Gerry Rafferty - Island


Posted On: Saturday - June 26th 2021 5:55PM MST
In Topics: 
  Music

From the OTHER Gerry (who spells it with a "G" instead of a "J"), we have another favorite of mine.

Gerry Rafferty's 1978 album City to City made it to the #1 spot on the US Billboard rock/pop chart. Peak Stupidity has featured one or two of the songs from this 10-track masterpiece before. There were 3 singles released from the album, Baker Street (of course!), Right Down the Line, and Home and Dry.

If any one album ever deserved to be #1 on the charts (and sell 5 1/2 million copies), City to City has got to be it. It's one thing to have an album with no bad songs on it. This one doesn't just have all good songs - it has all GREAT songs. IMO, City to City is the best pop album of all time, and Gerry Rafferty had the best voice of any pop male vocalist EVER! ("IMO" means In My Opinion, keep in mind.)

Gerry's smooth voice is really featured in Island, track 9. Additionally, Raphael Ravenscroft, who played the most recognizable saxophone solo in all, or at least, pop music, on Baker Street also played on this one. I like Gary Taylor's bass guitar on it too.




Have a happy Sunday, Peakers! As always we thank you for reading.

Comments:
Adam Smith
Tuesday - June 29th 2021 11:42AM MST
PS: Mr. Ike,

I looked it up. Jersey Beat (2007) and Jersey's Best (2008) are different compilations.

Adam Smith
Tuesday - June 29th 2021 11:28AM MST
PS: Hello again...

Mr. Ike, “Jersey's Best”?

“And now I've said way too much on this topic.” - Not at all.

Anyone remember this song?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z49t7c5cRmk

I would consider it “pop” for it's time. It reached #8 on the U.S. pop chart and #28 on the U.S. R&B chart in 1963.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Weekend

PeterIke
Tuesday - June 29th 2021 11:08AM MST
PS
@Mr. Smith. Indeed, The Byrds are a good example of an early 60s pop band. Could also include all those bands like Gerry and the Pacemakers, the Dave Clark Five and such, though most of had only a handful of hits.

Or someone like Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, who managed a successful pop transition from doo-wop days all the way into disco. Listening to a Four Seasons "Best Of" tends to make one say, "Oh, I didn't realize that song was by them!" about a dozen times. From "Sherry" to "Walk Like A Man" to "Oh What A Night" to "My Eyes Adored You." (A decent best of is "The Definitive Pop Collection." "Jersey Beat" is much more comprehensive, but it's 76 songs long.)

Oh back to The Moody Blues, a good example of them as a pop band is their 1978 album "Octave" (their eighth album, hah, get it?). It's a nice, schmaltzy album with winning melodies, harmonious vocalizing, dopey lyrics. Typical Moodies!

And now I've said way too much on this topic.
Adam Smith
Tuesday - June 29th 2021 8:47AM MST
PS: Good morning all...

Weren't the Byrds considered “pop” in the 60's?
If so, The Notorious Byrd Brothers is a good pop album.

PeterIke
Tuesday - June 29th 2021 7:45AM MST
PS
Yo Mods!

The Beatles -- it's the early stuff that's the pop-iest. E.g. "Help," "Beatles for Sale," "Meet the Beatles," "Rubber Soul," etc.

"I don't know any Frank Sinatra" - Start with "Come Fly With Me," a consummate pop album. But that's in the sense of old timey "popular" music, not pop as defined by the rock era.

"I don't know enough of Cat Stevens" - Very 70s folk/pop. I would start with "Teaser and the Firecat." If you don't like that one, not worth pursuing. Anyway, Cat went all Moooslimb years ago, and is now known as Yusef. So screw that guy.

"I gotta put Steely Dan and The Moody Blues out of the "pop" category."

SD ok. But Moody Blues? Total pop, albeit of a weirdly prog variety, or whatever it is you'd call what they did. But it was pop.

No real argument with the rest.


Moderator
Monday - June 28th 2021 2:29PM MST
PS: Peter:

The Beatles - I give you the White Album's "Revolution 9" influenced by Yoko Ono. Oh, yeah, the rest of the album is very good. I like "Sergeant Pepper's ...", which has been compared to the Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds", as extremely creative.

Fleetwood Mac - "Rumours" has only one song, "Oh, Daddy", that I don't think belongs there. The 2nd self-title album has a great 1st side, but the 2nd is not so impressive.

The Eagles - I would put up "Desperado" and "On the Border" as close 2nds to "City to City". "Hotel California" too, I guess, but it is more rock than pop Big Eagles fan here!

Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is hell of an album. I'm guessing for Billy Joel, you refer to "Piano Man", "The Stranger", and "52nd Street". They are all 3 great albums!

I don't know any Frank Sinatra much beyond "New York, New York". I don't know enough of Cat Stevens. I gotta put Steely Dan and The Moody Blues out of the "pop" category.

Yeah, that was just my humble opinion, though, on the right day, I suppose any of these other artists would do. Thanks for the list.
PeterIke
Monday - June 28th 2021 11:47AM MST
PS
"what do you got better?"

Well, it will depend on how flexible you get with the notion of what's "pop" and what's not. But off the top of my head...

Every Beatles album
Four or five Fleetwood Mac albums
Three or four Beachboys albums
A few Eagles albums
If Steely Dan counts as pop, every Steely Dan album
Three or four Elton John albums
Three or four Billy Joel albums
If Frank Sinatra counts, 20 or so Sinatra albums
Multiple Moody Blues albums
A couple of Cat Stevens albums

That's a start. This leaves out anything that would fall under New Wave style pop, which could add a lot more. Blondie, for instance. Or Duran Duran.

Moderator
Monday - June 28th 2021 11:15AM MST
PS: Peter, by writing "pop" I meant to exclude hard rock with that statement. With that in mind, what do you got better?

Crickets ... and Buddy Holly? ;-}
Ganderson
Monday - June 28th 2021 10:03AM MST
PS
Baker Street reminds me of another “Street” song, Gilbert Street by Sweet Thursday, featuring Johnny Mark, and the great Nicky Hopkins.

https://youtu.be/cYYppwaCTo8

Also Bonnie Raitt does a great version of Right Down the Line.
PeterIke
Monday - June 28th 2021 9:47AM MST
PS
"City to City is the best pop album of all time"

Massive hyperbole!!! C'mon man!
Moderator
Sunday - June 27th 2021 8:11PM MST
PS: I spent some time up around Gloukester and Warkester, Mass, until I realize that's not where I was. They were Glouster and Wooster.
Robert
Sunday - June 27th 2021 7:57PM MST
PS: Thanks, Mr. Moderator.

Mr. Alarmist: My favorite is Cholmondeley. Those wacky English and their names.
The Alarmist
Sunday - June 27th 2021 5:40PM MST
PS

And then there is Geoffrey ;)
Moderator
Sunday - June 27th 2021 3:41PM MST
PS: Neither of the 3, Robert, if that's any better.

The vowel from "ou" is pretty much a long "o" sound, as it the word oh. The consonant from "Zh" is a cross between a "J" and a "Z". And all this we're writing about is Pin Yin, designed to enable Chinese/Westerners to communicate with each other!
Robert
Sunday - June 27th 2021 2:19PM MST
PS: Wait, so you are saying it is pronounced Jerry Rafferty, not Gary Rafferty? Learn something ever day.

In a similar vein, is Zhou pronounced Jew, Zoo, or Chow?
I always assumed the first, but what do I know?
Moderator
Sunday - June 27th 2021 8:29AM MST
PS: Alarmist, I'm sure I'd also have the sax and whole song in my head for the next hour were I to see the Baker St. sign. I guess that'd wear off after 1/4 century, haha.

Yes, "Days Gone Down" is another of my favorites. I put it on the site a few years back:

https://www.peakstupidity.com/index.php?post=510
The Alarmist
Saturday - June 26th 2021 8:37PM MST
PS

I concur that City to City is a great album. One of my fave commutes in London takes me on foot from Paddington Station to Baker Street, where the sax opening invariably kicks in as I grab some cash at Barclays on Portman Square, head to the food hall at Marks & Sparks farther along Baker Street to grab a Cheese & Onion sandwich and a Diet Coke before I head to one of my quarterly meetings around the corner. When, as a kid and aspiring guitarist, I used to see the promotional posters for City to City hanging in my local department store music section in Podunk USA, I never thought Baker Street would end up being one of the regular haunts for a quarter century of my life. I haven’t seen it in a year and a half, though.

Another Rafferty gem is “Days Gone Down” on Night Owl.
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