where did the band steely dan get their name
Steely Dan After realizing that their songs were too complex for other ABC artists, at Katz's suggestion Becker and Fagen formed their own band with guitarists Denny Dias and Jeff "Skunk" Baxter, drummer Jim Hodder and singer David Palmer, and Katz signed them to ABC as recording artists. Fans of Beat Generation literature, Fagen and Becker named the band after "Steely Dan III from Yokohama", an oversized, steam-powered strap-on dildo mentioned in the William S. Burroughs novel Naked Lunch.[22][23] Palmer joined as a second lead vocalist because of Fagen's occasional stage fright, his reluctance to sing in front of an audience, and because the label believed that his voice was not "commercial" enough.
Billie Jean Jackson stated several times that "Billie Jean" was based on the groupies he and his brothers encountered while part of The Jackson 5.[1][2][3] "Billie Jean is kind of anonymous. It represents a lot of girls. They used to call them groupies in the '60s." He added: "They would hang around backstage doors, and any band that would come to town they would have a relationship with, and I think I wrote this out of experience with my brothers when I was little. There were a lot of Billie Jeans out there. Every girl claimed that their son was related to one of my brothers."[4] The reason for this was due to the fame of the Jackson 5, and wanting to have their money in order to have a way of living.
Alonso Álvarez de Pineda
Levon (song) According to Gus Dudgeon, Bernie Taupin was inspired by The Band's co-founder, drummer and singer Levon Helm to name the song after him. The Band was apparently John and Taupin's favourite group at the time. In 2013, however, Taupin said that the song is unrelated to Levon Helm.[3]