International Superstar
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| International Superstar, in the wake of the Faces splitting up, follows Rod the Mod with select tracks from his album recordings 1975 - 1988 and concludes with a few gems from the 90's. Atlantic Crossing, released August 15, 1975. It is indicitive of Rod's new commercial and artistic direction, referring to both his crossing over to Warner Brothers Records from Mercury where Rod and the Faces had previously recorded and his moving into the jet-set lifestyle of Los Angeles (where he had applied for American citizenship). The album was produced by Tom Dowd, the famous engineer and producer of many of Rod's soul singinging heros during his time at Atlantic Records. Dowd introduced Rod to working with a group of session musicians, including The Memphis Horns and three-quarters of Booker T. and the MG's. Atlantic Crossing, was divided with a slow and fast side (at the suggestion of Stewart's then-girlfriend, Swedish actress Britt Ekland) that was repeated for the next two albums. Singles were Sailing and This Old Heart of Mine. A Night on the Town, released June 18, 1976, featured the singles Tonight's the Night (gonna be alright), The Killing of Georgie (part 1 & 2) and The First Cut is the Deepest. All were on the albums first side (the slow side) of the album. |
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Footloose & Fancy Free, released November 4, 1975, featured Stewart's own band that featured Carmine Appice, Phil Chen, Jim Cregan, Billy Peek, Gary Grainger and John Jarvis. Footloose continued Rod's run of success on the album charts, reaching number two. You're in my Heart was the hit single, reaching number four in the US. The rocker Legs achieved a lot of radio airplay as did the confessional I Was Only Joking. In appearance, Rod's's look had evolved to include a glam element, including make-up and spandex clothes. The album was released in support of the Footloose & Fancy Free Tour that began in Vancouver, British Columbia on October 1, and ended in Daly City, California on December 20, 1977. Blondes Have More Fun...or do they was released November 24, 1978. This album was also released as a picture disc. The album went to number one on the Billboard album charts and sold 4 million albums. It was to be Rods's last number one album for 25 years. A focal point of criticisms about this album was his biggest-selling 1978 disco hit Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?, that was also released as a 12" vinyl extended remix. The Disco beat being atypical of his earlier output, was disparaged by critics. In interviews, Stewart, while admitting his accompanying look had become tarty, has defended the lyrics by pointing out that the song is a third-person narrative slice-of-life portrayal, not unlike those in his earlier work, and that it is not about him. The song's refrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor's earlier Taj Mahal and a lawsuit ensued. Rod Stewart donated his royalties to UNICEF, and he performed it with his band at the Music for UNICEF Concert at the United Nations General Assembly in 1979. |
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| Foolish Behaviour, released November 21, 1980, was a move toward a new wave sound for Rod. The album produced one hit single, Passion, which proved particularly popular in South Africa (reaching no. 1 on the Springbok Top 20 Charts and Radio 5 Charts in early 1981). It also reached No. 5 on the US Billboard Charts. In the liner notes of the album the following dedication is attributed to Stewart: |
| This album is dedicated to the following personages: All those who engage in a little foolish behaviour of a Friday night, All those who enjoy a good laugh and a drink, Those who don’t take life seriously, Scottish Football Supporters wherever they are, Tom Dowd, My band & last but not least, my Offsprings! GOD BLESS THEM AND THEIR BICYCLE CLIPS
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| Tonight I'm Yours, released November 6, 1981, saw Rod further adopting current musical trends, after some disco-influenced songs on Blondes Have More Fun and Foolish Behaviour, by adding elements of synthpop and new wave to a couple of songs (the title track, and "Young Turks"), while mostly keeping to his rock traditions elsewhere. The album had three hit singles, with the title track Tonight I'm Yours (Don't Hurt Me) (US #20), Young Turks (US #5), and How Long? (US #49). The song Never Give Up on a Dream was dedicated to Canadian athlete Terry Fox, who ran 3,339 miles with one prosthetic leg in the Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research. Fox succumbed to cancer in 1981, the year the album was released. |
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Rod Stewart's albums between Tonight I'm Yours (1981) and Out of Order (1988) received harsh reviews from many critics. He was also criticised for breaking the widely observed cultural boycott of apartheid South Africa by performing at the Sun City resort complex in the bantustan of Bophuthatswana as part of his Body Wishes (1983) and Camouflage (1984) tours. The album Camouflage, released june 18, 1984, marked a reunion of sorts between Stewart and Jeff Beck, who plays guitar on several tracks, as the two had been members of the influential 1960s group The Jeff Beck Group. Singles from the album were were Infatuation, Some Guys Have All the Luck, and a cover of the Free hit All Right Now. Forever Young, is from Rod's 1988 allbum Out of Order. The structure of the lyrics in this song is very similar to a Bob Dylan song of the same title. When this was realized, the song was then sent to Dylan, out of respect, asking whether he had a problem with it. The two men agreed to participate in the ownership of the song and share Stewart's royalties. The album has sold more than 9 million copies, worldwide. International Superstar concludes with a cover of Tom Wait's Downtown Train, featuring slide guitar by Jeff Beck. The song became a #3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart after being released as a single in late 1989, and was also a number-one single on the album rock and adult contemporary charts. The song went to number-one in Canada and made the top ten on the UK Singles Chart in 1990. Rod received a Grammy nomination for the song in the category Best Male Pop Vocal performance. |
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Wanderin' Spirit
November, 2015
"International Superstar"
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