Stealers Wheel

:(This page covers both the band Stealers Wheel and the solo career of Gerry Rafferty. See also Humblebums.)
Stealers Wheel was a Scottish folk rock/rock band formed in 1972 in Paisley, Scotland, by former school friends Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty. Their best-known hit is "Stuck in the Middle with You". The band broke up in 1975 and re-formed briefly in 2008. Egan and Rafferty met as teenagers in Paisley, and became the core of Stealers Wheel. They were initially joined by Roger Brown, Rab Noakes and Ian Campbell in 1972. By the time the band was signed to A&M Records later that year, Brown, Noakes and Campbell had been replaced by Paul Pilnick, Tony Williams and Rod Coombes.
The original line-up recorded Stealers Wheel (October 1972), produced by American songwriters and producers Leiber & Stoller, and was a critical and commercial success, reaching No. 50 in the US Billboard 200 album chart, with their hit single "Stuck in the Middle with You" coming from the album. On 7 November 1972 the band appeared on BBC 2's The Old Grey Whistle Test, performing "I Get By" and "Late Again".
(Read more at Wikipedia)
== Links to Peel ==
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Peel had admired Gerry Rafferty's songwriting during the singer's time with the Humblebums and liked Rafferty's new band enough to have them do five sessions for his shows, between 1972 and 1975. Interestingly, although the Wikipedia article on the band states that they were formed in 1972, Peel introduced them at least twice in 1971, once at a concert in Edinburgh in July (see Gigography 1971) and again on a Radio One concert programme on 07 December 1971. The band's early line-up included Rab Noakes, a Peel session artist in his own right and later a BBC radio producer.
Stealers Wheel's career was marked by disagreements and personnel changes, and when Gerry Rafferty left them in 1973, he made a session for Peel as a solo artist, before rejoining the band in the following year. They finally broke up after their last Peel session, and Rafferty had great commercial success when he relaunched his solo career a few years later, but Peel seems to have ignored his records of that time. Yet unlike much of the music the DJ featured on his early 1970s shows, Stealers Wheel's records continued to appeal to him and he revisited them from time to time in later years; their best-known hit, "Stuck In The Middle With You", appeared in the Peelenium 1973. The last known play of a Stealers Wheel track on a Peel show was in 2001.
== Festive Fifty Entries ==
*None
== Sessions ==
Five sessions. No known commercial release.
1. Recorded: 1972-02-14. First broadcast: 29 February 1972. Repeated: 11 April 1972
*We're On The Right Track/I Get By/ Jose/ Mary Skeffington
2. Recorded: 1972-11-21. First broadcast: 05 December 1972. Repeated: 23 June 1977
*Midnight Rider/Chevrolet/ I Get By/Late Again
3. Recorded 1973-01-01. First broadcast: 11 January 1973. Repeated: 27 February 1973.
*Gets So Lonely/You Put Something Better Inside Of Me/Here Comes The Queen/Outside Looking In
4. Recorded 1973-06-04. First broadcast: 07 June 1973. Repeated: 28 June 1973
*Johnny's Tune /Everything Will Be Alright /I Get By /Late Again
5. Recorded 1975-04-03. First broadcast: 10 April 1975. Repeated: 19 June 1975
*Wishbone /This Morning/Monday Morning /Right Or Wrong
;Gerry Rafferty
One solo session. Recorded 1973-01-15. First broadcast: 06 February 1973. Repeated: 10 April 1973.
*Singing Bird/Don’t Get Me Wrong/Over My Head
== Live ==
*07 December 1971: for In Concert, also with Lindisfarne and Ran Noakes, recorded 1971-12-02, unknown venue.
:JP - "This is the radio debut of Stealers Wheel and they're going to start off with one of my favourite songs...."
#Sing A Song For Us
#Steamboat Row
#I Get By
:(Lindisfarne set)
:(Stealers Wheel with Rab Noakes, Lindisfarne)
#Turn A Deaf Ear
#Can't Believe You Wanna Leave
== Other Shows Played ==
;1970s
*19 December 1972: Stuck In The Middle With You (LP - Stealers Wheel) A&M
*31 December 1972: Outside Looking In (LP - Stealers Wheel) A&M
*31 December 1972: Late Again (LP - Stealers Wheel) A&M
*30 October 1973: Blind Faith (album - Ferguslie Park) A&M AMLH 68209
*30 October 1973: Nothing's Gonna Change My Mind (album - Ferguslie Park) A&M AMLH 68209
*11 December 1973: Nothing's Gonna Change My Mind (album - Ferguslie Park) A&M AMLH 68209
*25 December 1973: Good Businessman (album - Ferguslie Park) A&M AMLH 68209
*13 March 1975: Right Or Wrong (LP - Right Or Wrong) A&M
*15 March 1975 (Rockweek); unknown (previewed on show of 13 March 1975)
*17 April 1975: Let Yourself Go (LP - Right Or Wrong)
*23 January 1978: Late Again (album - Stealers Wheel) Stealers Wheel A&M AMLS 68121
*23 January 1978: Stuck In The Middle With You (album - Stealers Wheel) Stealers Wheel A&M AMLS 68121
*23 January 1978: You Put Something Better Inside Me (album - Stealers Wheel) Stealers Wheel A&M AMLS 68121
*28 August 1978: Stuck In The Middle With You (Stuck In The Middle With You - The Best Of Stealers Wheel) A&M LP 394 708-1
*31 August 1978: You Put Something Better Inside Of Me (album - Stuck In The Middle With You - The Best Of Stealers Wheel) A&M LP 394 708-1
;1980s
*12 January 1987: Late Again (LP - Stealers Wheel)
;1990s
*17 November 1999 Stuck In The Middle With You (Peelenium 1973)
*18 November 1999 (Radio Eins): You Put Something Better Inside Me
;2000s
*25 April 2000: 'Stuck In The Middle With You (LP-Stuck In The Middle With You The Best Of Stealers Wheel)' (A&M)
*10 May 2001 You Put Something Better Inside Of Me A&M Records
;Gerry Rafferty
*No known plays from solo recordings.
== See Also ==
*Singles Reviews
*Gigography 1971
*Disc & Music Echo: Peel Columns
== External Links ==
*Wikipedia
* Official site
* Other
Category:Artists