I might have something. For reference, I'm 35, so SD had already broken up, and Fagen had already released "The Nightfly," before I was born.

Around that time (1980-85) my dad worked at a store that sold high-fidelity home stereo equipment (David Beatty in KC, on the off-chance that anyone here knew it).

That's how my parents met. My mom went in there to buy something or other.

They bonded over their mutual love of the Beatles, the Beach Boys, the Who, etc., and they both also loved "Can't Buy a Thrill." My mom loved "Peg" off "Aja" because her name is Peg.

Fast forward to about 2000-2002. I'm 15. I'm the guitar player in a high school garage rock band. I mostly like punk, but the bass player in my band has recently introduced me to funk, soul, jazz, and R&B.

One day my mom drives me to school, and "Peg" came on the radio. She was like, "Oh, I like this song," and turned it up. I fell in love. The horns were so thick. The guitar solo was so fucking perfect. When we pulled up to my school I asked my mom if she owned that album so I could listen to it. She said yeah, maybe somewhere. So we dug it on and I listened to nothing else for at least a month.

That high-school garage rock / punk band I was in ended up covering "Peg" (partially, as part of a medley, because we didn't have the people to arrange it properly) and also "Josie," which I think we sort of fucking nailed.

A few years later, two things happened.

1) I was in a different, much better band with that same bass player. We hired an audio engineer (friend of our drummer and essentially the fourth member of the band). When he went to test the sound system at a new venue, he BLASTED "The Nightfly."

2) At the same time, my dad retired, and took a part-time job at a new high-end audio place in town, and when he wanted to test the new stuff, he BLASTED "The Nightfly."

Sorry if this isn't a really well-written answer. I am quite drunk. But SD means a lot to me and I hope this kind of gets some of that across.