Gerry Rafferty - Baker Street. It’s 40 years old!

If you are talking about what I think you are, that's a syndrum. (Pollard Syndrum - Wikipedia ) It's used a lot here as well:



Is that the sound you mean?

 

Definitely THE song of the summer of '78 for me. It was everywhere that year, which isn't a bad thing at all. Coming in at a close second was Pablo Cruise's "Love Will Find A Way".

 

From my colored vinyl collection, an EMI/UA Holland issue of City To City:

 

It took 4 pages to mention Bob Holness?! I guess that urban myth was a UK thing

 

Ally's Tartan Army brings back horrible memories of one of the most Scottish things ever!!!

Not to forget the absolutely wonderful B Side "I want to be a punk rocker"

 

Didn’t Rod Stewart do a ‘footie’ song that year too?

 

People take the p*ss now, but the fans had reasonable expectations for once. That was a fantastic Scottish team

we're gonna win it, we're gonna do or die
England cannae do it cos they didnae qualify

but not fantastic at singing...

 

Yes, Ole Ola, and the Scotland World Cup Squad went top 10 with "Easy Easy"

 

heh, Baker Street always makes me think of Rick and Morty now.

 

Then we got there and got pumped by Peru in the first game.........
........then when Archie Gemmill scored against Holland the whole bloody country thought we were going to do it..........for 5 minutes!

 

Am I right in guessing John Byrne is the artist here? Much underrated artist IMHO..and a fellow Glaswegian too!

 

Great midfield though. Souness, Gemmill, Hartford.

Just to drag things back on topic, here's a pic of Raphael Ravenscroft

 

I like the version (not sure if it is a different mix or completely different take) found on the CD "Right Down The Line-The Best Of Gerry Rafferty".

 

The UK mix generally is timed to about 6:09, but I found a longer version of this same mix on the compilation CD entitled ONE MORE DREAM: THE VERY BEST OF GERRY RAFFERTY that runs about 6:27. It has a long fade on the end that allows you to hear a bit more of the closing sax solo...which, imo, the more Baker Street sax the better.

You can find that comp here:

Gerry Rafferty - The Very Best Of (One More Dream)

This longer version is definitely a different mastering from the UK mix found on the Liberty CD (CDP 7460492) or the Collectibles CD from 2007 (COL-CD-2919). It might be slightly more clear than these two sources and the vocal seems to have a touch of echo to it.

 

I like that version too. It's a remix that was done specially for the comp - the instruments are panned a little differently and it has a longer ending. Whatever's Written in Your Heart and Bring It All Home were also remixed for this comp.

 

Great song from a great album.

That whole record is good but if there's a thread on here somewhere dedicated to best album sides ever, Side 1 of City to City belongs there. So good.

 

It was 40 years ago today!

 

If only Home and Dry was on that first side..........

 

That surprises me too - I refrained to allow someone else to bring that in.

This 'legend' was started by kid's tv presenter Tommy Boyd - or so I heard him say/confess to on a radio phone-in he hosted around the turn of the millennium. I'm sure that's where I heard him state, however, that Bob was the first James Bond! Actually he was the second, playing him on South African radio in an adaptation of Moonraker in 1956...

Who Played James Bond: A Complete History

 

Yes, another John Byrne masterpiece, or John 'Patrick' Byrne as he often signed his work. Underrated? Perhaps at the time he wasn't that well known outside his native Scotland but today he is very highly regarded. His self-portrait hangs in the Scottish National Portrait Gallery. Of course SHF members will know him best for his numerous wonderful album covers, not just for Gerry Rafferty but for the likes of Donovan, the Humblebums, Stealers Wheel, and, most famously, the Beatles.

 

Everything seemed to come together for Rafferty here. The album City to City is an almost-perfect pop rock album and Baker Street will live on as a rock classic long after we are all deaf.

 

This song and Christopher Cross' "Arthur's Theme" are pretty much foundational for me.

 

I spent a lot of time that year going to the local bike shop for 1) my first 10-speed bike, 2) accessories, and 3) replacement inner tubes for the tires. "Baker Street" always seemed to be on in that store when I went in, so I always think of it as "the bike shop song."

When I went to London the first time back in 2001, I made a point of going to Baker St, because of this song.

 

What ? You mean Foo Fighters didn't write this song ??

 

and still fantastic!