cxxxviii. FAGEN, Donald: New Frontier

cxxxviii. FAGEN, Donald (1948-       )

New Frontier (1982)
DF, vocals, synths
Larry Carlton, guitar
Ed Greene, drums
Abraham Laboriel, bass
Hugh McCracken, harmonica
Michael Omartian, keyboards
Starz Vanderlocket, percussion, background vocals
(4:44)

John F. Kennedy:

"We stand today on the edge of a New Frontier -- the frontier of the 1960s, the frontier of unknown opportunities and perils, the frontier of unfilled hopes and unfilled threats."

One reviewer wrote that he thought that Fagen was using the term humorously as a "metaphor for the mysteries of sex and adulthood."

In any case, we are definitely in the 60s here. The video's imagery is super-compelling. A lot of the animation came from the now-defunct Cucumber Studios.

Some of the strongest images come from the phrase "just in case the Reds decide to push the button down:"

With the mention of Brubeck, the album cover of Time Out (1959) by Neil Fujita comes into play:

Look at how Cucumber deconstructed it, before presenting Fujita's actual album cover:

Great line:

"She's got a touch of Tuesday Weld."