Stealers Wheel

When they debuted in 1972, the Scottish folk-rock band Stealers Wheel were seen as a British answer to America's Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young. Joe Egan and Rafferty met while attending Catholic school at St. Mirin’s Academy. They spent the 1960s playing in small bands and working as session musicians. In 1972, the duo formed Stealers Wheel and released their self-titled debut album in November. Produced by rock and roll icons Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller, the album was not a commercial success until the release of the third single, “Stuck in the Middle with You,” which became an international hit. However, the group’s international success was short-lived and their second album, Ferguslie Park (1973), was a commercial failure even though the “Star” single was a Top 30 hit in the US and UK. Tensions between Joe Egan and Gerry Rafferty sent the band into a brief hiatus before they returned with the album Right or Wrong in 1975. After the album’s failure – it didn’t appear on the Billboard 200 – Stealers Wheel split up. Interest in Stealers Wheel was revived in 1992 when "Stuck in the Middle with You” was used very effectively in Quentin Tarantino's film Reservoir Dogs. In 2001, a dance version by Louise was released in the U.K. In 2008, some of the musicians who originally accompanied Gerry Rafferty and Joe Egan formed a new Stealers Wheel to little success.