ROD STEWART - BABY JANE

YOU WEAR IT WELL

ROD STEWART

SONGWRITERS: J. DAVIS & R. STEWART

COUNTRY: U. K.

ALBUM: BODY WISHES

LABEL: WARNER BROS

GENRE: POP ROCK

YEAR: 1983

 

          Sir Roderick David Stewart CBE(born 10 January 1945) is a British rock singer and songwriter. Born and raised in London, he is of Scottish and English ancestry. Stewart is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, having sold over 120 million records worldwide. He has had nine number-one albums in the UK Albums Chart and his tally of 62 UK hit singles includes 31 that reached the top ten, six of which gained the #1 position. Stewart has had 16 top ten singles in the US, with four reaching #1 on the Billboard Hot 100. He was knighted in the 2016 Birthday Honours for services to music and charity.

          With his distinctive raspy singing voice, Stewart came to prominence in the late 1960s and the early 1970s with The Jeff Beck Group, and then with Faces, though his music career had begun in 1962 when he took up busking with a harmonica. In October 1963, he joined The Dimensions as a harmonica player and part-time vocalist. In 1964, Stewart joined Long John Baldry and the All Stars, and in August, Stewart signed a solo contract, releasing his first single, "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", in October. He maintained a solo career alongside a group career, releasing his debut solo album, An Old Raincoat Won't Ever Let You Down in 1969. Stewart's early albums were a fusion of rock, folk music, soul music, and R&B.

       From the late 1970s through the 1990s, Stewart's music often took on a new wave or soft rock/middle-of-the-road quality, and in the early 2000s, he released a series of successful albums interpreting the Great American Songbook. In 1994, Stewart staged the largest free rock concert in history when he performed in front of 3.5 million people in Rio de Janeiro.

               In 2008, Billboard magazine ranked him the 17th most successful artist on the "Billboard Hot 100 All-Time Top Artists". A Grammy and Brit Award recipient, he was voted at #33 in Q Magazine's list of the Top 100 Greatest Singers of all time, and #59 on Rolling Stone 100 Greatest Singers of all time. As a solo artist, Stewart was inducted into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994, the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2006, and was inducted a second time into the US Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2012 as a member of Faces.

                  Body Wishes is a studio album released by Rod Stewart on 10 June 1983 (see 1983 in music). It was Stewart's 12th studio album and was released on Warner Bros. Records(WEA 92-3877-1). The tracks were recorded and mixed at The Record Plant, Los Angeles. It produced three singles, "Baby Jane", "What Am I Gonna Do (I'm So in Love with You)", and "Sweet Surrender". The cover is a tribute to the cover of the Elvis Presley album, 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong.

            Body Wishes has received poor reviews. Rolling Stone magazine, at the time of its release, gave it 2 out of 5 stars, calling it "his latest and surely one of his least", although they did praise the opening song, "Dancin' Alone", calling it "a Chuck Berry-styled Rock & Roller that is both lively and witty". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic retrospectively gave the album 1.5 out of 5 stars, calling it "one of Rod Stewart's worst efforts." In the same review, "Baby Jane" and "What Am I Gonna Do (I'm So in Love with You)" are described as "first-rate, synth-laden pop/rock filler" only sounding "substantial" in comparison to the other songs on the album.

Baby Jane don't leave me hanging on the line

I knew you when you had no one to talk to

Now you're moving in high society

don't forget I know secrets about you

I used to think you were on my side

but now I'm no longer sure

I wish I knew what I know now before

When I give my heart again

I know it's gonna last forever

No one tell me where or when

I know it's gonna last forever

Baby Jane don't it make you feel sad

just when I thought that we were winning

You and I were so close in every way

don't time fly when you're loving and laughing

I've said goodbye so many times

the situation ain't all that new

Optimism's my best defense

I'll get through without you

When I give my heart again

I know it's gonna last forever

No one tell me where or when

I know it's gonna last forever

I won't be that dumb again

I know it's gotta last forever

When I fall in love again

I know it's gonna last forever

Baby Jane I've said all I want to say

go your own way don't think twice about me

Cause I've got ideas and plans of my own

so long darlin' I'll miss you believe me

The lesson learned was so hard to swallow

but I know that I'll survive

I'm gonna take a good look at myself and cry

When I give my heart again

I know it's gonna last forever

No one tell me where or when

I know it's gonna last forever

When I fall in love next time

I know it's gonna last forever

I won't be that dumb again

I know it'll last forever.