Release Review: ‘Body Wishes’ – panned by critics, loved by fans

We've known her for 42 years now: ‘Baby Jane’, the ‘lady’ penned by Rod Stewart, has been accompanying us through our musical lives for decades. What a hit it was back then – you could hear this song on the radio every few minutes in the summer of 1983 – it felt like there were hardly any other songs, right? On 10 June 1983, the album ‘Body Wishes’ was released – with the hit single ‘Baby Jane’ on the track list.
I, the author of this little story, remember it well. I often spent my summer holidays in the Sauerland, where we had our holiday home and where I had built up a large circle of friends over the years. We spent our evenings outside in a fun group, either at the sports field or relaxing at the nearby water treading pools. We always had cold drinks with us, which we ‘expertly’ stored in the cool water of the treading pools, and a ghetto blaster. Even back then, we couldn't do without music. We listened to this song every day, several times a day, almost on repeat. I soon bought the single at the record store in the small town, and from then on, Rod's voice boomed not only from the radio in the living room, but also from my record player. Every day. Morning, noon, evening...
When the album ‘Body Wishes’ was released a few days after the single ‘Baby Jane’, I went to the local record store for the second time and was one of the first (at least in the Sauerland region) to buy the LP on the release date. As a Stewart fan, it was almost mandatory to play this record on repeat on the record player. And that's what happened, especially since I liked this album very much back then and still do today.
It has such a nice ‘80s vibe’ and songs like ‘Move Me’ and ‘Ready Now’ are still on my playlists today. ‘Strangers Again’ and ‘Satisfied’ also helped me through a few minor love crises in earlier years. And ‘Baby Jane’ has simply become a global hit that around 80 per cent of the world's population knows today – at least, that's what I would say.
‘Body Wishes‘ was also well received by other fans. Michael from Germany wrote: “I remember very well that I bought the LP immediately after it was released and played it over and over again. The single ”Baby Jane’ was a smash hit: number 1 on the German and English charts. I liked the song ‘Sweet Surrender’ even better.’ Axel is still a fan of this album today: ‘Roddy's powerful raspy voice, a cohesive band, decent production, cool cover, not a single filler among 10 tracks (all of them typically 4 minutes long), a good mix of dance tracks and ballads, melodies that immediately stick in your head (and stay there, even now, almost 31 years later). I call it earthy rock, but it has to be said that there's also a certain synth beat to it. It's just 80s.’
And its popularity with fans was not limited to Germany – “Body Wishes” was also appreciated in other countries. David from the United Kingdom didn't mince words: ’Simply a brilliant album and a nostalgic look back.’ And Andre, from the USA, adds: ‘’Body Wishes‘ is possibly Sir Rod's most underrated album and it's more than worth listening to this LP again or even rediscovering it.’
However, ‘Body Wishes’ did not go down well with the press. ‘No wonder,‘ believes Andre: “The influx of electronics and synthesizers into music, especially in rock, still guarantees a lot of negativity from writers, critics and cultural analysts today.” And it fits the picture when the online portal “AllMusic” writes: “It's clear that ”Body Wishes’ is one of Rod Stewart's worst albums.’
However, it can't have been that bad, because ‘Body Wishes’ went gold three times and platinum twice. The album really took off in Germany in particular – as did the single ‘Baby Jane’, which climbed to number one and remains Rod's last number one in good old Germany to this day. Body Wishes made it to number two in the charts and landed at a strong seventh place in the German annual charts for 1983. The album also made it into the top 10 in the Netherlands (number 6), Sweden (number 3) and the UK (number 5).
My personal conclusion: media criticism aside, ‘Body Wishes’ remains one of my favourite albums, partly because I associate so many fond memories with the songs. Rod wanted to go with the trend in the 1980s, and that included things like synth music. Even if it's not to everyone's taste. And let's be honest, none of us can imagine life without ‘Baby Jane’ anymore, can we?

Tracklist BODY WISHES

1. "Dancin' Alone"
2. "Baby Jane"
3. "Move Me"
4. "Body Wishes"
5. "Sweet Surrender"
6. "What Am I Gonna Do (I'm So in Love with You)"
7. "Ghetto Blaster"
8. "Ready Now"
9. "Strangers Again"
10. "Satisfied"