Song:Stuck In The Middle With You
Album:The Tarantino Connection
Stuck In The Middle With You was a top ten hit in 1973 for the Scottish folk rock group Stealers Wheel. Internal strife killed the group by 1975. But Stuck In The Middle With You was revived in a big way when Quentin Tarantino used it in a pivotal scene of his 1992 film Reservoir Dogs. Now it's a rock standard. But it was always a good song. Stealers Wheel was formed by schoolmates Gerry Rafferty (born Apr. 16, 1947 in Paisley, Scotland) and Joe Egan (born Oct. 18, 1946 in Paisley, Scotland). The two played together in a couple of bands and played sessions. Rafferty was a member of Billy Connoly's folk group The Humblebums and also recorded a solo album. He used Egan as a vocalist on the album and they decided to form Stealers Wheel in 1972 as sort of a Scottish version of an American folk rock group like Crosby, Stills & Nash. Roger Brown, Rab Noakes and Ian Campbell were all on Rafferty's album and joined Stealers Wheel. But they all left and were replaced by former Juicy Lucy drummer Rod Coombes, his pal guitarist Paul Pilnick and bassist Tony Williams. They signed with A & M Records and their debut album was produced by Jerry Lieber & Mike Stoller. Stuck In The Middle With You reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973 and they were on their way. But Rafferty was bickering with the others and he left and was replaced by Luther Grosvenor of Spooky Tooth. When the album reached #50 on the Billboard Hot 200, Rafferty was pesuaded to return and Grosvenor, Coombes & Pilnick all left. So Stealers Wheel used studio musicians for their other two albums. When they didn't sell, Rafferty and Egan split up for good in 1975. Stuck In The Middle With You was just another forgotten pop song when Quentin Tarantino used the song in his 1992 breakthrough film Reservoir Dogs and it attracted a new generation. Tarantino has always had a good ear for music and this comp contains songs from his earlier films. Gerry Rafferty went on to a successful solo career in the 80s. Joe Egan recorded a couple of albums but quit the music business and now runs a small publishing company. In 2008, Williams, Coombes and Pilnick announced they were reforming Stealers Wheel after Williams was contacted by K-Tel Records. That doesn't seem like a good idea but supposedly they're working on a CD. Here's the video for Stuck In The Middle With You by Stealers Wheel.
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