1976 Songs: The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II)

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Having fun in the 80s? Let’s go back even further to the 1970s! Now we’re looking at songs that are — can you believe it — half a century old now! Today’s artist represents the good and the bad of 1976, because he had both. The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II) - Rod Stewart It’s Rod the Bod! The bad was the “big single” from this big Rod Stewart album: “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright).” Sheesh, I hate that song. Yes, “hate” is a strong word, and I rarely use it. But I HATE that song. The album had some great songs (I love his cover of Gib Guibeau’s “Big Bayou”), but “Tonight’s the Night”…ick. And believe it or not, it was #1 for nine weeks. The good, however, was this song. (So was the other single, Stewart’s cover of the Cat Stevens song “The First Cut Is the Deepest”). Wow, this is a great story song. The song is based on a true story of the murder of a friend of Stewart’s from his days with Faces (the band). Stewart has never revealed the name of the real person behind the song. And, while the backstory of “Georgie” leaving home deals with being ostracized by his father (“how can my son not be straight after all I’ve said and done for him?”), the murder is clearly NOT a “hate crime” (“a New Jersey gang with just one aim, to roll some innocent passerby;” “a leather kid, a switchblade knife, he did not intend to take his life”). This song was just three years removed from the UpStairs Lounge fire in New Orleans, where the press found it perfectly acceptable to print slurs about the gays who died in the fire. Here Stewart described it straightforwardly: “Georgie boy was gay, I guess, nothing more or nothing less.” As for the music, Stewart has admitted to lifting a little from Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side” (the “do de-do, de-do” part and the opening bass line are definite nods to that classic); additionally, he humorously admitted that the lawyers missed an opportunity to sue for plagiarism over “Part II,” which is lifted note-for-note from the Beatles’ “Don’t Let Me Down.” (Watch it, Rod, there aren’t any statute of limitations on those things! ) This is one of the best story songs of the 70s, and one of my favorite Rod Stewart songs. The Killing of Georgie (Part I and II) Written by Rod Stewart Recorded by Rod Stewart From A Night on the Town, 1976 Youth’s a mask but it don’t last: