DAN BAIRD : Ex-Georgia Satellite Punctuates Retro-Rock With Humor

Singer-songwriter Dan Baird, who bailed out of roots-rock band Georgia Satellites about two years ago, was lamenting recently about the death of three-chord rock.

But on his first solo album, “Love Songs for the Hearing Impaired,” he’s done his best to revive it--the record is full of rowdy retro-rock.

“I’m nuts about that music,” said the self-proclaimed good ol’ boy in a booming drawl. “I’m hoping there’s enough roots-rock fans out there as nutty as I am.”

There are enough to boost the album’s first single, the rollicking “I Love You Period,” into the pop Top 30. Baird cranks out party-hearty, guitar-driven macho rock, with ribald humor defusing some of the locker-room sexism on songs such as “Dixie Beauxderaunt,” about a wet T-shirt contest, and “Knocked Up,” a tawdry tale of unintentional pregnancy.

“It’s all in fun, not meant to offend,” insisted Baird, 39. “If you can’t take a joke, this ain’t your kind of album.”

Through the ‘80s Baird was front man for the Satellites, a band he helped form in 1980. Just one major hit single, “Keep Your Hands to Yourself,” came out of three albums on Elektra Records. In 1991, with the Satellites sinking slowly, Baird called it quits.

“My heart wasn’t in it anymore,” said the San Diego native who was raised in Atlanta and now lives in Adolphus, Ky. “It was time to do something fresh.”

Through former Satellites guitarist Brendan O’Brien, now an engineer for Def American Records, Baird met Rick Rubin, the label’s noted head man. The result: a solo deal with the company, with O’Brien producing the debut album.

Recording the album was fun, Baird recalled, except for the times he and Rubin were butting heads. The most memorable battle was over the inclusion of ballads on the album--Baird for and Rubin against. Rubin won.

“Rick stopped me cold by telling me he knew 150 artists who could sing ballads better than me,” Baird says. “I was in a rage for a while, but I realized he was right. The album really is better as an all-out rock fest.”