of an interaction between Appalachia and Nigeria". Keith Richards played on several tracks; Richards later acknowledged Waits's encouragement of his first solo album, Talk is Cheap. Filmmaker Jean-Baptiste Mondino directed a music video of the Rain Dogs track "Downtown Train". The song was subsequently covered by Patty Smyth in 1987, and later by Rod Stewart, where it reached the top five in 1990. In 1985, Rolling Stone magazine named Waits its "Songwriter of the Year", and in 2003 it would rank Rain Dogs among the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. In September 1985, his son Casey was born. Waits assembled a band and went on tour, kicking it off in Scotland in October before proceeding around Europe and then the US. He changed the setlist for each performance; most of the songs chosen were from his two Island albums. Returning to the U.S., he travelled to New Orleans to appear in Jarmusch's film, Down by Law. Jarmusch wrote Down by Law with Waits and Lurie in mind; they played two of the three main roles, with Roberto Benigni as the third. The film opened and closed with Waits songs taken from Rain Dogs. Jarmusch noted that "Tom and I have a kindred aesthetic. An interest in unambitious people, marginal people." The pair developed a friendship; Waits called Jarmusch "Dr Sullen", while Jarmusch called Waits "The Prince of Melancholy". Waits had devised the idea of a musical play, Franks Wild Years, which would be loosely based on the eponymous song from Swordfishtrombones. In late 1985, he reached an agreement that the play would be performed by the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago's Briar Street Theatre for a three-month stretch from June 1986. During the show, Waits starred as the central character, Frank. Reviews were generally positive. He had initially considered a run in New York City, but decided against it. The songs from the show were recorded at Universal Recording Studios for his ninth studio album, Franks Wild Years, and released by Island a year later, in 1987. After its release, Waits toured North America and Europe, his last full tour for two decades. Two of these performances were recorded and used as the basis for a concert film directed by Chris Blum, Big Time. Waits had also continued interacting and working with other artists he admired. He was a great fan of The Pogues and went on a Chicago