Rikki Don't Lose That Number (1974) 10/2/20

Walter Becker of Steely Dan was amused, but wanted to set the record straight. In a 1986 interview for “Musician” magazine, he made it clear that “Rikki Don't Lose That Number” was not—in any-way—about drugs. The word “number” was not about a marijuana cigarette, and the lyric “send a letter off to yourself” had nothing to do with sending dope through the mail. It was about a girl his band-mate, Donald Fagen had a crush on in college, and nothing more.

Of course, almost no one believed a Steely Dan song could be that straightforward, but in the end, it really didn't matter because the song was so good. (TRIVIA: The guitar solo was by Jeff “Skunk” Baxter, who went on to join the Doobie Brothers.)

In 1974, “Rikki Don't Lose That Number, (from the 1973 album “Pretzel Logic”), went to #4 on Billboard's Hot 100 and #3 on Canada's Top 40—making it Steely Dan's biggest hit.

It's definitely a “Great Song of the '70s!