Black Friday

The opening track of Katy Lied features Michael Omartian on piano and David Paich on Hohner electric piano, and Jeff Porcaro, who found it so hard to play that he told Katz they should have used Jim Gordon. It tells the story of a crooked speculator who makes a fortune and absconds to Muswellbrook, New South Wales, because, Fagen said, it was the farthest place from Los Angeles they could think of. Fagen has said the song is about the 1929 Wall Street crash, but that crash is usually called Black Tuesday or Black Thursday. Robustelli concluded that the 1869 gold panic, which is called Black Friday, fits the details better, while Brian Sweet argued that Becker and Fagen simply invented an incident.

Released as the lead single, it reached 37 on the Hot 100. Cash Box praised its Fender Rhodes piano, lead guitar work and rhythm that would not stop cooking. It appears in 623 setlists on setlist.fm, the eighth most of any of their songs.