Michael McDonald has detailed his failed attempt to “make some easy money” by selling cocaine.
It was the ‘70s and McDonald was a member of Steely Dan’s touring band, while also providing backing vocals on their albums. The rockers’ common interests extended beyond music, as they were also frequent cocaine users at the time. In a moment of inspiration – or stupidity, depending on how you view it – the musicians devised a plan to sell drugs on the side.
McDonald details the scheme in his new memoir, What a Fool Believes. He and Walter Becker decided they would “buy about a half ounce of some of that exceptionally pure cocaine” from one of their associates, then “make some easy money (selling only to our friends, completely under the radar) but end up with a fair portion of blow for our own recreational consumption, free of charge …. What could possibly go wrong?”
Of course, things did go wrong. Quickly.
READ MORE: How Michael McDonald Worked His Way Into Steely Dan
After making their cocaine purchase, McDonald and Becker “snorted most of it before even getting around to cutting it, let alone selling anything.” The musicians spent “a couple of harrowing days” inside McDonald’s apartment binging on the drug. By the time their wild ride came to an end, they barely had any cocaine left. Thus, their side career came to a rapid end.
Is Michael McDonald on Tour?
McDonald has a busy touring schedule this summer. The famed singer will be back on the road with the Doobie Brothers for an extended run of North American dates. The trek includes a run of shows with the Eagles, who are out of their Long Goodbye farewell tour.
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McDonald originally reunited with the Doobies in 2019 and plotted a 50th anniversary tour with the group. The pandemic put those plans on hold, but the trek eventually launched in 2021. It marked McDonald’s first tour with the Doobie Brothers in 25 years.
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They remain an intriguing dichotomy of a band.
Gallery Credit: Nick DeRiso