Caught it up in Monterey, shook it up in East Virginia

Continuing my trip back through the 1977 album charts.

19/06/77 : Atlantic Crossing - Rod Stewart

It wouldn't be a proper year from the 70s if we didn't come across a Rod Stewart album, but this year we get to meet him (at least) twice.  Last time, I found the experience really quite enjoyable and felt he was taking his music seriously - so I'm expecting more of the same here.

And yeah, it's very much in a similar vein - including starting up-tempo and slowing things down as we move through the album.  Of the faster numbers, I liked "Drift Away" the most and "I Don't Want To Talk About" and "This Old Heart Of Mine" win the slower section. "Sailing" still makes me shudder at how ubiquitous it was at the time and I really didn't need the mental image from the lyrics of "Three Time Loser" - "I'm jackin' off readin' Playboy on a hot afternoon", but apart from that, I really quite enjoyed it.  Unlike a lot of the albums I've seen recently, I felt that Rod knew what he wanted to do and he delivered on it - and he's got a good eye for cover versions.  I didn't listen to the deluxe version though - no-one need 108 minutes of 70s Rod.

We're at #19 in the charts this week on his ninth week of a fifteen week run - which just so happens to be his SEVENTH trip to the charts, with it first being seen in August '75 when it spent seven weeks at #1 and it was last seen in '95 for one week at #99, giving it 79 weeks all told.  The top five this week was The Muppets, The Beatles, ABBA, A Star Is Born and Eagles which is quite the high powered listing and the highest new entry was Silver Convention (#34) who were apparently a German Euro disco group.  The mind boggles...

Wikipedia tells me this is his sixth album and marked a bit of departure from the norm for him, with him having ditched his usual Faces-era collaborators (including Ronnie Wood and Ian McLagan) and headed over to the US (see what he did with that title?), recording at five different studios (including Muscle Shoals) using session musicians including Booker T & The MGs and The Memphis Horns.  The critical response was generally positive and it did very well commercially - particularly in New Zealand where it appeared in the year-end chart for every year from '75-'78! 

"Customers also listened to" Faces, Wings, Tina Turner and Billy Joel - I guess 70s Rod and Tina shared the same hair, if nothing else.  Once again though, I really quite enjoyed this - it's funny because I remember my dad hating 70s Rod and I really don't see what the issue is from this.

12/06/77 - Him again?!?
26/06/77 - Decidedly odd

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