Comedian John Mulaney paid a visit to The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night, and he brought two of his favorite topics with him: fatherhood and Steely Dan.
“So I love Steely Dan,” the comedian proclaimed. “Some people don’t like Steely Dan. It’s a very divisive band. When I had a son I go, ‘Great, fresh person. Fresh ears.’ That’s one reason to have a baby, so you can test Steely Dan out on them.’”
The comedian then proceeded to detail his efforts to get his young son interested in the jazz rock band’s music.
“He loves dancing, my son loves music,” Mulaney explained. “So I put on the Steely Dan song ‘Hey Nineteen.’ Cause that’s fun.”
Typically, Fallon’s crowds look for any excuse to cheer pop-culture references, like name-drops of album or movie titles. However, in this instance they were silent, a fact Mulaney instantly noticed.
READ MORE: Steely Dan Albums Ranked Worst to Best
“Look at all the applause of recognition for ‘Hey Nineteen,’” the comedian sarcastically remarked before continuing with his anecdote. “I’m staring at Malcolm, he’s nine months old. I turn on ‘Hey Nineteen,’ he’s not dancing. So I turn on, I change it to the song ‘Gaucho’ from the album Gaucho.”
Once again, the audience was totally silent when Mulaney mentioned Steely Dan’s 1980 album by name.
“Again, folks, sit down. Stop applauding,” the comedian quipped, generating some laughs. “I turn on ‘Gaucho,’ still not dancing. My son looks at me and he says ‘Ee-I-Ee-I-Oh.’ And I go, ‘You want to listen to ‘Old McDonald’?” The child nodded and Mulaney responded by playing the nursery rhyme.
“So here’s what’s interesting about that story,” the comedian surmised. “He had never spoken before. That’s how much he hated Steely Dan.”
John Mulaney’s Son Prefers Elvis
Elsewhere in the interview, Mulaney noted that his son has developed an interest in Elvis Presley, to the point that his birthday party had an Elvis theme.
“He’s a really big Elvis fan,” the comedian noted, adding that the boy was “riveted” while watching the King’s 1968 comeback special. “More than any [kids movie], Inside Out, Moana, anything. Staring at Elvis in a leather suit in the late ’60s.”
Watch John Mulaney on ‘The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon’
The Best Song From Every Steely Dan Album
Steely Dan’s confidence kept growing as their songs gained more narrative complexity and musical depth.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso