Rod Stewart: Encyclopedia II - Rod Stewart - Atlantic Crossing 1975-1980

Rod Stewart - Atlantic Crossing 1975-1980

In 1975, Rod Stewart moved to the US, applying for citizenship due to his love affair with Britt Ekland and a fight with the UK tax authorities. He released the Atlantic Crossing album with producer Tom Dowd and a different sound, based on the Muscle Shoals rhythm section. Atlantic Crossing marked both a return to form and a return to the top 10 of the Billboard album charts. The first single "Sailing" was a massive number one hit in the UK, while it only reached the top 60 of the US charts. The single returned to the UK top ten a year later when used as the theme music for a BBC documentary series about HMS Ark Royal, and having been a hit twice over became, and remains, Stewart's biggest-selling single in the UK. Holland-Dozier-Holland cover "This Old Heart of Mine" was also a top 100 hit in 1976. Musically, Atlantic Crossing showed Stewart was clearly distinguishing his slow material (such as Danny Whitten's wrenching "I Don't Want To Talk About It") from his largely by-the-numbers rockers (such as "Three Time Loser").

Later in 1976, Stewart topped the Billboard singles charts for eight weeks and the Australian singles charts with the glossy seduction ballad "Tonight's the Night" (an accompanying music video featured Ekland). It came from the A Night on the Town album, which went to #2 on the Billboard album charts and was Stewart's first album to go platinum. By explicitly marking the album as having a "fast side" and a "slow side", Stewart continued the trend started by Atlantic Crossing. "The First Cut is the Deepest", a cover of a Cat Stevens song, went top 30 in the US in 1977 and number 1 in the UK (even though "God Save the Queen" by the Sex Pistols is widely believed to have sold more records in that week). "The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and 2)", about the murder of a gay man, was also a top 40 hit for Stewart during 1977.

Foot Loose & Fancy Free from 1978 continued Stewart's run of chart success, again reaching #2 and featuring much the same sound as from A Night on the Town. "You're In My Heart" was the hit single, reaching #4 in the US. The rocker "Hot Legs" achieved a lot of radio airplay as did the confessional "I Was Only Joking". In appearance, Stewart's look had evolved to include a glam element, included make-up, spandex clothes, and the like.

Stewart scored another UK #1 and US #1 single with "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy" which was a crossover hit reaching #5 on the Billboard black charts due to its disco sound. This was the lead single from 1979's Blondes Have More Fun which went to #1 on the Billboard album charts and sold 4 million albums. It was to be Stewart's last number one album for 25 years.

There are two schools of critical thought about this whole period of Stewart's career. One is exemplified by the same 1980 Rolling Stone History entry quoted above, as it actually begins:

The other school acknowledges that Stewart has never surpassed his earliest work, but states that by Never a Dull Moment and certainly Smiler it was clear that that formula had run dry, and that he needed to make a musical change in direction. Furthermore, Stewart's early solo work had inadvertantly benefited from The Faces drawing off his less-inspired, straight-rocking party efforts; without The Faces around, this side of him became more manifest in his solo work. Given that, this view concludes that his albums during this period are not so bad and in particular Atlantic Crossing and A Night on the Town are more than occasionally inspired.

A focal point of this debate was "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy". To detractors, this was the epitome of Stewart's egotism and the nadir of his career. Supporters defend the music by saying this was Stewart's try at the disco sound, much in the same way as Paul McCartney did "Silly Love Songs" or The Rolling Stones did "Miss You". 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. In any case, the song's refrain was identical to Brazilian Jorge Ben Jor's earlier "Taj Mahal"; a lawsuit ensued, and Stewart ended up donating his royalties from the song to UNICEF. [3]

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Atlantic Crossing 1975-1980", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki