The Rolling Stones

[RRA]

50 years and counting.

"One Hit (To the Body)" - Opening track from the 1986 album DIRTY WORK, 2nd (and final) single released from that album. Charted #28 in the U.S., but the band's first single to miss the UK Top 75. Guitar solo performed by Jimmy Page, who was visiting Ron Wood and asked what his band was working on. Music video (directed by Russell Mulcahy) features Mick Jagger and Keith Richards metaphorically (w/ fight footage) beating each other, making light of their real-life public animosity during this era.

[Blasty]

I'm really glad we can talk about the Stones because after awhile one does get a little tired talking about the Beatles LOL, even if they're superior. I LUV the Stones as well. And I really enjoy One Hit to the Body actually. Maybe not one of their absolute best but it's a good rock'n'roll song with a good beat. The album it comes from is their worst overall, of course, as it came during one of the infamous falling outs that Mick and Keith had - for just the 2nd album in their careers, Keith was basically in charge - the previous time that happened was Exile on Main Street, their arguable magnum opus masterpiece. Dirty Work unfortunately ended up on the other side of the critical spectrum of their oeuvre.

And LOL, only 2 singles released from this album is not surprising as well. I guess this hit the Stones' rep pretty hard at the time. I'm sure some fans left and never came back. The next album, Steel Wheels, was better, but not the homerune needed to erase the bad taste of Dirty Work. Dirty Workdefinitely signaled the end of a Stones album being a major brouhaha, that's for sure - I mean, some had probably given up on their albums being major releases starting with Emotional Rescue in 1980, I guess, the standard line being that Some Girls is their last great album ( I don't agree with that, but it is the hard line Stone purists take). Well, if their were any Stones hold outs left in the '80s who still believed in them putting out great albums, they likely vanished with the release of Dirty Work, that's for sure.

Just looking at the album cover is enough to make one retch over the careers of the Stones at this point giving way to '80s excesses:



I personally think the Stones began to recapture some of their mojo and cool with their 2 '90s releases which I though saw them actually sounding somewhat current with the musical soundscape without betraying their overall sound quite well. Vodoo Lounge and Bridges to Babylon may not be masterpieces but I thought the Stones showed they were quite viable and relevant again with those releases.

[RRA]

Well I started this thread off with "One Hit (To the Body)" because it's not just a track I'm very fond of, but even as a hit song (if a minor one) its rather obscure outside fandom. I don't believe any of the (countless) Stones compilations have included this. Plus it came from the 1980s, a period usually ignored whenever the Stones are discussed. I almost started this thread off instead with another 80s Stones hit single, one featured in some compilations that also had a music video where Keith and Mick have a physical confrontation (or in that case, Keith "shoots" Mick dead.) The Stones have done many tracks I really dig outside of their more familiar, greatest hits.

And really I could live happily without reading a new Stones song or album release review where the critic calls it "their best since ______!" Funny how EXILE ON MAIN STREET was once upon the last "great" Stones album, then it became SOME GIRLS, then TATTOO YOU. I've liked all the Stones albums since TY, even though to be rather honest the one from that period that I revisit the least is BRIDGES TO BABYLON. For whatever reason, it came off as a little too dry for me.

It reminds me of when Bowie album reviews after SCARY MONSTERS say "Best since SCARY MONSTERS!" or anything Paul McCartney does is considered his best since the 1970s, or likewise that Prince hasn't done anything good since the 1980s. Its all bullshit, they've (including the Stones) have done good songs and albums since their last perceive days from their so-called Golden Age. In my opinion, the great pop legends still put out good quality work. Its just you have to dig, and you will find gold.

[RRA]

"I Wanna Be Your Man" - The Stones' 2nd single released in November 1963, charting #12 in the UK, their then-biggest hit. Released in U.S. on March 1964 as B-side to "Not Fade Away." One of the few Stones tracks to feature only Brian Jones on backing vocals. Song written by Paul McCartney & John Lennon of the Beatles and given to the Stones by request of them (or their management, accounts vary) who wanted a hit. Reportedly the two came by the Stones' studio and hashed out the song in a half hour, in front of the stunned Stones. The Beatles would later record their own version of the song (vocals by Ringo Starr) for their album WITH THE BEATLES, released 3 weeks after the Stones' single. In his 1980 Playboy interview, Lennon dismissed this song as a "throwaway," and "we weren't going to give them anything great, right?"

[Blasty]

LMAO John, so snarky.

[RRA]

"Thru & Thru" - From the 1994 album VOODOO LOUNGE, credited to Mick Jagger & Keith Richards but in reality a Richards solo composition. Vocals by Richards. Acoustic guitar by his technician Pierre de Beaupont. Like several other album tracks, Charlie Watts recorded his drums in the studio stairwell. Memorably featured in an episode of THE SOPRANOS. Voted among the Top 100 Rolling Stones Songs by UltimateClassicRock.com, at #97.

[RRA]

Hey, remember when Mick Jagger went solo?

Maybe its just me, but...what the hell? Look at his face when the song starts. Whether its the lighting or (too much) eyeliner by Jagger, he just looks....unintentionally goofy. Adding to this comedy is Rae Dawn Chong acting an orgasm from watching Jagger Swagger like Jagger.

"Just Another Night" - Lead single from Mick Jagger's solo album debut SHE'S THE BOSS, released 1985. Topping the U.S. Mainstream Rock chart and #12 on the U.S. pop chart, peaking #6 in the U.K. Performed by Jagger in his set at the Live Aid concert, his first public solo performance. In '86, Jamaican reggae singer Patrick Alley sued Jagger over the song, claiming plagarism. (It should be noted that drummer Sly Dunbar coincidentally played on both Jagger and Alley songs.) The lawsuit was dismissed in '88.

[Aldo]

I started to seriously listen to the Stones rather recently, some three years ago. Need to see them before I die. I heard they're possibly making a World Tour soon, no?

I would travel to Mexico City just to see them.

[RRA]

I started to seriously listen to the Stones rather recently, some three years ago. Need to see them before I die. I heard they're possibly making a World Tour soon, no?

I would travel to Mexico City just to see them.

Rolling Stone magazine reported that they're doing dates later this year (at the earliest this summer) but otherwise no other details reported/announced so far. They had plans for Coachella, but that didn't pan out.

[RRA]

If the Stones do tour this year, don't. ever. rush. the. stage.



I don't know what's the best part, the actual guitar hit or Richards putting the guitar back on and back to business as if nothing happened.

~Would you believe Richards bailed that idiot out of jail?

[Patty]

I love how Richards tees him up and the guy just keeps coming. And that Jagger has enough confidence in Keef's ability that he never misses a word or a beat. This is the best thing I've seen all day.

[Disco Wolf]

For some reason this thread prompted me to acquire Dirty Work, Tattoo You, Sticky Fingers, Undercover, and Exile on Main Street. I'm very familiar with Some Girls (a favorite album of mine) and their greatest hits, but not necessarily their albums - so this has been fun! I thought Dirty Work was pretty great, and Tattoo You is amazing. I'll get into the rest this evening.