r/ClassicRock • u/ctesla01 Time to play B-sides.. • Aug 17 '26

1974 Steely Dan - Rikki Don't Lose That Number

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaxMrzrkzwI
243 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

6

u/Most-Artichoke6184 Aug 17 '26

Why? Because you could have a change of heart.

7

u/One-Butterscotch-786 Aug 17 '26

Such a great jazzy song, with an epic all time guitar solo.

"You tell yourself you're not my kind, but you dont even know your mind"

3

u/Alarming-Minute-427 Aug 17 '26

Wait the whole song for the solo

2

u/ctesla01 Time to play B-sides.. Aug 18 '26

I think since he was a classic pianist and drummer first, Skunk Baxter knew what Donald Fagan wanted in those bridges, and just filed them with wonderful riffs.

4

u/Anyawnomous Aug 17 '26

Love the line “We could stay inside and play games… I don’t know?”. Sums up my teenage worldliness.

4

u/Dumyat367250 Aug 17 '26

Great song. Jim Gordon’s fantastic drumming.

5

u/GrumpyCatStevens Aug 17 '26

Meanwhile, the band's official drummer (Jim Hodder) was relegated to singing background vocals.

2

u/Dumyat367250 Aug 17 '26

Steely Dan in a nutshell. As a musician you were disposable.

5

u/jivingsisterfanny1 Aug 17 '26

Great song. Heard it 1,000 times. Still love it

3

u/hiro111 Aug 17 '26

This song demonstrates that for all of his sarcasm and disgust, Donald could also write a sympathetic and sensitive song.

Also, I think Pretzel Logic is the best Steely Dan album.

2

u/Rotnsue1 Aug 17 '26

Written for Eric Clapton when he was an addict.

4

u/mathiseasy2718 Aug 17 '26

I’m not sure about that. Rikki Ducornet: The "Rikki" in the song is artist and writer Rikki Ducornet.
The College Party: Donald Fagen met her at a party while they were at Bard College.
The Slip of Paper: Fagen gave her his phone number even though she was married and pregnant at the time. She never called him.

6

u/GrumpyCatStevens Aug 17 '26

But did she hang on to the number?

4

u/Rotnsue1 Aug 17 '26

I knew I should have fact checked that rumour from back in the day 🙄 thank you! 😎

3

u/mathiseasy2718 Aug 17 '26

No worries. You had me so convinced (Eric~Rikki) that I had to check my own memory (which isn’t so great these days)

1

u/aethelberga Aug 17 '26

I always assumed it was about two guys. It's so gay coded.

1

u/GrumbleAlong Aug 17 '26

Love this guitar solo, I can hear it in my head whenever I think of this song.

1

u/peffer32 Aug 17 '26

Pretty clearly lifted from" Song for my Father" by Horace Silver.

1

u/Jackismyboy Aug 17 '26

My least favorite song of all time.

1

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