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Night Owl (Gerry Rafferty Song)
"Night Owl" is a song by Gerry Rafferty. It is the second track on his 1979 album of the same name. It features a Lyricon solo played by "Baker Street" saxophonist Raphael Ravenscroft. The song made the top five in the UK Singles Chart, and along with "Baker Street" is one of two solo efforts by Gerry Rafferty to accomplish this feat. Though the single was a top-five hit for Rafferty in his native United Kingdom, "Night Owl" was never released in this format in North America, at a time when interest in Rafferty was at its peak after the success of his single "Baker Street" and album ''City to City ''City to City'' is the second solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, released on 20 January 1978 by United Artists Records. It was Rafferty's first solo release in six years—and first release of any kind since 1975†...'' a year earlier. In the US, "Days Gone Down" was used as the lead single from ''Night Owl'' instead. The B-side on the original "Ni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerry Rafferty
Gerald Rafferty (16 April 1947– 4 January 2011) was a Scottish singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He was a founding member of Stealers Wheel, whose biggest hit was " Stuck in the Middle with You" in 1973. His solo hits in the late 1970s included "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line", and " Night Owl". Rafferty was born into a working-class family in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. His mother taught him both Irish and Scottish folk songs when he was a boy; later, he was influenced by the music of the Beatles and Bob Dylan. He joined the folk-pop group the Humblebums (of which Billy Connolly was a member) in 1969. After they disbanded in 1971, he recorded his first solo album, ''Can I Have My Money Back?''. Rafferty and Joe Egan formed the group Stealers Wheel in 1972 and produced several hits, most notably "Stuck in the Middle with You" and "Star". In 1978, he recorded his second solo album, ''City to City'', which included "Baker Street", his most popular ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Night Owl (album)
''Night Owl'' is the third studio album by Scottish musician Gerry Rafferty. It was released a year after Rafferty's Platinum-selling album ''City to City''. While not quite performing as well as its predecessor, ''Night Owl'' still managed enough sales to achieve platinum status in Canada, gold in the United Kingdom, and gold status in the U.S. The title song reached No. 5 on the UK charts. The album made the UK Top 10. The album was recorded at Chipping Norton Recording Studios, Chipping Norton, England. "Take the Money and Run" appears on the 1980 release ''Free Fall'' as "Take the Money." Re-releases On 30 January 2007 Collectables Records released ''City To City'' and ''Night Owl'' as a two-disc set. Track listing Personnel * Gerry Rafferty – vocals, acoustic piano (2, 9) Polymoog (2), acoustic guitar (3–8, 10), string arrangements * Graham Preskett – acoustic piano (1, 4, 10), electric piano (2), string synthesizer (2), keyboards (6, 7), fiddles (6, 7), mandoli ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soft Rock
Soft rock is a form of rock music that originated in the late 1960s in Southern California and the United Kingdom which smoothed over the edges of singer-songwriter and pop rock, relying on simple, melodic songs with big, lush productions. Soft rock was prevalent on the radio throughout the 1970s and eventually metamorphosed into a form of the synthesized music of adult contemporary in the 1980s. History Mid- to late 1960s Softer sounds in rock music could be heard in mid-1960s songs, such as " A Summer Song" by Chad & Jeremy (1964) and "Here, There and Everywhere" by the Beatles and "I Love My Dog" by Cat Stevens, both from 1966. By 1968, hard rock had been established as a mainstream genre. From the end of the 1960s, it became common to divide mainstream rock music into soft and hard rock, with both emerging as major radio formats in the US. Late 1960s soft rock artists include the Bee Gees, whose song "I Started a Joke" was a number one single in several countries; Ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was an American record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 to issue movie soundtracks. The label expanded into other genres, such as easy listening, jazz, pop, and R&B. History Genres In 1959, United Artists released ''Forest of the Amazons,'' a cantata by Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos adapted from the music he composed for MGM's ''Green Mansions'', with the composer conducting the Symphony of the Air. Brazilian soprano Bidu Sayão was the featured soloist on the unusual recording, which was released on both LP and reel-to-reel tape. United Artists releases included soundtracks and cover versions from the James Bond movies, ''It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World'' (1963), '' A Hard Day's Night'' starring the Beatles (1964), ''The Greatest Story Ever Told'' (1965), '' A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum'' (1966), '' Fiddler on the Roof'' (1971), and '' Man of La Mancha'' (1972). The soundtrack album of United Art ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lyricon
The Lyricon is an electronic wind instrument, the first wind controller to be constructed. Invented by Bill Bernardi (and co-engineered by Roger Noble and with the late Lyricon performer Chuck GreenbergIngham (1998) p.184), filed for patent on October 5, 1971, by Computone Inc., patented under #US3767833 October 23, 1973 and then manufactured by Computone Inc. in Massachusetts in the early 1970s. The first lyricon was completed in 1974 with Tom Scott being the first customer for the instrument. The Lyricon was available in two designs, the first being somewhat silver and resembling a soprano saxophone and the latter, black and resembling an alto clarinet. Using a form of additive synthesis, the player was allowed to change between types of overtones with a key switchable between fundamentals of G, Bb, C, Eb, and F (allowing the instrument to be used to play transposed parts written for saxophones, trumpets, etc.) and an octave range that could be switched between low, medium, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baker Street (song)
"Baker Street" is a song written and performed by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty. Released as a single in 1978, it reached No. 1 in ''Cash Box'' and No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, where it held its ''Billboard'' position for six weeks, blocked from the top spot by Andy Gibb's " Shadow Dancing". It spent four weeks at No. 1 in Canada, No. 1 in Australia and South Africa, hit No. 3 in the United Kingdom, and the top 10 in the Netherlands. Rafferty received the 1978 Ivor Novello Award for Best Song Musically and Lyrically. The arrangement is known for its saxophone riff. In October 2010, the song was recognised by BMI for surpassing five million performances worldwide. The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) awarded the song a platinum certification in July 2022. Origins Named after Baker Street in London, the song was included on Rafferty's second solo album, ''City to City'' (1978), which was his first release after the resolution of le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Raphael Ravenscroft
Raphael Ravenscroft (4 June 1954 – 19 October 2014) was a British musician, composer and author. He is best known for playing the saxophone on Gerry Rafferty's song "Baker Street". Early life While his place of birth is disputed, the England and Wales Birth Index places it at Stoke-on-Trent. He was the eldest son of Trevor Ravenscroft, author of the 1972 occult book '' The Spear of Destiny'', and spent much of his young life in Dumfries, where his father lived. Career Gerry Rafferty and "Baker Street" In January 1978, Scottish singer-musician Gerry Rafferty released his first solo material since 1972 and first material of any kind since the demise of Stealers Wheel in 1975. As a then-unheralded session musician, Ravenscroft was asked to play the saxophone on the album ''City to City'' (1978). His contribution included the sax riff on the best-known song from the album and of Rafferty's career, "Baker Street". The song was an international hit, charting at number 3 in t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-selling Single (music), singles in the United Kingdom, based upon physical sales, paid-for downloads and music streaming, streaming. The Official Chart, broadcast on BBC Radio 1 and MTV (Official UK Top 40), is the UK music industry's recognised official measure of singles and albums popularity because it is the most comprehensive research panel of its kind, today surveying over 15,000 retailers and digital services daily, capturing 99.9% of all singles consumed in Britain across the week, and over 98% of albums. To be eligible for the chart, a Single (music), single is currently defined by the Official Charts Company (OCC) as either a 'single bundle' having no more than four tracks and not lasting longer than 25 minutes or one digital audio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Hit Singles & Albums
''British Hit Singles & Albums'' (originally known as ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Singles'' and ''The Guinness Book of British Hit Albums'') was a music reference book originally published in the United Kingdom by the publishing arm of the Guinness breweries, Guinness Superlatives. Later editions were published by HiT Entertainment (who had bought the Guinness World Records brand). It listed all the singles and albums featured in the Top 75 pop charts in the UK. In 2004 the book became an amalgamation of two earlier Guinness publications, originally known as ''British Hit Singles'' and ''British Hit Albums''. The publication of this amalgamation ceased in 2006, with Guinness World Records being sold to The Jim Pattison Group, owner of ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!''. At this point, the Official UK Charts Company teamed up with Random House/Ebury Publishing to release a new version of the book under the Virgin Books brand. Entitled ''The Virgin Book of British Hit Singles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
City To City
''City to City'' is the second solo studio album by Scottish singer-songwriter Gerry Rafferty, released on 20 January 1978 by United Artists Records. It was Rafferty's first solo release in six years—and first release of any kind since 1975—due to his tenure in the band Stealers Wheel and subsequent legal proceedings which prevented Rafferty from releasing any new solo recordings for the next three years. The album was well received, peaking at No. 1 in the US and going Platinum, as well as reaching No. 6 in the UK Albums Chart and achieving Gold status. "Baker Street", "Right Down the Line" and "Home and Dry" were successfully released as singles. Singles "Baker Street" United Artists wanted to use "City to City" as the lead single from the album, but Rafferty felt that "Baker Street" would be a better choice and eventually the latter song became the first single in most countries. Released on 3 February 1978, "Baker Street" peaked at No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart and spen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kent Music Report
The Kent Music Report was a weekly record chart of Australian music singles and albums which was compiled by music enthusiast David Kent from May 1974 through to January 1999. The chart was re-branded the Australian Music Report (AMR) in July 1987. From June 1988, the Australian Recording Industry Association, which had been using the top 50 portion of the report under licence since mid-1983, chose to produce their own listing as the ARIA Charts. Before the Kent Report, ''Go-Set'' magazine published weekly Top-40 Singles from 1966, and Album charts from 1970 until the magazine's demise in August 1974. David Kent later published Australian charts from 1940 to 1973 in a retrospective fashion, using state by state chart data obtained from various Australian radio stations. Background Kent had spent a number of years previously working in the music industry at both EMI and Phonogram records and had developed the report initially as a hobby. The Kent Music Report was first release ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Official Charts
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France. In the United Kingdom, its charts include ones for singles, albums and films, with the data compiled from a mixture of downloads, purchases (of physical media) and streaming. The OCC produces its charts by gathering and combining sales data from retailers through market researchers Kantar, and claims to cover 99% of the singles market and 95% of the album market, and aims to collect data from any retailer who sells more than 100 chart items per week. The OCC is operated jointly by the British Phonographic Industry and the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) (formerly the British Association of Record Dealers (BARD)) and is incorporated as a private company limited by shares jointly owned by BPI and ERA. The Chart Information Network (CIN) took over as compilers of the o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
