Rod Stewart — I Was Only Joking

JUL 01 1978 · 12:00

Rod Stewart — I Was Only Joking (1978) Director: Bruce Gowers Era: Late 1970s Classic Rock / Confessional Ballad Era (1977–1978) - Transitional period when Rod Stewart moved from raw Faces-era rock into polished arena-ready soft rock storytelling, coinciding with the early pre-MTV promo clip culture in the UK. High archival value as a confirmed Bruce Gowers-directed artifact from his most formative promo period, bridging his Queen work and his US relocation. The video's extreme low-brightness, zero-cut, near-static form is a rare quantitatively pure example of the mood-first UK promo clip aesthetic. Combined with the song's biographical and cultural significance — a Top 5 UK hit with documented autobiographical roots — this makes it a Tier 1.5 preservation priority for collections focused on 1970s British rock visual culture. Context: Released in January 1978 as the third single from Rod Stewart's 1977 album Foot Loose & Fancy Free, 'I Was Only Joking' represents a pivotal confessional turn in Stewart's career — a semi-autobiographical reckoning with youthful recklessness, broken promises, and personal regret co-written with guitarist Gary Grainger. The song references Stewart's real-life relationship with Susannah Boffey and alludes to an unacknowledged daughter given up for adoption in 1963. The video's dark, sepia-toned, near-static visual aesthetic mirrors the song's introspective weight and stands as an artifact of the UK promo clip tradition predating MTV — produced when record labels relied on short filmed performances rather than narrative videos to promote singles on programs like Top of the Pops. The chart success (UK No. 5 as double A-side with 'Hot Legs'; US No. 22) placed it at the intersection of mainstream rock and emerging adult-contemporary sensibilities. Director notes: Confirmed on IMDb (tt11295574) as directed by Bruce Gowers, with a January 1978 UK release date and a 6-minute runtime. The video was produced during Gowers' most prolific UK promo period, immediately following his breakthrough Queen work and coinciding with his transition to the US market. Gowers had a strong working relationship with Rod Stewart, directing multiple Stewart promos including 'D'Ya Think I'm Sexy?', 'The Killing of Georgie', 'I Don't Want to Talk About It', and 'Young Turks'. He relocated to the US partly via his Stewart collaborations — notably meeting his future wife Carol Rosenstein on the shoot for Stewart's 'Tonight's the Night.' The quantitative data (0 scene changes, brightness 35.88/255, motion 3.22) is consistent with Gowers' early promo style: simple, mood-first, performance-anchored clips with minimal editorial intervention. The video was later featured in the 1991 MTV Rockumentary on Rod Stewart.