The Definitive Rod Stewart

Written by Tío Esqueleto

Rod Stewart has been making records in one form or another since 1968. His latest effort, The Definitive Rod Stewart plays like a field trip through American pop music over the last 40 years. From the late ‘60s British blues-pop invasion, to the pop ballads of the 1970s, as well as an inevitable turn at disco and ‘80s synth pop, before finally settling comfortably into adult contemporary in the ‘90s and recent years, it is all covered in this collection including 31 of “The Bod’s” biggest hits, as well as a bonus DVD of 14 music videos.

The tracks run chronologically, starting, fittingly, with “Maggie May,” with the first ten tracks or so covering Stewart’s work up through the mid 1970s. Classics such as “You Wear It Well,” “The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and 2),” and “You’re In My Heart (The Final Acclaim),” as well as “Stay With Me” from his early work with The Faces, showcase Stewart’s undeniable, folk-inspired storytelling and songwriting abilities, as well as that trademark rasp that along with the hair, the pants and the schnoz helped solidify him as a ‘70s pop icon.

Next, Stewart took the next logical step and did what any and every pop star with a record on the horizon did in the late ‘70s: he went disco and he did it quite well. Same strong songwriting, same signature rasp, just a different sound to back it all up. “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” was a huge hit and paved the way for Stewart’s foray into 1980s pop. With the eerie and often forgotten “Passion” from 1980 and 1981’s synth-driven anthem “Young Turks” we are treated to the start of an era of Stewart’s career that is vastly underrated and equally unappreciated. Songs such as the latter two, as well as hits like “Baby Jane,” and mid ‘80s super hits, “Infatuation” and “Some Guys Have All The Luck,” are often tossed aside, or worse, laughed off as ‘80s/bad Stewart, which is simply not true. Hopefully, their inclusion in this collection will help to finally clear that up. Let me just say that this era, “Young Turks” in particular, was the sole reason I took this assignment.

The collection rounds out with Stewart settling comfortably into the adult contemporary realm, starting with 1988’s “Forever Young” and rounding it all out with a healthy dose of critically received cover tunes, thanks in part to a hugely successful appearance on MTV Unplugged in 1993. Included here is an assortment of Stewart’s various covers, including two cuts from the aforementioned special.

The Definitive Rod Stewart also comes with a DVD of music videos. While “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” is probably the most memorable inclusion (I know it is the first video [promo] that I ever saw of his), what’s most notable, here, is the decision to go with some lesser-known hits (some of which aren’t even included on the CDs) for the video portion of this collection. They forwent obvious choices like “Maggie May” and “Tonight’s The Night (Gonna Be Alright),” both of which can be easily spotted on VH-1 Classics, and instead opted for the likes of “The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 & 2),” “Hot Legs,” and “Ain’t Love a Bitch.” All in all, the 14 tracks included on the DVD represent a nice cross-section of the man’s work in music video.

Overall, The Definitive Rod Stewart serves as the perfect snippet of a career that has lasted for 40-plus years. It covers all the bases and goes just deep enough in what it has to offer, without the hefty price tag of an overwhelming, all-encompassing box set. It is an ideal collection for both die-hard and fair-weather Rod Stewart fans.

Hercules and Love Affair

Written by Tío Esqueleto

Disco is not dead. Just because a bunch of stoner (yet somehow aggressive) rockers from Chicago blew up a pile of Bee-Gees/K.C. and The Sunshine Band/Gloria Gaynor records in 1979, doesn’t necessarily make it so. Disco simply went into hiding after that. It went on vacation to Europe, spent some time hiding out in the warehouses and lofts of NYC, and in the bedrooms, house parties, and high schools of Detroit, until it eventually emerged stronger than ever, ironically and all too fittingly, right back in Chicago, a place it has called home (“House”) ever since.

Jump to 2008, Hercules And Love Affair is a collaborative effort headed by New York DJ/producer Andrew Butler, with Antony (of Antony and The Johnsons), Kim Ann Foxman, and Nomi, lending vocals and guidance along the way. This self-titled first album celebrates all things dance music, and is a travelogue through disco’s rarely chronicled, underground sabbatical.

A few tracks worth mentioning are, first off and rather appropriately, “Hercules Theme,” a sexy Donna Summer-inspired ditty, doused with sweat, laden with frantic, funky brass and dripping with intensity. The music evokes images of the sexy dancing poppies from The Wiz (you have your imagination and I have mine!), while the lyrics are a simple, repeated chant detailing the recent accolades of the would-be demi-god it was penned for.

Next, Nomi shines on “You Belong,” a love letter of sorts to Detroit’s Inner City, an outfit founded by Detroit techno pioneer Kevin Saunderson in the mid ‘80s. Insert this track anywhere in their seminal 1989 album, Paradise, and one would be hard pressed to pick out the imposter.

Songs like “Blind,” the album’s first single, and “Raise Me Up” are post cards from disco’s European vacation, in particular its prolonged stops in Italy and Germany throughout the early to mid 1980s where the music relied a bit less on the organic, and a bit more on the electronic with sequencers taking center stage, setting it apart from its American counterparts at the time. Classics such as “Magnifique” and the Italo classic, “Come On Closer” by Pineapples instantly come to mind. Throw in Antony’s vocals, which here are less his usual contempoarary Boy George croon and more like accompaniment to classic Giorgio Moroder, and the picture is complete. Had I not heard of Antony and The Johnsons first, I would have assumed this Antony was an underground God, graciously lending his voice, getting one more go-around at a hit 12”. Honestly, and I’ll say it again, all I could think was Pineapples’ “Come on Closer.”

Now would be a good time to say that while I may rely heavily on comparison and “sounds like,” by no means is it all throw back and regurgitation. It is more respect and homage then it is anything else, and, still, there is plenty of youth and originality offered here, as well. Tracks like “Iris” with vocals provided by Kim Ann Foxman and “Easy” are a nice reminder of the ‘new’ on display here, as well as the aforementioned influence and ode. The domestic CD release includes two additional tracks from 2007’s stand-alone 12”, “Classic” b/w “Roar.” Here are the two reasons why so many of us have been waiting patiently for this full-length album to finally arrive.

Hercules And Love Affair is masterfully produced by Butler and Tim Goldsworthy, cofounder (along with James Murphy) of DFA Records, making them yet another platinum addition to the DFA family. A perfect fit.

This album triumphs as a travelogue from disco’s lesser-known past, filling you in on what you missed. If you are one of the many people who naively assumed that disco died with all those smoldering “Disco Duck” records on the south side of Chicago back in 1979, you were wrong.