You may not have known Gerry Rafferty's name right away, but you certainly knew his songs. The singer/songwriter behind such '70s hits as "Baker Street" and "Stuck in the Middle With You" passed away Tuesday (January 4) at the age of 63. He had been struggling with kidney failure and had been on life support in a hospital, though he passed at his home in Dorset, England.
Though Rafferty never achieved any significant commercial success in real time, his influence looms large thanks to a handful of appearances in beloved pop culture. Though his most recognizable song is probably "Baker Street" (and really, it's the saxophone riff that really sticks), Rafferty's "Stuck in the Middle With You" (recorded with his band Stealers Wheel in 1972) is his most notable track thanks to its appearance in Quentin Tarantino's debut film "Reservoir Dogs." Throughout the length of the movie, a radio show regularly chimes in with a classic tune from the '70s, and the Stealers Wheel track shows up during a scene when Michael Madsen's character Mr. Orange tortures a police officer he has kidnapped. It's an incredibly brutal scene that ends with Madsen cutting off the cop's ear, and all the while Rafferty's light-hearted homage to Bob Dylan plays in the background. It's an interesting juxtaposition, and because of the relative ubiquity of Tarantino and "Reservoir Dogs," the torture scene has become the biggest association with Rafferty's tune.
As far as "Baker Street" goes, it is undoubtedly the most famous saxophone riff in an era when those things were a dime a dozen. A ton of artists have covered it, including acts as diverse as Foo Fighters, Waylon Jennings, Jars of Clay and Rick Springfield. Slash once noted that there are elements of it in his solo on "Sweet Child O' Mine." It has been everywhere, and it's somewhat shocking it hasn't been sampled by more rappers. It's one of Rafferty's many legacies, and he will be missed.
What's your favorite Gerry Rafferty song? Let us know in the comments!