When We Were the New Boys

When We Were the New Boys is a studio album released by Rod Stewart on 29 May 1998 (see 1998 in music). It was Stewart's eighteenth studio album and was released on Warner Bros. Records (WEA 9362-46792-2). It produced the singles "Ooh La La", "Rocks", and "When We Were the New Boys".

Album information
When We Were the New Boys was the first album by Rod Stewart to not be released on vinyl. The album was recorded at Ollywood Studios (Hollywood, CA), Royaltone Studios (Burbank, CA), Ocean Way Recording (Hollywood, CA), Le Mobile (Carlsbad, CA), Beverly Park (Los Angeles), Satinwood Studios, and Record One (Sherman Oaks, CA).

The tracks are mostly covers, such as "Cigarettes & Alcohol" by Oasis, "Rocks" by Primal Scream, "Hotel Chambermaid" by Graham Parker, and "Superstar" by the band Superstar. Two ballads were included that were suggested by Elvis Costello: Ron Sexmith's "Secret Heart" and Nick Lowe's "Shelly My Love".

The album also includes "Ooh La La", a song recorded by Stewart's previous band the Faces. The Faces' version of the song was originally sung by the band's guitarist Ronnie Wood; Stewart recorded the song for When We Were the New Boys as a tribute to the song's co-author, Faces bassist Ronnie Lane, who had died in 1997 shortly before the album's release.

Charts
When We Were the New Boys rallied to #2 in the UK where it went gold on 15 June 1998. In the US the album would reach #44 on the charts.

Track listing

 * 1) "Cigarettes and Alcohol" (Noel Gallagher) – 4:03
 * 2) "Ooh La La" (Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane) – 4:15
 * 3) "Rocks" (Bobby Gillespie, Andrew Innes, Robert Young) – 4:45
 * 4) "Superstar" (Joseph McAlinden) – 4:21
 * 5) "Secret Heart" (Ron Sexsmith) – 4:07
 * 6) "Hotel Chambermaid" (Graham Parker) – 3:49
 * 7) "Shelly My Love" (Nick Lowe) – 3:38
 * 8) "When We Were the New Boys" (Rod Stewart, Kevin Savigar) – 4:39
 * 9) "Weak" (Deborah Dyer, Martin Kent, Robbie France, Richard Lewis) – 4:38
 * 10) "What Do You Want Me to Do?" (Mike Scott) – 3:36
 * 11) "Careless With Our Love" (Rod Stewart) (bonus track on Japanese release)

Personnel

 * Rod Stewart – lead vocals
 * Oliver Leiber – guitar (1, 2, 3, 6, 9), lead guitar (4), backing vocals (6), acoustic guitar (10)
 * John Shanks – guitar (1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 9), electric mandolin (2), horn arrangements (3), acoustic guitar (4, 5, 7, 10), electric guitar (4), slide guitar (5), backing vocals (6), harmonica (10)
 * Michael Landau – electric guitar (4, 7)
 * Jeff Baxter – acoustic guitar (4), pedal steel guitar (4, 6), electric guitar (7)
 * Kevin Savigar – horn arrangements (1, 3), accordion (2), organ (2, 5), keyboards (4, 7-10), bass (4), drum programming (7, 8)
 * Jeff Paris – acoustic piano (6), backing vocals (6)
 * Lance Morrison – bass (1, 2, 3, 5-10)
 * David Palmer – drums (1-4, 6-10)
 * Paulinho Da Costa – maracas (1, 3), percussion (7)
 * Caroline Corr – bodhrán (2)
 * Rick Braun – trumpet (1, 3)
 * Nick Lane – trombone (1, 3)
 * Jimmy Roberts – tenor saxophone (1, 3)
 * Sharon Corr – fiddle (2)
 * Richard Greene – fiddle (6)
 * Andrea Corr – penny whistle (2)
 * Eric Rigler – low whistle (8)
 * Suzie Katayama – cello (9)
 * Steve Richards – cello (9)
 * Daniel Smith – cello (9)
 * Sue Ann Carwell – backing vocals (1, 3, 5, 7), tambourine (3)
 * Jacki Simley – backing vocals (1, 3, 5, 7)
 * Richard Page – backing vocals (2)
 * Will Wheaton – backing vocals (4)
 * Dee Harvey – backing vocals (5, 7, 8)
 * Lamont Van Hook – backing vocals (5, 7, 8)
 * Fred White – backing vocals (5, 7, 8)
 * Jeff Pescetto – backing vocals (6)

Production

 * Producer – Rod Stewart
 * Co-Producer – Kevin Savigar
 * Additional Production – Chris Lord-Alge
 * Executive Producer and Liner Notes – Rob Dickins
 * Engineers – Barry Rudolph (Tracks 1 & 3-10); Steve Harrison (Tracks 2, 9 & 10); Charlie Bouis (Track 4).
 * Assistant Engineers – Greg Collins, Jim Horetski, Allan Sanderson, Rafa Sardina and Jeff Thomas.
 * Mixed by Chris Lord-Alge at Image Recording Studios (Los Angeles, CA), assisted by Michael Dy.
 * Mastered by Doug Sax at The Mastering Lab (Hollywood, CA).
 * Artwork – Ed Fotheringham
 * Art Direction and Design – Lawrence Azerrad
 * Photography – Ken Sharp
 * Management – Annie Challis and Arnold Stiefel at Stiefel Entertainment.