Main photo by Maureen Davison
Swing Fever hits HMV
Lets start where we left off last week with Rod and Jools meeting fans at HMV London
Peter Chow showed his copy of Smiler Magazine Summer 2022 Issue 101 Centrefold featuring photos of Rod taken by him at St Luke’s Church Chelsea Nordoff Robbins Carol Service on 2021.12.14, It is
now endorsed and signed by Rod
Peter said “It is a most unique and treasurable souvenir among nearly 600 autographs so far in my collection, The signing session yesterday was strictly limited to the new album “Swing Fever” by Rod Stewart with Jools Holland. Shortly before my turn, I noticed Rod wasn’t too happy and refused to sign other albums or his autobiography when certain attendees presented them to him. But then I dared myself to show him these published photos which actually resulted in me sharing an extra minute of joyful moment with Rod. He looked at them in detail and at first seemingly couldn’t recall the occasion, until he read the caption and said with a charming smile “Ah, that was a wonderful night!”; and then he signed above my name even before I have to ask!”
Mark Hunt and his wfe Ildi and son Albert got a brilliant phot with Rod and Jools taken by Penny
Albert even got his hat signed!
And one fan will never forget meeting Rod at the signing..
Jules Stretton got Rod to sign her arm and told him she was going to get it tattooed and Rod replied “Thank you darling!”
And here is the result!
Jules told SMILER this week “I have been trying to meet him for 40 odd years, I’ve been a huge fan since the age of 12, desperately trying to get a photo or a signing. I’ve seen him all over the place and always said if I ever get him to sign me I would have it made into a tattoo!”
Swing fever
Swing Fever got album of the week over at Tinnitist
Think Ed Power at news.co.uk misses the point
The Telegraph call the album utterly joyous
Hot Press give it 7.5 out of 10
https://www.hotpress.com/music/album-review-rod-stewart-with-jools-holland-swing-fever-23010196
And it was also chosen as Album of the week On the Radio 2 Vernon Kay show.
Wolfie’s Watch
John Rafferty has found Wolfie’s whisky in his local Stockport Tesco
And Paul Scahill found his at Tesco Roneo Corner Romford
We will tell you the winner of our merchandise comp next week
Dancing On Ice
On Sunday Rod and Jools were guests on ITV’s Dancing On Ice and sang Pennies From Heaven, Rod slid up and down the stage that much he should have been voted through to the next round
GALORE NR. 63
Our members in Germany will love the latest edition of GALORE That features Rod on the cover plus an entertaining interview.
PRYZM Kingston
On Monday and Tuesday Rod and Jools played four album release shows over two nights at PRYZM Kingston
Aprox 45 minute Set List
Introduction Boogie Woogie, By Jools and his orchestra
- Almost Like Being in Love
- Them There Eyes
- Good Rockin’ Tonight
- Ain’t Misbehavin’
- Pennies From Heaven
- Night Train
- Have I Told You Lately
- Oh Marie
To read the SMILER review by Colin Baker go to https://www.rodstewartfanclub.com/news/who-wants-to-be-a-millionaire/?swcfpc=1
This week’s Rod Art
This week we feature both Rod and Ronnie with these fantastic works of art from South London artist Tim Feltham
Talking to SMILER this week about his art Tim explained the concept “These paintings were inspired originally by the Black Lives Matter movement, It’s always been a mystery to me how people can have negative feelings towards other races and cultures as it’s all a huge melting pot that enriches live, about the same time the Botticelli painting came on the market for gulp !!! ninety two million, it looked to me so modern, reading about it the saint in the roundel was added later and was by an earlier artist I surmised it was someone chosen who meant something to the young man in the portrait. I decided to do a series of paintings of people and their influences or heroes and call it on ‘ The Shoulders Of Giants ‘ I started with Eric Clapton and Robert Johnson”.
“As I said it started as a reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement and the fact that all the music I love and probably most popular rock and roll music has it’s roots in black music, I remember discovering this and finding great joy in discovering all those wonderful artists whose shoulders all the stuff I love rest on”.
Tim added “I do them as Birthday cards for people so they’re not available, Its developed beyond music, I don’t know what I’ll do with them as images I’m thinking of putting them in a book”.
To see more in this fasinating series go to https://www.instagram.com/artist_timfeltham1955/?hl=en
Fake Rod at it again ?
We have reported on a few fake Rod stories over the last few months ..But maybe we can shed a bit of light on this one.
Rod was involved in a mid week chart battle with Scottish rock band The Snuts who were in second place in the album charts on Tuesday despite rallying their fans by tweeting “Rod Stewart thinking he will walk this number one… forgetting about the army of snuts fans ready to get down and dirty.”
On Tuesday The The Snuts were playing Glasgow Barrowland when out walked Rod who then sang his hit Maggie May, Many Snuts fans believed Rod would be in Glasgow ahead of Celtic’s clash with Dundee on Wednesday night.
But as he finished the song, the crowd began to boo and ‘Rod’ walked off without saying a word. Later in the gig, lead singer Jack Cochrane made a joke about having to pay for Rod to stay in a local hotel, hinting that it was just a really good Rod impersonator after all.
Fans took to social media to hail the apparent PR stunt.
One wrote: “rod stewart at the snuts?!???!???”
While another added: “ur telling me i’ve just seen rod stewart at the barras at the snuts gig???? was not on my 2024 bingo card.”
Another added: “Rod Stewart coming out at the snuts was about the last thing I expected to see tonight but fair fucks.”
One posted: “not rod stewart just walking right past me at the snuts tonight.”
And one wrote “Rod Stewart on stage singing Maggie May at the Snuts no way.”
If you have not already guessed Rod was non other than our good friend Garry Pease one of the best Rod tribute acts around who also repeated the stunt on Wednesday and later told SMILER “It all started when I had a phone call from The Snuts management, asking if I’d do just one song for a bit of a laugh, as they had realised they were going head to head with Rod and Jools for the #1 album ! Had a great time, the band love Rod, and the crowd all bought into the joke”
3D Rod
Our 3D Rod came this week at the SMILER office and looks amazing
Big thanks to Mark at Total Foto Brandon
Rod stands around 7inches high, So if you would like your own 7 inch Rod you can buy one for £40
The details as follows
Price £40 inc vat
P&P UK £10
P&P US etc £25
Lead time about 1 week for manufacture. Once an order is sent via the email ([email protected]) They will send a payment link and once payment is received they will print Rod within the next 2 days.
Princes Trust
On Thursday Rod, Penny, Jools and his wife Christabel McEwen and Rod’s daughter Renne attended The Prince’s Trust Invest In Futures gala dinner at The Peninsula Hotel near London’s Hyde Park, The event is the annual fundraising event at The Prince’s Trust which supports young people from disadvantaged communities.
Rod and Jools took to the stage to perform at the event, which also saw stars including Tom Hiddleston, Myleene Klass and Naomie Harris in attendance.
And Finally..
They did it!!…
Rod and Jools Holland claim their first collaborative Number 1 album with Swing Fever this week.outselling its closest competition almost 2:1 Rod extends his span of No.1 albums to more than fifty years, with this his 11th number one–with 23,950 units (19,906 CDs, 1,783 vinyl, 123 cassettes, 1,622 digital downloads and 516 sales-equivalent streams).
Swing Fever marks Jools Holland’s first chart-topping record, and as it is Rod’s 11th as a solo artist. it now puts him level with David Bowie, Taylor Swift and U2 on the list of artists with the most Number 1 albums in the UK; all with 11 apiece. The record also tops the Official Vinyl Albums Chart…Well done to everyone involved!
See you next week..