Stealers Wheel were more than one-hit wonders, but they will always be remembered for their trademark single Stuck in the Middle With You (1973), from their eponymous debut album, released the previous year. Written by Joe Egan, who has died aged 77, and Gerry Rafferty, it reached No 8 on the UK chart, before going global and jumping to No 6 on the US chart. It sold more than a million copies.
Over a rambling folk-rock beat, the song described a freak show in which the singer was surrounded by “clowns”, “jokers” and assorted parasites, prompting an attack of advanced paranoia (“I’m so scared in case I fall off my chair”). Both the subject matter and Rafferty’s whiny lead vocal (Egan sang the harmony part) prompted comparisons with Bob Dylan, though there may be a little bit of Randy Newman’s Mama Told Me Not to Come in there too.
But there was an inherent instability in Stealers Wheel that prevented them from reaching the superstardom that seemed about to be thrust on them. Rafferty had already left the band by the time their first album appeared, so Egan took centre stage when the video for Stuck in the Middle was filmed.
The success of the album, which reached No 50 in the US chart, prompted Rafferty to return, but then everybody else quit except Egan. They decided to continue as a duo, bringing in additional musicians as the occasion required.
They had further singles success with Everyone’s Agreed That Everything Will Turn Out Fine (1973) and the following year scored a Top 30 hit on both sides of the Atlantic with Star, but a second album, Ferguslie Park, was a flop, causing severe tensions between Rafferty and Egan. The departure of their producers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller heaped further pressure on the duo, and by the time their final album, Right Or Wrong, appeared in 1975, Stealers Wheel had disintegrated.
Egan was born into an Irish Catholic family in Paisley, a dozen miles from Glasgow. He and Rafferty attended the same primary school, though Rafferty was a year ahead of him, and both subsequently enrolled at St Mirin’s academy, a Catholic secondary school for boys. However, as Egan pointed out, “we didn’t really hook up until we’d left”.
Egan’s first ambition was to become a professional footballer – he was a contemporary of fellow Paisley native and future Scotland international Archie Gemmill – but, as he put it, “when it became clear that I thought I was better than I actually was, I threw myself headfirst into my music. That’s when Gerry and I got together and were part of bands such as the Mavericks and the Sensors. It was a great time to be around because the music scene in Paisley was buzzing.”
In 1969, Rafferty joined the folk-rock band the Humblebums, alongside Billy Connolly, and they recorded a couple of albums before splitting up. Rafferty recorded the solo album Can I Have My Money Back? (1971), featuring Egan as backing vocalist, but, despite being described by Billboard magazine as “high-grade folk-rock”, it sold poorly.
In 1972 the pair formed Stealers Wheel, with the original lineup completed by Rab Noakes, Roger Brown and Iain Campbell. This proved short-lived, and by the time the band signed to A&M Records later in 1972, Egan and Rafferty were accompanied by Tony Williams, Paul Pilnick and Rod Coombes. The Stealers Wheel album was released at the end of the year.
Rafferty went on to find his greatest success as a solo artist, having big hits with the albums City to City and Night Owl and soaring up the UK and US charts with his classic single Baker Street.
Meanwhile, Egan enjoyed more modest returns with his solo career. He released his first album, Out of Nowhere, in 1979, which generated some radio airplay with the track Back on the Road Again. His follow-up album, Map, appeared in 1981, to little acclaim. In 1992, Egan sang backing vocals on Rafferty’s album On a Wing & a Prayer, and Rafferty’s album Over My Head (1994) included several Rafferty/Egan compositions.
Stuck in the Middle With You enjoyed a dramatic revival when it featured in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs (1992), where it accompanied a hair-raising scene in which policeman Marvin Nash (Kirk Baltz) is tortured by Mr Blonde (Michael Madsen). Tarantino was so convinced that the song was indispensable to his film that he blew his entire music budget on it.
Egan subsequently retreated from the performing side of the music business, and ran his own publishing company, Baby Bun Music, from his home in Renfrewshire. He kept in touch with Rafferty until his death in 2011, and described how they would “talk on the phone for hours and reminisce about the old days”.
He is survived by his wife, Sylvia. Their daughter, Claire, predeceased him.
• Joe Egan, musician, singer and songwriter, born 18 October 1946; died 6 July 2024
