The best song of the 1980s, according to Rod Stewart
Rod Stewart has been a fixture of the British music industry for upwards of six decades, at this point. During that extensive run, it is fair to say that old ‘Rod the Mod’ has not always had his finger quite so unwaveringly on the pulse. Still, that hasn’t stopped him from throwing his two pence in whenever convenient.
It was during the 1960s that the world was first introduced to Rod Stewart, first in the folk and blues club of London Town, before joining the Jeff Beck Group and finally making his mainstream breakthrough shortly thereafter, with Faces. In the many decades since that period, Stewart scaled the pop charts on numerous occasions, as well as playing at countless colossal shows all over the world – most recently at Glastonbury Festival 2025, but the less said about that performance, the better.
With that colossal success and the rockstar reputation that Stewart has only been too happy to lean into over the years, it is easy to describe the singer as out of touch with ordinary people. Going back as far as the 1970s, young artists and groups were forming in direct opposition to the grandiose nature of Stewart’s material, particularly during the punk rock boom of that period. Even still, the performer has often tried to connect with up-and-coming artists and tap into the listening habits of the younger generation.
Alright, it’s not as though Stewart is about to drop a collaboration with Dua Lipa, or lend his support to a fast-rising indie band from some provincial town in middle England, but it seems as though the musician has kept one ear on the radio at all times, even during the height of his lavish rockstar lifestyle. During the 1980s, for instance, he formed a potentially unlikely appreciation for the sounds of Country Durham sophisti-pop outfit, Prefab Sprout.
Originally formed in 1978, during the post-punk era of new wave and proto-indie pop, Prefab Sprout were in a league of their own for much of the 1980s. In an era which seemed to prioritise vapid, colourful pop guff, the County Durham group were stretching for something a little more expansive and experimental. Influenced heavily by the world of jazz and art pop, the group offered an entirely different take on the popular sounds of the 1980s, and Rod Stewart was among their many celebrity admirers.
In fact, during one appearance on BBC Radio 2, Stewart even highlighted their 1988 single ‘Cars and Girls’ among his favourite tracks of all time, declaring it “just gorgeous”. What’s more, the two seemingly disparate artists did eventually have some crossover, with Stewart adding, “Paddy McAloon has got a song on my new album, they wrote for me.” That track ended up being ‘Who Designed the Snowflake’ from Blood Red Roses, which topped the UK album chart back in 2018.
“Although we never met, we e-mail each other all the time,” Stewart continued. Heaping praise onto the masters of 1980s art-pop, he added, “This band, I’ll tell you, it’s just wonderful. He takes [his music] outside the rock and roll genre, it’s jazz almost. Long live Prefab Sprout!”
It is worth noting that the vast majority of Stewart’s other self-declared ‘favourite’ songs are old-school soul, R&B, and blues tracks from the 1960s and 1970s, so his adoption of the comparatively modern sounds of Prefab Sprout is certainly telling of just how deep his appreciation for the group runs.
