Rolling Stones Single-By-Single Thread

As has been the case for almost everything from the 2000s, this was the first time I heard "No Spare Parts." I like it. Some Girls, the original, is one of my three most-listened-to Rolling Stones non-compilation albums along with Beggars Banquet and Tattoo You, so I like that period of the Stones.

The only Billboard chart the song made was Hot 100 Singles Sales, on which it peaked at #2, again based on a one-day release.

The only commercial single release of "No Spare Parts" was the 7-inch single for Record Store Day, Black Friday version, November 25, 2011. All the copies of the 45 were pressed in Europe. Each copy is individually numbered on the back of the picture sleeve; I'm not 100 percent sure of this, but it's possible that the singles released in the UK and Europe have five-digit numbers starting with 0 and those for North America have five-digit numbers starting with 1. The 45 is on the A&M label, has a white label with a small hole, and has the number 278 806-8. The B-side is what appears to be the original album version of "Before They Make Me Run." Looking at completed sales on eBay, "No Spare Parts" seems to sell mostly in a narrow range between $10 and $15.

It appears as if by 2011, Universal was sending out fewer promo CD singles as more stations received music via downloads. Two different U.S. promos exist; both are on CD-R and neither has a catalog number.

One of them has the same cover as the "No Spare Parts" 45 and mentions a radio impact date of Monday, November 7, 2011. This one has its text screened onto the disc. The second, and apparently scarcer, variant has a cover that looks like the Some Girls album cover; the disc itself has a white label on it. Both were sent out in clear PVC envelopes rather than in jewel cases or cardboard covers. The record label for both is Universal Republic.

 

Tim, I'm curious. After your participation in this thread and all of our recommendations, are you planning on listening to any of the full releases from the 200os? A Bigger Bang, the deluxe bonus discs for Exile and Some Girls, Blue and Lonesome...they are all available on Spotify and YouTube. There is a lot of great material from this period beyond these singles.

 

Ouch! Is that really how it went down? Why do you reckon they froze Ronaldo out initially? Mind you, it's nothing if not consistent behaviour from the Rolling Stones to not record as a band (Bill Wyman, Mick Taylor, Brian Jones all treated like commodities, not band members).

 

Crikey, I forgot all about this one, even though I generally enjoy A Biggest Bang. This song though - talk about defining "workmanlike". It sounds like something off Primitive Cool (one of the lesser tracks, that is - there are a couple of decent ones on there if you are threatening me with violence). Nothing interesting about it at all. Kudos to Jagger for trying to write a "story" song a la soulless modern-day Nashville hacks, but it is insincere, generic, bland and quite a waste of creative energy, as well as the listener's time. Far more Matchbox 20 than the Rolling Stones "we" love, who shone as a unique entity within the commercial marketplace.

 

Nice post! You encapsulate the general vibe around this album very well.

By the way, my initial exposure to A Bigger Bang was Look What The Cat Dragged In. On an airplane playlist of all things. Now that was a groove!

 

FWIW - I thought the Some Girls Bonus Disc was terrible. I think most of the Some Girls outtakes are pretty slight...and not really worth resurrecting...the decent tracks We Had it All and Do You Think I Really Care basically, we'd already heard anyway...

 

Actually I did like Look What The Cat Dragged In...a highlight for me...

 

Best song for me or maybe best performance was Laugh, I Nearly Died.

 

If I can ever afford music again, I'd like to add Blue and Lonesome to my collection. I only have the free version of Spotify, which limits my listening options. I do want to spend more time with these later albums when the opportunity arises.

 

My daughter bought me Blue and Lonesome on CD as a a gift. So playing it always reminds me of her. She thought it was funny that anyone would still play a CD even though she owns a turntable and has plenty of albums.

Because of this thread, I re-read through some of the final chapters of Bill Janovitz' excellent Stones book, Rocks Off, and he ends the book with the 2010 overdubbed (Mick Jagger voice and Mick Taylor guitar) "Plundered My Soul." He likes it - once he gets past Mick's modern voice. I'm not so sure we needed it. Blue and Lonesome worked because it was a modern Stones take on their old, beautiful but grimy sound.

Enjoyed the thread.

 

No Spare Parts - This single was released to promote the Some Girls Deluxe Edition. It is a county rock track with some pedal steel guitar by Ronnie. Mick changed some lyrics around when the track was resurrected and there are some longer outtake versions. The Stones even shot a video for No Spare Parts. It was not included on the GRRR! compilation album and I don't believe it has been played live. Interestingly the Allmusic review on the bonus disc didn't single the track out for special mention as one of the better tracks even though it was released as a single. Just ok in my book as I am not really a fan of pedal steel guitar. Claudine and So Young are my favorite tracks on the bonus disc.

 

Wow, I like the bonus disc better than the Emotional Rescue album and I probably enjoy Claudine (the lyrics and music) more than any track on Some Girls.

 

Earlier version of No Spare Parts.

 

"No Spare Parts" - I like this song but again, I'm not keen on the modern vocal overdub (though it's not as jarring as the Exile dubs).

 

Is Claudine rated more highly because of the subject matter?

 

I love No Spare Parts. I don't know how many of the 2011 lyrics are 70's vintage (the originally demo varies significantly), but they're pretty great:

When I got to Sonora, the sun was shining in my eyes
With the air-con busted, the windshield full of flies.

 

I like both the song and lyrics but it wasn't released at the time because it was too controversial and close to the time of the actual events.

I have a copy of the bootleg that was named after it.

 

Is that the lp with the Black and Blue girl on the back John? I think i have it on Accidents Will Happen 2lp set?

 

I think “Claudine” is the best Stones recording ever left off of a record. Part of the problem they had is Mick took artistic license with the lyric “she shot him once through the head, she shot him twice through the chest” which was inaccurate and opened them up to litigation. It is too bad because it would have greatly improved Emotional Rescue which I think was the album they really considered putting it on.

 

Yeah, It's called Claudine Accidents Will Happen.

 

Odds and ends from the Some Girls deluxe edition:

I Love You Too Much

This song was serviced to radio shortly after "No Spare Parts." Two different CD-R promos exist; both were very limited and are quite rare.

Both of them use a variation of the Some Girls album cover on the front insert. One has the title "I Love You Too Much" in small letters under the words Some Girls and a large tongue logo to the right of both. This version came in a jewel case and has a back insert with Universal Republic contact information and other related stuff on it. The actual disc has printing on the non-playing side with the artist and title above the center hole and a tongue logo at the bottom. It contains a 3:11 version of the song.

The second CD-R promo has the words "I Love You Too Much" in much larger print on the front insert and no tongue logo. The disc itself is different, too. The title of the song is below the center hole; above the center hole are the words THE ROLLING STONES and "Some Girls Deluxe Edition" beneath that. The tongue logo is at the left, and the Universal Republic logo at the right. I think this contains the same version of "I Like You Too Much" as the first disc.

The song failed to make any Billboard chart to the best of my knowledge.

 

It's interesting that this one didn't make the Mainstream Rock chart, but it did hit the AAA chart. I'm not sure how long Billboard has had a AAA chart, but the format goes back at least as far as the late '80s/early '90s. In the early days of the AAA format, I'm thinking it wouldn't have played the Stones much, but I guess times change. A couple of years ago, I was a bit startled to hear a left-of-the-dial station in my area, who I had never heard play the Stones before, put one of their new songs (a song we haven't come to yet) into regular rotation.

Going through Tim's post, after Bridges To Babylon, up to the point we're at now, I count ten songs that were worked to radio. Only four of them hit the Mainstream Rock chart at all, and none broke into the top 20. I don't think I had realized how far and how quickly the Stones' level of mainstream rock airplay fell after the turn of the century.

FWIW, Wikipedia says that "Plundered My Soul" hit #42 on the Hot Rock Songs chart, not #24. I don't know which is right.

 

It's 42. I flipped the digits.

 

I'm not 100% sure why they initially froze Ronnie out of recording on A Bigger Bang but my guess would be it was one of those periods when Ron had fallen off the wagon- less input on the album might have been his 'punishment'.

As for "No Spare Parts", I haven't listened to the Some Girls bonus disc in a while- I should dig it out one o' these days...