Steely Dan Superfan John Mulaney Tried to Get His Toddler to Like the Band
If you’re a fan of comedian John Mulaney, then you likely know he’s a big fan of Steely Dan. Unfortunately, it’s looking like that fandom won’t be passed along to his toddler son, Malcolm.
Mulaney talked about trying to get his son into the band during an appearance on The Tonight Show. He recognizes that Steely Dan is “a very divisive band, but he also noted Malcolm was a “fresh person [with] fresh ears.”
At the time he tested Steely Dan out on his son, Mulaney said Malcolm was around nine months old and loved dancing to music. So, he put on “Hey Nineteen,” but Malcolm wasn’t feeling it. Mulaney then put on the song “Gaucho,” but his son still wasn’t liking what he was hearing.
Mulaney said, “My son looks at me and he says ‘Ee-I-Ee-I-Oh.’ And I go, ‘You want to listen to ‘Old McDonald’? So here’s what’s interesting about that story. He had never spoken before. That’s how much he hated Steely Dan.”
While Malcolm doesn’t dig Steely Dan, Mulaney did say his son loves Elvis Presley and really enjoys “Mystery Train” and the iconic ’68 Comeback Special. Perhaps, Malcolm will grow into Steely Dan, but for now, being a three-year-old who loves Elvis is still pretty cool.
Believe it or not, this isn’t the first Steely Dan-related story Mulaney has told on The Tonight Show. In December 2018, Mulaney recalled taking Saturday Night Live alum/comedian Pete Davidson to see Steely Dan at the Beacon Theater in New York City. Not only does Davidson not know any Steely Dan songs, he didn’t know Steely Dan was a band. (He thought he was seeing a comedian.)
So, they walk into the venue, and Mulaney notes that the entire crowd is “not young” and full of VIPs or “various irate people” who were sitting during the show.
Mulaney says, “You don’t stand up at a Steely Dan show. So people, like, you know, they have their purse in their lap, and they just kind of dance in their chair … One woman stood up during the song ‘Josie.’ Everyone went, ‘Sit down! Sit down!’
Mulaney continues, “And then Pete Davidson says, ‘I can’t take this,’ and he turns to the row behind him. He goes, ‘If I stand, will you stand?’ And they go, ‘We’ll stand.’ So he stands, so the row behind us stands, so the row behind them stands. Then he goes, ‘Come on!’ And then, by the time they were playing ‘My Old School,’ the entire Beacon is on its feet … It was a Christmas miracle!”
