Photo Dave Palmer Instagram
Rod Stewart: Ultimate Hits
Today [Friday] is the official release day of Rod Stewart:Ultimate Hits Embark on a sonic journey through Rod’s unparalleled career with this comprehensive compilation. Ultimate Hits gathers his most beloved songs, from the heartfelt storytelling early classics like “Handbags and Gladrags” and “Maggie May” to the irresistible hooks of chart-topping anthems such as “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” and “Forever Young”. More than just a collection of hits, this meticulously curated set spans decades, revealing the evolution of a true musical icon’s enduring talent and versatility. This is the ultimate Rod Stewart experience for both longtime fans and new listeners, a testament to his lasting impact on music. Rod Stewart’s Ultimate Hits will be a new career-spanning greatest hits collection. The release will be the first to include songs ranging from his 1971 hit, “Maggie May” to selections from 2024’s UK #1,“Swing Fever,” with key touchstone hits along the way – celebrating 6 #1 UK singles and a top 5 hit worldwide in consecutive decades. Hopefully Rod’s performance in the Teatime Legend Slot at Glastonbury Festival on Sunday will send it soaring up the album charts, pre orders should be arriving from today and if you have not pre ordered now is the time to buy a copy.
Rod on TV
Glastonbury 2025 Live
BBC present the one we have all been waiting for On Sunday 29th June BBC One will be showing Rod Stewart at Glastonbury 2025
Clara Amfo and Lauren Laverne present coverage of Rod Stewart’s Pyramid Stage performance, marking the singer’s first appearance at the festival in over 20 years, having previously headlined the festival in 2002. Expect classic songs like Maggie May, You Wear It Well and Do Ya Think I’m Sexy? for the Glastonbury tea-time revellers
Rod Stewart at Glastonbury 2025 airs on BBC One HD at 7:15 PM, Sunday 29 June.
If you want to catch Rod earlier BBC Two from 5:00 PM to 7:15 PM will be showing Sunday Afternoon Highlights Live
Clara Amfo and Lauren Laverne present coverage of the final day of the festival, introducing all the stories from Sunday afternoon on the farm. Purveyors of timeless hits Nile Rodgers & Chic bring the disco tunes for what’s bound to be an hour of crowd sing-a-longs on the Pyramid Stage, including the traditional annual flash mob dance to Le Freak. Plus, highlights of main stage acts including soul singer Celeste, indie stalwarts the Libertines and Rod Stewart in the annual Sunday teatime legend slot
Glastonbury 2025 Live airs on BBC Two HD at 5:00 PM, Sunday 29 June
Or you can catch Rod Live on the iPLAYER
And from 1:00 AM to 2:00 AM on Saturday 28 June NOW Rock is showing Glasto God: Rod Stewart! The Legendary Rod Stewart takes to the stage for Glastonbury 2025 and what better opportunity to dig back into the rock archives for 10 of his finest!
Glasto God: Rod Stewart! airs on NOW Rock at 1:00 AM, Saturday 28 June.
Portofino
While we were all waiting to see Rod at Glastonbury Rod and Penny were in Portofino having an Anniversary vacation
Speaking to his co-stars Amanda Holden and Ashley Roberts on Heart Radio Jamie Theakston told the funny story of his own marriage proposal saying like Rod he also was going to go down on one knee at the Eiffel Tower “I thought the Eiffel Tower might be romantic, at the Eiffel Tower, on one knee, pop the question, job done.
“It was a beautiful weekend, the sun was shining, we’d been to Paris a couple of times before, so it was a special place.”
Jamie recalled how “nervous” he was about getting the ring he had secretly packed through customs without Sophie [His girlfriend] seeing it, which was thankfully a success.
However, his next problem came when he had to rethink his proposal plan. explaining: “Anyway, she’s reading a copy of Hello! Magazine, she goes, ‘OMG. Do you know Rod Stewart has just got engaged to Penny Lancaster?’ I said, ‘Oh, really?’
“She said, ‘How naff is this, they did it in Paris on the Eiffel Tower’.”
It all ended well for Jamie he later proposed in the hotel room and Sophie said yes!
Amazon Music Exclusive Stream
Amazon Music Originals has put up for streaming Jim Burgess’ disco remix of Rod’s hit “Da Ya Think I’m Sexy?” It is now available exclusively via Amazon Music.
“I’ve always loved this remix and I’m so glad it’s now widely available as an Amazon Music Original,” Rod said is week. “Jim Burgess did the business on it, he was one of the best in the game and it still sounds as good now as it did back then. It’s perfect for those long summer nights and I challenge anyone not to dance to it, it’s just impossible!”
Sweet Little Rock And Roller – Live 1984
Rockin Bear Records are releasing a new CD Sweet Little Rock And Roller – Live 1984 on 22nd August 2005
No track listing has been released yet but it is a radio broadcast from Rod’s 1984 tour where Rod and Beck played together on Rod tracks and Jeff also played on some of his own tracks. and as always SMILER can not confirm how good the quality of these recordings are.
Rod’s Interactions..yeah new one on me as well!
In the build up to Glasonbury Online engagement data reveals Olivia Rodrigo is set to steal the show at Glastonbury 2025, with Rod close behind.
The data, from adtech firm Quantcast, reveals Olivia Rodrigo at a staggering 52.7 million interactions, just edging out Rod with 51.6 million.
DJ Kenny
Your favourite Rod DJ Kenny Stewart is back..
Listen to Kenny live from Chester on Sunday. at 10pm On his internet radio show on Rock steady 94 https://rocksteady94.co.uk/ . Get your requests in Kennystewart [email protected]
Jeff Beck Art
No Rod artwork this week but to celebrate Jeff’s birthday on Tuesday we are showing some artwork of 3d artist moriakira5075 from Japan who pays homage to her favourite record sleeves
Who said “Recently, I’ve been interested in some of my previous works and remaking them. Today is Jeff Beck’s birthday according to mutual followers. It’s been a year and a half since Beck passed away.
Beck’s guitar was rock guitar history itself”.
To see more work by moriakira5075 go to https://www.instagram.com/moriakira5075
REVIEW: Faces—The BBC Session Recordings (2024) By Kristan Reed
Great Review this week by Kristan Reed|Vinyl Reviews of the BBC Sessions album that SMILER helped on and was very proud to be part of Rob Caigers team.
A killer compilation of BBC performances that shows precisely why they were once John Peel’s favourite band.
Had Rod Stewart not had a parallel solo career during his time with Faces, I can’t help but feel the band’s longer term legacy would have fared a lot better than it has. I always get the impression that a lot of people are surprised at how good Faces actually are, and aren’t really aware that Rod’s first batch of albums are pretty much Faces albums in all but name.
It was messy. Between late 1969 and about 1974 Rod and Faces had to alternate album releases. Although Rod was already in Faces by the time his first ‘solo’ LP came out, four of the musicians in the band featured. Only a month after its UK release, the debut Faces album First Step followed in March of 1970.
Three months after that followed Rod’s Gasoline Alley LP, this time featuring all of Faces, and to add to the comedy, a cover of Small Faces’ classic My Way Of Giving, co-written by bassist Ronnie Lane. Five months, three albums, only one of them billed as Faces, but all three recorded with mostly the same band. Got it.
When it came to Faces doing live performances on radio or normal gigs, there wasn’t a whole lot of point excluding Rod’s ‘solo’ songs, so they just chucked them all in—underlining what a nonsense the whole situation was in the first place. So breakout solo hits like Maggie May and Gasoline Alley rubbed shoulders with Stay With Me in a live setting, giving fans the kind of killer sets that weren’t fully reflected on the studio releases.
Needless to say, had all of the ‘best’ Rod and Faces songs been combined onto, say, one album a year, we’d be talking about some of the finest rock albums of the 1970s, or all-time if you want to be hyperbolic about it.
So this recent compilation of BBC Session recordings does a pretty decent job of smooshing together many of the 70/71 prime cuts onto a double LP. You get cracking studio renditions of Miss Judy’s Farm and Stay With Me from Faces 1971 smash A Nod Is a Wink To A Blind Horse, Maybe I’m Amazed and Had Me A Real Good Time from Faces’ other 1971 album Long Player, and a bunch from 1970’s First Step: Wicked Messenger, Devotion, Shake, Shudder, Shiver, Around The Plynth, Flying, and Pineapple And The Monkey. A lesser known rocking Faces instrumental b-side also makes an appearance: Oh Lord I’m Browned Off. I must confess this one was new to me.
Meanwhile, solo Rod material Country Comfort, Gasoline Alley and Maggie May make the cut, sounding suitably raucous in their Faces guise, and all the better for it. Both Faces and Rod albums had covers aplenty scattered across them (especially Rod’s, who presumably couldn’t pen enough originals in a year to fill an album, and also just loved having a go at besting other people’s songs.) So it’s no surprise to find a cover of Robert Johnson’s Love In Vain—itself recently covered more famously in 1969 by The Rolling Stones.
However, it’s worth noting that this Record Store Day-exclusive release is basically only the highlights reel for the main feature. Five months after this came out, in September 2024, Rhino served up a spectacular 8 disc CD box set—At The BBC (Complete BBC Concert & Session Recordings 1970-1973)—covering the full tranche of BBC session and live recordings, with everything from this set, as well as everything from 2023’s Record Store Day set Had Me A Real Good Time At The BBC—and a whole lot more besides. Even for long term fans with countless bootlegs, this was considered pretty revelatory stuff, with clean, crisp versions finally available 50-odd years after the fact.
Scanning down its 85 tracks, there’s a strong case for killer tracks like I Know I’m Losing You and Every Picture Tells A Story rather than the two versions of Wicked Messenger and an obscure instrumental that we get here. But that’s nit picking. Overall it does a grand job of shining a light on Faces supreme material featured on those first three albums, while interspersing primo Rod cuts to revive all those discussions of what the best combination of Rod & Faces would have worked best.
Reproduced with kind permission from Kristan Reed to read more reviews by Kristan go to https://kristanreed.substack.com/
What’s On
One More For The Road!..Look at this for what promises to be a magical night for anyone who loves the music of Ronnie Lane
Ronnie Lane Fest Monday 15th September at Cadogan Hall, london.
What’s On 2
If you are in and around Lytham and St Annes area why not pop into The Deacon who are holding a live watching party…This is the place to be in the area…
This Sunday is our LIVE ROD STEWART WATCHING PARTY!
Live from his Glastonbury legends slot, from 3:30pm onwards we will be joining in on the festival fun! Watching live, in true Rod attire! 
Followed by live music from the king of sax himself Daniel Sings playing the biggest hits of the 20th Century! 
Bookings available now and going fast! 
To book | www.thedeaconlytham.com | 01253 732529 
Food. Drinks. Music. Deacon 
Sentimental Journey.. to Twickenham Station
Sir Rod has been honoured with a new plaque on Twickenham Railway Station where he was famously discovered in 1964 singing the blues while waiting for his train by Long John Baldry.
The new plaque has been unveiled by South Western Railway and tour guide Adam Scott Speaking to SMILER this week said An after-hours train station, freight train clattering through… a blueswailing harmonica rises out of the gloom… footsteps in the darkness. A chance meeting of two young musicians that will send one of them on a trajectory to superstardom. A tale from the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s? Nah mate, Twickenham innit!
The story of how Rod Stewart met the great blues singer and bandleader Long John Baldry at Twickenham Station in the early 60s is one of my favourite London music history tales. Baldry was a big noise on the London Blues scene. Rod had just seen him play at Eel Pie Island and was making his way back home to North London in the wee hours. To pass the time while waiting for a train, Rod sang the blues and played blues harp. Baldry heard him, bounded over from another platform and offered him a gig on the spot.
Just think: these days a young Rod would be doomscrolling on his phone and we’d miss out on a legend…
It’s so fitting that the train station – the first port-of-call for most visitors to Twickenham – should have this plaque. It acts as a harmonica fanfare for a most historical and still vibrant music neighbourhood. As well as for Sir Rod’s extraordinary musical journey.
I lead music history tours all over London. The most common question I am asked? “Why isn’t there a plaque here?” Well at Twickenham Station, there is now. Thanks and well done Southwest Trains. And congratulations Sir Rod!
Manoj Bhardwaj, Station Manager at Twickenham Station, added: “We’re so excited to pay tribute to Sir Rod Stewart here at Twickenham Station where his musical journey began, The sign celebrates the connection between the railway and one of Britain’s most iconic artists, and we hope it brings smiles to fans and South Western Railway customers coming through the railway station.”
Adam Scott’s has been a London tour guide for 20 years. He offers music history tours all over town with both the famous London Walks (https://www.walks.com/) and London Music Tours. If you’d like to Step In Time On A Music History Tour with him visit https://londonmusictours.org/
Wolfie’s Glasto Bottles..
Big thanks to Wolfie’s who gave Rod’s fans fist dibs on the limited edition of 1500 Legend bottles to celebrate Rod’s big Glastonbury Festival legends slot..Hope you all managed to get one.
And if you spot the Wolfie’s flag at Glasto this weekend 👀
Snap a pic, tag Wolfie’s, and you could win some Wolfie’s delivered straight to your door after the festival…How goods that!
And Finally…
Well it’s finally here…And we hope the lucky ones who have tickets and won’t be at home watching on TV won’t need to use their old Raincoates !!
Here we go…..
WaterAid and Sir Rod teamed up to launch the Boombox Bog at the Festival it is located near the Pyramid Stage, where Rod takes the Legends slot, this one-of-a-kind loo is decked out in his signature leopard print, cassette tapes and festival posters. Inside, you’ll hear Rod’s ultimate hits and exclusive messages from the man himself as they turn up the volume on the power of clean water and decent toilets.
Nearly one in ten people around the world don’t have clean water close to home, and almost one in five don’t have a decent toilet of their own. You might not think water and toilets are sexy, but these essentials have delivered some of life’s biggest hits. Health. Education. Dignity. Opportunity. Change – it’s all possible with water and a decent loo.
Change starts with water, a decent toilet, and you.
If you are at Glasto check it out, have a dance, and see how clean water can change everything.
Is anyone there?…Got any stories?…Pictures?..who are Rod’s guest?..one of our members on the site said the rumours are one of the guests is Robbie, but everyone in the know is staying very tight lipped and our member was hugging a tree at the time! Lulu also dropped a hint she was turning up a few weeks back and the other name being said is Mick Hucknall..we will see.
Friday was rehearsal day and all looks good..
So enjoy this massive weekend and please send anything in to [email protected], hopefully your copies of Ultimate Hits and bottles of Wolfie’s have started arriving, And heads up time.. please ensure you are signed up to Rod’s mailing list with the link here: lnk.to/RodMailer and keep an eye on his socials after Glastonbury for an exciting announcement!
See you next week…
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