Foo Fighters Week on Jimmy Kimmel Live came to a close in the small hours of Friday morning, with another oldie, but a goodie.
The choice of song, a cover of the late Gerry Rafferty’s classic “Baker Street,” well, it was no secret. Foos frontman Dave Grohl told us what to expect earlier in the week, during his interview with Kimmel.
For Grohl, “Baker Street” is a proper guilty pleasure. “I don’t know if anyone remembers Gerry Rafferty. ‘Right Down The Line,’ ‘Baker Street’. He was in Stealers Wheel, ‘Stuck In The Middle With You.’ ‘Baker Street’ is one of my favorite songs of all time,” he recounted. “It reminds me of being young in the ‘70s. And driving around with my mom in the front seat, with AM radio on. It is truly one of my favorite songs of all time. We’ll rock that.”
They sure did. The Foos, as they’ve done for the four consecutive nights, cranked the guitars, Grohl engaged in some gentle headbanging, and Ilan Rubin channeled Animal from behind the kit. No, the Foos didn’t augment their lineup with a synth of a saxophone player, instead lead guitarist Chris Shiflett interpreted that famous riff.
Rafferty, the Scottish-born singer and songwriter, enjoyed a global hit with “Baker Street,” which peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1978, one of his six solo appearances on the chart. He died from liver failure in 2011, following a long battle with alcoholism.
“Baker Street” was the Foos’ only cover on Fallon this week, after performances of “Window” from the rock act’s 12th and latest studio album, Your Favorite Toy; 1995 ripper “This Is A Call,” from the band’s self-titled debut; and “Your Favorite Toy.”
The Foos’ world tour has this year taken the Rock Hall-inductees through North America, across Europe, and next week gets underway in Australia.
Watch Foo Fighters’ performance of “Baker Street” below.
