MFSL 2-LPs UD1S 2-003: Donald Fagen - The Nightfly - 2017 SEALED #d Ltd Ed 45rpm
  C$   240
  $   174

 


C$ 240 Sold For
Jan 13, 2018 Sold Date
Dec 22, 2017 Start Date
C$   300 Start price
1 Number Of Bids
  Canada Country Of Seller
eBay Sold at
 
save auction  

Description

****Welcome to our listing, thanks very much for looking!

****See our own website! We have lots of out of print LPs and CDs! You can find us on the world wide web at -

                 hearthedifference.net

****Shipping cost is only an estimate - it depends on the actual weight and size of the package as well as the service required. We do not profit from shipping costs, so if we overcharge, we will refund the difference back to you. It's always best to wait for our invoice before paying for your item.

****Please see our other listings for more great LPs and CDs - new items added daily.

****To access our eBay store either click on the little red door at the top right section of any of our eBay listings or, click on -

http://stores.ebay.com/Hear-The-Difference

Background -

Donald Jay Fagen (born January 10, 1948) is an American musician best known as the co-founder, lead singer and keyboardist of the band Steely Dan.

Fagen was born in Passaic, New Jersey, on January 10, 1948, to Jewish parents, Joseph "Jerry" Fagen, an accountant, and his wife, Elinor, a homemaker who had been a swing singer in upstate New York's Catskill Mountains from childhood through her teens. His family moved to the suburb of Fair Lawn around 1958 and soon after to a house on Bedford Road in the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick, New Jersey. The transition upset him; he detested living in the suburbs. He later recalled that it "was like a prison. I think I lost faith in [my parents'] judgment... It was probably the first time I realized I had my own view of life." His life in Kendall Park, including his teenage love of late-night radio, inspired his album The Nightfly.

Fagen became interested in rock and rhythm and blues (R&B) in the late 1950s. The first record he bought was "Reelin' and Rockin'" by Chuck Berry. At age eleven, he was recommended music by a cousin and went to the Newport Jazz Festival, becoming what he called a "jazz snob": "I lost interest in rock 'n' roll and started developing an anti-social personality." In the early 1960s, beginning at age twelve, he often went to the Village Vanguard, where he was particularly impressed by Earl Hines, Willie "The Lion" Smith, and Bill Evans. He regularly took the bus to Manhattan to see performances by jazz musicians Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk, and Miles Davis. He learned to play the piano, and he played baritone horn in the high school marching band. He developed a lifelong fondness for table tennis. In his late teens he was drawn to soul music, funk, Motown, and Sly and the Family Stone. He has also expressed admiration for the Boswell Sisters, Henry Mancini, and Ray Charles.

After graduating from South Brunswick High School in 1965, he enrolled at Bard College to study English literature, having been inspired by Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. At Bard he met musician Walter Becker. With a revolving assortment of musicians which included future actor Chevy Chase, Becker and Fagen formed the bands the Leather Canary, the Don Fagen Jazz Trio, and the Bad Rock Band. Fagen described his college bands as sounding like "the Kingsmen performing Frank Zappa material". None of the groups lasted long, but the partnership between Fagen and Becker did. The duo's early career included working with Jay and the Americans, for which they used pseudonyms. In the early 1970s they worked as pop songwriters for ABC/Dunhill Records, which released all of Steely Dan's 1970s albums.

Donald Fagen was one of the two masterminds behind Steely Dan, the seminal jazz-pop band of the '70s. Fagen's solo work has been a continuation of the band's work of the early '80s -- carefully constructed and arranged, intricately detailed pop songs that are more substantial than their stylish surface may indicate. His 1982 solo debut, The Nightfly, was the best album he had made in years; it covered the same ground as the last two Steely Dan albums, yet surpassed them in terms of ambition and achievement.

After the success of The Nightfly, Fagen suffered a case of writer's block; for the rest of the decade he contributed music to the occasional film and briefly wrote a column for Premiere magazine in the mid-'80s. In the early '90s, he toured with the New York Rock and Soul Revue as he finished the material for his second album. With his former Steely Dan partner Walter Becker producing, 1993's Kamakiriad sounded like Aja recorded with '90s technology. It had some success on the adult contemporary charts, but it was overshadowed by the duo's decision to re-form Steely Dan and tour for the first time in nearly 20 years; the tour was a massive success. One more album -- 2003's Everything Must Go -- came out of the reunion before Fagen decided to begin work on his third solo album.

With death as its main theme, Morph the Cat appeared in March 2006. Soon after the album's release, Fagen embarked on his first solo tour. It was the beginning of an extended period of live performances for Fagen. Steely Dan toured several of their classic albums in 2009, by which time Fagen had become a regular at Levon Helm's Midnight Rambles in Woodstock, New York. In 2010, Fagen formed the touring blue-eyed soul revue the Dukes of September with Michael McDonald and Boz Scaggs. The group had a second tour in 2012, and after its conclusion, Fagen released the lively Sunken Condos, his first album since Morph the Cat. - Stephen Thomas Erlewine

The Nightfly is the debut studio album by American singer-songwriter Donald Fagen. Produced by Gary Katz, it was released October 1, 1982 by Warner Bros. Records. Fagen was previously best known for his work in the group Steely Dan, with whom he enjoyed a successful career in 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 long time 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 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 2007 to dub the album "one of pop music's sneakiest masterpieces."

The Nightfly was met with almost universally positive reviews. Billboard labeled it their top album pick in the first month of its release, calling it a "stunning debut" and praising its "typically blue chip crew of crack players and crisp digital production." David Fricke wrote in Rolling Stone that "Donald Fagen conjures a world where all things are possible, even to a kid locked in his bedroom." Robert Christgau, writing for The Village Voice, gave the album an A and commented, "these songs are among Fagen's finest [...] his acutely shaded lyrics puts the jazziest music he's ever committed to vinyl into a context that like everything here is loving but very clear-eyed." Robert Palmer of The New York Times called The Nightfly a "vivid and frequently ingenious look back at a world that is gone forever. Its sound is glossy and contemporary, but references to both the spirit and the music of the years when Mr. Fagen was growing up can be found in almost every song."

Subsequent reviews remain positive. Jon Matsumoto picked it for a "Classic of the Week" editorial in the Los Angeles Times in 1994, calling it an "elegant pop album," praising the album's "vivid lyrical tapestry" and "rhythmically effervescent" music. Jason Ankeny of AllMusic regarded The Nightfly as "lush and shimmering, produced with cinematic flair by Gary Katz; romanticized but never sentimental... crafted with impeccable style and sophistication." Bud Scoppa, in a review of the Nightfly trilogy (a reissue of Fagen's first three studio albums), wrote that they are "united not just by their sophistication but also by a sense of nostalgia for what has been irretrievably lost." The album was included among the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die in 2006. In 2010, Vatican City's L'Osservatore Romano selected The Nightfly as one of its official Top 10 Albums.

The album remains a favorite among audiophiles. According to Paul Tingen, from Sound on Sound magazine, The Nightfly was "for years a popular demonstration record in hi-fi stores across the globe." Paul White, editor-in-chief of Sound on Sound, said The Nightfly "is always a good reference for checking out monitoring systems and shows what good results could be obtained from those early digital recording systems in the right hands." In addition to its use in recording studio tests, Clive Young of Pro Sound News called Fagen's "I.G.Y." the "Free Bird" of pro audio, claiming that almost every live sound engineer uses the song to test the front-of-house system's sound response. EQ Magazine rated The Nightfly as among the Top 10 Best Recorded Albums of All Time, alongside the Beatles's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the Beach Boys' Pet Sounds.

A portrait of the artist as a young man, The Nightfly is a wonderfully evocative reminiscence of Kennedy-era American life; in the liner notes, Donald Fagen describes the songs as representative of the kinds of fantasies he entertained as an adolescent during the late '50s/early '60s, and he conveys the tenor of the times with some of his most personal and least obtuse material to date. Continuing in the smooth pop-jazz mode favored on the final Steely Dan records, The Nightfly is lush and shimmering, produced with cinematic flair by Gary Katz; romanticized but never sentimental, the songs are slices of suburbanite soap opera, tales of space-age hopes (the hit "I.G.Y.") and Cold War fears (the wonderful "The New Frontier," a memoir of fallout-shelter love) crafted with impeccable style and sophistication. - Jason Ankeny

My UD1S copies arrived yesterday. So, last night I did the logical thing: a vertical test between the original 1982 USA Warner Bros. release (9 23696-1), the 1983 Mobile Fidelity MFSL release (MFSL 1-120), and the just-released Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc 1-Step release (UD1S 2-003). While the original USA Warner pressing is really quite good, and compares quite favorably to the MoFi MFSL pressing, save for areas like surface noise, bass impact, and general clarity, this new UD1S is far-and-away much better than either of them. 

The first thing I noted, right from the opening note, was much greater dynamic expressiveness. Further, this record is remarkably quiet, and that velvety quietness serves to further enhanced dynamic contrasts, both micro and macro. Bass extension, impact, and pitch definition are markedly better than either the US Warner or the MoFi MFSL release. Mids are more focused, with more clarity, and a remarkable sense of vibrancy, imparting a much more “live” sense to this release than to either of the other releases. The air, delicacy, attack, and decay on cymbals is so much more accurate and superior to either other of the pressings that it is staggering… Really!

Resolution and transparence are exceptional, totally off the charts! This LP really approaches the sound of a master tape!

Staging and imaging are greatly improved, with clearly greater depth and more accurate and intricate layering. The sense of the spatial relationships, as well as the sizes and shapes of the images are so correct, you feel as though you could almost get up and walk around "in" the recording.

Both human and instrumental voices are more distinctly focused in their location, and have both more body and much richer texture. The backing vocalists take on much more individuality, sounding much more like a group of individual voices singing together than a homogeneity of voices.

Overall, the energy, vibrancy, tonal richness, pace and drive from this pressing is irresistible. This LP gets my complete and unreserved endorsement… I hope you have already ordered yours, because they were nearly sold out at 11:00 AM yesterday morning… - Greg Weaver, Senior Writer, TAS

This is a BRAND NEW & FACTORY SEALED 2-LP box set issued by the famous audiophile label, "MFSL / MOFI - Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab" in 2017 - a super RARE audiophile title, already out of print and limited to 6,000 copies worldwide! 

The 2-LP boxed set was made by MFSL - this is a highly collectible title from their catalog - a superb title featuring the music of the - 

Donald Fagen

Title and tracks -

The Nightfly

Track Listing -

A1. I. G. Y. (International Geophysical Year)
Alto Saxophone – Dave Tofani Backing Vocals – Frank Floyd, Gordon Grody, Valerie Simpson, Zack Sanders Baritone Saxophone – Ronnie Cuber Bass – Anthony Jackson Drums – James Gadson Drums [Additional] – Jeff Porcaro Electric Piano – Greg Phillinganes Guitar – Hugh McCracken Percussion – Roger Nichols, Starz Vanderlocket Synth [Blues Harp] – Donald Fagen Synthesizer – Donald Fagen, Rob Mounsey Tenor Saxophone – Michael Brecker Trombone – Dave Bargeron Trumpet – Randy Brecker - 6:05         
A2. Green Flower Street
Backing Vocals – Daniel Lazerus, Frank Floyd, Valerie Simpson, Zack Sanders Bass – Chuck Rainey Drums – Jeff Porcaro Electric Piano, Clavinet – Greg Phillinganes Guitar – Dean Parks, Rick Derringer Lead Guitar – Larry Carlton Percussion – Starz Vanderlocket Synthesizer – Donald Fagen, Rob Mounsey - 3:40         
B1. Ruby Baby
Backing Vocals – Donald Fagen, Valerie Simpson Bass – Anthony Jackson Drums – Jeff Porcaro Drums [Additional] – James Gadson Electric Piano, Organ, Synthesizer – Donald Fagen Guitar – Hugh McCracken Lead Guitar – Larry Carlton Piano – Michael Omartian Soloist, Piano – Greg Phillinganes Tenor Saxophone – Michael Brecker Trumpet, Flugelhorn – Randy Brecker - 5:38         
B2. Maxine
Alto Saxophone – Dave Tofani Baritone Saxophone – Ronnie Cuber Bass – Marcus Miller Drums – Ed Green Electric Piano, Organ – Donald Fagen Euphonium – Dave Bargeron Flugelhorn – Randy Brecker Guitar – Larry Carlton Piano – Greg Phillinganes Tenor Saxophone – Michael Brecker - 3:50         
C1. New Frontier
Backing Vocals – Donald Fagen, Starz Vanderlocket Bass – Abraham Laboriel Drums – Ed Green Harmonica – Hugh McCracken Lead Guitar – Larry Carlton Percussion – Starz Vanderlocket Piano, Electric Piano – Michael Omartian - 6:23         
C2. The Nightfly
Backing Vocals – Donald Fagen, Frank Floyd, Valerie Simpson, Zack Sanders Bass – Marcus Miller Drums – Jeff Porcaro Electric Piano – Michael Omartian Guitar – Hugh McCracken, Rick Derringer Lead Guitar – Larry Carlton Piano – Donald Fagen Synthesizer – Donald Fagen, Rob Mounsey - 5:45         
D1. The Goodbye Look
Acoustic Guitar – Steve Khan Backing Vocals – Donald Fagen, Valerie Simpson Bass – Marcus Miller Drums – Jeff Porcaro Electric Piano, Synthesizer – Greg Phillinganes Guitar – Dean Parks Lead Guitar – Larry Carlton Percussion – Starz Vanderlocket - 4:47         
D2. Walk Between Raindrops
Backing Vocals – Donald Fagen, Leslie Miller Bass – Will Lee Drums – Steve Jordan Electric Piano, Organ, Synthesizer – Donald Fagen Guitar – Larry Carlton Synthesizer [Bass] – Greg Phillinganes - 2:38


Credits / Performers (see detail in track listing) -

• Arranged By – Donald Fagen
• Arranged By [Horns] – Donald Fagen, Rob Mounsey
• Art Direction – George Delmerico
• Composed By – Donald Fagen (tracks: A1, A2, B2 to D2), Jerry Leiber And Mike Stoller* (tracks: B1)
• Engineer [Assistant] – Cheryl Smith, Mike Morengell, Robin Lane, Wayne Yurgelun
• Engineer [Chief] – Roger Nichols
• Engineer [Overdub] – Daniel Lazerus
• Photography By – James Hamilton
• Producer – Gary Katz
• Remastered By – Krieg Wunderlich
• Sequenced By, Percussion, Effects [Special Effects] – Roger Nichols, Wendel II
• Set Designer [And Construction] – Gale Sasson, Vern Yenor
• Technician [Digital Maintenance, 3M] – Bill Roach, Jiri Donovsky
• Technician [Digital Maintenance, Soundworks] – Mike Morongell, Wayne Yurgelun
• Tracking By, Mixed By [Mixdown] – Elliot Scheiner

The title is from the ultra-rare MFSL series of audiophile LPs.

      • MFSL / MOFI RECORDS
      • LPs made in the USA
      •  Pressings are in STEREO
      • Made with 180-gram vinyl, comes in a luxurious boxed set
      • Record vintage = limited and numbered edition, made in 2017
      • LP catalog # UD1S 2-003

Other Information -

Lavish Packaging Includes Opulent Box and Special Foil-Stamped Jackets: Deluxe Audiophile Pressing Strictly Limited to 6000 Numbered Copies

Cinema for the Ears: The Nightfly Remains One of the Best-Sounding Albums Ever Made with Reference Production, Standout Playing, and Jazz-Like Arrangements That Embody Timeless Cool

Painstakingly recorded by producer Gary Katz and engineers Roger Nichols and Elliot Scheiner, Donald Fagen's The Nightfly endures as a rare Audiophile trifecta of superlative performance, consummate songwriting, and crisp, benchmark production. Mobile Fidelity is honored to give this seminal effort unsurpassed treatment befitting the most serious music connoisseurs.

Mastered from the Original Master Tapes with Mobile Fidelity's One-Step Process: The Nightfly UD1S 45RPM Box Set Is the Ultimate Analog Version of Donald Fagen's 1982 Landmark Debut.

Donald Fagen's largely autobiographical The Nightfly remains one of the best-sounding albums ever made. Revered by audiophiles, the Steely Dan co-founder's 1982 set immediately became a demonstration disc at audio salons and hi-fi shows the world over. It also quickly emerged as an irreplaceable monitor-evaluating tool for recording-studio engineers and front-of-the-house testing device for concert-venue soundboard engineers who continue to use it today. Painstakingly recorded over eight months by producer Gary Katz and engineers Roger Nichols and Elliot Scheiner, The Nightfly endures as a rare trifecta of superlative performance, consummate songwriting, and crisp, benchmark production. Mobile Fidelity is honored to give this seminal effort unsurpassed treatment befitting the most serious music connoisseurs.

Fagen's solo debut reaches three-dimensional sonic and emotional heights never before attained on Mobile Fidelity's opulent UD1S (UltraDisc One-Step) box set. Strictly limited to 6,000 numbered copies,  this ultra-hi-fi collector's edition literally and figuratively brings you closer to music that picks up where Steely Dan's Gaucho leaves off. You'll enjoy deep-black backgrounds, boundless soundstaging, pointillist details, staggering dynamics, and arguably, the most lifelike tonalities and nuances ever committed to vinyl. Experienced via UD1S, The Nightfly places Fagen and his session pros in your listening room. Every note, breath, and movement is reproduced with exquisite accuracy, wowing clarity, and impeccable balance. Consider this edition your new go-to reference.

The lavish packaging and beautiful presentation of Mobile Fidelity's The Nightfly pressing befit its extremely select status. Housed in a deluxe box, this UD1S version contains special foil-stamped jackets and faithful-to-the-original graphics that illuminate the splendor of the recording. No expense has been spared. Aurally and visually, this reissue of The Nightfly is a curatorial artifact meant to be preserved, poured over, touched, and examined. It is made for discerning listeners that prize sound quality and creativity, and who desire to fully immerse themselves in the art – and everything involved with the album, from the images to the textures and liner notes.

Nominated for seven Grammy Awards, The Nightfly "represent[s] certain fantasies that might have been entertained by a young man growing up in the remote suburbs of a northeastern city during the late fifties and early sixties, i.e., one of my general height, weight, and build," pens Fagen in the liner notes, revealing the work's thematic thrust and wistful, nostalgic appeal. At their core, songs look at the world via an optimistic, mindfully innocent lens and through the eyes of an adolescent holed up in his bedroom with his ear to a radio whose exciting transmissions inspire thoughts of futuristic cities, late-night deejays, otherworldly hopes, and Cold War romances. Cinema for the ears, The Nightfly comes on like a film transferred to wax – its stories filled with relatable vulnerability, ambition, and warmth.

It is also timelessly cool, with everything from the iconic album cover – complete with Fagen in the role of a cigarette-smoking disk jockey spinning a Sonny Rollins album on an RCA turntable at 4:09 in the morning – to the flawless playing honoring the laid-back, hip, stylish jazz pedigree of the arrangements. Indeed, The Nightfly's fame owes as much to the stunning contributions by stellar musicians – saxophonist Michael Brecker, trumpeter Randy Brecker, guitarist Larry Carlton, drummer Steve Jordan, bassist Marcus Miller, drummer Jeff Porcaro, and "Harmonica Frank" Floyd included – as it does the particulars behind its creation, which involved cutting-edge technology, novel microphone techniques, and pioneering recording methods that gave Fagen exactly what he demanded. His insistence on dialing in exacting drum sounds is by itself the stuff of legend.

The results of the meticulous sessions transcend eras and generations – part of its very design. Virtually every track connects with classic 50s and 60s styles. "Green Flower Street" doubles as an homage to the jazz standard "On Green Dolphin Street." The title track draws imagery from blues pioneer Charley Patton. "Ruby Baby" references soul greats the Drifters. "Maxine" nods to harmonies perfected by big-band vocal quartets like the Four Freshmen. "The Goodbye Look" acknowledges the bossa-nova craze of Fagen's youth. In all respects, The Nightfly rules the airwaves.

• Strictly Limited Edition Box Set
• Numbered Edition (6000 units)
• UltraDisc One-Step UD1S
• 180 Gram High Definition Vinyl 
• 2LP 45rpm Pressed at RTI, USA
• Half-Speed mastering on MFSL Gain 2 Ultra Analog System
• Cut from the Original Master Tapes
• Mastered by Krieg Wunderlich
• Deluxe gold-foiled box set
• Contains special jackets

CONDITION Details:

The BOX SET is in Mint condition. Everything is factory sealed and perfect.

A Short Note About LP GRADING -

  • Mint = Only used for sealed items.
  • Near Mint = Virtually flawless in every way.
  • Near Mint Minus = Item has some minor imperfections, some audible.
  • Excellent = Item obviously played and enjoyed with some noise.
  • Very Good Plus = Many more imperfections which are noticeable and obtrusive.

For best results, always properly clean your LPs before playing them (even for brand new LPs).

The LP is an audiophile quality pressing (any collector of fine MFSL, half speeds, direct to discs, Japanese/UK pressings etc., can attest to the difference a quality pressing can make to an audio system).

Don't let this rarity slip by!!!


price rating