The Rolling Stones have endured many different ups and downs during their incredible career. The ’80s represented a particularly tumultuous time for the superstars, mainly due to bad blood between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
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Although the albums they released in that period were a mixed bag, each one contained at least a few gems that you might have forgotten. Let’s take a look at some unheralded tracks, one from each record, from that Stones era.
“All About You” (from Emotional Rescue, 1980)
Oddly enough, one of the finest songs on this album emanated from the growing rift between Jagger and Richards. Given the chance to moan his way through the closing ballad, Richards chose to use it as a thinly veiled swipe at his longtime musical partner. “All About You” doesn’t pull any punches, but Richards also blames himself in part for falling for the same lines again and again, almost like a jilted lover. Regardless of all that, Richards gives a standout performance on an unmistakably soulful track. It started up a kind of late-period Stones tradition of Richards getting the final word on their albums.
“Worried About You” (from Tattoo You, 1981)
The Stones famously scored big with Tattoo You by pulling unfinished leftover tracks from their ’70s albums and putting fresh coats of paint on them. In the case of “Worried About You,” they reached back to their unheralded 1976 LP Black and Blue, which was notable as being a record that the band used to audition guitarists. Although they chose Ronnie Wood, Wayne Perkins plays lead on this track and does an outstanding job. Meanwhile, Jagger has a blast up in his falsetto range, while the song itself keeps building from quieter parts to exciting musical peaks.
“She Was Hot” (from Undercover, 1983)
This song is unique to this list in that it was released as its album’s second single, meaning the band had high hopes for it. Because it failed to get much traction on either side of the Atlantic, it has kind of fallen by the wayside of Stones history. That’s unfortunate, because “She Was Hot” delivers a fun wallop. The band sinks their teeth into a Chuck Berry-esque groove while adding some irreverent touches (like the exaggerated hot, hot, hot backing vocals.) Meanwhile, Jagger comes through with some killer one-liners as he details the story of a lonely guy freezing in a cold hotel room vividly remembering a steamy one-night stand.
“Too Rude” (from Dirty Work, 1986)
You won’t find too many arguments if you make the statement that Dirty Work represents the nadir of the Stones’ career. Jagger largely checked out of the album to concentrate on his solo work, leaving Richards and Wood to try and piece things together. Unfortunately, they did so by indulging in some dated ’80s production techniques that do the band no favors. The singles, “One Hit (to the Body)” and “Harlem Shuffle,” are by far the best things on here. “Too Rude” is a pleasant enough album track, with Richards sinking his teeth into an old reggae song and getting help from Jimmy Cliff on backing vocals.
“Blinded by Love” (from Steel Wheels, 1989)
The Stones thankfully returned to some semblance of intra-band harmony for Steel Wheels, and the results testify to that. There are actually several cool album tracks we considered. “Slipping Away” is brilliant, but most Stones fans are onto that one. The ragged rocker “Can’t Be Seen” and the fiery opener “Sad Sad Sad” get the job done for sure. But we chose “Blinded by Love,” which closes out the album’s first side, because it’s somewhat reminiscent of a brief but memorable time in the band’s career (circa ’66-’68) when they proved themselves quite adept at churning out lush baroque pop songs.
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