Few songs have the sexually-charged energy of “Let’s Spend The Night Together” by The Rolling Stones (and later David Bowie). Released in 1967, this track is a great introductory song to what The Stones are all about. It’s wild to think that Mick Jagger thought the album it was part of, Between The Buttons, was “rubbish”.
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“The songs sounded great, but later I was really disappointed with it, it felt like it lost a lot of the clarity,” said Jagger.
Still, “Let’s Spend The Night Together” is a legendary track. It’s not exactly surprising that David Bowie, The Rolling Stones’ contemporary and friend of the band, wanted to pick it up. He performed the song live at the Rainbow Theatre in 1972. The response from the audience was so great that he decided to record his version of it on the 1973 album Aladdin Sane.
The differences between the two versions are, to say the very least, stark. So, who did it better? Let’s take a look!
David Bowie’s “Let’s Spend The Night Together”
David Bowie’s rendition of “Let’s Spend The Night Together” is both sonically and tonally a very different song from the original. Many have described his version as a sort of queer liberation of the very, very heterosexual original tune.
If that’s the case, we’re not surprised. Bowie was not afraid to cross lines of gender and sexuality, and there is a notable vibe to his version of “Let’s Spend The Night Together”.
The Rolling Stones’ “Let’s Spend The Night Together”
Written by Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, there’s something to the OG version of “Let’s Spend The Night Together” that just hits. The Rolling Stones famously performed this song on The Ed Sullivan Show with many of the lyrics changed due to censorship, rolling their eyes the whole time.
The recorded version and multiple live versions of this song are really ahead of their time, and the whole of the original song boasts the kind of boundary-crossing debauchery that The Rolling Stones came to be known for.
The Verdict
Both versions of “Let’s Spend The Night Together” are iconic and sexy little romps in rock music history. Picking the best version is difficult, even though we tend to lean toward the original works in situations like this. Bowie’s version has a bit more confidence, while The Stones’ version has a bit more swagger. We’ll leave the verdict up to you; both are excellent, either way.
Photo by Paul Natkin/Getty Images
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