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Steely Dan — Rikki Don't Lose That Number
Album: Pretzel Logic
Avg rating:
7.7

Your rating:
Total ratings: 2079









Released: 1974
Length: 4:03
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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We hear you're leaving, that's okay
I thought our little wild time had just begun
I guess you kinda scared yourself, you turned and ran
But if you have a change of heart

Rikki, don't lose that number
You don't wanna call nobody else
Send it off in a letter to yourself
Rikki, don't lose that number
It's the only one you own
You might use it if you feel better
When you get home

I have a friend in town, he's heard your name
We can go out driving on Slow Hand Row
We could stay inside and play games, I don't know
And you could have a change of heart

Rikki, don't lose that number
You don't wanna call nobody else
Send it off in a letter to yourself
Rikki, don't lose that number
It's the only one you own
You might use it if you feel better
When you get home

You tell yourself you're not my kind
But you don't even know your mind
But if you have a change of heart

Rikki, don't lose that number
You don't wanna call nobody else
Send it off in a letter to yourself
Rikki, don't lose that number
It's the only one you own
You might use it if you feel better
When you get home

Rikki, don't lose that number
(Rikki, don't lose that number)
Rikki, don't lose that number
Comments (84)add comment
Hmm. I like this. Might have to start listening to more by these guys.
Posted 2 months ago by Steely_D    [ Reply ]
 Proclivities wrote:

Donald Fagen pretty much admitted to "borrowing" the intro.  

Thank You for the info!
Posted 7 months ago by joejennings    [ Reply ]
 natius wrote:

I hear some notes from "Song for my father" by Horace Silver...


Donald Fagen pretty much admitted to "borrowing" the intro.  
Posted 10 months ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
Why not just put the number into your contacts on your smartphone? 😊😊
Posted 11 months ago by pcc    [ Reply ]
The Dan Forever!!
Posted 1 year ago by GingerandMe    [ Reply ]
 Steely_D wrote:


Just wait till you compare "Gaucho" with Keith Jarrett's "Long As You Know You're Living Yours."




Sadly, the RP Playlist doe not not have any KJ!  PLEASE ADD KEITH  jARRETT  TO the RP playlist!  Thank You!
Posted 2 years ago by joejennings    [ Reply ]
 canoeing wrote:

Godlike



Just abut anything by Steely Dan is Godlike.
Posted 2 years ago by jvosb1496    [ Reply ]
 natius wrote:

I hear some notes from "Song for my father" by Horace Silver...



Just wait till you compare "Gaucho" with Keith Jarrett's "Long As You Know You're Living Yours."

Posted 3 years ago by Steely_D    [ Reply ]
Ah shit this is a 9. How many junior high fantasies did I have to this song. Um.. er.. I mean dreams, yes, that's a better word.
Posted 3 years ago by bahalana    [ Reply ]
some of the best pop rock of its day which in hindsight  led me on a path to truly enjoy  music as an artwork. Still a Stealey Dan fan all these years and musical journeys later 
Posted 3 years ago by ratbbb2    [ Reply ]
 lizardking wrote:

I might be one of the few in the general population born after this album was released (1974 vs 1977) who liked the Horace Silver tune "Song for my Father" before liking this Steely Dan track - in fact it was in Spring Quarter of 1996, my sophomore year in college, when Marc Seales added the Horace Silver track to our 'listening example' mix we had to listen to in the library.  Of course nowadays, everything is online I'm sure, but in March of 1996 the UW hadn't gotten there yet.  I found myself checking out the enormous headphones and requesting the tape to listen to while studying all my other classes.  Everything from Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Duke E, Fats Waller, etc., etc., etc. wow...now I'm really wanting to hear some (more) jazz on RP.  I wonder if "Song for my Father" is on RP....I'm gonna check that out.

I'd rate the Horace Silver track a 10 and this SD track an 8. 

Long Live RP!



Couldn't find the Horace Silver track on the RP playlist but, on your recommendation, I'll add it to one of my spotify playlists instead. Listen out for a UK outfit called Rien de Faire https://open.spotify.com/artis...
Posted 3 years ago by LoudshirtsBand    [ Reply ]
Play the intro damnit!
Posted 3 years ago by tcseeley    [ Reply ]
I missed the vibes intro.
Posted 3 years ago by JGM    [ Reply ]
Godlike
Posted 4 years ago by canoeing    [ Reply ]
The. Greatest. Band. Of. All. Time.
Posted 4 years ago by Edweirdo    [ Reply ]
I married a guy because of this song. 40 years ago and counting.
Posted 4 years ago by kasia1podhalanka    [ Reply ]
I was 11 when this came out. LOL, I just wanted to meet a girl named Rikki.
Posted 4 years ago by bahalana    [ Reply ]
 tomcool wrote:


Did you ever consider the possibility that Rikki was a dude?
 

Just going by spelling. 
But what does that have to do with losing the number in the mail?
Posted 4 years ago by BigCountry98    [ Reply ]
 Screature wrote:
 Some feminists opposed this song, but it was just another love song with a twist. 
 
Really? I remember very little controversy on this song.
Posted 4 years ago by Zep    [ Reply ]
I never understood why Rikki had to send it off to herself. Why trust the mail system? They're far more likely to lose it. 
Posted 4 years ago by BigCountry98    [ Reply ]
Genius comes to mind when I hear SD. Becker and Fagen!
Posted 4 years ago by canoeing    [ Reply ]
 lizardking wrote:
I might be one of the few in the general population born after this album was released (1974 vs 1977) who liked the Horace Silver tune "Song for my Father" before liking this Steely Dan track - in fact it was in Spring Quarter of 1996, my sophomore year in college, when Marc Seales added the Horace Silver track to our 'listening example' mix we had to listen to in the library.  Of course nowadays, everything is online I'm sure, but in March of 1996 the UW hadn't gotten there yet.  I found myself checking out the enormous headphones and requesting the tape to listen to while studying all my other classes.  Everything from Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Duke E, Fats Waller, etc., etc., etc. wow...now I'm really wanting to hear some (more) jazz on RP.  I wonder if "Song for my Father" is on RP....I'm gonna check that out.

I'd rate the Horace Silver track a 10 and this SD track an 8. 

Long Live RP!


 
Come on, HS has better tunes which would require an additional scope of qualification...
Posted 5 years ago by calmthemind    [ Reply ]
Some of the best musicians in the business ... any of the musicians on any Steely Dan album you wish to play.
Posted 5 years ago by unclehud    [ Reply ]
 natius wrote:
I hear some notes from "Song for my father" by Horace Silver...
 
youtu.be/CWeXOm49kE0
Posted 5 years ago by lizardking    [ Reply ]
 ajvdeguzman wrote:
Oh that solo guitar! 🍻
 
And, oh those drums, and oh that Steely Dan! 
Posted 5 years ago by MrStatenIsle    [ Reply ]
I hear some notes from "Song for my father" by Horace Silver...
Posted 5 years ago by natius    [ Reply ]
Oh that solo guitar! 🍻
Posted 5 years ago by ajvdeguzman    [ Reply ]
 drucev wrote:
and I gotta add 1) Cousin Dupree, anyone 2) everything in Steely Dan tends toward ironic interior dialogue from an unreliable narrator 3) there is no stalking or overt unwanted advance here so 4) if this is offensive your outrage-o-meter needs a tuneup and you may not be ready for Steely Dan level ironic world-weary weltschmerz 

 

Posted 5 years ago by drucev    [ Reply ]
 mmartinwhite1938 wrote:
Also Babylon Sisters, which I imagine is about an older guy partying with a couple of ladies so fine so young, maybe groupies, escorts

 

Posted 5 years ago by drucev    [ Reply ]
{#Devil_pimp}zesty still ! saw them live at the paramount seattle when this came out / played the whole album cover to cover very zesty best live show to this day
Posted 5 years ago by primm    [ Reply ]
 sfyi2001 wrote:


{#Crown}
 
Is that "Thing" from "The Munsters" working the mixing desk? Not a bad producer for a little dude with no ears.
Posted 5 years ago by skuzzfud    [ Reply ]
 ExploitingChaos wrote:
SPOILER ALERT:
Rikki lost the number
 
LOL
Posted 5 years ago by TerrorGovernor    [ Reply ]
 {#Daisy}pinto wrote:

Oh, please.  Enjoy the satire.  And if you are afraid of this "scary dude" do not listen to the lyrics of Hey Nineteen. Get some therapy.
 

Posted 5 years ago by mmartinwhite1938    [ Reply ]

Rikki Ducornet, daughter of a prof at Bard - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rikki_Ducornet

"Ducornet says they met at a college party, and even though she was both pregnant and married at the time, he gave her his number."

Spoiler: She never called.

Cool old dude Skunk Baxter version here BTW

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=6xN0hmNS_IU&list=RD5HTVMh7fur4&index=20
 
ImaOldman wrote:

Rikki was a female that Fagen had the hots for in college, don't think it ever worked out...
 

Posted 6 years ago by drucev    [ Reply ]
 mobboss wrote:
I could never decide if "Rikki" is male or female. Am I the only one?
This song is top three in the Steely Dan playlist for me given time and circumstance back then.
The wit of the lyrics, musical sophistication, and off beat attitude of SD still gets me to this day. Desert Island band.
 
Rikki was a female that Fagen had the hots for in college, don't think it ever worked out...
Posted 6 years ago by ImaOldman    [ Reply ]
I could never decide if "Rikki" is male or female. Am I the only one? This song is top three in the Steely Dan playlist for me given time and circumstance back then. The wit of the lyrics, musical sophistication, and off beat attitude of SD still gets me to this day. Desert Island band.
Posted 6 years ago by mobboss    [ Reply ]
One of the best classic guitar solos.
Posted 6 years ago by danuneken    [ Reply ]
Steely Dan didn't didn't receive the acclaim that they deserved. They were a great band. Some feminists opposed this song, but it was just another love song with a twist. Maybe she was in a bad relationship and he felt he could love her better than the other guy, what is so wrong with that? It is just being human male or female.
Posted 6 years ago by Screature    [ Reply ]


{#Crown}
Posted 6 years ago by sfyi2001    [ Reply ]
SPOILER ALERT:
Rikki lost the number
Posted 6 years ago by ExploitingChaos    [ Reply ]
 Jota wrote:
Lyrics are pure stalking material.  Woman isn't interested in guy but no doesn't mean no to this guy.  Scary dude.

 
Oh, please.  Enjoy the satire.  And if you are afraid of this "scary dude" do not listen to the lyrics of Hey Nineteen. Get some therapy.
Posted 6 years ago by pinto    [ Reply ]
The Quintessential 70s song eh?! lol! Not sure anymore if I like it, it's just so embedded.
Posted 6 years ago by jocelynsart    [ Reply ]
 Jota wrote:
Lyrics are pure stalking material.  Woman isn't interested in guy but no doesn't mean no to this guy.  Scary dude.

 
Probably more than likely about drugs.
Posted 6 years ago by oldsaxon    [ Reply ]
 Jota wrote:
Lyrics are pure stalking material.  Woman isn't interested in guy but no doesn't mean no to this guy.  Scary dude.
 
Hmm, no one else seems to have interpreted the lyrics that way.
projection |prəˈjek sh ən|
noun
• the unconscious transfer of one's own desires or emotions to another person
Posted 7 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]
 onenotedan wrote:

Lame.

 
Weinsteins anthem.
Posted 7 years ago by Jota    [ Reply ]
I caught three shows in a row this year in Vegas and, despite them not liking to play it live, they did at one of the shows.

The current touring group is really great, musically, and these songs are just fantastic, even after all these years. Recommended, and I'm not even biased. 
Posted 7 years ago by Steely_D    [ Reply ]
 coloradojohn wrote:
This song has it all: killer bass, jamming guitars, impeccable piano, and distinctive stylized vocals. Sounds as good as ever to me now!

  Yep, don't focus on the lyrics and it takes you away.


Posted 7 years ago by kjf06    [ Reply ]
This song has it all: killer bass, jamming guitars, impeccable piano, and distinctive stylized vocals. Sounds as good as ever to me now!
Posted 7 years ago by coloradojohn    [ Reply ]

I might be one of the few in the general population born after this album was released (1974 vs 1977) who liked the Horace Silver tune "Song for my Father" before liking this Steely Dan track - in fact it was in Spring Quarter of 1996, my sophomore year in college, when Marc Seales added the Horace Silver track to our 'listening example' mix we had to listen to in the library.  Of course nowadays, everything is online I'm sure, but in March of 1996 the UW hadn't gotten there yet.  I found myself checking out the enormous headphones and requesting the tape to listen to while studying all my other classes.  Everything from Jelly Roll Morton, Bix Beiderbecke, Louis Armstrong, Duke E, Fats Waller, etc., etc., etc. wow...now I'm really wanting to hear some (more) jazz on RP.  I wonder if "Song for my Father" is on RP....I'm gonna check that out.

I'd rate the Horace Silver track a 10 and this SD track an 8. 

Long Live RP!


Posted 7 years ago by lizardking    [ Reply ]
Was a hit when I was in jr high...still love this song!
Posted 7 years ago by ploba    [ Reply ]
Considering how old this song is, it doesn't sound 'dated'. Still an original and good sounding song after all these years.
Posted 7 years ago by ExpatLarry    [ Reply ]
{#Cheers}saw them live when this first came out at the paramount in seattle / still one of the best live performances ever played the album cover to cover / outstanding
Posted 7 years ago by primm    [ Reply ]
Outstanding, love the Dan! {#Notworthy}
Posted 7 years ago by semolinapilchard    [ Reply ]
 Jota wrote:
Lyrics are pure stalking material.  Woman isn't interested in guy but no doesn't mean no to this guy.  Scary dude.

 
thought it was a song about Clapton and his addiction...
Posted 8 years ago by black321    [ Reply ]
This is the song that first opened my ears to Steely Dan, so deserves a 9 for that alone. There is a precision about their sound that I find addictive. More Dan please!
Posted 8 years ago by Grahamthefirst    [ Reply ]
 Jota wrote:
Lyrics are pure stalking material.  Woman isn't interested in guy but no doesn't mean no to this guy.  Scary dude.

 
Lame.
Posted 8 years ago by onenotedan    [ Reply ]
Lyrics are pure stalking material.  Woman isn't interested in guy but no doesn't mean no to this guy.  Scary dude.
Posted 8 years ago by Jota    [ Reply ]
  horstman wrote:


Just because it was played a billion times on the radio doesn't make it a lame song or choice. It is an awesome song from one of the most talented bands of the 70s. I welcome it here and thank Bill for "reintroducing" it to my palette.

And I NEVER listen to the radio and bet that most RP listeners don't much either. {#Naughty}


lemmoth wrote:

Agree with Horstman 100%

 
Horstman rules!
Posted 8 years ago by h8rhater    [ Reply ]
Pure pop for now people.
Posted 8 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]
Great Skunk Baxter solo in this one.
Posted 8 years ago by LuvWilloughby    [ Reply ]
I met Rikki Ducornet, the subject of this song, at a writer's conference about 10 years ago where she was a featured speaker.  She's a fiction writer & poet and had a relationship with Donald Fagen back in the day.  A very interesting person and a fine writer & artist.
Posted 8 years ago by buddy    [ Reply ]
 westslope wrote:
Terrific song.

So there I am hangin' out in downtown Bogota in 1977 with a couple of cheap hotel mates from Florida.  One of them Richard has piercing blue eyes, thin blond hair and jutting cheek bones.

So this drop-dead gorgeous bourgeois babe chats him up, gives him her card and, and, and,......,  he loses it.   

 
Good story. Makes me think of some good changes I blown myself. If only I could do it all over again....
Posted 8 years ago by justin4kick    [ Reply ]
EXACTLY! Haven't heard this in the right kind of while man (now where is my number, gotta toke it up some : )
Posted 9 years ago by hayduke2    [ Reply ]
 horstman wrote:


Just because it was played a billion times on the radio doesn't make it a lame song or choice. It is an awesome song from one of the most talented bands of the 70s. I welcome it here and thank Bill for "reintroducing" it to my palette.

And I NEVER listen to the radio and bet that most RP listeners don't much either. {#Naughty}

 
Agree with Horstman 100%
Posted 9 years ago by lemmoth    [ Reply ]
Terrific song.

So there I am hangin' out in downtown Bogota in 1977 with a couple of cheap hotel mates from Florida.  One of them Richard has piercing blue eyes, thin blond hair and jutting cheek bones.

So this drop-dead gorgeous bourgeois babe chats him up, gives him her card and, and, and,......,  he loses it.   
Posted 9 years ago by westslope    [ Reply ]
 Geecheeboy wrote:
1974, Standing in the doorway of the shoe store on King Street in Charleston, watching passersby, listening to this song, thinking about my girlfriend. She's been my wife now for 41 years.
 
Lucky you didn't lose her number.  ; )
Great song.
Posted 9 years ago by On_The_Beach    [ Reply ]
1974, Standing in the doorway of the shoe store on King Street in Charleston, watching passersby, listening to this song, thinking about my girlfriend. She's been my wife now for 41 years.
Posted 9 years ago by Geecheeboy    [ Reply ]
 wruffner wrote:
I'm burned out on this one.

horstman wrote:


Just because it was played a billion times on the radio doesn't make it a lame song or choice. It is an awesome song from one of the most talented bands of the 70s. I welcome it here and thank Bill for "reintroducing" it to my palette.

And I NEVER listen to the radio and bet that most RP listeners don't much either. {#Naughty}

 

 
There is a term used in the music industry when a song is played to death. It's called "burnt" and that's exactly why I don't listen to mainstream FM radio anymore.
Posted 9 years ago by ShaunJ    [ Reply ]
Love it!
Posted 9 years ago by helgigermany    [ Reply ]
Horace Silver style sweet
Posted 9 years ago by lauradamian    [ Reply ]
Sometimes if you go a long time without hearing this, then you do, it can really blow your mind. One of their finest and I'll always love it!
Posted 9 years ago by coloradojohn    [ Reply ]
I'm burned out on this one.

horstman wrote:


Just because it was played a billion times on the radio doesn't make it a lame song or choice. It is an awesome song from one of the most talented bands of the 70s. I welcome it here and thank Bill for "reintroducing" it to my palette.

And I NEVER listen to the radio and bet that most RP listeners don't much either. {#Naughty}

 


Posted 9 years ago by wruffner    [ Reply ]
Everybody in my mushrooming multitude of homeless camps has some great memories of this song...  sigh...  love it...

time flies when we're having fun...
Posted 10 years ago by Lazarus    [ Reply ]
 horstman wrote:
Just because it was played a billion times on the radio doesn't make it a lame song or choice. It is an awesome song from one of the most talented bands of the 70s. I welcome it here and thank Bill for "reintroducing" it to my palette.

And I NEVER listen to the radio and bet that most RP listeners don't much either. {#Naughty}

 
I listen to music on the radio when I'm driving and I don't hear this song very often.  Since its release I don't think I really heard this song so much that I'm burnt-out on it, but everyone's different.  I like their nod to Horace Silver's "Song For My Father" in the opening.
Posted 10 years ago by Proclivities    [ Reply ]
 TuneAgeWhereWoof wrote:
Again with the AM Radio choices... how many times have you heard Rikki Don't Lose That Number in your life?  Jiminy....  lame
 

Just because it was played a billion times on the radio doesn't make it a lame song or choice. It is an awesome song from one of the most talented bands of the 70s. I welcome it here and thank Bill for "reintroducing" it to my palette.

And I NEVER listen to the radio and bet that most RP listeners don't much either. {#Naughty}
Posted 12 years ago by horstman    [ Reply ]
Again with the AM Radio choices... how many times have you heard Rikki Don't Lose That Number in your life?  Jiminy....  lame
Posted 13 years ago by TuneAgeWhereWoof    [ Reply ]
 WonderLizard wrote:
IMHO, their best album. I still cannot get enough of this band or this song. Their first six albums went on the new iPod right after The Beatles.
 

Yea, it doesn't get any better than those 2.{#Yes}
Posted 13 years ago by sirdroseph    [ Reply ]
IMHO, their best album. I still cannot get enough of this band or this song. Their first six albums went on the new iPod right after The Beatles.
Posted 13 years ago by WonderLizard    [ Reply ]
Whoh! This is only comment #6 in all those years: isn't this great song played so little? There's a job to be done!
Posted 13 years ago by Dinges,_the_Dude    [ Reply ]
Hard to believe 37 years old!  Great musicanship. 

Posted 13 years ago by rhbphoto    [ Reply ]
More Dan!  I used to play in a saxophone quintet and my buddy arranged this song for us.  So cooooool!
Posted 13 years ago by Dave_Mack    [ Reply ]
 redeyespy wrote:
Nice syncopated opening, sometimes missing, depending on what disc you have. Piano is a nice nod to Horace Silver. PRETZEL LOGIC has so many stellar tracks- Parker's Band
Monkey in Your Soul
Pretzel Logic
With a Gun let's hear 'em!!! But thanks for playing the Dan in the first place, Bill!
 
Just ONE comment in more than seven years? I wonder, does this reveal that it hasn't been aired since then? Or are RP listeners not touched at all by hearing it?

Posted 13 years ago by Bleyfusz    [ Reply ]
Nice syncopated opening, sometimes missing, depending on what disc you have. Piano is a nice nod to Horace Silver. PRETZEL LOGIC has so many stellar tracks- Parker's Band Monkey in Your Soul Pretzel Logic With a Gun let's hear 'em!!! But thanks for playing the Dan in the first place, Bill!
Posted 21 years ago by redeyespy    [ Reply ]