Baker Street (song)

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“Baker Street”
Single by Gerry Rafferty
from the album City to City
Released 1978
Writer(s) Gerry Rafferty

"Baker Street" is a song by Gerry Rafferty written in 1978. It was his first release following the legal battles surrounding the separation of the band Stealers Wheel. Rafferty was supposedly banned from the recording studio after the 1975 break up for a period of three years while the lawyers ironed out the disputes with the band's recording contract remaining obligations. The song was featured on his second solo album City to City and released as the first of three singles, marketed primarily to Adult Contemporary radio. The single reached No. 3 in his native UK, and was a bigger hit in the U.S., peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The saxophone hook on the original was played by Raphael Ravenscroft (contrary to popular belief, it was not played by UK quiz show host Bob Holness) and the guitar solo was played by Hugh Burns.

Contents

[edit] Different versions

The original album version (as found on City to City) runs 6:01. The single version released in America edited the song down to 4:08 and its pitch sped up for time allotments--currently, the only CD release that contains this version is the soundtrack to the film Good Will Hunting. An alternate, uncut mix (as found on Right Down The Line: The Very Best of Gerry Rafferty) contains an additional thirty seconds of end material not found on the original 1978 version with more emphasis on reverb and Rafferty's vocal entirely double-tracked electronically.

[edit] Cover versions

The song was covered in 1992 by Undercover (not to be confused with the Christian rock band of the same name), who reached #2 in the United Kingdom with their rendition. The Foo Fighters released the song as a B-side to their 1998 single "My Hero", scoring a minor hit on rock radio with their cover (which reimagined the saxophone solo as a guitar solo).

Other artists who have covered the song include:

[edit] References in popular culture

The song was featured in The Simpsons episode "Lisa's Sax", with Lisa Simpson playing the familiar saxophone solo at the end of the show. It was also featured in the pilot episode of the Comedy Central series Stella. Rafferty's original version (more precisely, the opening riff, before any lyrics are sung) is also used as the theme music of The Dave Ramsey Show, a well-known American personal finance talk radio show. It was also featured in the 2006 film A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, and the 2007 film Zodiac. The similar title appears also in the Good Will Hunting movie.

A relatively unknown student from Leeds University called Deepak Sharma phoned into Stuart Maconie's radio show, where he claimed Raff's legendary solo was actually performed by TV presenter Bob Holness. This column has since come back to haunt writer Stuart Maconie, as, although it was obviously a joke, it developed into an urban myth which circulated for a number of years. Maconie consistently denied the myth was generated by him. Fruitless attempts had been made to identify the whereabouts of Deepak Sharma, in order to identify his rationale for the myth.

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] Gerry Rafferty version

Year Chart Position
1978 Billboard Adult Contemporary #4
1978 Billboard Pop Singles #2
1978 UK Singles Chart #3
1990 UK Singles Chart (re-mix) #53

[edit] Undercover version

Year Chart Position
1992 UK Singles Chart #2

[edit] Foo Fighters version

Year Chart Position
1998 Billboard Modern Rock Tracks #34

[edit] External links