Paul (aka Tug) has recieved his World Cup Competion football signed by Rod and heres what he had to tell SMILER –
My liking for Rod Stewart started around the time I was 13 or 14. After school I used to babysit for my elder brother and his wife. My brother’s wife worked at Polydor Records in Ilford and used to bring these albums home from work that she was given or got cheap, mainly Slade and Rod Stewart. I used to listen to an Old Raincoat and Gasoline Alley and then along came Maggie. I first saw the Faces at East Ham Granada in November 1973 at age 15 and I vividly remember my elder brother warning me that Rod Stewart wouldn’t be there because he wasn’t part of the Faces.
Another memorable night, back then, was the night my younger brother Derek and I went to see the Faces at Lewisham Odeon (1974) and had to walk home to Hainault from Lewisham because we missed the last train (I was 16 he was 14) mainly because we waited at the stage door just to see the boys driven away in their limo.
Back then I also remember holding the mic of my cassette player up to the speaker of the TV to tape the Faces whenever appeared on top of the pops.
I managed to see the Faces 6 or 7 times in total and have been a regular on all of the Rod and Ronnie tours since.
Thanks to Smiler for organising this competition and the prize and thanks to Lotus at Rod’s management for arranging to have the football signed.
