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This one, I remember. And I remember that even then I knew who Rod Stewart was; at any rate I had an idea who he was, which was obviously based on the sort of person he seemed to be at that time, and I probably thought he was American too. I thought all rock stars were American unless I knew they weren't.
In retrospect, Stewart's last Number One single plays a bit like an attempt to recapture his first ones; like 'Maggie May' and 'You Wear It Well' it's a second-person monologue, in which Rod is nominally addressing some sort of femme fatale character, although in no case do you really believe that he'd say any of this out loud to her, if he even could. Our "Jane" here seems reminiscent of the social-climbing characters from 'Out Of Time' or '(I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone', at least in the minds of their respective narrators. But for perhaps the last time in his career, Rod Stewart appears to acknowledge the passage of time, his protagonist here coming over as somewhat more mature than Maggie's toyboy. He's "said goodbye so many times the situation ain't all that new," and he can probably afford his own pool cue too. Thus the tone is more rueful than mortally wounded - yes, he reminds Jane that he knows secrets about her, but he doesn't seem to be rushing to divulge them in any way, just taking a deep breath and (in the chorus) hoping for better luck next time. The material's interesting enough to inspire one of his better vocal performances too, although it can't stop him doing that odd look left-look right dance in the video.
It's unfortunate that the rest of the song doesn't seem to deliver on the promise of the singing, with its muddy post-disco production and that awful sax solo. It's interested me enough to want to hear Belle & Sebastian's version, which I'm guessing isn't delivered in quite the same style. This doesn't add up to one of his best records, but I don't think he's done anything better since.
And in case anybody asks, I did assume this song was named after the film Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? but I've never seen it.
Also appearing on: Now 38 [N-Trance featuring Rod Stewart]
Available on:Some Guys Have All The Luck [2CD + DVD]
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