Late one night, nine years ago, Justine was rifling through my CD collection looking for something to put on next. Drink had been taken, to excess, and I think we were the only ones left. I saw her pick out this one, and as she tried to read the tracklisting off the back of the CD in the dim, dim light, I offered helpfully, "It's tracks 5, 8, 9 and 12 you want." In the 'mood' lighting, her eyes focused long enough to make out tracks 5, 8, 9 and 12, and then she answered, "How did you know?"
I don't think it can have truly been as I remember it, but I did get at least one direct strike.
For, among Rod Stewart's greatest hits, there are fewer than ten good songs. Arguably the best of Rod Stewart goes completely unrepresented on this collection, but I'll come back to that in a second. My favourite among the hits is You're in my Heart (track 9). Its charm was finally revealed to me when it featured on a car advert in the late '80s or early '90s. True.
So with this new compilation out I though maybe the price of the last Rod Stewart compilation — the one with the beautiful pink cover — would drop through the floor and I could snap that one up. Unfortunately someone at the record company had been awake and had removed all the pink ones from the shelves. Foiled, I hummed and ha-ed (spelling?) for a while before caving in and spilling the £13.99 to HMV.
Back then I think I was still unaware of Rod's early albums, "when he was good™". They were before my time. But word has seeped out, and, thanks to Spotify, I've been able to binge on An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down, Gasoline Alley and Every Picture Tells a Story. Since I can listen for free on Spotify or via Last.fm, I won't ever have to buy them — which serves the record men right for wringing £13.99 out of me for just four songs. No, I never did like Maggie May.
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