Bad Sneakers

"Bad Sneakers"
Single by Steely Dan
from the album Katy Lied
B-side"Chain Lightning"
ReleasedSeptember 1975[1]
RecordedNovember 1974
StudioABC, Los Angeles, California
GenreRock
Length3:16
LabelABC
Songwriter(s)Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
Producer(s)Gary Katz
Steely Dan singles chronology
"Black Friday"
(1975) 		"Bad Sneakers"
(1975) 		"Kid Charlemagne"
(1976)
Official audio"Bad Sneakers" on YouTube

"Bad Sneakers" is a song by jazz rock band Steely Dan. It was released as the second single and track on their 1975 album Katy Lied.[2] Producer Gary Katz later regretted not releasing the song as the first single.[3]

Cash Box noted that "a razored guitar bridge highlights and counterbalances some laidback vocals with the overall sound layered and dimensional."[4] Record World said that it "pieces together bits of the L.A. r&r experience while stranded outside of Radio City Music Hall."[5]

Michael McDonald's vocals on the song are some of his first for the band;[6] he would continue to perform background vocals for the band in recordings until 1980.[7] The song also appears on the compilation albums A Decade of Steely Dan[8] and Citizen Steely Dan.

  1. ^ Strong, Martin Charles (1995). The Great Rock Discography. p. 782. ISBN 9780862415419.
  2. ^ Steely Dan – Katy Lied Archived 2012-11-08 at the Wayback Machine Discogs
  3. ^ "Official Steely Dan | FAQ". Archived from the original on 2012-01-27. Retrieved 2008-01-22.
  4. ^ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. August 23, 1975. p. 24. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-27. Retrieved 2021-12-11.
  5. ^ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. August 23, 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
  6. ^ "Michael McDonald's Massive Body of Session Work (Non Doobie-Brothers)". Amazon. Archived from the original on 2009-04-26. Retrieved 2017-08-30.
  7. ^ Michael McDonald Archived 2009-05-04 at the Wayback Machine at Everything2
  8. ^ A Decade of Steely Dan Archived 2011-06-22 at the Wayback Machine Discogs