Rod’s little trip down memory lane: 2 July 1983

On the second day of the seventh month of 1983, Rod Stewart’s single Baby Jane reached number one in the UK singles chart and remained at the top for three weeks. The song was Rod’s sixth number-one hit in the UK and his most successful single since Da Ya Think I’m Sexy in 1978.

The track was released on 27 May 1983 as the second track and lead single from the album Body Wishes. The lyrics and music were penned by Rod and Jay Davis, the bassist and songwriter who worked with Stewart for many years.

Baby Jane also shot to number one in the charts in other European countries like a bolt of lightning, making it ‘the’ summer hit of the year, played over and over again on every conceivable radio station.

So whilst Baby Jane was going through the roof across the continent, the album as a whole received lukewarm reviews. The music magazine Rolling Stone called Body Wishes “Rod’s latest and certainly one of his weakest” albums. The online music portal AllMusic echoed this sentiment, describing Body Wishes as “Rod’s worst effort”.

Whilst the media pretty much tore the album to shreds, opinions amongst fans, on the other hand, were very divided. “Musically, one of his better albums,” wrote one fan. “Baby Jane is simply a brilliant song.”

“A cracking, raspy belter from Roddy,” said another. “A really good album featuring the world-class single Baby Jane.” But there were also critical voices amongst the fans. Another fan noted a “sense of boredom” and described Body Wishes as “beer tent music for when you’ve had three per mille”.