Red Bank Calendar
- walking bus event May 21, 2010
- Survivng the Teen Years March 6, 2010
- Hearts for Haiti Concert February 26, 2010
- Operation Medicine Cabinet November 9, 2009
- RB Candidates' night October 10, 2009
- fire expo - white street lot October 2, 2009
- Red Bank Townwide Yardsale June 25, 2009
- cleanup at primary school June 24, 2009
- Red Bank Day May 12, 2009
- RBR Musical - Thoroughly Modern Millie April 22, 2009
that’s awesome. I had read a condensed version elsewhere early last week, but this one is tops. nice find. at first, I though “the dan” was stooping a little low, but then I realized that they are totally entitled to at least some credit, and that they’re not asking much for retribution from Owen. so its cool, but I wonder what it does for their rep/image with the folks who only hear/get the partial story.
Actually, I kind of wish I had read the condensed version. To tell you the truth, I thought the letter made “the dan” sound like a couple of assholes… Of course, I never heard of Cousin Dupree, or saw You Me and Dupree, but if it had been the exact same movie with a guy named Ralph, would Steeley have even noticed a similarity?? Is it possible (I know this is a stretch) that this is just a fuckin’ coincidence?? Is Dupree a totally unique name? Because when I just typed it into Google I got 38,700,000 results. Yours truly, NAV
PS. Maybe somebody who saw the movie could read these lyrics for me and tell me if the movie really is a rip-off… http://www.steelydan.com/lyr2vn.html#track7
PPS. I don’t doubt that Hollywood is a bloodsucking industry… It seems so from Entourage anyway.
PPPS (or is it PPSS). Bottle Rocket really was a great movie.
Funny read.
But as much as I think they are right — and as much as I can’t stand the complete lack of novel, quailty entertainment being put forth recently, you really can’t rip into someone while you are on tour with Michael McDonald.
Sure, he used to be with The Dan. But “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “On my Own” should have erased any prog rock coolness points he scored in the past.
Maybe they shouldn’t have started touring again; too much time on their hands. It’s embarrassing.
So some producer in Hollywood supposedly ripped off their intellectual property? Boo hoo. They shouldn’t have snorted away all the money they made from their Grammy-winning records.
Pricks.
Really, is the idea of a slacker crashing on a friend’s couch really so novel? Hey, I slept on the Willis’ hammock! Where’s my money???
Wait!! Did you sleep on the hammock before or after the song came out?? This could be your road to riches!!
i may have actually broke the hammock.
Rich,
Is this the incident I remember Jim having told me of waking one morning to find a friend’s car in the drive with the door left open and said friend sacked out in the backyard hammock?
ky
Indeed. It would have been circa the summer of ‘89, somewhere in between Donald Fagen’s classic “The Nightfly” album and the more cooly received “KAMAKIRIAD”, while The Dan was deep into their latent re-issue period and I was still an agnst-filled manchild.
while not having seen the movie yet, the arguement here Nav is that yes, indeed, the plot for the movie was adapted from the story line in the song.
much to my surprise, you guys don’t keep the same reverence for ‘the dan’ as you used to. lets not forget that we’re talking about a great freakin band here that had a lot of influence on popular music. And in light of the whole creative commons/intellectual property movement, i would say they these particular artists are entitled to stand on the same ground as, say, Tom Petty (referring to the Chili Peppers lift) in their wanting to get credit where credit is due….regardless of their current ‘cool’ or relevance standing.
and add t o all that jer, they have a smokin backup singer by the name of http://www.carolynleonhart.com/
and she can sing too
I haven’t seen the movie either, but I’m not under the impression that it’s about a guy living on his aunt’s couch so that he can try to score with his cousin. No disrespect meant to Steeley Dan (who have never been my favorite band, and just because they named themselves after a dildo doesn’t mean they’re the gold-standard of Cool), but if there is a squeak of resemblance, it doesn’t automatically mean there was a theft of plot. I maintain that “Dupree” rhymes with “me”, and maybe, just maybe, the slight similarity is merely coincidence. Remember, there’s only something like 42 plots ever written as it is, and countless variations of each.
Tom Petty deserves about as much credit for any song stringing together the letters A-G-D-A (with no regard for the major/minor chord difference) as Jack Black does for anyone who sings while breathing in.
WTF Joe! You mean JB didn’t invent inward-singing!!!!!! ;-)
Such whiny idiots. Who would have thought that a couple of 50 year olds can sound like two 6 year olds. Oh yes, the name Dupree is just SO uncommon, and the idea of someone bunking on someone else’s couch is just SO original and rare. These guys should get a life and stop desperately craving for media attention, or whatever it is they’re trying to do. Seriously, grow some balls and confront (instead of writing a cowardly letter) Owen HIMSELF (and not his poor YOUNGER brother, who isn’t even involved in the incident) for whatever it is he’s accused of, which to me sounds pointless. Get over it. They actually think he’ll go to their concert and apologize onstage?? Is that how they’re trying to get a larger crowd? So sad. Also the part where they threaten Owen (or Luke… Whatever) with this Russian guy is just unnecessary and again, sad.
I agree with Nav 100%, and yes I watched “You, Me and Dupree”. The lyrics and the movie really aren’t even that similar. The movie is about a couple who just got married and moved into a house, and Dupree is the groom’s best man. He is broke and so he sleeps on their couch; with good intentions he does more harm than good. Oh yes, that’s EXACTLY like a guy who sleeps on his aunts couch trying to nail his cousin.
Sorry, I know this is pretty long. I had a lot to say about this :)