Reason to Believe

While scrolling through some Facebook posts today, I discovered that it is Rod Stewart's birthday.  Yes -- January 10, 1945.  That makes Mr. Stewart 68 years young ;) As cheesy as that may sound, he certainly does seem to have a young spirit and a true zest for life.  I hope he is having a wonderful celebration surrounded by friends and family.

Meanwhile, I had to pick a Rod Stewart song to honor the occasion.  I looked through a couple of titles, and I know that I've already posted about some of my favorites.  So, well, um -- I chose a tune he didn't write.  "Reason to Believe" was written by Tim Hardin in 1965, and Rod recorded it in 1971.  He then recorded it again in 1993 for MTV Unplugged.  I guess it didn't surprise me too much when I discovered that he hadn't written the song, because it's all about heartbreak.  I can't imagine Rod ever being heartbroken, but perhaps he was.  I think he recounted one woman who broke his heart before he proposed to her, but I lost track.  I should read his memoir.  Anyway, he does have some songs about heartbreak -- sort of.  I posted about "My Heart Can't Tell You No," which is more of an unrequited love tune.  Nevertheless, the video of "Reason to Believe" from MTV Unplugged was very touching and an excellent performance, so I thought I'd post it here.  He and Ron Wood have a couple of laughs beforehand, and it's all very relaxed.  I think this may have been one of the best recordings I've heard of his music.  On that note, Happy Birthday, Mr. Stewart -- and all the best wishes for many more!

Broken Arrow

Well, it's pretty late here in Becky's World, but I wanted to make sure to write this evening.  I am trying to get back into the habit of writing daily.  So, I think I can just sneak in if I type pretty fast!

This weekend, I found an entertainment news page on the web that had excerpts from Rod Stewart's new book.  Unfortunately, I am not sure of the title, but it's his memoir.  In the article I read, there were several snippets of Rod discussing the women in his life, including his first and second wives.  The excerpts in his article ended with him meeting Rachel Hunter, who was his third wife.  He talked about all the women he romanced -- and how he just couldn't seem to stop, no matter how hard he tried or how much he loved his wives.  Well, I guess I can't say I feel badly for him, but if he was really that weak, I guess maybe...  Anyway, we know his discography is huge and spans several decades.  I thought it would be nice to look at "Broken Arrow," which was written by Robbie Robertson in 1987 and recorded by Stewart in 1991.  Low and behold, I found out yet again that I had the wrong lyrics in my head all these years.  I thought he sang, "Who else is gonna bring you, a broken arrow...who else is gonna bring you, a bottle of wine..."  Yeah, but the end of the second line is "who else is gonna bring you, a bottle of rain."  Well, now I am not sure what to think.  A bottle of rain?  Still sounds overall like a love song.  You know, typical scenario -- he's deeply in love with a woman, he wants to breathe when she breathes, he'll get to her if he has to crawl, he can't be held with these iron walls...  You get the point even with me taking bits and pieces of the lyrics and putting them together.  Since it's Robertson's song, it is definitely different in a poetic sense, but I think it matches Rod's persona and artistic style just perfectly.  Check out the video above -- you'll notice Rachel Hunter there.  So, maybe this all came together as he was falling for her (I've lost track).  Whatever the case, great song, nice video, and kudos to Mr. Stewart on this cover.  Nicely done.

Just What I Needed

I'm going to cheat a bit here with "Just What I Needed" by the Cars.  The song was released in 1978, so it is shy of the '80s by just 2 years.  It has that distinctive Cars sound, though, and they were pretty popular in the '80s.  So, I think it's okay.  I've heard this song many times on "Nights with Alice Cooper," and it always cheers me up.  I hate to say it is "cheery" or "cheerful" because it is a rock song after all, but...  Well, it's just what I needed -- especially after a bad day.  This song should make everyone feel recharged and rejuvenated with its kickin' guitar lines and totally "new wave" keyboard licks.  Funny to think that I was kind of scared of the Cars when they came out with videos, but this song is a classic, and I am perfectly happy listening to it on the radio.

I had forgotten that a while back I read about the song being sampled in "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne.  That song really cracks me up -- although it does have some enviable harmonies.  The video is hysterical and has bits of '80s pop culture -- namely the "fantasy scene" at the end which is reminiscent of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High."  If you have never seen that movie, check it out.  If you have -- go watch it again!  Kudos to Rachel Hunter, too, because she does look pretty amazing in this video.  To think she had all those kids with Rod Stewart and still looks great -- wow.  Okay, it's actually only two children.  Guess he just has tons with a few different ladies.  No problem -- he's Rod Stewart, so he can have as many kids as he likes in my opinion.  He's a winner with the ladies.  Anyway, I digress.  I hope you'll enjoy both of these songs.  I'm not sure exactly what all the lyrics in "Just What I Needed" mean -- especially in the chorus when they sing "I needed someone to bleed."  Yeah, I have no idea.  But I do like the line "you look so fancy I can tell."  Pretty awesome.  Gotta look fancy!  Enjoy!

Rod's Heart Can't Tell You No

In the last few minutes of the evening, I was thinking about another song to write about.  Contemplated something with "love" in the title once again and then decided to look for one with "heart" in the title.  Again, there are many good contenders.  Oddly enough, I thought about a Rod Stewart song that always pulled at my heartstrings, "My Heart Can't Tell You No." It's pretty straigtforward in that he sings about "when the one you love's in love with someone else...don't you know it's torture, I mean it's a living hell."  He really packs a punch in his delivery of these lyrics.  He really emphasizes "love" and "torture."  To me, it sounds like "when the one you loooooooove's in love with someone else...don't you know it's torrrrrrrrture, I mean it's a living hell."  The rest of the lyrics are pretty intense, too.  Take a listen, but keep a tissue closeby to wipe away the tears.  This is a tough one to listen to with a dry eye.  Plus, in the video, Rod looks really, really sad.  He's just singing and watching from the outside as this girl is romanced by another guy.  My heart goes out to Rod.  If you'd like to see the song in a completely new light, you can watch the version by Sara Evans from 2011.  It's a country version.  Pretty interesting.  Rod's version dates back to 1988.  It's a classic!  Enjoy, and don't be upset if you can't keep from welling up with tears...

Rod Stewart Pop-Up Video Fun - Do Ya Think I'm Sexy

So, this evening I was poking around on the VH-1 Classic site and found some interesting clips. For instance, I had no idea that there was a VH-1 Divas show filmed in 2011. They had some really terrific artists performing, but unfortunately, I am a bit picky and couldn't find any songs that I wanted to write about. Since the show highlighted soul music, and they had Chaka Khan as one of the artists, I had hoped they would perform "Tell Me Something Good." But, alas, no such luck.

I figured I'd look around the site some more, and I found a listing of the first 30 videos played on VH-1. Low and behold, Rod Stewart's "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" was number 26. It was written in 1978, but since it was one of the first videos on MTV, that would mean it aired in 1981, so it's kind of a decade crossover. I found the "Pop-Up Video" version of the original video and thought it was hysterical, so I just had to add it here. The pop-up captions are really funny -- especially the one about him turning his head away from the camera when he forgot the words. Kind of reminds me of my post about him performing with Stevie Nicks: Stevie and Rod on Tour.  As I watched the video, I realized that Carmine Appice was the drummer. I probably should have know that, because I used to work with artists at the company that owns Ludwig drums, and he was a Ludwig artist. So, it was pretty cool to see a quick shot of him in the video with his Ludwig set. Come to find out, he wrote most of the music for this tune. Pretty cool. The lyrics are sort of comical today, although I guess they were realistic in the day. I love when he sings, "Now hold on a minute, before we go much further, give me a dime, so I can call my mother." Hmm...alright. I wonder if someone would actually say that back then. I can just imagine Rod Stewart running to the pay phone at the disco..."Hello, mom, uh...I won't be home tonight." I also noticed in the captions that he was married to Rachel Hunter at the time this video came out. I think he's had a couple of wives since then and a bunch of kids. That's alright. He's Rod Stewart. Although he did not say this song was about him, I think it probably worked to his advantage over the years...

Stevie and Rod on Tour

Last night, I was watching some clips on YouTube and stumbled upon a couple with Stevie Nicks and Rod Stewart singing "Leather and Lace" on tour this past April.  I had no idea they were touring together!  I must say that I really enjoy their music--individually.  But, well...hmm....when they sing together on this, it's...uh, different.  Stevie really has great chemistry with Lindsey Buckingham and others (Don Henley on this particular song).  Not sure that Mr. Stewart works with her to perform this song to its highest potential.  Poor Stevie.  Take a look at the video with Rod Stewart, followed by a clip of just the song with Stevie and Don Henley.