Rikki Don't Lose That Number

"Rikki Don't Lose That Number"
Single by Steely Dan
from the album Pretzel Logic
B-side	"Any Major Dude Will Tell You"
Released	April 25, 1974
Format	7" single
Recorded	1973
Genre	Soft rock, soul jazz
Length	3:58 (Single version) 4:30 (Album version)
Label	ABC
Writer(s)	Walter Becker, Donald Fagen
Producer(s)	Gary Katz
Steely Dan singles chronology
"My Old School" (1973) "Rikki Don't Lose That Number" (1974) "Pretzel Logic" (1974)

"Rikki Don't Lose That Number" is a single released in 1974 by rock/jazz rock group Steely Dan and the opening track of their third album Pretzel Logic. It was the most successful single of the group's career, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the summer of 1974.^[1]

The song features Jim Gordon on drums, as does the bulk of the Pretzel Logic album. The guitar solo is by Jeff "Skunk" Baxter who would soon go on to join The Doobie Brothers.

Victor Feldman's flapamba^[2] (a variant of the marimba) introduction to the song, which opens the album, is cut from the original ABC single version. The MCA single reissue (backed with "Pretzel Logic") includes the flapamba intro but fades out just before the actual end of the track. The introductory riff is an almost direct copy of the intro of Horace Silver's jazz classic "Song for My Father".^[3]

In the March 24, 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly, in an article titled "Back to Annandale", it was revealed that Rikki Ducornet was the apparent inspiration for the song due to her friendship with songwriter Donald Fagen while he attended Bard College. Ducornet was pregnant and married at the time, but recalled that Fagen did give her his phone number at a college party at Bard and said that she believed she was the subject of the song. Fagen, however, would not confirm the story.^[4]

Chart performance

Weekly singles charts Chart (1974) Peak position Australia 30 Canada RPM [5] 3 UK 58 US Billboard Hot 100 4 US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks 15 US Cash Box Top 100 [6] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1974) Position Canada 53 US Billboard Hot 100 [7] 51 US Cash Box [8] 46

Personnel

• Donald Fagen – lead and backing vocals
• Jeff Baxter – electric guitar
• Dean Parks – acoustic guitar
• Michael Omartian – piano
• Walter Becker – bass
• Jim Gordon – drums
• Victor Feldman – percussion (marimba)
• Tim Schmit – backing vocals

Cover versions

• 1983 – Kenji Omura recorded his version of this song on his fourth album Gaijin Heaven.^[9]
• 1984 – Tom Robinson recorded his version for the album Hope and Glory.
• 1992 – Hank Marvin did an instrumental of the song on his album Into the Light.
• 1994 – Far Corporation made a cover of the song for their album Solitude.
• May 2012 – indie pop trio Hospitality performed a version of the song for The A.V. Club's A.V. Undercover series.^[10]

References

1. Steely Dan USA chart history, Billboard.com. Retrieved May 28, 2012.
2. Liner Notes to 1999 Pretzel Logic Remaster
4. The origins of Steely Dan | Donald Fagen | Pop Culture News | News | Entertainment Weekly | 3
5. https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/rpm/028020-119.01-e.php?&file_num=nlc008388.5072a&type=1&interval=50&PHPSESSID=qqg8ugh4ji4djhcsud0sf068c1
6. http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/19740803.html
7. http://www.musicoutfitters.com/topsongs/1974.htm
8. http://50.6.195.142/archives/70s_files/1974YESP.html
9. Kenji Omura – Gaijin Heaven at Discogs
10. "Hospitality covers Steely Dan". Retrieved March 30, 2013.

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics