Rod Stewart Day on WDR4 Radio

Legends in Music. Of course Rod Stewart is one of them. Reason enough for the German Radio station WDR4 in Cologne to honour our man with a special Rod/Faces Day. Songs, Stories, Interviews and nice anecdotes from all the listeners. Well it was worth a listen. Oh yes. Felt like Paradise on air for a Rod Stewart fan.

I spent the whole day in front of the radio and accepted the presenter’s request to send in voice or text messages. So I spoke about the time when it all started. The day I went into the local record shop and bought this vinyl called Foolish Behaviour which was my starting point for becoming a Rod maniac….

I talked about the Faces Reunion in 2015, a special concert in music history, and didn’t forget to invite the listeners to join SMILER on the website or all Social Media channels. “If you want to have more Rod in your daily life and become a part of the worldwide Rod Stewart family join SMILER”, I said on air.

Over the day many people spoke about their adventures with Rod. They spoke about concerts, signed footballs, the Ballgate affair in Dortmund 2013 (as one bloke kicked a ball back on stage and hit Lucy Woodward) and one of them told this story: “I was in a restaurant in Frankurt many years ago. A guy was sitting in the furthest corner having dinner. From time to time other guests went over, pieces of paper or beer lids in their hands. I didn’t go as I thought leave him his privacy at dinner time. As I left the restaurant I asked the waiter who this guy was. And he said: This was Rod Stewart. Okay I missed the chance to get an autogroph, but hey I saw him in person only a few meters away”.

Another woman told this story: “I have been a Rod Stewart fan since the early eighties. As we went to London with school me and my best friend spent the whole day on the streets hoping to meet Rod while shopping. Of course we didn’t meet him but we had a very exciting time …. A guy passed us on Regent Street and he was wearing a black coat and a hat. His hair was blonde and we both thought: THAT’s Rod. We stopped that man while our hearts were beating up to the neck. But of course it wasn’t Rod. Yeah we were a little bit disappointed at that moment but ok”

In the interviews over the day Rod spoke – amongst other things – about

·Maggie May and how it all started: “Maggie was the best b side of my career”.

·His children and gave advice to the male listeners: “Better for you guys to have eight children with only one woman. It’s not that expensive, I can tell you”.

·The German audience: “They are very cool at the beginning of a show, but I always get them in the end”.

·His Scottish roots: “I was born in London, but my Dad was Scottish. That’s why me and my two brothers and sister have Scottish blood in our veins”

·Touring: “I love being on stage and I have no reason to stop it…”

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Playlist Rod Stewart Day WDR4

Sailing

Young Turks

Da Ya Think I’m Sexy

All For Love

You Wear It Well

Maggie May

Baby Jane

The First Cut Is The Deepest

Rhythm Of My Heart

Have I Told You Lately

I Don’t Want To Talk About It

What Am I Gonna Do?

Ooh La La

You’re In My Heart

Country Comforts

It Takes Two (feat. Tina Turner)

Waltzing Matilda

The Motown Song

Some Guys Have All The Luck

Passion

Hot Legs

Tonight’s The Night

This Old Heart Of Mine

Every Beat Of My Heart

Stay With Me

Downtown Train

Forever Young

Photo Thanks to Martin Heidt