Rod reinvents himself after half a century of evolution

TV Watch with Dave O’Connell

 Whatever about the merits of some of his musical offerings during what we might call the disco dirge period, Rod Stewart certainly enjoyed himself along the way, hooking up with a handful of the most beautiful blondes on the planet – sometimes with more than one of them at the same time.

And here he is at 68, full head of hair and best-ever teeth, about to release a new album – as opposed to the karaoke classics of recent times – on the back of a best-selling autobiography that was as much about the models as the music.

So he was probably a fitting subject for many reasons for the BBC’s latest Imagine profile sub-titled Can’t Stop Me Now, as Alan Yentob basked in the reflective glory all the way from Essex to Los Angeles.

Still, he produced a fascinating insight into the story of a singer who has spent half a century as a household name – from the blues to disco and pop and onto the Great American Songbook, Rod’s reinventions may not have pleased everyone but if longevity is any measure of success, he has little to worry him.

What came across was the fact that here is a superstar who doesn’t take himself too seriously and who is only too happy to admit that some of his biggest hits – Hot Legs and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy in particular – weren’t exactly his finest hour.

“Shall we gloss over them?” he grins at Yentob, but he takes no offence at the line of questioning.

And while life in the rarefied atmosphere of Hollywood or an Essex mansion with its own full-sized football pitch doesn’t exactly make you one of the lads, Stewart still hasn’t lost sight of who he is and where he came from.

Yentob found his subject in talkative and reflective mood, but also brutally honest in admitting the ’80s didn’t boast his finest hours. But now he has again re-invented himself with a reflective new album – autobiographical is essence – that contains some of his finest work since the ’70s.

And whatever ups or downs life brought him along the way, this Jack the lad has no regrets. “I enjoyed myself hugely, every hour of every day,” he admits on camera.

But the real gems here were in the old film of a young Rod just starting out, candidly admitting to the camera that he’d be delighted if this malarkey lasted for a year, or a year and a half.

And it was the rare footage of his time as an out-and-out blues frontman with Long John Baldry or with Jeff Beck or the fledgling Faces with Ronnie Wood that reminded you that this old crooner was once at the cutting edge.

For more, read this week’s Connacht Sentinel.