He had some very unusual hits in the mid 70’s including Year of the Cat and Time Passages.
He sure sounds like he could be a DL poster but is apparently straight.
He did really bad video, really geeeky. I've tried to find it but gave up.
| by Anonymous | reply 1 | July 4, 2020 11:25 AM |
OMG I hated that song!
| by Anonymous | reply 2 | July 4, 2020 11:34 AM |
A friend of a friend tours with him ( until covid kiboshed tours this March) he still travels around performing in the US and UK. He is supposed to be super nice and enjoys throwing down some good wine.
| by Anonymous | reply 3 | July 4, 2020 11:37 AM |
R2 mentions his 'creepy voice' - I understand why you might think so but I think it is distinctive and soothing. I love his music. Never saw him in concert, just own his CDs and listen often.
| by Anonymous | reply 4 | July 4, 2020 12:56 PM |
He is an interesting, unique artist. He was known for telling elaborate stories with his songs. A lot of his songs were basically little history lessons set to music, which was a good thing for me as a kid. For instance, one of his songs mentioned Robespierre. I had no idea who Robespierre was, so I went and looked it up in the encyclopedia, and learned something. That's just one of many instances in which I actually learned things listening to Al Stewart.
His voice was something I tolerated rather than loved. Very nasal, very limited in range and tone, but at least he sang on key. A lot of people hate his voice. I remember reading an interview with the guy from the Pet Shop Boys when they first came out with "West End Girls", and the interviewer asked him whether he was influenced by Al Stewart, because he sounded so much like him. I don't recall the exact response, but he seemed very annoyed by the comparison. (Al Stewart was much more successful in America than in his native UK).
As a kid, I thought he sounded gay, but then I heard him being interviewed on the radio, and for some ungodly reason the topic went to sex and I distinctly remember Al saying the words "if it's with a girl, I'll do it". I can still hear him saying that in my head. I think it stuck with me for two reasons: one, Al Stewart was not an attractive guy, his music was cerebral and not sexy in any way, so it was jarring to me to think of him in that context. And two, it was sort of an indirect acknowledgement that sex between men was a thing that actually existed. I knew it already (I was a huge David Bowie fan after all), but it was still fairly unusual to hear it referenced at all in the media, even in such an oblique way.
| by Anonymous | reply 5 | July 4, 2020 1:53 PM |