So where do all of our Rod stories begin? And especially becoming a “Smiler”?
I guess mine just happened to be a coincidence, but of course there always had to be a Reason to Believe that fate would be my destiny. There was I, the 15 years old school boy with a plan in my head.
You see before we had broken up for summer holidays in 1971, a few months earlier I just happened to be sitting out in the sun by the school tennis courts and somehow got talking to this beautiful girl named Alison. Of course, it wasn’t just me there, I was far too shy, and certainly didn’t have that much confidence. Every girl I had “asked out” to date either just didn’t happen or lasted little more than a week or two. I was also very picky about who I felt was suitable. But here we were and I was all ears listening to her talking about her up and coming holiday to Austria, and if I asked any questions, she smiled and would respond. You know that feeling when you think you have a bit of an instant crush on someone.
That all important school 5th. year (Or year 9 these days) begun in September, I had seen Alison a few times at school with a lovely suntan, that crush had got increasingly stronger and so it was time to hatch a plan. My mate Rob and his girlfriend Frances would have a little party / gathering at Rob’s house, Frances would ask Alison if she fancied coming and of course bring her friend Sally to, so to balance matters up, Andy agreed to come along as well. The date was set Saturday 2nd. October.
It took me awhile that night to start to talk to her, I asked her if she fancied a dance to Bread’s “Make It With You” and then the connection kicked in. I asked, “What did you get up to today then?”, “Oh dad dropped me off at Sally’s, then we caught the bus back into Sutton”, “Oh really, my brother and I were in Sutton as well today, what shops did you go in? What sort of time were you there?”. All I remember was the answer “I bought Rod Stewart’s single in Landau’s”. “Really” came my reply “We bought that as well, how funny”. And so, life began for me and Alison, and Rod (slightly in the background) would come along to.
When your only 15 and filling shelves at an Off License three times a week there’s not a lot of spare cash about, especially with a new girlfriend in toe. The Rod fanaticism hadn’t kicked in straight away, so buying the odd single here and there, it wasn’t until You Wear It Well came out that Alison would start to hint at her, let’s call it desire, for Rod, as well as Steve McQueen, became more apparent.
In mid-October of 1972 I left school and got a proper job (again thanks to Alison), this created a bigger cash flow naturally, and now all things connected to Rod started to become “a must have”. Trips to Petticoat Lane were very fruitful. I managed to buy two large posters of Rod to add to the two she already had of Steve McQueen on her bedroom wall. Sadly, I can’t lay my hands on the Rod ones anymore, they could be in our loft, but really not sure where.
As for records, again Petticoat Lane had a stall that sold albums cheaper than in record shops. I would buy the back catalogue of Rod albums to date as well as The Faces, although I was still very much a Status Quo fan back then along with a few other Rock groups that had success in the singles charts. But both of us loved Motown music, which was really the biggest shared passion in that first couple of years that we were together.
The change came the day it was announced The Faces would play at our local cinema, The Granada in Sutton on Thursday 20th. December 1973. Alison’s brother Neil would queue up to buy four tickets, I needed to be at work the day they went on sale. When the concert came it just knocked you for six, wow what a performance, no other group I had previously seen held a torch to them, and that included a magnificent performance by Slade I had seen with Status Quo in Purley in May 1972. Pool Hall Richard still sticks in my head to this day, The Faces were the band to go and see and you just question now, if only I had realised that they were out there and this good earlier, especially seeing they played at The Greyhound in Croydon in 1970 and 1971.
I always wondered afterwards, “Was there a programme I could have bought that night? Was there any merchandise on sale?”, I didn’t remember there being any, the only thing I had to cling onto was the memory and that ticket stub, and how I cherished it, I kept it in my wallet (big mistake). Then one day I stopped in Throwley Way (just down from the Granada) where a Shell petrol station once was. I paid for my petrol in cash and got back in the car, started to drive off then thought “Where is my wallet?”, I circled round and went back into the petrol station and asked if they had seen it, convinced I must have dropped it in there. It had more cash in it, and of course, the guys serving in there did not admit to finding it, I had my suspicions, but what could I do? The cash wasn’t the big issue, the ticket stubs were a heartbreaker, and sadly I would never see them again.
On Saturday 16th.November 1974 The Faces were to play Lewisham Odeon, I had our two tickets, a friend of my brother and his girlfriend had two tickets and my brother-in-law and his friend had two tickets but theirs were in the balcony. Quite late on, it was announced the concert was postponed until Monday as Rod has a sore throat. This means (a) I have to go to work on the day of the concert and (b) The day after as well – It was so annoying, but it was The Faces after all, there was no way we wouldn’t still go.
I took a half day holiday on the Monday, so Alison and I could travel by train together to Lewisham. Once there it was a boisterous crowd. We sat down in our allotted seats probably ten rows from the back. A group of lads came and sat behind us, they were kicking the seats, throwing things at one another, which was irritating, but when you have your girlfriends sat next to you, would you dare say anything? As soon as Bill Barclay came on, they were gone, straight down the front, suddenly we had so much room all around us, because it seemed everyone had just stampeded to the front. I remember thinking Strider as support were good. My biggest worry though was time, as I’m pretty sure The Faces probably didn’t appear any time before 10 and we had to catch that last train back to London Bridge.
Again, the performance blew us away, a setlist exists but dated for the Friday 15th. concert, whether they did exactly the same 15 numbers listed I really don’t know. But this was the night as “Our special treat for the cancellation of Saturday” Rod introduced a couple of friends, and Paul and Linda McCartney sang with him on Mine For Me. By the time that was over, we needed to go, so we missed the last couple of numbers. If we had been cool, like my brother in law, we would have gone home via bus instead, a shorter journey (as the crow-flies), plus we could have stayed till the end. But instead it was back via London Bridge. Thankfully this time though I still have my ticket stub and a programme as my memento.
In 1975, Alison and I got married, danced to Bread’s Make It With You, but of course we had to include “You Can Make Me Dance, Sing or Anything”. Married life didn’t change a thing, even though The Faces split. Following Rod would be a major thing from now on, although in January 1976 we went to see the missing link from our “Faces experience” as Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance played at The Greyhound in Croydon – Alison was offered drugs and politely said “No thank you”!
We would go to Olympia at the end of 1976 then again in early 1977. It showed how bad it got when we went all the way to watch him play in a 5 a-side football tournament for Elton’s team at Wembley in November 1978. Although Rod was not a happy bunny that day as I don’t think the rest of Elton’s team knew how to kick a ball – they were eliminated pretty quickly. Three more gigs at Olympia in December 1978, Wembley in 1980, Earls Court 1983, then Wembley stadium 1986 and the Arena again later that year, which by now, mum Alison sadly didn’t attend the 1986 concerts.
Now this is where me and Smiler I have always believed came together, but I can’t be 100% sure. I had thought I saw something in the programme in 1986. But looking now that just has a Los Angeles fan club address. I know the draw for me was the fact the address was a PO Box in Morden, Surrey – Just 8 miles away. So, was it on a flyer I wonder at either of those 1986 concerts? When exactly did I write off to join? Smiler only quotes your on-line date. I would need to research further to establish the exact date if that is still registered anywhere.
Once a member I would love the magazines, order a few back copies (which is why I’m uncertain on the joining date), I would buy place mats, fridge magnets, key fobs, book markers, mugs anything we could lay our hands on, including the odd binder (or 9!). We would video anything where Rod appeared on TV as well – the only problem was, I had a Betamax video – not a VHS one, so in time that became an issue. We even bought from a Blockbusters video shop Rod’s LA Forum concert for an extortionate £40. All this and the small fact we had our son born at the beginning of 1986, so there was another priority in life as well.
Each time Rod toured, my brother-in-law and I would go along to at least one London performance, through the 1980’s and 1990’s. By the time the Earls Court concerts in December 1998 were on, Alison would once more come along as well. In all that time we would buy every book and many magazines we found that was about Rod or The Faces. Soon that would also increase to Mac’s autobiography and a book on Woody – Rock On Wood.
As ever I had been slow in moving with the times, I loved vinyl albums and as they were phased out, cassettes had lasted a short while until CD’s took over, you would buy everything Rod all over again to duplicate the collection. We didn’t have every compilation, but a few “Greatest Hits” to add to all his listed albums. Also, I guess because I didn’t have a job where music was playing all day, I was never one to have a wide range of other artists that I listened to and never found it a necessity to be listening to music “whenever I could”, it just wasn’t a major priority, plus the older I had got, the more any new music simply had no appeal and when my son started to like music with just a beat and no words and in my opinion no harmony, I realised I had morphed into my own dad and condemned “the noise he was listening to”.
A new century, but Rod’s life was in turmoil, Rachel had left him and in May 2000 he found out he had Thyroid cancer and had it operated on. In 2001 Rod would release Human, all I can say is, it would certainly get played before Camouflage, but I’m not sure before much else, and it flopped, the question was, were we at the end of the road? Personally, even though I bought every single one of them, the move to sing “The Great American Songbook” clearly felt like a love affair had run it’s course. Although visits to picnic in Hyde Park in 2002 along with two Wembley dates would keep the fires flickering.
In 2004, Smiler launched it’s message board, it was not a good year for us, Alison lost her beloved mother (and she was like a mother to me too), our son would leave for university and then my dad passed away meaning all our parents were no longer with us. I would spend evenings reading messages posted on the board, sometimes also logging in at work to read them. But I never felt I had a strong enough voice or knowledge to contribute myself.
But on 4 December 2005 suddenly I plucked up the courage to respond from a message by “Maggie” entitled “Does Rod Ever See These Messages????”. In which she expressed concern about the criticism being aired about his Songbook collection. My response was as follows:-
“All, I think it’s time we got off Rod’s back about the Songbook records. I don’t particularly like them myself but we have to face facts. A source close to him (Which I won’t reveal), has said Rod’s voice just is not the same since the operation, he just can’t do the type of concert we had 15 years ago. The man’s very proud of what he’s done, and I for one am grateful he still performs for us. What he cannot accept is to produce material that’s not up to the standard he’s always set. We have to face it the guy’s 60, he has given us quality music for decades. The Songbook stuff is material he loves, so why not sing it? It’s made him plenty of money so the accountants won’t be complaining. I cannot wait till Friday night at Earls Court, I’m sure he will again perform to an excellent standard and I’m sure even with some of the show containing some crooning stuff, I will come away thinking the disappointment from May’s cancellation was well worth the wait. Keep it going Rod – I’d turn up just to see him sing “My Old Man’s A Dustman” – so give the guy a break and respect his choices. Alternatively follow Robbie Williams instead.”
Now whilst this met with applause from Stewarty Girl (A lady from America I would have plenty of lovely conversations with later in my message board experience). I guess what I didn’t bargain for was the response from Steampacket which read as follows:-
“What Rubbish. I now rate Rod’s performance and voice as much as ever. The shows I have seen so far have been absolutely top draw. His performance, apart from the Songbook rubbish, is as good as ever. The stripped down rock part of the show is absolutely as good as he gets. Who is this source you cannot reveal? Must be someone with a hearing impediment. It’s still in Rod to give us quality rock and soul. I’ve seen it and some may suggest that I am a serial critic (not true of course). The Songbook shite section is purely for commercial reasons and nothing else. Rod has become a lazy bastard where recording is concerned that’s all. To say he hasn’t got it in him anymore is paramount to fucking sacrilege in my book. As you suggest my friend … go and follow Robbie Williams. A source that you cannot reveal.. what pompous, self inflated bullshite!!
I certainly had hit the jackpot – Looking back now, the hurt I felt then was out of context, my tease I can understand could invoke the sort of response I got, but in turn, I still feel that the manner of the response was aggressive and missed the point on my own devotion to Rod. It meant I wouldn’t dare post again until 14th. April 2006 when the news had broken that the “Smiler magazines” would be discontinued due to financial reasons, this to me was devastating news, so my post had no hidden twists to it this time, just a reflection on how good the magazines were and how sorely they would be missed. This time it would receive a much warmer reply. My post that day read as follows under the heading “Lost In You”:-
John, I thought I had sent a message, but now I’m not so sure! Anyway, if I’m repeating myself, put it down to age. Your work of the past decades has been out of this world – how much do you charge to produce your quality magazines? I buy my wife 2 a week and in a year that’s over £100 on total shite, then I pay you what is it £15 to total quality 4 times a year – no wonder your skint mate (if I can have the honour of calling you that!) You begun on the same road as the wife (girlfriend at the time) and me (re Ever since I was a kid at school) – Yep Sutton Granada for £1-50 a ticket was magic, dropped being a Quo fan and now found real live music. Next stop, you guessed it Lewisham Monday 18 November 74 – a scary concert – but quality – next stop would be Olympia but by then a married man – while you about to commit your life and soul in providing us “so called fans” with an incite of the man we all love. Your critical views have always been valid and to the point, and after all it’s your view. You and the team (so thank Marilyn as well) have done wonders to this part of Carshalton bringing Rod to our homes. I met you just the once at Wembley Arena, I still remember you said you drank in the Windsor Castle on occasions, if you fancy a free night out, would happily buy you a beer or 12 – only problem is I’m a sad bastard that does not drink. Thanks for everything, keep safe, you have been in our hearts and in our souls. Enjoy your life.
A complete contrast response came from Steampacket which read “Nice post Bunker, It’s strange since the demise of the mag lots of people, who were very quite, have suddenly come to life and posted. This is a good thing and shows what an impact JG has had on their lives, it has moved them to words. It is indeed very humbling.
PS Bunker – I live 5 mins from the Windsor Castle but use the Racehorse. I don’t drink but I’m not a sad bastard. Don’t put yourself down mate!!
I responded with another long winded reply, stating what a small world it was, expressing my previous post left me feeling like I had gate crashed an exclusive club. I mentioned that Alison had her hair done by Pete Buckland’s sister who was living in Cheam at the time and had said about Rod losing his confidence. The close proximity of where we both lived was an opportunity I could not slip by and so Steampacket would meet Bunker on one bright sunny afternoon.
We would arrange a meeting, not at a local pub, but at my local football team Carshalton Athletic. As I came under the bridge and crossed the road, a taxi pulled up and parked in one of the slots next to the shops in Colston Avenue. The driver got out and said “Excuse me mate, do you think it’s alright to park here?”, don’t ask me why, but somehow I felt this was who I intended to meet. “Yes mate, your fine there, you’re not Neal are you?”. He beamed back at me and said “Are you Colin?”, we both laughed, could there ever be a better ice-breaker? We didn’t spend the next 2 hours together watching the football, it was a simple by-product, as we talked about ourselves and just seemed to jell instantly.
We would attend more games together, even though at a later stage Neal would admit that he was a Sutton United fan really – our local rivals!! Which he didn’t admit to until after his wife Christine had knitted him a scarf in Carshalton colours!
I had by chance seen a Smiler advert for a signed photo of Rod which would go to the highest bid towards a Cancer charity. As my mum had fallen to cancer at the end of 2001, I made a £50 bid, not really expecting it to be enough. But I was shocked to read that mine was the highest bid. What surprised me more was the photo was being sent from America, it arrived with a lovely letter from Rita Belcher. Neal would advise me of a great framer who was only just down the road from me, that picture has hung in our hall ever since. I have used the same framer for several other Rod items as well as Ronnie Wood art pictures since then.
I mentioned to Neal I had a video recorder that transferred tapes to DVD’s and had been doing this for some time and I was creating my own library including making my own DVD covers. We would get together at my home and transfer various items he had including some he had borrowed from John Gray. Everything worked except the tape from Australia that just wasn’t a compatible format. I certainly got a few extra gems that day.
Our friendship grew, purely out of our love of Rod, and although we would both go to Twickenham in 2007, our paths didn’t cross on the night. However, a year later Neal would suggest we both go to see Ian McLagan at The Jazz Café. I loved it, plus it had the bonus of Paul Weller in the crowd enjoying Mac just as much as the rest of us. I guess this was the beginning for me of expanding everything about my music experience, all thanks to Neal, plus of course the start to my road to Plymouth (Chapter 1).
Of course I soon realise on a Rod fan scale I was probably still in the equivalent of a National League team (although not Sutton United I hope!), but thanks to that Smiler on-line message board, I had found a Premier League companion that would bring me into the fold including a surprise invite to his 50th. birthday party, we felt truly honoured. It felt like there really couldn’t have been a better fan club to belong to with guys like Neal around, and in time we would find plenty more lovely people enter into our lives from our great Smiler fan club.
Footnote:-Stewarty Girl on the message board’s real name was Anna, I must admit I don’t follow the message board anything like the way I used to, but it’s a name I have not seen for many years now. I do wonder if she is still with us (in both senses!) – would love to know if that was at all possible.
Words By Colin Baker