Joe Egan lifeless at 77: Musician co-wrote Stuck In The Middle With You
Joe Egan, one of the two founding members of the 1970s Scottish rock band Stealers Wheel, has died at the age of 77.
Egan co-wrote the band’s enduring hit Stuck In The Middle With You, which enjoyed a life of its own years after Stealers Wheel split in 1975.
The song is perhaps best remembered as the soundtrack for a grisly scene in Quentin Tarantino‘s 1992 film Reservoir Dogs in which a man’s ear is carved off.
News of Egan’s death went public over the weekend, via the official Facebook page of his late bandmate Gerry Rafferty. No cause was given.
Rafferty’s daughter Martha, who operates the page now, wrote touchingly of Egan: ‘I will always remember him as a sweet and gentle soul. May he rest in peace.’
Joe Egan, one of the two founding members of the 1970s Scottish rock band Stealers Wheel, has died at the age of 77; pictured in London in 1979
She announced Sunday that ‘the other half of Stealers Wheel, Joe Egan, passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon with his nearest and dearest around him.’
Egan was born in 1946 in Paisley, Scotland, where he and Rafferty became childhood friends while attending St Mirin’s Academy.
‘I was always interested in music, like Gerry, but I was also into football in a big way and at one stage I’d hoped to make it as a player,’ Egan recalled decades later.
‘But when it became clear that I thought I was better than I actually was, I threw myself headfirst into my music,’ he told the Paisley Daily Express.
He and Rafferty formed Stealers Wheel in 1972 and had their first hit single the following year with Stuck In The Middle With You, which they co-wrote.
Stuck In The Middle With You proved a thunderous success, reaching number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and number eight on the UK Singles Chart.
However the band were never able to recreate their initial burst of glory, and by 1975 they had gone their separate ways over creative differences.
After the collapse of Stealers Wheel, Egan released two solo albums – Out Of Nowhere in 1979 and Maps two year later.
News of his death broke via the official Facebook page of his late bandmate Gerry Rafferty (right), with whom he wrote Stuck In The Middle With You; the pair are pictured in 1975
The song is perhaps best remembered as the soundtrack for a scene in Quentin Tarantino ‘s 1992 film Reservoir Dogs in which Michael Madsen’s character carves a cop’s ear off
In the iconic scene, a gangster played by Michael Madsen dances around dementedly while torturing a police officer and slicing off his ear
Egan and Rafferty They formed Stealers Wheel in 1972 and had their first hit single the following year with Stuck In The Middle With You; pictured in Copenhagen in 1974
However the duo were never able to recreate their initial burst of glory, and by 1975 they had gone their separate ways over creative differences; pictured 1974
As the years went by, Egan withdrew from the public eye and retired from the music industry, reportedly remaining in Scotland.
However Stealers Wheel enjoyed a resurgence in popularity in 1992 when Quentin Tarantino included their biggest hit in his directorial debut Reservoir Dogs.
In an iconic scene in the film, a gangster played by Michael Madsen dances around dementedly while torturing a police officer by slicing off one of his ears.
The song he dances to is Stuck In The Middle With You, which thanks to Reservoir Dogs found a whole new fanbase from a new generation.
Rafferty ultimately died in 2011 of liver failure at the age of just 63, after decades of alcoholism that cost him his marriage of two decades.
In the years following the band’s split, Egan released two solo albums – Out Of Nowhere in 1979 and Maps two year later; pictured in 1979 in London
A 1973 lineup of Stealers Wheel featuring (from left) Rab Naokes, DeLisle Harper, Rod Coombes, Luther Grosvenor, Egan and Rafferty are pictured in Amsterdam
After Rafferty succumbed to his demons, Egan broke cover to give an interview to his hometown newspaper about their friendship.
‘Gerry’s death has already left a huge gap in my life,’ he said. ‘We lived in each other’s pockets for so long and, latterly, would speak regularly on the phone.’
Egan warmly recalled of his old bandmate: ‘Gerry was a supremely talented musician, and that was apparent from early on. Probably his finest quality was this amazing sense of melody he possessed. He had an ear for music and was equally at home on his own or when we were collaborating.’
He theorized that ‘we had our fallouts because we spent so much time living in each others’ pockets. But we were still in touch until very recently.’
