Since just before the global pandemic, I have been a volunteer on the Older Person’s Unit of St Thomas’ Hospital in central London. Every week, I talk to people between 65 and 100 about their lives and I can tell you that everyone has a story and I learn a lot about life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So this week I was talking to a guy who had an interest in rock music and he told me the origin of the name of the American band Steely Dan. I wasn’t sure whether to believe him, so I checked it out on the web.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To quote the relevant page: <\/p>\n\n\n\n“Now, all they needed was a name. Of course, it would come from a left-field but unsurprising source. As both Becker and Fagen were huge fans of the bizarre world of 1950s \u2018Beat\u2019 literature, they chose the name Steely Dan. It was pulled directly from William S. Burrough\u2019s highly controversial 1959 novel, Naked Lunch.\n
\nSo what or who is \u2018Steely Dan\u2019, you might ask? For those of you who haven\u2019t read the meandering, psychotropic book, \u2018Steely Dan III from Yokohama\u2019 is the name of an oversized, steam-powered strap-on dildo that is used by Mary during the chapter of the book entitled \u2018A.J.\u2019s Annual Party\u2019.”\n