The 20th of February 1974
Official U.K. Albums Chart results from Sunday the 17th to Saturday the 23rd of February 1974
Cut-off for sales figures was up to the end of Saturday the 16th of February
Results counted from Sunday the 17th,
and published on Wednesday the 20th of February 1974.
Rod Stewart
Sing It Again Rod
At No.23, on the “The Top 50 U.K. Albums Chart”, the week of my 2nd Birthday, is Rod Stewart with Sing It Again Rod.
Rod’s first official compilation album…
……well sort of. There had officially been a ‘Best of…’ released already back in 1971, but that one seems to have been exclusively for the Japanese market. This latest (and may I say rather snazzy) retro-collection was the first to be released worldwide.
Although not termed as the best he had to offer (that wouldn’t happen for about another half decade), this collection is more a retrospective over his charmed career so far. I’m guessing the title is a play on Bogie’s legendary “Play it again, Sam” line (which in fact Bogart himself doesn’t actually quote as such) from the famous (and my old man’s favourite) flick ‘Casablanca‘.
You of course do have some big hitters…
…in this collection, but these are peppered with a few deeper cuts to keep his already burgeoning fanbase cheerful and happy. It may also have been a ploy by his management to help break his own solo career over in the States. We’ve already borne witness in this chart to a live album uniquely credited to Rod / Faces (that “/” being extremely important as attempting to use “&” would have literally, emotively, and legally opened a big can, and there’d be worms everywhere).
This could be seen by his label as posting his CV across the Atlantic (there’s the beginnings of a work-in-progress album title waiting to come out of that last remark in the future me-thinks). Another reason may have been that his current contract was nearing its end, and they were hoping to keep him. Whatever the reason, the listeners themselves are the ones who win in the end.
The LP version of the album…
…was die-cut to resemble a whisky glass, which I’m guessing was meant to reflect a scene of Rod as your best mate in the pub, who you can see through said glass of the spirit, after he’s just bought a round at the bar. To be personally honest, it seems more like you’re purchasing from the shop a bucket of the beverage with a disembodied head of Rod sitting on top of the rocks. The idea probably looked good in writing, but in reality, to me anyway, not so much. Still who am I to judge. It is what’s within that matters, and with the gems the record held within its grooves, it sold enough barrow-loads to silence even the harshest critic.
Inside, it opens up to give the purchaser a few extra leaves to flick over to reveal the credits behind the snapshots on their way to get to the record itself.
For those of you who follow this chart, and as I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, with the growing popularity of the cassette, and probably to balance the sides time-wise, the cassette sequence differs slightly to the record. Due to this, I’ve included playlists for both. For which ever format you owned or listened to back then.
The album…
…had shot (alcholic pun intended) almost straight to the top of the chart last summer on the 19th of August 1973; only being denied the top spot by those dark lord entities of classic rock, cunningly disguised as the epitome of light entertainment comfort – Peters & Lee. No matter, by week two, Rod had won the battle with those leviathans, claimed the ultimate accolade of being the best selling album, and sat there proudly for the next three weeks; after which, he would slip back a little within the Top 10 until the middle of autumn.
This unbroken run would take him all the way past the Christmas sales, until he would step outside the chart for a fag just before the end of the year.
Once the New Years celebrations for 1974 were out of the way, he strode back through the doors and this time settled into the mid-chart positions in early January, and that’s where we find him at this point.
From here,..
…the LP will duck out once again, probably to the gents this time, and then reappear for the first week of March before a much longer break, then begins a string of re-entries, all of which will be a week long.
The next of these will be in mid-October, which will be this LP’s final appearance this year. Into 1975, and it appears in a slightly expanded chart, at No.55, near the end of September, and it’s final week (so far) will be the middle of October once again.
By this point, the album has clinked up a very respectable 30 weeks in total, and Rod has undertaken new musical endeavours.
Side 1
Side 2
Cassette Side 1
Cassette Side 2
Many thanks go to the following YouTube Channels for providing the chance to hear these tracks, so that together we can experience both sides of this album release, as it was intended, once again.
Please show your appreciation by visiting their channel:
Grab Your Binoculars, Come Follow Me
My Socials
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Who am I…?
When am I…?
Why am I…?
How do I…?
