, Latin, rhythm and blues, and reggae...
"Cisco Kid". - A short lived funk/alternative band, The Organization, composed of all former Death AngelDeath AngelDeath Angel is a Filipino-American thrash metal band from Concord, California, initially active from 1982 to 1991 and again since 2001. Death Angel has released six studio albums, two demo tapes, one box set and two live albums....
members, less Mark Osegueda, covered this song on their 1995 album Savor The Flavor. - In 1997, Paul HardcastlePaul HardcastlePaul Hardcastle is an English composer and musician, specialising in the synthesizer.-Discography:In the early 1980s, Hardcastle played the keyboards on several singles on the Oval record label by the dance music groups Direct Drive and First Light, before going solo.He achieved some acclaim for...
offered his version from the album Cover to Cover. - Latin urban group Kumbia KingsKumbia KingsKumbia Kings was a Latin Grammy-winning Mexican cumbia group from Corpus Christi, Texas created by A.B. Quintanilla. Their music encompasses the styles of cumbia , hip hop and R&B. They produce songs in both Spanish and English. The band's producers from the beginning have been A.B. Quintanilla III...
released a Spanish-language rendition of the song, entitled "Ella Sabe" ("She Knows") on their 2004 album, Fuego. - The electro-Latin 2007 release Bossa Nova Is Not A Crime by The Juju Orchestra features a cover with Carolyn Leonhart and Robert SmithRobert Smith- Music :*Robert Smith , lead singer/guitarist of The Cure*Bob Smith , founder, singer, keyboards and drums for Cat Mother & the All Night Newsboys...
on vocals. - Alternative rock band Smash MouthSmash MouthSmash Mouth is an American rock band from San Jose, California. The band was formed in 1994, and was originally composed of Steve Harwell, Greg Camp, Paul De Lisle and Kevin Coleman as lead vocals, guitar, bass and drums respectively...
covered the song in 2000 for the Jim CarreyJim CarreyJames Eugene "Jim" Carrey is a Canadian-American actor and comedian. He has received two Golden Globe Awards and has also been nominated on four occasions. Carrey began comedy in 1979, performing at Yuk Yuk's in Toronto, Ontario...
film Me, Myself & Irene. The song is played during the end credits of the film. - Italo discoItalo discoItalo disco encompasses much of the dance music output in Europe during the 1980s. It is one of the world's first forms of mostly electronic dance music and evolved during the late 1970s and early 1980s in Italy, Germany, the Netherlands and other parts of Europe...
act Asso covered the track during the 1980s. - Soul singer Ronnie JonesRonnie Jones- External links :**...
included the song on his album Again (2006). - American musician Tori AmosTori AmosTori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
covered the song in 1998 during the recording sessions for her fourth album, From the Choirgirl HotelFrom the Choirgirl HotelFrom the Choirgirl Hotel is the fourth studio album by American singer and songwriter Tori Amos. A departure from her previous albums, it was more heavily produced and a very radio-friendly project featuring a full rock band sound . Upon its release in May 1998, the album debuted at US #5 and UK #6...
. The song can be found on the UK edition of the single "Spark". - The Jamaican band The Jolly BoysThe Jolly BoysThe Jolly Boys is a mento band from Port Antonio, Jamaica. It was formed in 1955 and had great commercial success in the late 1980s and 1990s among reggae and world music fans...
recorded a mentoMentoMento is a style of Jamaican folk music that predates and has greatly influenced ska and reggae music. It has its roots in calypso and other Jamaican folk music. Mento typically features acoustic instruments, such as acoustic guitar, banjo, hand drums, and the rhumba box — a large mbira in the...
style cover of "Do It Again" on their 2010 album Great Expectations.
Sampled by
- Reggae fusion band SublimeSublime (band)Sublime was an American ska punk band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's line-up, unchanged until their breakup, consisted of Bradley Nowell , Eric Wilson and Bud Gaugh . Michael "Miguel" Happoldt also contributed on a few Sublime songs, such as "New Thrash." Lou Dog, Nowell's...
in their cover of Peter ToshPeter ToshPeter Tosh, born Winston Hubert McIntosh , was a Jamaican reggae musician who was a core member of the band The Wailers , and who afterward had a successful solo career as well as being a promoter of Rastafari.Peter Tosh was born in Grange Hill, Jamaica, an illegitimate child to a mother too young...
's "Steppin' Razor" on their album Robbin' the Hood