We’ve Been Overdue for a Steely Dan Smackdown

The things that pass for music he can’t understand. Donald Fagen, noted bodacious cowboy and Steely Dan front man, has gotten wind of a cover band at the Republican National Convention playing “Reelin’ in the Years” for attendees — a move that, while not illegal in the complicated enterprise of music rights, is making Fagen’s everlasting summer fade a little faster. (Well, he did just get off a tour with the Eagles.) “Hey Sixwire,” he addressed the band in a July 18 social-media post.