In 1986, Rod Stewart scored a hit he later called “silly”. He now refuses to play it live

Rod Stewart’s 1986 hit “Love Touch” has become a song he rarely performs, and he later called it “one of the silliest songs” he had recorded. The story centres on a difference in how Stewart and its writer, Holly Knight, understood the lyrics, which shaped their views of the song.

Knight said she intended “love touch” as a tender gesture between people apart, but Stewart sang it as a boast about being the best lover his partner had had. She recalled that he initially thanked her and sent flowers after the song became a hit, while later saying she was “heartbroken” by his dismissal. The track appeared on Stewart’s greatest hits collections and was associated with the film *Legal Eagles*; Knight also played its steel drum parts using a Fairlight synthesiser.