Walter Becker of Steely Dan would have turned 69 today. The Steely Dan song “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” has always been kind of a mystery as to what it means. It was on Pretzel Logic in 1974 and made it to # 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. Some thought it was a drug reference (Number = joint), Some thought it was a bi-curious reference. One possible explanation of what “Rikki Don’t Lose That Number” is about appeared in the March 24th, 2006 issue of Entertainment Weekly. Writer, poet and artist Rikki Ducornet, who knew Donald Fagen at Bard College, may have inspired the song. She claims he gave her his phone number at a party, though she was married and pregnant at the time. Fagen wouldn’t confirm the story, but this is what the late Walter Becker once had to say about it:
“Oh, ‘Rikki Don’t Lose That Number.’ I’ve heard a lot of great theories as to what the lyrics to that one are about, but I’m here to tell you that none of them are true.”
