“Start Me Up“, “Hang Fire” and “Black Limousine” were worked on during the 1978 Pathe Marconi recording sessions for Some Girls.

• The basic tracks for “No Use in Crying”, “Little T&A“, “Start Me Up“, and re-recordings of “Black Limousine” and “Hang Fire” came from the Emotional Rescue sessions.
• “Neighbours” and “Heaven” were recorded during sessions in October–November 1980, after the release of Emotional Rescue. “Heaven” has an unusual lineup, consisting of only Chris Kimsey on piano.
• Many of the vocal parts for the songs on Tattoo You were overdubbed during sessions in October–November 1980 and April–June 1981. Mick Jagger was the only member of the band present at some of these sessions. Other overdubs, such as Sonny Rollins‘s saxophone parts on “Slave” and “Waiting on a Friend”, were also added at these sessions. Most of the album was mixed at this time as well.

[edit] Release and aftermath

“Start Me Up” was released in August 1981, just a week before Tattoo You, to a very strong response, reaching the top 10 in both the US and UK. Widely considered one of their most infectious songs, it was enough to carry Tattoo You to #1 for nine weeks in the US, while reaching #2 in the UK with solid sales. It has been certified 4x platinum in the US alone. The critical reaction was positive, many feeling that Tattoo You was an improvement over Emotional Rescue and a high-quality release. “Waiting on a Friend” and “Hang Fire” became Top 20 US hits as well.

“Start Me Up” would prove to be The Rolling Stones’ last single to reach as high as #2 in the US, while Tattoo You is their last American #1 album to date.

The album title was originally planned to be simply “Tattoo”. Jagger claims to this day that even he has no clue how the “You” became attached to the title. The title caused friction between Jagger and Richards, with Richards suspecting that Jagger had changed the title without seeking his input.

There were several videos directed by Michael Lindsay-Hogg for this album including:

• “Start Me Up”, “Hang Fire” and “Worried About You”: Consisting of a standard band performance setting, miming to a backing tape.
• “Neighbours”: An homage to t’ai chi practitioner exercising, and most notoriously, a man putting bloody body parts in a suitcase. This video was heavily censored when presented on television.
• “Waiting on a Friend”: Filmed on location in Wayne Perkins respectively actually played). The bar in the video was co-owned by Wood during that time.

[edit] Legacy

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Blender	[3]
Allmusic	[4]
Rolling Stone	[5]
Robert Christgau	A− [6]
The A.V. Club	(Positive) [7]

[edit] Band appraisal

In the 1995 Rolling Stone interview during which editor Jann Wenner called Tattoo You the Stones’ “most underrated album,” Jagger said, “I think it’s excellent. But all the things I usually like, it doesn’t have. It doesn’t have any unity of purpose or place or time.”^[2]

[edit] Critical reaction

Reviews for Tattoo You were largely positive, proclaiming the album a return to form and ranking among the Rolling Stones’ finest works. Debra Rae Cohen commented in Rolling Stone, “Just when we might finally have lost patience, the new record dances (not prances), rocks (not jives) onto the scene, and the Rolling Stones are back again, with a matter-of-fact acceptance of their continued existence – and eventual mortality…”^[1]

Though Robert Christgau gave the album a good review, however, when criticizing “Start Me Up” in his Pazz and Jop essay in 1981, said, “…its central conceit–Mick as sex machine, complete with pushbutton–explains why the album it starts up never transcends hand-tooled excellence except when Sonny Rollins, uncredited, invades the Stones’ space. Though it’s as good in its way as “Street Fighting Man,” how much you care about it depends entirely on how much you care about the Stones’ technical difficulties.”^[8]

Patty Rose, in Musician, said, “The feel of the album… is more one of rediscovered youth, of axes to play, not grind, of the latest cope, not dope. After Emotional Rescue, it seems the Stones couldn’t make it anymore with the theme of life getting harder and harder. The old themes are not invalidated by the new, but rather taken for granted, like knowing how to tie one’s bootlace. The Stones have shed yet another layer of self-consciousness and their shiny vinyl new skin tingles with an open, early-decade kind of excitement.”^[1]

[edit] Accolades

In 1989, it was ranked #34 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 211 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

The cover of the album was designed by artist best album package for the design. The photography was done by Hubert Kretzschmar and illustration by Christian Piper.

In 1994, Tattoo You was remastered and reissued by SHM-SACD in 2011 by Universal Music Japan.

[edit] Track listing

All songs by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, except where noted.

[edit] Personnel

The Rolling Stones

• Mick Jagger – lead and backing vocals, electric guitar on “Heaven”, harmonica on “Black Limousine”
• Keith Richards – electric guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals and bass guitar on “Little T&A”
• Ronnie Wood – electric guitar, backing vocals, bass guitar on “Hang Fire”
• Charlie Watts – drums
• Bill Wyman – bass guitar, synthesizer on “Heaven”
• Mick Taylor – electric guitar on “Tops” and “Waiting on a Friend” (1972)

Additional personnel

• Nicky Hopkins – piano on “Tops”, “No Use in Crying” and “Waiting on a Friend”
• Ian Stewart – piano on “Hang Fire”, “Little T&A” and “Black Limousine”
• Billy Preston – piano and organ on “Slave” and “Worried About You” (1975)
• Wayne Perkins – electric lead guitar on “Worried About You” (1975)
• Ollie Brown – percussion on “Slave” and “Worried About You” (1975)
• Pete Townshend – backing vocals on “Slave” (1975)
• Sonny Rollins – saxophone on “Slave”, “Neighbours” and “Waiting on a Friend”
• Jimmy Miller – percussion on “Tops” and “Waiting on a Friend” (1972)
• Kasper Winding – tambourine on “Waiting on a Friend”
• Chris Kimsey – piano on “Heaven”
• Barry Sage – handclaps on “Start Me Up”

[edit] Chart positions

Album

Singles

[edit] Certifications

[edit] References