Still, we haven't heard HMS' say on this. He's a bona fide Dirty Work connoisseur. So I will wait for his professional opinion about this one.

Since I am completely obsessed with DW - their most underrated album, but still one of their best - my opinion of course is far from being "professional".

Well, I love everything about Winning Ugly, it is a great, great song and it is a pity they never performed it live, it could have been awesome. Winning Ugly has power, steam, sweat, passion and swagger. Winning Ugly is a real winner, it is superb although it isnt even the best track on fabulous DW.

I guess it is a Mick-penned number that doesnt made it on a solo-album but it works brilliantly in the Stones-environment. It is 80s-sounding indeed but not too much compared with REAL 80s-sounding songs of that time. In a word: highly recommended.

Here it is. Not exactly the way I remember it but all the same: [www.youtube.com]

On a rather moderate album, to me "Winning Ugly" emerges as one of the very best and most appealing songs. My idea of it is somehow the Rolling Stones making a kind of commercial Tamla Motown soul song of the '60s. In the vein of an average Holland - Dozier - Holland type of song given to Diana Ross and the Supremes, who by the way in their time was a marvellous pop music song group. A glimpse of such qualities to me is the attraction of "Winning Ugly".

If an album called "The Rollong Stones: The Worst songs" have existed, "Winning Ugly" would have been the singel from the album !!

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GimmieAnswers
If an album called "The Rollong Stones: The Worst songs" have existed, "Winning Ugly" would have been the singel from the album !!

Actually it was a single, but only in CAN.

Had it been a brass section instead of the synths it would have been much better. I like it, though!

Worst of the worst.

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Blueranger
Worst of the worst.

Still better than Mick´s first two solo-albums, still better than most Steel-Wheels-songs. If you ask me, Winning Ugly is a classic.

Boy that is some stretch of propaganda labeling Winning Ugly as a classic. No way. A classic is a song your proud to share with others to showcase the talent of The Rolling Stones. This song is an embarrassment. And I never consciously chose to play the song, or Dirty Work for that matter (though there are a few songs that are good, One Hit, Harlem Shuffle, Sleep Tonight, and Had it With You are good, but not great).

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HMS

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Blueranger
Worst of the worst.

Still better than Mick´s first two solo-albums, still better than most Steel-Wheels-songs. If you ask me, Winning Ugly is a classic.

I hope you are kidding.
A more dated song than this one, are hard to find and it's far from being a classic.

I thought it was a great sports song lyrically, and I often think about it.

I was brought up to cheat
So long as the referee wasn't looking
I'm never wrong at all
I always fight the call
I don't admit it
But back in the dressing room
The other side is screaming
And we're winning, winning ugly, yeah
And we're winning, winning ugly

Most of the whole album suffers from not enough attention, and in parts sounds so dated it's like Phil Collins produced it. But there's little nuggets of genius.

Not a classic probably. But a great, unique track. Far better than rnr shit like Where The Boys Go or Sparks Will Fly.

terrible lyrics, terrible song, terrible album.

I would say terrible, dated 80s production, too....but even the best production and mixing could help this song. I piece of dung covered in diamonds is still a piece of dung.

OK, I went back and listened to it again. Not as horrible as I thought -- it has a catchy hook.
But the '80s feel is excruciating. It makes me feel like watching Top Gun on the video, lol.
Maybe if they had recorded it in a humid basement in the south of France it might have sounded better.

We're still missing Mr Gaslightstreet's opinion here. After that we're done.

I actually like "Winning Ugly". It has a Marvin Gaye Motown type vibe. Brutal but true lyrics.

On the other hand is "Back To Zero", also a true title - as it is a negative number, getting back to zero would be an improvement.

I love this song, I don't care what anyone says.

London mix FTW!

[www.youtube.com]

Dirty Work live on stage, Toronto, 1989! : [www.youtube.com]

The 12" mixes and the outtake suggest a better song than what we ended up getting.

"I will not walk so proud
Come down from off my cloud"




After having heard it, it's a song you can't unhear, try as you might.

WOW. Jagger sounds horrendous. And the keyboards sound like a cheesy 80s bar band with Go Go's videos playing in the background. The horror. The horror.

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Rocky Dijon
The 12" mixes and the outtake suggest a better song than what we ended up getting.

No. The only version that I can stomach is the bootleg.

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whitem8
WOW. Jagger sounds horrendous. And the keyboards sound like a cheesy 80s bar band with Go Go's videos playing in the background. The horror. The horror.

I think the best way to try to appreciate this song is separate the way it was produced (and indeed the awfully cheesy 80's sound of the keyboards (which should have been a brass-section as someone mentioned before)) from the basic song itself and imagine how it could have sounded if it had been played well and produced well.
And I think the song's melody, chords, guitar-work, and bassline all potentially could have made a great groovy song. I think Mick's voice is alright and the lyrics, although simple, are still okay. I like the line "back in the dressing room, the other side is weeping/screaming".
The way it ended up, I prefer singing the verses in my head than listening to the actual song.

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HMS

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Blueranger
Worst of the worst.

Still better than Mick´s first two solo-albums, still better than most Steel-Wheels-songs. If you ask me, Winning Ugly is a classic.

Well, I disagree, because at least you have to consider

[www.youtube.com]

Strictly Memphis should have been released instead

If you ask me, Winning Ugly is a classic.

Yep, it's certainly Dirty work for real...

2 1 2 0

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24FPS
I thought it was a great sports song lyrically, and I often think about it.

I was brought up to cheat
So long as the referee wasn't looking
I'm never wrong at all
I always fight the call
I don't admit it
But back in the dressing room
The other side is screaming
And we're winning, winning ugly, yeah
And we're winning, winning ugly

I am trying to think of a song, by any artist, with more embarrassing lyrics... the only thing that comes to mind is:

"we don't have to take our ... clothes off ...
to have a good time ... ah huh"

The sound of shining a turd, Keith's guitaring. Probably tricked into it.

Horrible. Terrible lyrics, horrible production. This song should stand as a grand embarrassment to any true Stones fan.

Of course, it's fitting that it's on the worst (and the embarrassing) album by the Stones. Someone thought it was a good idea to release it as a single in Canada with remixes.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016-04-27 21:13 by GasLightStreet.

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LeonidP

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24FPS
I thought it was a great sports song lyrically, and I often think about it.

I was brought up to cheat
So long as the referee wasn't looking
I'm never wrong at all
I always fight the call
I don't admit it
But back in the dressing room
The other side is screaming
And we're winning, winning ugly, yeah
And we're winning, winning ugly

I am trying to think of a song, by any artist, with more embarrassing lyrics... the only thing that comes to mind is:

"we don't have to take our ... clothes off ...
to have a good time ... ah huh"

"You think you are a patriot. I think you are a crock of sh**"

"Let's work, be proud, stand tall, touch the cloud"

"I hope you find it funny, that I ain't got no money"

To just name a few...