Rod Stewart in the 1980s poll: Singles (that reached the Top 40)

First one of these I actually remember from the time is "Infatuation" (which has a fantastic video), and then everything after. Going back checking out the pre-'84 singles on youtube that I hadn't already developed a familiarity with over the years and "Passion" and "What Am I Gonna Do" are actually pretty great (though "Passion" going Top 5 boggles my mind).

"Young Turks," followed "Tonight I'm Yours," "Crazy About Her" and "Downbound Train"

replace "Downtown Train" with "Some Guys Have All The Luck" and that's basically my list

I almost wish "Young Turks" was disqualified for obvious No. 1 status so I could vote for his rap about the girl with one of those WALKMEN on her head

"Infatuation" and "Passion" are actually my least favorite things here.

Young turks

Of the ones I heard, I didn't really like any of them ("Love Touch," from an album I reviewed at the time, was especially dreadful). I thought "Broken Arrow" from a few years later was pretty good.

"Young Turks" over "Some Guys Get All The Luck" . I have an abiding fondness for "Love Touch" too though I refuse to try to defend that.

So long as you don't defend Legal Eagles along with it.

I rented a few years ago thinking I was getting a smashing, trashy star vehicle...

*rented it

Of the ones I heard, I didn't really like any of them

So we disagree on Nixon, the nature of evil, and "Young Turks"?

Rod Stewart post-"You Wear It Well" = the nature of evil...(I know my view of Stewart is very cliched. Function of my age--can't help it.)

But Stewart didn't change at all: the instruments did. "Young Turks" arranged for acoustic guitars would have fit on Gasoline Alley and EPTAS.

the one aging boomer rock star who started to not just look like an old lesbian but sound like one too

I'll grant you one thing (and I made this point when I wrote about "Broken Arrow" in Radio On): Stewart's voice has endured in a way that Bob Dylan's or Lou Reed's hasn't. (Something I think he has in common with Neil Young.) The "grain of his voice" and all that stuff is more or less as evocative on "Broken Arrow" as on "Gasoline Alley" and the rest. So maybe the difference is, in fact, instrumentation. The difference in terms of how the songs sound, that is. The bigger difference is the songs. And, for me, there's no way in the world "Young Turks" fits onto any of those early albums. (Wanted to double-check, so I'm listening to it on Grooveshark right now...every bit the disheartening nothing that I remembered.)

See, "Young Turks" is exactly how I want an Old Guy Does New Wave to sound.

That's only because you haven't heard my Old Guy band do "Take the Skinheads Bowling" and "Where Were You?" Much, much better.

Torn between "Tonight I'm Yours" and "Young Turks". Both were rather similar, good attempts at going "new wave", and IMO among his best ever work.

The only 80s song of his that comes close is "Every Beat Of My Heart", which didn't go US top 10 but hit UK #2.

easily 'young turks' but of the rest 'crazy about her' over 'some guys', 'downtown train', and that version of 'people get ready' that i'm sure charted but i think was credited to jeff beck. i remember 80s stewart seeming so dire at the time but i enjoy around 40% of the songs up there.

Fond memories of lots of these, though many fit that "end credits to 'Mannequin' mold." Also, "Young Turks" sounds like the bastard conflation of "Manic" and "Walk of Life," but I somehow still like it.

lyn collins sings backup somewhere on out of order!

"People Get Ready" is a terrific vocal -- I would've voted for it.

Stewart's voice has endured in a way that Bob Dylan's or Lou Reed's hasn't.

This was true of Stewart in the 80's, but is decidedly not the case today. He sounds completely forced and strangled, desperately trying to will himself into his old voice, and it ain't working.

And "People Get Ready" seconded. His best vocal performance of the 80s...possibly his last great vocal performance ever.

I also love how Beck's guitar is mixed to sound like a huge synth.

I would've included "People Get Ready," but it only got to #48.

This was true of Stewart in the 80's, but is decidedly not the case today. He sounds completely forced and strangled, desperately trying to will himself into his old voice, and it ain't working.

May have to do with the choice of material. His voice is definitely not a good crooner voice, and decidedly doesn't fit with standards at all. Yet, it sells for some unexplainable reason.

Young Turks, although I have a weird fondness for Baby Jane, as it was kinda ubiquitous on radio at a time when I listened to a LOT of radio. Tonight I'm Yours is only about half awful, too.

Young Turks - no question. It came on while I was driving earlier today and made me so happy. It's a quality jam.

young turks is THE SHIT

Tom and his crew have a go at "Baby Jane," which, to my surprise, hit #1 in England.

There's also some amazing choreography in the YT vid. It's like W Side Story all up in this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSWp6c86Edg

i saw "Young Turks" on Pop-Up Video today and was informed that i should be very impressed at how ahead of the curve the video was for including breakdancing (a first on MTV at the time and i guess a couple years before a lot of people learned about it through Breakin').

I'm sayin!

'80s rod stewart is the first music i can remember listening to. i know a //rod stewart in the 1990s poll\\ ain't gonna happen, so i'll throw out 'rhythm of my heart' as the greatest song representative of his changeover (wtf happened to him 70s/80s? anyway). voted 'downtown train', mostly for not being produced as loudly has his other '80s output.

Trevor Horn produced "Rhythm of My Heart," and sounds like it. My favorite nineties Rod is his version of "Broken Arrow," which clemenza mentioned upthread.

I may be fighting a losing battle with this one, but here goes: Rod's version of "This Old Heart of Mine" is charming as all hell. It totally works.

with you on that. i prefer it equally wrt the original, depending on my level of inebriation.

It's one of the few covers which really does sound like the singers had a great time recording it.

Could it be that I'm the only person here who likes "My Heart Can't Tell You No"? I'd like it even more without the cheesy spanish guitar solo.

It's my least favorite of the ballads, but, really, I can defend every song here except "Passion," "Infatuation," and "Love Touch." I'm on record preferring his version of "Downtown Train" to Tom Waits'.

Baby Jane is wonderful listen to it again you'll see! PS surely you can forgive the horrid 80s production/arrangement by now.

forever young gives me the nostalgia goosebumps when i hear it

really like 'my heart can't tell you know' but mostly for the production, much like his other 80's+ stuff. so many audio effects! i think the spanish solo is the least produced part of it.

I can defend every song here except..."Infatuation"

I think that's one of the easiest to defend, tbh. The production squarely traps it in 1984, but lifts the song above a lot of what else is here at the same time. One of the finest sounding songs of 1984 imo. Plus it's just kind of cheeky.

Infatuation is awesome and so is the video. Over the top and knowing it.

found the chick in the out of order videos saga so fucking hot when i was 14.

"Infatuation" the only really good song here IMO so it got my vote.

"People Get Ready" technically a Jeff Beck record with Rod singing. I think this is Beck's highest charting single in the US, maybe the only one. ("Hi, Ho, Silver Lining" did nothing stateside).

I think "Love Touch" would be better regarded if it weren't the theme from an awful movie. I think it's a reasonably good song, and don't get why this one is so often singled out for derision.

Reportedly, Rod Stewart didn't realize until after it was released that "Forever Young" was a complete knock-off of the like-named Bob Dylan tune. He quickly acknowledged that he forgot he had heard this somewhere rather than dreaming it up himself, and had the songwriting credit corrected.

Any of his first four albums would trounce an album of his '80s hits.

Wish "Oh God I Wish I Was Home Tonight," the umpteenth rewrite of "Maggie May and it missed the top 40, had made the cut.

Could it be that I'm the only person here who likes "My Heart Can't Tell You No"?

I have a soft spot for it, but that's in large part due to "nostalgia goosebumps," as Whiney put it.

Pondering list, until found last entry, easy: Downtown Train.

Just saw the credits for Out of Order -- whoa. Andy Taylor's all over it.

you've never read xgau's review then?

Out of Order [Warner Bros., 1988]
You know what "Produced by Rod Stewart, Andy Taylor & Bernard Edwards" means? It means he's elected to replace Robert Palmer in Power Station. And you know why Jim Cregan, David Lindley, and Lenny Pickett are on the record? Because he didn't have the guts to go all the way. C

I remembered the C review but not the review itself.

"Love Touch" isn't more offensive than the really minor stuff on this list like "What Am I Gonna Do" -- it's the synth-calypso program that makes this flirt with the execrable.

"Young Turks" is practically the national anthem of Peru. You hear it constantly, everywhere, and everybody knows the chorus.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

You know, the guy gets a lot of guff for going the standards route, but hasn't he always been big on interpretation? Was listening to some of his early solo stuff, and there are plenty of duff or overblown covers - of contemporaries, of traditional songs - that seem like something 2011 Rod would be laughed at for.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Not suprised Young Turks won. Suprised by the margin (and the total number of votes!).

"Baby Jane"!

color me stunned @ #2

and "Tonight I'm Yours" is not exactly one of his most played minor hits either.

baby jane is easily one of his best known songs in the UK. it was huge.

Damn! Missed this poll!

Love this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2VaazQfxGso

"Young Turks" for the lyrics alone, and the verse and chorus are impeccable.

tonight-igh-ight