Steely Dan’s “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” was released in early 1974 and was the opening track of their third album Pretzel Logic. It also turned out to be the most successful single of the group’s career, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts in the summer of 1974. Along the way, the song has been interpreted by a number of fans, many today who claim that the song references an unrequited gay relationship which, if the name in the song was spelled Ricky instead of Rikki, might buy into. The real story, according to a 2006 Entertainment Weekly story, is quite different, but still unusual.

As it turns out, the ‘Rikki’ of the title is actually Rikki Ducornet, is a New York writer and artist who Steely Dan co-front Donald Fagen met her while both were attending Bard College in the late ’60s.  In the interview, Ducornet admits that the pair met at a college party, and Fagen gave her his number even though she was both pregnant and married to an older college professor at the time. Ducornet says she was intrigued by Fagen and was tempted at the time to call him, but decided against it.

So that’s the supposedly true story of ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.’  Couldn’t find a live video performance of the song from back in the day, but here’s an audio recording from an appearance at The Rainbow Theater on May 20, 1974, where they introduce the song as “their new single” just released last week.

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