Baker Street (song)

"Baker Street" was included on Rafferty's second solo album, City to City (1978). It was his first album after the resolution of legal problems surrounding the breakup of his old band, Stealers Wheel, in 1975. In the intervening three years, Rafferty had been unable to release any material because of disputes about the band's remaining contractual recording obligations.{{cite web|last=Eder |first=Bruce |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/stealers-wheel-p20739/biography |title=Bruce Eder, Stealers Wheel at |publisher=Allmusic.com |date=16 April 1946 |access-date=17 August 2011}}

Rafferty wrote "Baker Street" while trying to extricate himself from his Stealers Wheel contracts. He was regularly travelling between his family home in Paisley, Scotland, and London, where he often stayed at a friend's flat on Baker Street in Marylebone.{{cite news |last=Chilton |first=Martin |date=5 January 2011 |title=Gerry Rafferty and his songs of alienation |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/8241127/Gerry-Rafferty-and-his-songs-of-alienation.html |work=The Daily Telegraph |location=London}} The resolution of Rafferty's legal and financial frustrations may have accounted for the exhilaration of the song's final verse:{{cite magazine |last=Emerson |first=Ken |date=24 August 1978 |title=Gerry Rafferty's 'Baker Street' blues |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/gerry-raffertys-baker-street-blues-rolling-stones-1978-feature-20110104?page=2 |magazine=Rolling Stone}} {{poem quote|text=When you wake up it's a new morning

The sun is shining, it's a new morning

You're going, you're going home.

}}

Rafferty's daughter Martha suggested in 2012 that he could also have taken inspiration from a book he was reading while travelling, Colin Wilson's The Outsider (1956), which explores ideas of alienation and creativity and a longing to be connected.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01b9jp0 |title=BBC Radio 4 - Soul Music, Series 13, Baker Street |website=Bbc.co.uk |date=2012-03-18 |access-date=2016-06-25}}

"Baker Street" was recorded in 1977 at Chipping Norton Studios, Oxfordshire, during the sessions for City to City.{{cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/label/264729-Chipping-Norton-Recording-Studios | title=Chipping Norton Recording Studios | website=Discogs |access-date=31 March 2022 }} It was co-produced by Rafferty and Hugh Murphy.{{cite news|author=Gray, Michael |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/jan/04/gerry-rafferty-obituary |title=Gerry Rafferty obituary |work=The Guardian |date= 4 January 2011|access-date=17 August 2011 |location=London}} It features a guitar solo played by Hugh Burns.

File:Raphael Ravenscroft 2.jpg (pictured in 2014 with a tenor saxophone) played the alto sax riff, based on a guitar part in Rafferty's demo.]]

"Baker Street" features a prominent eight-bar saxophone riff by the session musician Raphael Ravenscroft, played as a break between verses. Billboard described it as "the most recognizable sax riff in pop music history".{{cite magazine |last=Lynch |first=Joe |date=21 October 2014 |title=Raphael Ravenscroft, Man Behind Most Iconic Sax Riff in Pop Music, Dies at 60 |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6289281/raphael-ravenscroft-dies-baker-street-saxophone |access-date=22 October 2014 |magazine=Billboard}} It is said to have been responsible for a resurgence in the sales of saxophones and their use in mainstream pop music and television advertising.{{citation |author=Ingham, Richard |title=The Cambridge Companion to the Saxophone |page=156 |year=1998 |series=Cambridge Companions to Music |chapter=Rock and the Saxophone |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IuCMJcLGFF8C&pg=PA156 |isbn=9780521596664}}

Rafferty said Ravenscroft had been his second choice to play the part, after Pete Zorn, who was unavailable.{{Cite web |title=Gerry Rafferty: Folk Roots Interview (1988) |url=http://www.redstone-tech.com/gerry_bsb/folk_roots_1988.htm |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=www.redstone-tech.com}} Ravenscroft came to the studio to record a soprano saxophone part, and suggested that he use instead his alto saxophone. Ravenscroft was reportedly paid £27 for the session.{{cite news |date=21 October 2014 |title=Baker Street saxophone player Raphael Ravenscroft dies |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-devon-29700432 |access-date=31 March 2022 |work=BBC News |publisher=}} In 2011, Ravenscroft said listening to the song irritated him because he was out of tune.

According to Ravenscroft, Rafferty instructed him to fill several gaps in "Baker Street". He said: "Most of what I played was an old blues riff. If you're asking me: 'Did Gerry hand me a piece of music to play?' then no, he didn't."{{Cite web |last=Chilton |first=Martin |date=2014-10-21 |title='I was paid £27 for Baker Street sax solo' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandpopfeatures/8241031/I-was-paid-27-for-Baker-Street-sax-solo.html |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=The Telegraph |language=en}} This was disputed by Rafferty, who said he was irritated that people assumed Ravenscroft had written it. He said: "It was my line. I sang it to him."

Rafferty's account was corroborated by Burns, who said the part also appeared on Rafferty's demo, played on guitar. He said Rafferty had also asked him to try playing it, but they agreed it would be better suited to saxophone. Rafferty's demo, with the riff played on guitar, was released on the 2011 reissue of City to City.{{cite book |last=Noakes |first=Rab |title=City to City: Remastered: Collector's Edition: Liner Notes |publisher=EMI Records |year=2011}} In the liner notes, Rafferty's collaborator Rab Noakes wrote: "Let's hope [the demo] will, at last, silence all who keep on asserting that the saxophone player came up with the melody line."

A similar saxophone melody appears on the 1968 Steve Marcus track "Half a Heart", credited to the vibraphonist Gary Burton.{{cite journal |last=Chandler |first=Adam |date=17 December 2015 |title='Baker Street': the mystery of rock's greatest sax riff |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2015/12/baker-street-gerry-rafferty-saxophone/421008/ |journal=The Atlantic |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Atlantic Media |access-date=19 December 2015}} When interviewed by The Atlantic, Burton suggested Rafferty may have subconsciously plagiarised it, likening it to the lawsuit over the 1970 George Harrison song "My Sweet Lord". However, Burns said the similarity was a coincidence and that Rafferty "was an artist through and through".

The saxophone riff is the subject of an urban legend created in the 1980s by the British writer and broadcaster Stuart Maconie.{{cite book |last=Maconie |first=Stuart |author-link=Stuart Maconie |title=Cider with Roadies |publisher=Random House |year=2004 |isbn=0-09-189115-9 |edition=1st |location=London |page=256}} In the spoof "Would You Believe It?" section in the music magazine NME, Maconie falsely claimed that the broadcaster Bob Holness had played the saxophone part. The claim was widely repeated.{{cite web |date=22 May 2009 |title=HIGNFY Guest interview: Stuart Maconie |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/comedy/2009/05/hignfy-guest-interview-stuart-maconie.shtml |website=BBC |publisher=}}{{cite news |date=5 January 2011 |title=Why do we think Bob Holness was the Baker Street saxophonist? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12120809 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718124732/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12120809 |archive-date=18 July 2011 |access-date=17 August 2011 |work=BBC}}

Released as a single in 1978, "Baker Street" reached No. 3 in the UK{{cite web|url=http://www.officialcharts.com/artist/16726/gerry-rafferty/|title=Official Charts > Gerry Rafferty|publisher=The Official UK Charts Company|access-date=13 December 2015}} and No. 2 for six consecutive weeks in the US. It reached number one in Cash Box and number two on the Billboard Hot 100 where it held its Billboard position for six weeks, kept out of the number one spot by Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing". The song spent four weeks at number one in Canada,{{cite web|url=https://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/films-videos-sound-recordings/rpm/Pages/image.aspx?Image=nlc008388.4633a&URLjpg=http%3a%2f%2fwww.collectionscanada.gc.ca%2fobj%2f028020%2ff4%2fnlc008388.4633a.gif&Ecopy=nlc008388.4633a|title=Item Display - RPM - Library and Archives Canada |website=Collectionscanada.gc.ca |date=1978-08-05 |access-date=2019-07-21}} reached number one in Australia, and made it into the top 10 in seven European countries in addition to the UK. In October 2010, "Baker Street" was recognised by BMI for surpassing five million performances worldwide.{{cite web|url=http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/549424 |title=2010 BMI London Award Winners |publisher=BMI |date=5 October 2010 |access-date=17 August 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110708074921/http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/549424| archive-date= 8 July 2011 | url-status= live}}

Another urban myth has claimed that "Baker Street" did overtake "Shadow Dancing" on the Billboard Hot 100 during one of its seven weeks on top in the summer of 1978, with Casey Kasem recording his American Top 40 countdown placing it at #1. However, at a dinner with Gibb's managers, then-Billboard chart director Bill Wardlow was allegedly told that if "Shadow Dancing" did not remain at #1, Gibb would be pulled from the lineup of an upcoming Billboard-organized concert. Wardlow then supposedly asked the magazine to leave the song at the top, and Kasem was told to re-record his countdown.{{cite web|first= Tom |last= Breihan |title= The Number Ones Bonus Tracks: Gerry Rafferty's "Baker Street|website= Stereogum |date= 22 September 2020 |url= https://www.stereogum.com/2096691/the-number-ones-bonus-tracks-gerry-raffertys-baker-street/columns/the-number-ones/ |access-date= 9 January 2021}}

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|type=single|artist=Gerry Rafferty|title=Baker Street|award=Platinum|relyear=2004|certyear=2022|id=694-1205-1|access-date=23 July 2022}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|type=single|artist=Gerry Rafferty|title=Baker Street|award=Gold|relyear=1978|certyear=1978|access-date=12 February 2021}}

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"Baker Street" was cited by guitarist Slash in 1987 as an influence on his guitar solo in "Sweet Child o' Mine".{{cite web | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/20947527/page/27 | title=The 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time | publisher=Rolling Stone | access-date=30 March 2010| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100317091314/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/20947527/page/27| archive-date= 17 March 2010 | url-status= dead}}

Financial expert and radio personality Dave Ramsey has used "Baker Street" as bumper music for his eponymous radio show (now called The Ramsey Show) since the show's debut in 1992.{{Cite web |last=LB |first=Rudy |date=August 6, 2024 |title='The Dave Ramsey Show' theme song is a true paradox. Looking at the lyrics. |url=https://creativetech.consulting/the-dave-ramsey-show-theme-song-is-a-true-paradox-looking-at-the-lyrics-f0b053f33edd |access-date=November 18, 2024 |website=Medium}}

"Baker Street" is heard in the Happy Endings episode "Cocktails and Dreams" (S02E16). Penny's dream involves a fingerpicked-guitar version of the saxophone riff.

In the closing scene of "Lisa's Sax" (season nine, episode four of The Simpsons), Lisa Simpson performs a brief rendition of the "Baker Street" hook on a saxophone before the music segues into Rafferty's recording.{{cite news | last = Staff | title = Baker Street blues no more... singer Gerry Rafferty passes away | date = 5 January 2011 | url = http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/music/scottish-singer-songwriter-gerry-rafferty-dies-at-age-63/story-e6frfn09-1225982201835 | work = News.AU.com | access-date =1 May 2012}}

The Canadian rock musician A.C. Newman cited the song as an inspiration for his album Shut Down the Streets (2012).{{cite news |last=Newman |first=AC |date=2 October 2012 |title=Shut Down The Streets |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ac-newman/shut-down-the-streets_b_1930817.html |work=HuffPost}}

The song is featured in the video game Grand Theft Auto V as part of Los Santos Rock Radio.{{cite web |date=2013-10-02 |title=Grand Theft Auto V: The official, final tracklist has been revealed |url=https://consequenceofsound.net/2013/10/grand-theft-auto-v-the-official-final-tracklist-is-here/ |access-date=2019-12-11 |website=Consequence of Sound |language=en-US}}

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• Gerry Rafferty – lead vocals, rhythm guitar
• Raphael Ravenscroft – alto and soprano saxophones
• Hugh Burns – lead guitar{{cite web|url=http://www.andrewbrel.com/interviewhugh.html |title=Hugh Burns interview, January 2002, "An affair of the craft", for Guitarist magazine at |publisher=Andrewbrel.com |access-date=17 August 2011| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110707141508/http://www.andrewbrel.com/interviewhugh.html| archive-date= 7 July 2011 | url-status= live}}
• Nigel Jenkins – rhythm guitar
• Tommy Eyre – synthesiser, electric and acoustic piano
• Gary Taylor – bass
• Henry Spinetti – drums{{cite web|url=http://www.mikedolbear.com/story.asp?StoryID=2288 |title=Interview with Henry Spinetti at |publisher=Mikedolbear.com |date=1 May 2011 |access-date=17 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714093317/http://www.mikedolbear.com/story.asp?StoryID=2288 |archive-date=14 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}
• Glen Le Fleur – congas
• Graham Preskett – string arrangements

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{{Infobox song

| name = Baker Street

| cover = Undercover_Baker_Street.jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Undercover

| album = Check Out the Groove

| released = 3 August 1992

| recorded =

| studio =

| length = 4:04

| label = PWL

| writer = Gerry Rafferty

| producer = Steve Mac

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Never Let Her Slip Away

| next_year = 1992

| misc = {{External music video|{{YouTube|WP5GlfF2rB4|"Baker Street"}}}}

}}

British dance group Undercover covered the song on their 1992 album Check Out the Groove. This version was released in August 1992 by PWL and produced by Steve Mac. It reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and became a top-three hit in Austria, Belgium, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. A music video was produced to promote the single, shot in black-and-white.{{cite web|url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WP5GlfF2rB4 |title= Undercover - Baker Street (Official Video) |publisher= YouTube |date= 11 April 2013 |access-date= 29 November 2020}}

A writer for Lennox Herald named the song a "stand out" from the Undercover album.Lennox Herald. 4 December 1992. p. 12. Pan-European magazine Music & Media wrote, "Gerry Rafferty's rainy days anthem is now transferred from the comfortable living room to the heat of clubland. The typical saxophone hook is on acid as well."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.americanradiohistory.com/UK/Music-and-Media/90s/1992/MM-1992-09-05.pdf|title=New Releases: Singles|magazine=Music & Media|date=5 September 1992|page=11|access-date=21 February 2020}} Mark Frith from Smash Hits commented, "This one's quite good actually. Transformed from a hoary old late '70s epic into a PWL rave anthem for the '90s, "Baker Street" has tootling sax, great vocals and is probably the most unusual record turned into a rave tune ever."{{cite magazine|first= Mark |last= Frith |url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/57779449@N02/49385880426/in/album-72157712670924938/ |title= New Singles |magazine= Smash Hits |date= 22 July 1992 |page= 53 |access-date= 6 October 2020 |author-link= Mark Frith}}

1. "Baker Street" (edit) – 4:04
2. "Baker Street" (extended mix) – 5:10
3. "Sha-Bang" (extended mix) – 5:49

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{{Certification Table Entry|region=Germany|type=single|artist=Undercover|title=Baker Street|award=Gold|relyear=1992|certyear=1992|access-date=24 September 2019}}

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{{Infobox song

| name = Baker Street

| cover =

| alt = A blue-grey background & image. The words "Foo Fighters" appear in red.

| type = song

| artist = Foo Fighters

| album =

| released = 19 January 1998

| recorded = 1997

| studio =

| genre =

| length = 5:39

| label = * Roswell

• Capitol

| writer = Gerry Rafferty

| producer = Simon Askew

}}

The American rock band Foo Fighters covered the song on their 1998 "My Hero" UK CD single release, on the Australian tour pack (grey cover) release, on the limited-edition European bonus EP and as one of several bonus tracks added to the remastered tenth anniversary release of their second studio album, The Colour and the Shape, reissued in 2007.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1052002/foo-fighters-expand-second-album-for-reissue|title=Foo Fighters Expand Second Album For Reissue|date=21 May 2007|author=Cohen, Jonathan|magazine=Billboard|access-date=20 April 2020}} The saxophone part is played on electric guitar.{{cite journal|url=http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2015/02/08/foo_fighters_cover_baker_street_hear_the_band_s_forgotten_b_side_rendition.html|title=Listen to the Foo Fighters' Powerful, Long-Forgotten Cover of "Baker Street"|date=8 February 2015|author=Shetty, Sharan |journal=Slate|access-date=20 April 2020}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{discogs master|master=99113|name=Baker Street|type=single}}
• [http://www.discogs.com/Gerry-Rafferty-Baker-Street-Remix/release/1646108 "Baker Street (Remix)" at Discogs]

{{Gerry Rafferty}}

{{Ivor Novello Best Song}}

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Category:1978 songs

Category:1978 singles

Category:1992 debut singles

Category:Gerry Rafferty songs

Category:Undercover (dance group) songs

Category:Number-one singles in Australia

Category:Number-one singles in South Africa

Category:Cashbox number-one singles

Category:RPM Top Singles number-one singles

Category:Songs about London

Category:Songs about streets

Category:Songs written by Gerry Rafferty

Category:United Artists Records singles

Category:Pete Waterman Entertainment singles

Category:Capitol Records singles

Category:Black-and-white music videos

Category:Baker Street