Despite his anonymity, Gerry Rafferty loomed large over 1970s
rock music. After his stints in
Scottish combos
The Mavericks and
The Humblebums (with comedian
Billy Connolly), he went solo with
Can I Have My Money Back? (1971), then joined former Maverick
Joe Egan in the folky
Stealers Wheel. Their eponymous 1973 debut, helmed by the legendary
Leiber and Stoller, included the monster hit '
Stuck In The Middle With You'. However,
Ferguslie Park (1974) and
Right Or Wrong (1975) were subject to ye olde law of diminishing returns. The management wrangles, bickering and Rafferty's dislike of touring finally saw Stealers Wheel off.
He triumphantly returned with 1978's lavish US No. 1 City To City and 'Baker Street'- official home of Rock's greatest sax break by Raphael Ravenscroft. Despite the US success of City To City, Rafferty declined to tour there; a regrettable decision, considering Night Owl's (1979) lowly US No. 29 position. His next albums, Snakes And Ladders (1980) and Sleepwalking (1982) plummeted similarly, prompting a six-year hiatus, during which he produced The Proclaimers.
When his profile was at an all-time low, Rafferty was as surprised as everyone else when 'Stuck In The Middle With You' was included in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1991) and ugly popsters Undercover's house-ified take on 'Baker Street' made the UK Top 10 in 1992. Adding to Rafferty's change from forgotten Folkster into retro cult star, Foo Fighters faithfully covered 'Baker Street' for the EMI centenary album Come Again (1997).
Source: https://web.archive.org/web/20021003114853/http://www.redstone-tech.com:80/gerry/discog.htm