Song of the Day 5/13: The Faces, “Ooh La La”
Some rock stars wear their opposition to Donald Trump on their sleeves. Rod Stewart is not one of them. Yet Sir Rod has made clear his opinion of his erstwhile Florida neighbor.
Back in January, when Trump’s blustering ignorance led him to say NATO troops had “stayed a little back, little off the front lines” in Afghanistan, Stewart responded with an open-letter video statement to Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage.
I may just be a humble rock star. I’m also a knight of the realm, and I have my opinions. I was born just after [World War II], and have great respect for our armed forces that fought and gave us our freedom. So, it hurts me badly, deeply, when I read that the draft dodger Trump has criticized our troops in Afghanistan for not being on the front line.
We lost over 400 of our guys. Think of their parents. Think about it! And Trump calls ’em almost like cowards. It’s unbearable. So I’m calling on you, Prime Minister Starmer and Farage. Please, make the draft dodger Trump apologize, please.”
Stewart made anti-Trump headlines again Monday night when he met King Charles in the receiving line at the annual Kings Trust Concert in London. Charles caused a bit of a stir on his U.S. visit late last month with some pointed jokes at Trump’s expense, and Stewart let him know it was appreciated. Video captured him saying, “May I say, well done in the Americas. You were superb, absolutely superb … put that little ratbag in his place.”
The king’s back was to the camera, so his response is unknown, but Stewart responded, “Exactly, that’s it – it went right over his head, right over his head.”
Stewart performed at the charity concert with Ronnie Wood in what was billed as a Faces reunion, something both have discussed as a possibility for the past year, though bassist Ronnie Lane and organist Ian McLagan are long gone. Backed by Jools Holland’s band, they played two songs, the rockabilly classic “Good Rockin’ Tonight” and this Wood-Lane composition.
“Ooh La La” was the closing song on the band’s final album before Stewart departed for a solo career and Wood joined the Rolling Stones, and was Wood’s only lead vocal with the band. Both Stewart and Lane tried recording it but didn’t like the result before producer Glyn Johns suggested Wood give it a go.
The song was released as a single but didn’t chart until Stewart covered it in 1998 as a tribute to Lane, who died in 1997 of complications of multiple sclerosis. That version squeaked into the Top 40 at No. 39.
