In his early years, Gerry Rafferty earned money by the formerly illegal practice of busking on the London Underground. Poetically, his biggest hit “Baker Street” was about busking at a tube station. After working with Billy Connolly (now better known as a comedian) in a band known as The Humblebums, he recorded a first solo album, Can I Have My Money Back. In 1972 Rafferty and his old school friend Joe Egan formed Stealers Wheel, a group beset by legal wranglings but which did have a huge hit with “Stuck in the Middle With You” (later immortalised in the infamous torture scene in the motion picture, Reservoir Dogs). They disbanded in 1975. In 1978, Rafferty cut a solo album, City to City, which included the song with which he remains most associated, “Baker Street”. The single reached No. 3 in the UK and No. 2 in the U.S. The album sold well, whilst “Baker Street” remains a mainstay of radio airplay. A cover version by Undercover also made the Top 3 in the UK singles chart in 1992. (Furthermore, “Baker Street” was featured on the soundtrack to the motion picture “Good Will Hunting”.) Another song from the City to City album, “Right Down the Line”, also continues to receive copious radio airplay. His next album, Night Owl, also did well, and the title track was a UK No. 5 hit in 1979. The follow-up single “Get It Right Next Time”, made the UK Top 40. Subsequent albums, such as Snakes and Ladders (1980), Sleepwalking (1982), and North and South (1988) all fared less well, due partly to Rafferty’s general reluctance to perform live. “Don’t Give Up On Me”, from his 1992 collection On A Wing and a Prayer, is a much-featured oldie on BBC Radio 2. |DISCOGRAPHY With the Humblebums First Collection of Merry Melodies (1969)|The New Humblebums (1969)|Open Up The Door (1970) |With Stealers Wheel Stealers Wheel (1973)|Ferguslie Park (1974)|Right Or Wrong (1975) Solo Can I Have My Money Back? (1971)|City To City (1978)|Night Owl (1979)|Snakes And Ladders (1980)|Sleepwalking (1981)|North And South (1988)|On A Wing And A Prayer (1992)|Over My Head (1994)|Another World (2000) |
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