Ain't Love a Bitch

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"Ain't Love a Bitch"
AintLoveaBitch.jpg
Single by Rod Stewart
from the album Blondes Have More Fun
B-side
  • "Last Summer" (US)
  • "Scarred and Scared" (UK)
ReleasedJanuary 1979
Genre Rock and roll
Length4:39
Label Riva Records (UK), Warner Bros. (rest of the world)
Songwriter(s) Gary Grainger, Rod Stewart
Producer(s) Tom Dowd
Rod Stewart singles chronology
"Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?"
(1978)		"Ain't Love a Bitch"
(1979)		"Blondes (Have More Fun)"
(1979)

"Ain't Love a Bitch" is a song written by Gary Grainger and Rod Stewart. Stewart released it on his 1978 album Blondes Have More Fun , and it was one of four songs on the album co-written by Stewart and Grainger. [1] The song was released as a single in 1979, reaching #11 on the UK charts, and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in the United States. [2] [3] [4] [5] It spent 8 weeks on the UK charts and 6 weeks on the US charts. [3] [6] The song also reached the Top Ten in several countries, including Ireland. [7] Billboard magazine placed Stewart #7 on its list of the Top Single Artists of 1979 on the strength of "Ain't Love a Bitch" and its predecessor, "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". [8]

Contents

Stewart performed the song on Dave Allen's Dave Allen at Large . [9] A video of the song was included on the DVD included in the deluxe editions of the compilation album Some Guys Have All the Luck / The Definitive Rod Stewart. [10]

Music and lyrics

Stewart biographer Sean Egan described the music as having "gentle, melodious and sprightly tones". [11] Record World described the rhythm as "light" and said that Stewart's vocals "have a music hall quality." [12]

Egan described the lyrics as "detailing...the vicissitudes of romance" and recognizing that some of the singer's suffering in romance is due to the fact that he can't grow up. [11] The lyrics of one verse refer back to Stewart's earlier hit single "Maggie May", describing a woman who took the singer's virginity at 17 and "made a first class fool out of [him]", and ending with the line "Oh Maggie if you're still out there the rest is history." [11]

Background

Rolling Stone critic Janet Maslin excoriated the song as being "unexpectedly sensitive, with a soft, strum-along melody and a bunch of namby-pamby characters doo-doo-doing a background chorus while Stewart croons about old girlfriends." [13] She further criticizes the song for taking material that could have been tough and making it sound "like the 1400th cover version of 'I Left My Heart in San Francisco.'" [13] CD Review commented on the references within "Ain't Love a Bitch" to Stewart's earlier song "Maggie May", describing the music as "bouncy". [14] High Fidelity objected to the lyrics blaming women for love's problems. [15] The Albany Herald also noted that the song is autobiographical, and incorporates elements from Stewart's "musical and personal past." [16] Stereo Review described the song as a "repellent frat-house love song". [17] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Allmusic described the song as being in the same mold as "Da Ya Think I'm Sexy?". [18] Author Barry Alan Farber described the line "Ain't we all a little juvenile" as encapsulating the way people retain pieces of their adolescence into adulthood. [19] Cash Box called it a "return to the...balladeering of 'Tonight's The Night'" after the disco success of "Do Ya Think I'm Sexy" and said the song has "gentle, soothing acoustic guitar work, strings, and light drumming." [20]

Chart performance

Chart (1979)Peak
position
Ireland (IRMA) [21] 5
UK Singles (The Official Charts Company)11
US Billboard Hot 100 22

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References

  1. ↑ Ewbank, T.; Hildred, S. (2005). Rod Stewart: The New Biography. Citadel Press. pp. 174–175. ISBN   978-0-8065-2644-7.
  2. ↑ Lazell, B. (1989). Rock Movers and Shakers. Billboard Publications. p. 286. ISBN   978-0-8230-7608-6.
  3. 1 2 "The Official Charts - Rod Stewart". The Official Charts. Retrieved 22 August 2011.
  4. ↑ "Billboard Hits of the World". Billboard Magazine . 3 March 1979.
  5. ↑ "Blondes Have More Fun Billboard singles". Allmusic . Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  6. ↑ Whitburn, J. (1985). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits. Billboard Publications. p.  305. ISBN   978-0-8230-7518-8.
  7. ↑ "The Irish Charts - All There Is To Know". irishcharts.ie. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Top Single Artists of 1979". 22 December 1979.
  9. ↑ "TV Guide". Vol. 28. 1980. p. 26.
  10. ↑ "The Definitive Rod Stewart". Allmusic . Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  11. 1 2 3 Egan, Sean (2023). Rod Stewart: The Classic Years. Backbeat. p. 176–177. ISBN   9781493068227.
  12. ↑ "Hits of the Week" (PDF). Record World. 28 April 1979. p. 1. Retrieved 30 January 2025.
  13. 1 2 Maslin, J. (8 February 1979). "Blondes Have More Fun". Rolling Stone . Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  14. ↑ "Ain't Love a Bitch". Vol. 8, no. 1–6. CD Review. 1991. p. xliii.
  15. ↑ "Ain't Love a Bitch". Vol. 29, no. 1–6. High Fidelity. 1979. p. 294.
  16. ↑ United Press International (31 January 1979). "Rockers Modify Attitude Towards Disco". The Albany Herald . p. 11.
  17. ↑ "Ain't Love a Bitch". Vol. 42. Stereo Review. 1979. p. 130.
  18. ↑ Erlewine, S.T. "Blondes Have More Fun". Allmusic . Retrieved 23 August 2011.
  19. ↑ Farber, B.A. (2007). Rock 'n' roll wisdom: what psychologically astute lyrics teach about life. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 110. ISBN   978-0-275-99164-7.
  20. ↑ "CashBox Singles Reviews" (PDF). Cash Box. 28 April 1979. p. 17. Retrieved 1 January 2022.
  21. ↑ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Ain't Love a Bitch". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
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