Top 10 Gerry Rafferty Songs

Photo: Eddie Mallin, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Our Top 10 Gerry Rafferty Songs list examines his solo career during his post-Stealers Wheel years. Our Top 10 Gerry Rafferty songs list features only songs released on his solo albums and does not include any Stealers Wheel songs. Gerry Rafferty released ten solo albums throughout his career. He also released 20 singles. The highlight of his solo career was his brilliant album City To City, released in 1978, which spawned the two huge singles “Baker Street” and “Right Down The Line.” Gerry Rafferty enjoyed a very successful musical career worldwide and was especially loved in both the United States and the United Kingdom.

# 10 – The Ark

We open our top 10 Gerry Rafferty Songs list with the great song “The Ark.” The song was released on Gerry Rafferty’s biggest-selling solo album, City To City. The album was released in 1978. This Celtic-infused song was released as the fifth single from the album. The song was also placed as the album’s opener. The chorus on this one is outstanding.

# 9 – Sleepwalking

Continuing with our top 10 Gerry Rafferty songs list, we turn to the song “Sleepwalking.” The song was released on the album Sleepwalking, also. The album was released in 1982. The song “Sleepwalking” was the only single released from the album. Unfortunately, it did not break onto the Billboard charts. I love this video; it just makes you want to dance… in your sleep.

# 8 – Bring It All Home

This great song, “Bring It All Home,” was released on the album Snakes and Ladders. The record was released in 1980. The song “Bring It All Home” was the first single released from the album. The song“Bring It All Home” broke the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 54. This one reminds me a bit of John Lennon. The intro also reminds me of the Saturday Night Live theme. Love it.

# 7 – Home And Dry

At number seven on our top 10 Gerry Rafferty songs list, we once again return to the great City To City album. The song “Home and Dry” was the fourth single released from this great record. In all, Gerry Rafferty’s record company released six singles from the City To City album. There is a bit of a James Bond feel happening here at the beginning of the song. City To City is such a fantastic album.

# 6 – Get Out Of My Life Woman

“Get Out of My Life, Woman” was released on Gerry Rafferty’s album On A Wing and A Prayer. The album was released in 1992. “Get Out of My Life, Woman” was written by the great Allen Toussaint. If there is any writer not given enough credit for penning great rock and roll classics, it’s Allen Toussaint. The song was originally recorded by Lee Dorsey. It was released as a single off the On A Wing and A Prayer album.

# 5 – Get It Right Next Time

As we enter the second half of our top 10 Gerry Rafferty songs list, we turn to the song “Get It Right Next Time.” The song was released on the Night Owl album. The album was originally released in 1979. The song was issued as the third single from the album. It did well, reaching the top 20 on Billboard’s Adult Contemporary chart. The songs just missed the Billboard Top 20 on the Hot 100, peaking at number twenty-one.

# 4 – Night Owl

And speaking of the Night Owl album. At number four on our top 10 Gerry Rafferty songs list, we present the title track song “Night Owl” from this fabulous album. The song was released as the lead single from the record. The Night Owl album served as the follow-up record to the City To City album. “Night Owl” was released in 1979, only a year after the City To City record.

# 3 – Can I Have My Money Back?

As we begin to wind down this top 10 Gerry Rafferty songs list, we present the great song “Can I Have My Money Back.” The song “Can I Have My Money Back?“ was released on Gerry Rafferty’s first solo album, also titled “Can I Have My Money Back?“ Shortly after this record was released, Gerry Rafferty formed Stealers Wheel with Joe Egan. This is a great country-based rocker with some fine fiddle playing, making this one a song that just seems to have gotten lost along the way.

# 2 – Right Down The Line

It was a tough choice between these next two songs on our Gerry Rafferty songs list. This wonderful song, “Right Down The Line,” was released as the follow-up single to Gerry Rafferty’s huge smash hit “Baker Street.” There was just something really special about this one. The song’s groove was infused with an original, highly addictive melody line. Probably my favorite song from 1978.

# 1 – Baker Street

We close out our top 10 Gerry Rafferty songs list with the artist’s biggest hit of his solo career. The legendary song “Baker Street,” named after a real street in London, was released on the grand City To City album in 1978. The song was a huge smash in the United States. It just missed giving Gerry Rafferty a number-one record on the Billboard Hot 100. However, it did hit number one on the Cash Box charts in the United States. One of the great singles released in the decade of the 1970s.Raphael Ravenscroft played a saxophone riff on this one that was one for the ages. Have you ever heard a saxophone sound that big and grand? Wonder how many young people decided to start learning to play the saxophone after hearing “Baker Street”?