Gerry Rafferty

I was very shocked and saddened to learn that Gerry Rafferty died on Tuesday at age 63. 'Baker Street' and 'Right Down The Line' were heavy rotation favorites of mine during the 70's, and stand as part of the soundtrack of my life while growing up in the Albany, N.Y. area.

Whenever I hear that saxophone leading into Rafferty's 'Baker Street' vocals, I'm taken right back to a time when I was about to head to college and the next chapter of my youth had begun. It was 1978 and I finally had my own car. The radio was my constant friend as I drove, which is still the case today combined with my iPod. Tuesday night I got in my car after work and savored 'Baker Street' and 'Right Down The Line' all the way home. The funny thing is I never realized the former was a lament of chasing music industry dreams and finding disappointment in Los Angeles:

'This city desert makes you feel so cold.
It's got so many people but it's got no soul
And it's taking you so long
To find out you were wrong
When you thought it had everything'

It's hard to believe that a musical icon of my late teen years has passed from this Earth. But it's also pretty cool that his 1978 debut album, 'City to City', has gotten back on the charts and is currently #7 on the iTunes album charts. Just flat-out classic.