The Nightfly

The Nightfly
Studio album by Donald Fagen
Released	October 1, 1982
Recorded	1981–82
Studio	Soundworks Digital Audio/Video Recording Studios (New York) Automated Sound (New York) Village Recorders (Los Angeles)
Genre	Jazz pop pop rock R&B[1]
Length	38:46
Label	Warner Bros.
Producer	Gary Katz
Donald Fagen chronology
The Nightfly (1982) Kamakiriad (1993)
Singles from The Nightfly
"I.G.Y. (What a Beautiful World)" Released: September 1982 "New Frontier" Released: January 1983 "Ruby Baby" Released: April 1983

The Nightfly is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Donald Fagen. Produced by Gary Katz, it was released October 1, 1982, by Warner Bros. Records. Fagen is best known for his work in the group Steely Dan, with whom he enjoyed a successful career since the 1970s. The band separated in 1981, leading Fagen to pursue a solo career. Although The Nightfly includes a number of production staff and musicians who had played on Steely Dan records, it was Fagen's first release without longtime collaborator Walter Becker.

Unlike most of Fagen's previous work, The Nightfly is almost blatantly autobiographical. Many of the songs relate to the cautiously optimistic mood of his suburban childhood in the late 1950s and early 1960s and incorporate such topics as late-night jazz disc jockeys, fallout shelters, and tropical vacations. Recorded over eight months at various studios between New York City and Los Angeles, the album is an early example of a fully digital recording in popular music. The nascent technology, as well as the perfectionist nature of its engineers and musicians, made the album difficult to record.

The Nightfly was well-received, both critically and commercially. It was certified platinum in both the US and UK and generated two popular singles with the top 40 hit "I.G.Y." and the MTV favorite "New Frontier". Among critics, The Nightfly gained widespread acclaim and received seven nominations at the 1983 Grammy Awards. The relatively low-key but long-lived popularity of The Nightfly led Robert J. Toth of The Wall Street Journal in 2008 to dub the album "one of pop music's sneakiest masterpieces."^[2]