Day 290: Mick Jagger – She’s The Boss
Today’s album comes recommended with the strong praise of “Nile Rodgers at his best” and “BANGERS”, so I thought I might as well. I’ve also probably never put on an album of any of Mick Jagger’s solo material. I’m starting to have a theory about peak Rolling Stones and Mick Jagger’s role in it, but before I share it, let me listen to some of his solo stuff first.
Albunm cover courtesy of Columbia/CBS
The Rolling Stones had been going through a difficult period in the late ‘70s. Keith Richards was arrested for drugs in Canada and charged with drug trafficking, due to having 22 grams of heroin and 5 grams of cocaine. While he was trying to get the monkey off his back, Mick Jagger took over a larger control of creative control within the band. When Keith was back and well enough to take over the reins again, the pair had a power struggle and went into crisis.
In 1983, they signed a new deal with Columbia/CBS Records, which allowed the band members to also record solo stuff, so Mick decided that he’d venture off on his own and record his debut studio album, She’s The Boss. Keith Richards didn’t like that, as he thought it’d take away his focus from the band. He’s probably still not too fond of the idea, since he described She’s The Boss in his 2010 autobiography in less flattering terms:
“Mick's album was called She's the Boss, which said it all. I've never listened to the entire thing all the way through. Who has? It's like Mein Kampf. Everybody had a copy, but nobody listened to it.”
She’s The Boss couldn’t be further away from sounding like an album by the Rolling Stones, but I’m guessing that’s the whole point. The album was co-produced by Mick Jagger with Bill Laswell and Nile Rodgers and features mostly floor-filling dance-rock that occasionally veer into sounding like synth pop. It’s probably not just because I listened to them yesterday but occasionally it even reminds me a bit of Talking Heads, especially on songs like “Running Out Of Luck”.
The theory that I talked about earlier is that Mick Jagger’s experimentation is what made some of the peak Stones material so good. There’s a natural almost goofy quality to Mick Jagger that works musically very well but isn’t necessarily that cool, and Keith was the millstone who moaned when he wanted to try something funkier, like punk or disco-inspired stuff. If you forgo your rock snobbery, the goofball stuff is great.
She’s The Boss happens to be firmly in the goofball category, and it’s also great. You sort of just need to not think about the fact that this is Mick Jagger of the Rolling Stones to fully appreciate it. Instead, maybe he’s just Mick, a dance music guy. When you hear a song that could’ve played in the background of a scene in Baywatch, just forget about the whole Stones thing and appreciate it for what it is: it’s goofy ‘80s dance rock, but good goofy ‘80s dance rock.
Keith who? Rolling stone where? No, we’re not thinking about that, this is a different Mick. If you think of this album the right way, it’s an 8.5/10.