Sunday 10 January 2010

Rod Stewart @ 65: why Rod kicks ass

Just a quick post to celebrate the God-like genius of Rod 'The Mod' Stewart, who gets a bus pass today. Some of you may be laughing. Well, yes, he has made some awful records in his time and yes there was the whole tartan and spandex thing.

BUT:

1. He was one of the original London mods and used to look like this ☛ (there's an even better pic in Mods! by Richard Barnes but I haven't got a scanner). Coolest man on earth.

2. When his records aren't a bit rubbish (Sailing), they're frequently f***ing brilliant. For my money, THE best white male soul voice, bar none. Listen to You're In My Heart, just for starters.

3. In the 70s, when gay-bashing was rife, he wrote The Killing Of Georgie Pts 1&2 as a paean to a late friend of his, and it's one of the most heartfelt, moving songs I've ever heard. Click to hear. Make sure to play it all the way through to Pt 2.

4. He was bessie mates with John Peel. Nuff said.

5. Fuck and I nearly forgot to even mention The Faces! (click for The Faces live on OGWT, ’72)

Rod, happy birthday – ThisIsWhyWeDance salutes you!

PS There's a full biog here if you wanna find out more.


***UPDATE 15/02/10
The Faces video has been deleted it seems; so here's a chimp going mental instead.

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