Countdown to Ecstasy

Countdown to Ecstasy
Studio album by
Steely Dan
ReleasedJuly 1973
Studio
Genre
Length41:10
LabelABC
ProducerGary Katz
Steely Dan chronology
Can't Buy a Thrill
(1972) 		Countdown to Ecstasy
(1973) 		Pretzel Logic
(1974)
Singles from Countdown to Ecstasy
  1. "Show Biz Kids"
    Released: July 1973 [4]
  2. "My Old School"
    Released: October 1973 [5]

Countdown to Ecstasy is the second studio album by American rock band Steely Dan, released in July 1973, by ABC Records. It was recorded at the Village Recorder in West Los Angeles, California, except for Rick Derringer's slide guitar part for "Show Biz Kids", which was recorded at Caribou Ranch in Nederland, Colorado.[6] After the departure of vocalist David Palmer from Steely Dan, the group recorded the album with Donald Fagen singing lead on every track.[7]

Although the album was a critical success, it failed to generate a hit single in the United States, and consequently only charted at number 35 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tapes chart, though it was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) in 1978. The album has received perfect scores from music critics in numerous retrospective reviews.

  1. ^ Logan, David (August 16, 1973). "Countdown To Ecstasy". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on December 27, 2012.
  2. ^ "Steely Dan Sunday: "Pearl of the Quarter" (1973)". July 10, 2011. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved January 28, 2017.
  3. ^ Sweet, Brian (April 27, 2007). Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years. Omnibus. ISBN 9781846098819 – via Google Books.
  4. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Steely Dan – Show Biz Kids". hitparade.ch.
  5. ^ Hung, Steffen. "Steely Dan – My Old School". hitparade.ch.
  6. ^ "Countdown to Ecstasy – Steely Dan | Credits | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
  7. ^ Uslan, Clark & Solomon 1981, p. 392.