It would require a fairly churlish disposition not to be taken with the sheer charm of the five albums made by Rod Stewart as a solo artist between 1969 and 1974.
Blending rock, folk, blues and soul into entities distinguished by the most distinctive voice in the business, this uplifting series of recordings would bring him colossal wealth and worldwide fame, (after the first two returned modest sales figures, Stewart cracked it with the magnificent ‘Every Picture Tells A Story‘ in 1971 and never looked back), Rod endearing himself to a vast audience by virtue of his cheery, one-of-the-lads persona.
He was aided in this respect by a concurrent role as lead singer of the Faces, whose mix of ramshackle rock and boozy bonhomie made them, literally and metaphorically speaking, the most spirited live act of the day.
By the time he left the group in December 1975 Stewart was not only a titan rock star but also a high-profile celebrity, fleeing his U.K. homeland (Rod, London-born – 10/1/1945 – but of Scottish heritage), to set up home in Hollywood with current girlfriend, Swedish actress Britt Ekland.
Shortly before the Faces had split up his sixth album, ‘Atlantic Crossing‘ had appeared, the title reflecting the changed circumstances of his approach to making an album. Stewart recorded in the United States for the first time, cutting tracks with a cast of top-notch session players under the guidance of revered producer Tom Dowd, the artist himself dispensing with production duties and at the same time the enthusiastic group of players whose contributions to his records to this point had helped shape their attraction.
The result had been a technically accomplished yet somewhat clinical record that dismayed a section of the music press but sold like hot cakes. Seeing no reason to change such a winning formula where the charts were concerned, Stewart followed up with ‘A Night on the Town‘ (1976), the ‘slow side’ of which, as it was titled, contained three memorable compositions of his own, although overall the parts were greater than the sum.
Having toured extensively through 1976 and 1977 – Stewart from early in his career a first class live performer – he made ‘Footloose and Fancy Free‘ (1977) with his recently formed stage band. It was a record that had its moments, as the more reasoned critics felt obliged to point out, but with the U.K. music scene currently being shaken to is roots by the emergence of punk rock, he was among a clutch of acts (Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Yes) being castigated by this breed of angry young rebels for making, what they felt, was conceited, complacent music.
Largely based on the the strength of his earlier albums, he could still count on some supportive voices from among the rock scribes, even the most ardent detractor likely to concede that as a resonant vocalist, capable of making the most pedestrian of material sound emotive, Rod remained in a class of his own.
But with his ninth album ‘BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN’ (November 1978) Stewart almost invited disparagement with a generally lacklustre set that went to extremes on every level, containing as it did his most uninspired writing – the negative critical reaction offset by mammoth global sales.
If the contempt Stewart was receiving reflected antagonistic punk attitudes of the day, then the most renowned cut of this ten track collection, nine of which are written by Stewart and a member of his five strong backing troupe, was representative of another trend of the time. Opening number ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy’ reflected the current popularity of dance music, a bandwagon set in motion for mainstream artists by the enormous success enjoyed by the Bee Gees with their contributions to the soundtrack of the 1977 film ‘Saturday Night Fever‘.
Stewart was not the first rock luminary to follow suit, the Rolling Stones heading to such terrain with the sultry ‘Miss You‘ earlier in 1978, nor would he be the last, The Kinks coming up with the ponderous (Wish I Could Fly Like) ‘Superman‘ the following year. But of the three it would Rod who enjoyed the most resounding commercial success, his venture into the disco market with ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy‘ topping singles charts around the world.
But in embracing the form Stewart, by his own admission, alienated some of his long-term followers who found the journey from ‘Maggie May‘ and ‘Mandolin Wind‘ to out beneath the mirror balls too far to make.
That said, within its parameters as a dance floor contrivance – Stewart weaving a third person narrative based on a one night male/female encounter through three verses and a chorus – it stands as a reasonably engaging piece, the album littered with far worse examples of cliched lyricism.
Attributed on the L.P. where it serves as the opening track, to Stewart, drummer Carmine Appice and session keyboardist Duane Hitchings (who contributes the string synthesiser parts), Rod later acknowledged the melody owed much to a song entitled ‘Taj Mahal‘ by Brazilian musician Jorge Ben, to whom he later handed over a portion of the royalties.
But as critics responded with horror, ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy‘ raced up the charts in Britain and the U.S. where it would bring him another Stateside number one. While Rod occasionally expressed ambivalence toward the most commercially successful song he had ever written, Stewart had no qualms virtually rewriting it for the title-track of his 1981 ‘Tonight I’m Yours‘ album, complete with programmed keyboards that were the background adornment of the era.
Yet if ‘Da Ya Think I’m Sexy‘ was something of a novelty, then much of what follows is leaden and boorish, the next-up ‘Dirty Weekend‘, the worst offender in terms of unmitigated bombast.
While once his up-tempo compositions had been raucous with a decent sized helping of self-deprecating humour (‘Too Bad’ ‘Stay with Me‘, ‘My Fault‘ with the Faces, right up to ‘Hot Legs’ on his last album), ‘Dirty Weekend‘ is simply forced and lewd. The crudity of the words is backed up in spades by a battery of electric guitars courtesy of co-writer Gary Grainger, Billy Peek and former Cockney Rebel guitarist Jim Cregan – Stewart’s backing ensemble at this time also comprising of Appice (drums) and bassist Phil Chen.
The blustering title track falls roughly into the same category, if not quite so vapid by virtue of a slightly superior lyric, that makes clear his preference for women of certain hair colour – Stewart at this point on the verge of marrying Texan model and actress Alana Hamilton, the ex-wife of actor George Hamilton (Hamilton, Alana that is, obviously blonde):
‘Is it a matter of opinion/Or just a contradiction/But from where I come from/All the blondes have more fun/Well just awatch them sisters on a Saturday night/Peroxide causin’ all the fights.’
While punchy drums, rowdy guitar work and wailing sax breaks push the piece firmly toward Stones territory, while playing up to the image of Rod as a ladies man of some repute, it comes across as laboured and shallow – pailing in comparison to what Bob Seger had done for mature, mainstream rock earlier in the year with his ‘Stranger in Town‘ offering.
Wife-in-waiting Alana is the subject of ‘The Best Days of My Life‘, a gently affecting acoustic ballad, (‘So I confess on my behalf/You’re giving me honestly/The best days of my life‘), that would be more palatable if its multi-millionaire rock star composer could spare himself writing insipid lines such as, ‘We ain’t got money/But we sure got laughs‘.
This Stewart/Cregan co-write is decorated with a wistful flute accompaniment, although producer Dowd does Rod no favours with a syrupy string arrangement that over-eggs the sentimentality and disipates a heartfelt vocal.
In terms of performance and arrangements there is nothing to truly dislike about side two inclusions ‘Attractive Female Wanted‘ and ‘Last Summer‘, yet neither are they the least bit memorable, Rod adopting a love-lorn persona in both.
Against the pop-reggae inflections of the former (written with Grainger), he assumes the character of someone eager for companionship as stated in the title, while in the latter (a co-write with Chen), romance has eluded him in the West Indies and then Brazil. The South American tinged percussion and salsa-styled acoustic guitars of ‘Last Summer‘ shape a lanquid melody more Jose Feliciano than the Faces, representing the furthest move away yet from the essence of his early albums.
On the monumental side two of ‘Every Picture Tells A Story‘ whose constituant parts (‘Maggie May/Mandolin Wind‘/(I Know) I’m Losing You/Reason to Believe‘), create arguably the strongest side of any album to emerge from ’70s rock, his blues-rock rendition of The Temptations (I Know) ‘I’m Losing You’ stands as a Motown cover of the highest order.
With Stewart now turning his hand to ‘Standing in the Shadows of Love‘ (a 1967 hit for the Four Tops), Appice replicates the propulsive drumming of Micky Waller from 1971, which is where to all intents and purposes similarity in the respective interpretations end. While the band have no problem coming up with a take that passes muster, Rod seems strangely unsure whether to deliver the lyric as testimony to heartbreak or to fire some barbs in the direction of Britt, from whom he had split in a blaze of tabloid publicity the previous year.
If there is substance to be found on ‘Blondes Have More Fun‘ it occurs through ‘Ain’t Love a Bitch‘, ‘Is That the Thanks I Get?’ and ‘Scarred and Scared‘, all three containing a turn of phrase that displayed Rod was still able to conjure some expressive lines when he could be troubled to prompt himself.
Wrapped in chiming acoustic guitars ‘Ain’t Love a Bitch‘ (written in tandem with Grainger), is an engaging reflection on the vagaries of romantic entanglements, Rod having some amusement at his own expense (‘I been scratched and taxed and finally axed/But ain’t love a bitch‘). Released as the second single from the album, (attaining lofty chart placings in the U.K. and U.S.), it reaffirmed his knack of being able to give the impression that despite all the prancing about in leather trousrers, he was nudging your arm personally when delivering the lines, ‘I didn’t realise she made a first class fool out of me/Oh Maggie, if you’re still out there the rest is history.’
There is, however, no such affability in the acerbic ‘Is That the Thanks I Get‘, a barely disguised both barrels blast at Britt Ekland.
Those who thought he had written Ekland out of his system with the curt ‘You Got a Nerve‘ on ‘Footloose and Fancy Free‘ were made to think again. The antipathy goes up several levels in what amounts to the most caustic set of lyrics he would ever write, Rod laying out his rebuke in no uncertain terms:
‘Did you think I’d take it sitting down/And let you walk all over me?/Thought you knew me much better than that/I keep much better company/With your lawyers and your two-timing friends/I guess you know who I mean/Your detectives and your private eyes/Could never win me back again.’
The band acquit themselves well through a suitably prickly performance (the song credited to Stewart/Cregan) and even if the couplets drip with spite (‘You said we made such a pretty pair/Living in harmony/I’m sorry, honey, but I disagree/It seemed more like a comedy‘), it is reassuring to hear Rod sing with such conviction – even if (‘It was great while it lasted/But, oh Lord, it turned nasty/You didn’t give me one chance to explain/Well is that all the thanks I get‘), it comes with discernable scorn.
He provides another stand-out vocal on album closer ‘Scarred and Scared‘, writing himself the role of convicted felon awaiting his death sentence to be inacted.
Despite the unusual subject matter for a Rod Stewart song (the track another co-write with Grainger), the piece contains several poignant phrases and against the backdrop of acoustic guitars, piano and mournful harmonica, the guilty party voices regret at killing a seventeen-year-old youth (the circumstances of which are unspicified), his emotions fatalistic and full of remorse:
‘Now I sit here rainin’ on my Maker/Reprieve is all I’m praying for/Lord I fear the hangman’s steps approachin’/Will the priest knock gently on my door/And I know I’ve let my daddy down/And I broke my mother’s heart/I’d give anything turn back time again/Just give me one more start.’
Reminiscent at times of an early ’70s Rolling Stones ballad it sounds out of place among much of the tepid material that precedes it, but is no less welcome for that, Rod not having written anything quite so cinematic before. The closing lines evoke the James Cagney film ‘Angels with Dirty Faces‘, the main character wanting to be remembered for his stoicism as well as shame – Stewart, despite generally being able to produce a couple of decent songs for each album he would release through the ’80s, not trying anything so lyrically ambitious again.
But in the present Rod, from a position atop of album listings around the world, appeared to shrug off the brickbats, (‘An album that is actively disagreeable to listen to‘ – Rolling Stone) with an air of disinterest. The gigantic sales of ‘Blondes Have More Fun‘ were accompanied by night after night of sold-out concert appearances, Stewart, no matter how gaudy his stage attire, rarely failing to put on a good show for large, adoring audiences.
For Rod Stewart ‘Blondes Have More Fun‘ wrapped things up for the 1970s, a decade that had seen him move from Holloway to Hollywood, a lad in the Faces to A-list celeb, records that moved the soul to a brand of soulless music that while unfailingly successful lacked the resonance so apparent on the albums that had made his name.
None of us begrudged Rod living the L.A. highlife, he had given too much listening pleasure for that, so we let him go, staying behind to find our lasting happiness in Gasoline Alley……..
ROD STEWART – BLONDES HAVE MORE FUN (Released November 24 1978):
Da Ya Think I’m Sexy/Dirty Weekend/Aint Love a Bitch/The Best Days of My Life/Is That the Thanks I Get?/Attractive Female Wanted/Blondes Have More Fun/Last Summer/Standing in the Shadows of Love/Scarred and Scared;
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