Once Upon a Time in the Top Spot: “I Don’t Want to Talk About It” / “The First Cut is the Deepest”

38 years ago today, Rod Stewart had a double A-side hit the top of the U.K. charts, which is an impressive but not unheard-of feat, but there’s an added twist in this instance: the songs were from different albums.

Just to be obstinate, let’s start off by talking about “I Don’t Want to Talk About It,” a track written by Danny Whitten and originally recorded for Crazy Horse’s self-titled debut, released in 1971. Stewart recorded the song for his 1975 album, Atlantic Crossing, but when the album was released, its first big hit single was “Sailing,” which topped the UK charts in September of that year, and it was soon followed by “This Old Heart of Mine,” which provided Stewart with a second top-five hit from the album.

The following year, Stewart returned with another new album, A Night on the Town, and once again he secured a pair of huge hit singles in the UK: “Tonight’s the Night (Gonna Be Alright),” which hit #5, and “The Killing of Georgie (Part 1 and II),” which hit #2. Oh, right, and the album also featured Stewart taking a stab at a cover of a 1967 song by Cat Stevens called “The First Cut is the Deepest.”

Here’s the funny thing, though: even though it had been out for a year by that point, Atlantic Crossing still had some life left in it…or, more specifically, “Sailing” still had some life left in it, returning to the UK top five for a second time as a result of its use as the theme of a new BBC series entitled Sailor.

Now, we don’t have confirmation of this, but we’d guess that it was at this point that Warner Brothers said, “You know, if people are interested in both albums, then let’s issue a double A-side single that features a song from each!” Or maybe they didn’t say that at all. It’s not like we were privy to the discussion that resulted in the “I Don’t Want to Talk About It” / “The First Cut is the Deepest” single. All we know is that it was a move that paid off handsomely for both Stewart and his label, as the single promptly went to the top of the UK charts.