Am I the only one who thought it was about Sherlock Holmes?
Am I the only one who thought for years that the title of the song was “You’re Crying Now”?
Am I the only one who thought for years that it was a George Harrison number?
It’s one of the great songs of the era. And I mean the rock era.
What’s so funny about it?
It made sales of saxophones soar*!* Funny, cause originally the riff was going to be played on the guitar…
For those unfamilar with the song:
Youtube: Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street (UK)
Yeah it is a quality song for sure. He also co-wrote the chop off an ear song, AKA Stuck In The Middle With You.
I prefer Right Down the Line
That was one of the best albums of all time,IMHO
Monster album. Baker Street, Right Down the Line, City to City, and Whatever’s Written in Your Heart. I thought it was a greatest hits album when I picked it up.Why didn’t he really follow it up with anything?
Gerry Rafferty did do a lot of other music. Eventually, he pulled an Agatha Christie and now he’s dead. Some folks may remember Stealers Wheel, too.
Thank you, OP, for making me barf my cookies. I hate that freaking song. It epitomizes all that was evil and banal of the period.
God, I love that song. Any DJ who talks over the intro (and I’ve heard them do it) should be summarily beheaded.
I didn’t really follow his career, but Wikipedia suggests that his lack of later success was related to:
- Changing his styles in subsequent albums
- Not being interested in the commercial side of the music business, and doing the sorts of things that help drive sales (like touring)
- His alcoholism
In the summer of '78 you couldn’t swim out of a deep sea crevasse without hearing that song, but since it was vastly superior to most everything else on pop radio at that time, that was OK.
Gerry Rafferty sang like he was from Kansas City or something, so based on that one song, I always thought of him as kind of a Steve Miller type, except with some talent. Turns out he was from Scotland, not Scotland Yard.
I think you can lay most of the blame for 80’s adult contemporary at its feet.
And as far as I’d gotten with this song, (which is the sax refrain) I hadn’t really considered what it might be about.
Music trivia: “City to City” knocked the “Saturday Night Fever” soundtrack out of #1.
It was replaced the following week by the “Grease” soundtrack.
I remember it well. It was the summer before I entered high school. The song is as great now as it was then. 
RIP Gerry Rafferty.
I’m probably more familiar with the Foo Fighters version at this point. I just read an article calling it obscure, which is odd for something I’ve heard on the radio many times since the late 90s.
“Why don’t you ask the smartest people in the universe, Jerry? Oh yeah… braaaap… you can’t. They blew up.”
“bwaaaa na na na naaaaaaa… bwaa na, na na na na naaaaaaa…”
I’m still pissed off that “Baker Street” sat at the #2 spot on the Top 40 for six weeks while that fucking “Shadow Dancing” by Andy Gibb kept a stranglehold on #1. I guess it was all those 11-14 year old girls buying copy after copy of the single and flooding radio station request lines with call after call. However, I do feel some satisfaction in the fact you now don’t even hear “Shadow Dancing” on oldies stations while “Baker Street” still gets airplay.