Tattoo You – The Rolling Stones (1981)

January 17, 2025

After spending nineteen years together and releasing fifteen studio albums – the last seven of which had charted at #1 on the US charts – the Rolling Stones entered their third decade as the biggest rock band in the world. Despite the fact that their prior release of 1980’s Emotional Rescue had received less than stellar reviews, and there was some frustration among core fans over their shift toward disco, the Stones were still operating at the peak of their powers and maintaining high levels of cultural relevance. Behind the scenes – somewhat unsurprisingly – the egos of Mick Jagger and Keith Richards had been clashing, putting their historic run in danger of continuing on as it had for nearly two decades. Richards had wanted to go on tour in 1980 following the release of their prior album, but got vetoed by Jagger, leading to one of many feuds that would take place between the two over the course of their career. 

So what happens when you have two feuding rock stars and nineteen years’ worth of unreleased material? You work with what you have, fill in the blanks from there, and create 1981’s Tattoo You. Rather than try to make it work in the recording studio, the band went back and found some of their best studio outtakes from the 70s and put together the skeletons of what would become an entire album worth of new material. Each member of the band would record any needed additions on their own – most frequently Jagger, who had to add vocals to nearly all of the tracks – and they’d bring in an all-star cast of studio musicians to supplement what they already had. The Stones were able to get the Who’s Pete Towshend for backing vocals, Billy Preston on keyboard, and jazz legend Sonny Rollins on sax. And despite being a true Frankenstein’s monster of an album, these old studio outtakes overlaid with new Jagger vocals and supplemental instrumentals would result in their eighth consecutive #1 album and earn them rave critical reviews that declared that they had returned to form.

Richards and Jagger getting along surprisingly well

Having clearly heard the anti-disco noise from music critics and their core fan base, the Stones divided the album into two distinct halves – Side A would be strictly rock and roll, and Side B would be for ballads. The album’s opening track (and one of the most recognizable, popular classic rock songs of all time), “Start Me Up,” was based on a 1975 recording of a reggae song that was going to be called “Never Stop.” After falling to the cutting room floor, it was re-discovered three years later when the band was recording Some Girls, but was vetoed by Richards because he thought it “[sounded] like something [he’d] heard on the radio.” But the third time was the charm, and as a result, we all routinely get to hear Jagger sing “you make a dead man cum” on the radio despite the fact that it’s way raunchier than half of the stuff that gets censored in newer music. In addition to the opening track, a good chunk of the lyrics on this album are extremely horny – “Slave” is about a sexually dominated man, “Little T&A” is literally an abbreviation for “Little Tits & Ass,” and “Heaven” – which is honestly one the band’s most underrated works on any album – compares having sex to finding God. But aside from all that, the Stones do include some solid ballads, including the truly sweet “Waiting on a Friend,” which shows that those boys did truly love each other despite their many differences.

Mick being Mick on the Tattoo You Tour

It’s honestly sort of incredible that the Stones were able to stick together as a band for this long given the egos and the drugs and everything else that came with their path to superstardom. But it’s an entirely more impressive thing that they were still able to put out an album as good as this one. On one hand, yes, this was an album made up of prior works. But that doesn’t change the fact that it was a new release that achieved both commercial and critical success. With this album, they join the ranks of a very small number of artists who were able to maintain popularity and continue working at a high level throughout the 60s, 70s, and 80s – truly the only other example I can think of off the top of my head is Paul McCartney. And for this reason, it’s impossible to deny that they are one of the greatest bands of all time. And while there are certainly bands who may rank higher on Top 10 lists for a lot of people – like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Steely Dan (maybe I’m a little biased on that one) – none of them come close to matching just how prolific these guys were. Their career has now spanned 62 years and included 31 studio albums – 25 of which have charted in the Top 5 in the US and and nine of which have charted at #1. That’s crazy. That’s absolutely crazy. Tattoo You would end up as their final #1 album and would serve as a fitting swan song for the Stones at the apex of their abilities. There is absolutely no denying the Rolling Stones or their unmatched career. They are undoubtedly one of the best bands to ever do it, and it’s hard to imagine any other ever coming close.