Album · Steely Dan
The Royal Scam by Steely Dan
The Royal Scam is an album by Steely Dan, released in 1976. 4 songs from it have charted on rock radio countdowns, with 17 countdown appearances in total. The biggest is “Kid Charlemagne”, on 11 lists with a best position of #263.
The Royal Scam, Steely Dan's fifth album, slid out on ABC in May 1976 with Gary Katz producing, just as he had every Steely Dan record before it. By now Walter Becker and Donald Fagen had quit the stage and turned the band into a studio-only operation, calling in session players as the songs demanded, and this time the songs demanded funk. Where the albums on either side lean on jazz-rock polish, this one struts, the grooves tight and greasy and the guitars cutting like a switchblade.
Fagen's voice stays wry and sour over it all, carrying the pair's trademark cryptic, ironic writing from "Kid Charlemagne" to the title track. America didn't give either single a top 40 slot, yet the album reached 15 on the Billboard chart and went platinum, and the UK-only single "Haitian Divorce" got to 17, the best a Steely Dan single ever did outside the States.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs from The Royal Scam on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kid Charlemagne | 11 | #263 | – | 1997–2023 | |
| 2 | Don't Take Me Alive | 4 | #442 | – | 2001–2020 | |
| 3 | The Royal Scam | 1 | #1210 | – | 2020 | |
| 4 | Haitian Divorce | 1 | #370 | – | 1996 |
Only songs that appear on at least one countdown are listed. Release data from MusicBrainz.