In which The Curmudgeons marvel at the trainwreck that the career of a pretty fabulous rock 'n' roll singer became. Rod Stewart's gravelly, soulful voice was the engine for a series of great ramped-up yet mostly acoustic albums in the late 1960s and early 1970s, all of which cemented a solid legacy for the singer. And then Stewart became beholden to a rock-star, sexy-man persona that craved relevance more than integrity. Starting in 1975, his career descended into a series of schlocky, cheesy singles that, while they proved to be his biggest hits, must be heard to truly appreciate their awfulness. We recount both the good ol' days and the bad ol' days of Rod Stewart during this episode.

Listen to all things Rod Stewart - good, bad and ugly - by accessing our special Spotify playlist:

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0nXvqAv6Yby0h6pWeDSEG4?si=1ddcbbd651df4677

Here's a handy navigation companion to this episode

(0:52 - 03:31) - Arturo Andrade sets the parameters for our discussion of Rod Stewart

(03:50 - 15:25) - The Parallel Universe, featuring reviews of new albums by Sahra Halgan and Khruangbin

(16:09 - 37:33) - Good Rod - a discussion of Stewart's beginnings and analyses of his first five albums, including his masterpiece, 1971's Every Picture Tells a Story

(38:32 - 58:27) - Bad Rod - a discussion of Stewart's nosedive into mediocrity, following him from 1975 through the New Wave days of the early 1980s

(59:25 - 01:21:17) - More Bad Rod - a discussion of the nadir that was Rod Stewart's 1980s and then something of a brief comeback in the early 1990s. We end by contemplating the ultimate legacy of Rod Stewart.

Join our Curmudgeonly Community today! facebook.com/groups/curmudgeonrock

Hosted on Podbean! curmudgeonrock.podbean.com

Subscribe to our show on these platforms:

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-curmudgeon-rock-report/id1551808911

https://open.spotify.com/show/4q7bHKIROH98o0vJbXLamB?si=5ffbdc04d6d44ecb

https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9hbmNob3IuZm0vcy80M

Co-written and co-produced by Arturo Andrade and Christopher O'Connor - The Curmudgeons