The Rolling Stones had already hit the peak of their fame by the time the early 1980s rolled around, and with that plateauing relevancy comes a desire to shake things up, push the status quo, and use one’s massive platform in whatever way they see fit. For The Stones (and, specifically, Mick Jagger), these urges shook out to become “Undercover of the Night”, a quintessential Stones rocker that Jagger wrote after being inspired by William Burroughs’ Cities of the Red Night.
Videos by American Songwriter
The song, which alludes to the violent political oppression in South America at the time, also came with a music video, which Julien Temple directed. As Temple described it, “I wrote an extreme treatment about being in the middle of an urban revolution and dramatized the notion of Keith [Richards] and Mick really not liking each other by having Keith kill Mick in the video. I never thought they would do it. Of course, they loved it.” According to Temple, Richards loved it so much that he demanded more screentime by shoving a swordstick in Temple’s throat. Casual.
Just like Temple imagined, Richards shoots Jagger point-blank in the video. Consequently, the music video began taking on a life of its own. Broadcasting companies and music critics around the world began questioning whether The Stones were glorifying violence by overlaying driving guitar riffs over such a graphic depiction of murder. These controversies came to a head on November 11, 1983. On this day, Jagger and Temple visited The Tube to defend their video.
Mick Jagger Defends Rolling Stones Music Video in Awkward Interview
The British music television show The Tube was a popular forum for artists to promote and, in Mick Jagger’s case, defend their art. Show host Muriel Gray started her contentious interview with Jagger and music video director Julien Temple with a rather pointed question. “Mick, why on earth did you choose to put such scenes of explicit violence into what is, after all, just a promo for your new single?” One question undoubtedly vaporized any hopes for an easygoing chat.
Jagger staunchly defended The Rolling Stones’ music video for “Undercover of the Night”. He replied, “We didn’t want to dress the song up in cliches. We wanted to do a video that was about the song.”
As Gray continued to push back, accusing The Stones of belittling the dangerous sociopolitical environment of South America and fetishizing violence in one fell swoop, Temple joined in. “The film is saying, ‘How do you react to seeing this sort of thing? Are you immune to it? Or do you think about it?’ The song, which is the best song around and blows out all those wimpy little synthesizer bands that hang around on TV, needs a video that lives up to it.”
The interview didn’t get much better from there. Jagger insisted that the music video was appropriate, given the song’s political nature. Gray then asked if they were donating any proceeds from the single to help South American victims. “That’s a stupid question,” Temple retorted. “There won’t be any profits from this video. And what I do with my money and give to who I want is a matter of privacy,” Jagger added. “What does a Duran Duran video do for [victims]?” Temple retorted.
Did the Controversy Hurt “Undercover of the Night”?
Yes and no. Public reception of The Rolling Stones’ lead single from Undercover, “Undercover of the Night”, was relatively positive. The song peaked at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 11 on the U.K. Singles chart. In Canada, Spain, Uruguay, the Netherlands, and Belgium, the song hit the top five. The controversy and broadcast bans that plagued the music video inevitably resulted in fewer people seeing the film than would have if the bans hadn’t been there.
But the controversy surrounding this Rolling Stones music video was hardly the first time they ever received public criticism for their promotional materials. And besides, for every viewer the band lost from the controversy, they likely gained five more by way of curious onlookers who wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
Photo by Robin Platzer/Getty Images
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