1978 · Behind the Songs
A theme song that flattered radio while filing a complaint.
In 1978, while finishing Aja in California, Walter Becker and Donald Fagen were asked to write the title song for the film FM. Fagen later told American Songwriter that the only requirement was that the song be about FM radio — and that it was their first film assignment since 1971’s “You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat.” Released in May 1978, it was also the band’s first single on MCA Records, a year before MCA absorbed ABC, the band’s previous label.
Cut during the Aja sessions at Capitol Studios in Hollywood and other Los Angeles rooms, the track gathers an all-star cast: Jeff Porcaro on drums, Pete Christlieb — who had also played the sax solo on “Deacon Blues” — on tenor sax, Victor Feldman on percussion, and backing vocals from Glenn Frey, Don Henley and Timothy B. Schmit of the Eagles. Johnny Mandel arranged the string section, only the second time the band had used strings. Engineer Roger Nichols won the Grammy for Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical for “FM” — the only time that award has gone to a single song.
The single reached No. 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 — after debuting at No. 67, the highest debut of its week — plus No. 19 in Canada and New Zealand, No. 49 in Britain and No. 1 in Spain. The B-side, “FM (reprise),” is an instrumental with an extended Christlieb sax solo. The full-length 4:50 version and the shorter single edit both circulate; the band left the song off its 1978 Greatest Hits, and it first appeared on a Steely Dan album with 1982’s Gold.
The twist is in the lyric, which criticizes the album-oriented rock format dominating FM at the time — a sly complaint tucked inside a song celebrating the medium, and the opposite of the film’s cheerleading. The song has been covered by the Mountain Goats and Woody Herman, sampled by 3rd Bass, and in 2015 the Empire State Building’s lights were choreographed to it. A perfect piece of movie music that bites the hand that programmed it.