Having not been alive in 1978, my only exposure to this song was the version they played on my local, classic songs radio station. As such, when I got my hands on Rafferty’s City to City, which featured Baker Street, it sounded different to the version I remembered. In a story not too dissimilar to yesterday’s Dandy Warhols post, a bit of internet sleuthing gave me a concrete reason for the inconsistency: the single version of this song was sped up, which not only made it faster but also pitched the key up half a tone. To me, it gives it more zest, but that could just be because this was the first version I heard.
This remains a classic, no matter which version you prefer. That saxophone riff, oh boy. Devilishly sexy.