Massive Music List

We counted down the Stones’ complete 1970’s studio catalog, and now we take on the band’s output during the decadent decade of the 1980’s. This period found the Stones sometimes funky, sometimes fiery, but always feisty. Keep in mind, the countdown

The complete list to date.

The Last Five:

35. “Too Rude” (from Dirty Work)

34. “Down In The Hole” (from Emotional Rescue)

33. “Heaven” (from Tattoo You)

32. “Indian Girl” (from Emotional Rescue)

31. “Wanna Hold You” (from Undercover)

30. “Terrifying”

From Steel Wheels

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An interesting mix of jazzy music and bizarrely funny lyrics, “Terrifying” is an anything but scary mid-tempo number on Steel Wheels. The song is built on a simple two-note guitar riff backed up my minimal bass from Bill Wyman, but the sidemen get their chance to shine, especially Roddy Corimer’s fluttering trumpet and Chuck Leavell’s slinky organ.

But in the midst of the low-key arrangement comes Mick Jagger’s barrage of similes, which come together in sometimes hilarious fashion: “I’m sneaky as a snake/I’m dirty as a dog/I’m rutting like a goat/I’m horny as a hog”. The bottom line is that he’s a slave to his “strange desires,” and nothing is going to stop him from the object of those desires.

The song runs on a bit too long at the end, but it’s still a nice curve ball that might have been left off had Steel Wheels been released in the LP era. Score one for bloat.

29. “Slave”

From Tattoo You

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Although it was released on Tattoo You, “Slave” is more like the lost track from 1975’s Black And Blue. The song easily slides into that album’s jammy aesthetic and reliance on expert sidemen, which in this case includes the inimitable Billy Preston on keyboard, Pete Townshend on backing vocals, and Jeff Beck on…piano! What a session that must have been.

The song is essentially an instrumental bolstered by a grungy riff and Charlie Watts’ slow but steady beat. Jagger’s shouts of “Do it, do it!” comprise most of the lyrics, and then Sonny Rollins provides the coup de grace with a killer sax solo, overdubbed several years after the track was laid down.

This kind of alchemy is what Tattoo You is all about, crazy combinations and cast-off songs becoming classics. “Slave” traveled a weird road to get to wax, but it’s a worthy addition to Stones’ lore.

28. “It Must Be Hell”

From Undercover

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The closing track to the somewhat underrated 1983 album Undercover, “It Must Be Hell” sends the album out on a defiantly downbeat note. Jagger runs through a litany of the world’s problems, but then sings in the chorus as if he alone is unaffected: “Must be hell/Living in the world, suffering in the world like you.” The backing vocals are of the shout-along variety, giving the song the feel of an unlikely anthem.

On an album on which they occasionally traded in force for rhythm, “Hell” reverts to full-on, powerful rock. As Jagger chants the song out to its conclusion (“I say we, we ain’t gonna drown”), the band backs him with such conviction that you can easily believe him.

The one negative is that much of the song’s catchiness comes from its main chugging guitar riff, which is a pretty direct copy of Elton John’s “The Bitch Is Back.” Hey, it’s rock music, where everybody steals from everybody, so let’s not get carried away with blame. But “Hell” is so dependent on that riff that it becomes a bit of a distraction from what is otherwise an excellent closer.

27. “Little T&A”

From Tattoo You

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The less-than-enlightened view of women hasn’t aged quite as well as the sturdy rock that surrounds it. I think the coarser lines are mitigated somewhat by the fact that Keith Richards intended this song as a kind of tribute to a one-night stand who proves to have more to her than he first expected. But that subtext is easy to forget when the colorful language is flying.

Nonetheless, the song has proven to be one of Keith’s more enduring numbers, buoyed by great guitar work and Charlie Watts’ garbage-can snares. The interplay between the musicians is so smooth that it’s easy to take it for granted, until you realize that the Stones’ chemistry is simply impossible to replicate. That chemistry carries the day here, all political correctness aside.

26. “Rock And A Hard Place”

From Steel Wheels

LISTEN HERE  

This song scooted into the Top 25 in the U.S. charts, as the public responded favorably to the band’s brawny rock. I do think the production, while it may have helped court radio, is a bit tinny and takes some of the edge off the proceedings; I think a sparer, grittier approach might have served the song better in the long run.

That gloss on the production might grab attention, but it obscures one of the better sets of Jagger lyrics in the entire decade. Bemoaning the hypocrisy of those in power, Mick widens his view beyond the obvious political targets to include in his diatribe religious leaders “building dream churches/With silver spires.” The reality, he suggests, is far messier than the ideals being preached.

The song reaches an impressive climax when all the instruments fall away except for Charlie Watts’ thunderous beat and Bill Wyman’s nimble bassline. Jagger snarls his lyrics at that point with desperation creeping into his voice: “Give me truth now/Don’t want no sham.” The title might be a cliché, but, at that point, “Rock And A Hard Place” ascends into lofty territory that only the very best, like the Stones, can reach.

The complete list to date.

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