Romance a la Rod Stewart

As those who keep watch on the foreign music releases must know by now, it is not only the young newcomers who are taking advantage of a recently-discovered nostalgia for old and new songs with vintage arrangements. I guess vintage is a great word for this trend as the sweet, familiar and comfortable warmth one gets while Michael Bublé sings Come Fly with Me a la Sinatra is identical to the good feeling you get while dressing up with your grandmother’s clothes and jewelry from the ’60s.

That is the era where rocker Rod Stewart comes from, London during the swinging ’60s. He was with various bands before settling in with the Jeff Beck Group and then moving to the Small Faces before going solo in the ’70s with the big hit Maggie May. He then became one of the biggest pop idols of the past three decades with one big hit after another like Hot Legs, Some Guys Have All the Luck, Crazy About You, Have I Told You Lately and many more. Given his batting average in the charts and longevity as a major star, there was really no need for Stewart to do anything more except rest on his laurels and wait for his knighthood from the Queen.

But there is just no way anybody can keep a sensitive and talented artist like Stewart forever displayed on the shelf. In a surprise move a year ago and amidst a lot of objection from people who believed he was making the wrong move, Rod Stewart came up with a collection of romantic oldies The Great American Songbook. The album skyrocketed to the top as everybody fell for Rod’s charming rendition of some of the most beautiful songs ever written like That’s All, The Nearness of You, For All We Know, The Way You Look Tonight, You Go to My Head, Every Time We Say Goodbye and others.

Now all of you out there who adored Rod Stewart’s take on standard songs will surely be glad to know that a live video version of the album is now available. The two-volume VCD set is titled It Had to Be You and it captures an exclusive one-night-only concert that has Rod singing his own hits as a rocker and those immortal ballads. There are 22 tracks and it is such a joy watching Stewart start out with his very own Forever Young in his red jacket and then change into white tie and tails to do That Old Feeling, I’ll be Seeing You and other cuts from The Great American Songbook.

The repertoire is an unlikely blend of rockers, mostly by Stewart and love songs by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and others. But just as he pulled off putting his expressive guttural vocals to work on those melodies, he successfully combines rock star moves with the flair of the band crooner in the show. This is quite a treat and something you should keep in mind while shopping for the Christmas Season.

Hits In The US Meanwhile in the hit charts of the US as tabulated by Billboard Magazine, the top 10 songs of the still R&B driven moment are: Baby Boy by Beyonce featuring Sean Paul; Shake Ya Tailfeather by Nelly, P.Diddy & Murphy Lee; Get Low by Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz featuring Ying Yang Twins; Right Thurr by Chingy; Frontin’ by Pharrell featuring Jay-Z; Damn! by YoungbloodZ featuring Lil Jon; P.I.M.P. by 50 Cent; Into You by Fabolous featuring Tamia or Ashanti; Stand Up by Ludacris featuring Shawnna; and Where is the Love? by Black Eyed Peas.

Take note, there is not a song in the top 10 that is not hip hop, rap or R&B. The feat is not as pronounced in the album hit list with the Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Nickelback and Limp Bizkit making the presence for rock and young diva Hilary Duff putting a pop spin on the list. The top 10 albums are: Speakerboxxx/The Love Below by OutKast; Some Devil by the Dave Matthews Band; Results May Vary by Limp Bizkit; The R. in R&B Collection: Volume One by R. Kelly; Cheers by Obie Trice; The Long Road by Nickelback; Grand Champ by DMX; Da Skool Boy Presents Murphy’s Law by Murphy Lee; Heavier Things by John Mayer; and Metamorphosis by Hilary Duff.