"Passion" by Rod Stewart

Top 10 Alert!

Song#:  0416
Date:  11/22/1980
Debut:  50
Peak:  5
Weeks:  20
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  A year before, Stewart divided record buyers and critics with his discofied "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?" single. The song hit #1 as did the album "Blonds Have More Fun," but critics were not kind to the album and loathed the dance tune. It was a far cry from his "Maggie May" days. His follow-up album wouldn't win them over either as Stewart moved away from disco and began to incorporate some new wave elements. This single scored well reaching #5, but the album broke his string of Top 10's peaking only at #12.

ReduxReview:  I didn't like the song back then and I haven't really warmed up to it much since. For a song called "Passion," it seems to kind of lack it. I don't hate it as much as I used to, but it is still just a bit of a boring groove with little going on. And his phrase "even the president needs" really kills the song for me. Not Rod's best moment by a longshot.

ReduxRating:  3/10

Trivia:  In the early 60's when Stewart was finding his musical way, he was initially considered for the lead singing job in a band that comprised of a few guys with whom Stewart had known from school. However, opinions about musical direction and Stewart's voice quickly made things difficult and the potential job slipped away. The band he almost sang lead with turned out later to be The Kinks.

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