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windmelody
These solo clips of Jagger`s are not bad - they are decent pop or rock performances - yet they could be done by any decent pop or rock artist. What makes the Stones so wonderful is their individuality. A group of excellent trained studio musicians cannot replace that factor. I do believe that Mick Jagger could have had a greater career as a solo artist. For some strange reason, although he has been financially independent for more than half a century, he always tried to go with the flow on his solo albums.
He certainly could have had a greater solo career. But he chose to write and produce a certain way - if the Stones had done those songs produced that way they'd still be just as bad as they are, because the songwriting is not as good, overall, and the production, especially SHE'S THE BOSS, is pure crap. It's very likely his most offensive solo album. Bizarrely, I like it, still. 1/2 A Loaf is horrible yet for some reason, ha ha, I like it. Running Out Of Luck is stupid yet... it's cheeky.
Obviously a few songs would be good with the Stones, like Throwaway, maybe Say You Will, obviously Don't Tear Me Up, maybe even Just Another Night (although listening to the bootleg of the Stones... ehhhh) - instead he got some really good sessions musicians - and it sounds like it.
Jeff Beck's playing did not create anything memorable except for WHY? But at least it's different.
However, Mick chose to take the route he did with his solo work. It's very sterile. Extremely sterile, overall. Just a handful of times did he really do something. It's way different from the dirty filth of The Rolling Stones. He was clear about that from signing the record deal with CBS.
Take Just Another Night, Lucky In Love and Secrets off (the best 3 songs) and it's a very very bizarre album. Was he making fun of himself with the title track? Because it certainly sounds like it. Which he decided to take 300 steps further with Let's Work, which obviously what he says here is not true at all:
Mick Jagger (1984): The band's reaction to a solo album
As soon as I was planning on doing it (I told the band)... (A)nd I said, Well do you mind if I take this time out?... I think that the Stones didn't want it to be a shit record: Mick, don't make a shit record, because that's going to reflect on us. And I said, No, if it's a shit record - if I think it's shit, and CBS thinks it's shit - it won't go out! I don't think they were furious about it, because we talked about it. I talked about it with Keith, and he said, Hey, if you want to do it, go ahead. Don't forget you're taking a chance. I said, Well, yeah. You know, you've got to take chances in life. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.How anyone at CBS though the title track or Turn The Girl Loose were not crap, which carried over with PRIMITIVE COOL's Let's Work, Radio Control and War Baby.
I could do all kinds of things. I could go very commercial - very, VERY commercial American pop. Or I could go for just ordinary, straight rock and roll, in an English way. Or I could mix it up: some very... you know, some HITS, and some things that are a bit more experimental. Outside of this kind of mainstream rock. More like the stuff Material does. Slightly left of the mainstream, you know what I mean? You could do some interesting things in that area. I have a lot of stuff. I think I'm gonna do it relatively soon.
- Mick Jagger, September 1983
Bill (Laswell)'s a real kind of thinking guy - I like the stuff he did. Obviously, I didn't want to make a hip hop record, and Bill wanted to make a rock and roll record. And so we sat around, talked about musicians, and the idea sort of fell into place. And then Nile (Rodgers) was working with Jeff Beck on his album. So then when he finished that, I said, Maybe it's good to do some tracks with Nile. And I'd written a few different songs. I said to Bill, I'm going to play them to him, and it went from there.
- Mick Jagger, November 1984
But, Rocky, my first thought was, it's gotta be in the liner notes. So I pulled out GODDESS IN THE DOORWAY and gave up because it's practically impossible to read anything.
Ok I'll go to discogs.
Then I read it again, saw that Nico updated the page, and then it made sense.