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

Your rating:
Total ratings: 1992









Released: 1974
Length: 4:02
Plays (last 30 days): 0
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 (82)add comment
 natius wrote:

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


Donald Fagen pretty much admitted to "borrowing" the intro.  
Why not just put the number into your contacts on your smartphone? 😊😊
The Dan Forever!!
 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!
 canoeing wrote:

Godlike



Just abut anything by Steely Dan is Godlike.
 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."

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.
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 
 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...
Play the intro damnit!
I missed the vibes intro.
Godlike
The. Greatest. Band. Of. All. Time.
I married a guy because of this song. 40 years ago and counting.
I was 11 when this came out. LOL, I just wanted to meet a girl named Rikki.
 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?
 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.
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. 
Genius comes to mind when I hear SD. Becker and Fagen!
 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...
Some of the best musicians in the business ... any of the musicians on any Steely Dan album you wish to play.
 natius wrote:
I hear some notes from "Song for my father" by Horace Silver...
 
youtu.be/CWeXOm49kE0
 ajvdeguzman wrote:
Oh that solo guitar! 🍻
 
And, oh those drums, and oh that Steely Dan! 
I hear some notes from "Song for my father" by Horace Silver...
Oh that solo guitar! 🍻
 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 

 

 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

 

{#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
 sfyi2001 wrote:


{#Crown}
 
Is that "Thing" from "The Munsters" working the mixing desk? Not a bad producer for a little dude with no ears.
 ExploitingChaos wrote:
SPOILER ALERT:
Rikki lost the number
 
LOL
 {#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.
 


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...
 

 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...
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.
One of the best classic guitar solos.
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.


{#Crown}
SPOILER ALERT:
Rikki lost the number
 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.
The Quintessential 70s song eh?! lol! Not sure anymore if I like it, it's just so embedded.
 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.
 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
 onenotedan wrote:

Lame.

 
Weinsteins anthem.
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. 
 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.


This song has it all: killer bass, jamming guitars, impeccable piano, and distinctive stylized vocals. Sounds as good as ever to me now!

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!


Was a hit when I was in jr high...still love this song!
Considering how old this song is, it doesn't sound 'dated'. Still an original and good sounding song after all these years.
{#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
Outstanding, love the Dan! {#Notworthy}
 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...
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!
 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.
Lyrics are pure stalking material.  Woman isn't interested in guy but no doesn't mean no to this guy.  Scary dude.
  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!
Pure pop for now people.
Great Skunk Baxter solo in this one.
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.
 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....
EXACTLY! Haven't heard this in the right kind of while man (now where is my number, gotta toke it up some : )
 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%
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.   
 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.
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.
 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.
Love it!
Horace Silver style sweet
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!
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}

 


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...

 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.
 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}
Again with the AM Radio choices... how many times have you heard Rikki Don't Lose That Number in your life?  Jiminy....  lame
 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}
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.
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!
Hard to believe 37 years old!  Great musicanship. 

More Dan!  I used to play in a saxophone quintet and my buddy arranged this song for us.  So cooooool!
 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?

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!