A Night on the Town is Rod Stewart's seventh album, released on June 18th, 1976. The cover art is based on Pierre-Auguste Renoir's painting Bal du moulin de la Galette, with Stewart inserted in the centre in period costume. On 30 June 2009, Rhino reissued the album as a two-disc CD with bonus tracks. A Night on the Town was Stewart's last UK number-one studio album until Time in 2013.
The album is regarded as one of Stewart's finest. "The Killing of Georgie" is one of Stewart's most hard-hitting sets of lyrics, a melancholic tale of a gay friend who is cast out by his family and becomes a sensation in the New York nightlife, only to be murdered by a New Jersey gang during an attempted robbery. Controversial "Tonight's the Night" was a No. 1 hit but was banned by some radio stations due to the very obvious lyrics about sex and loss of virginity. A cover of Cat Stevens' "The First Cut Is the Deepest" was also a success and has since become one of Stewart's signature songs.
Track listing Original release
2009 re-release
Personnel Rod Stewart – vocals Donald Dunn, Bob Glaub, David Hood, Lee Sklar, Willie Weeks – bass guitar Pete Carr, Steve Cropper, Jesse Ed Davis, David Lindley, Billy Peek, Fred Tackett, Joe Walsh – guitar Barry Beckett, David Foster, John Barlow Jarvis, J. Smith – keyboards Roger Hawkins, Al Jackson Jr., Andy Newmark, Rick Shlosser – drums Joe Lala, Tommy Vig – percussion Jimmy Horowitz, Mel Lewis, Arif Mardin – string arrangements Tower of Power horn section – French horn Plas Johnson, Jerry Jumonville – tenor saxophone
Charts
Weekly charts Chart (1976–77) Peak position Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) 1 Finnish Albums (The Official Finnish Charts) 29Japanese Albums (Oricon) 23
Year-end charts Chart (1976) Peak position Australia Albums (Kent Music Report) 2 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) 46 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 2 UK Albums (OCC) 5 Chart (1977) Peak position Australia Albums (Kent Music Report) 14 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) 3 US Billboard 200 31
Certifications
References