Stones. Dirty Work. Song by song.

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by ohnothimagen, May 23, 2018.

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  1. Purple Jim

    Purple Jim Senior Member

    Location:
    Bretagne
    I'm a Dirty Work fan. I think it was a little better than Undercover but I generally view the albums as twins. I had been a casual Stones fan since the 60s but it was around the mid-80s that I started to get obsessed with them. Bummer, because it looked like they were splitting up! I had to wait many years to see them live again (I'd already seen them at Knebworth 76). When they did come back, I was disappointed to see that they had got super-polished with two synths, a big brass section and girly backing vocals. So I see Dirty Work as the end of an epoch.
    "One Hit To The Body" - What a great opener. Gorgeous guitars and a strong, passionate vocal from Mick. If they had gone out on tour to promote the album, they would have needed those girly vocals already to play this live!
     
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  2. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!" Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    Heresy in certain Stones circles, I know, but for me the dubious honour of "worst Stones album" would fall on either It's Only Rock And Roll or Satanic Majesties. Probably IORR, actually- at least on Satanic Majesties they were trying to do something different, unlike on IORR for the most part (see my comments in the IORR song by song thread)

    To be fair, though, I freely admit that Dirty Work is a hard album to be 100% objective about:laugh:
     
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  3. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    One Hit To The Body is a great song and it's a shame it gets ignored on every Stones Hits comp. I get why Harlem Shuffle did better as it's a more commercial song but One Hit is the best song on the album.
     
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  4. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!" Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    I'll never understand why "Harlem Shuffle", of all things, was the lead off single. It should have been "One Hit To The Body". And, no, "One Hit" has never appeared on a Stones comp except for this promotional one, which I have just recently rediscovered:
    The Rolling Stones - Say Ahhh!
    Damn good compilation, by the way!
     
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  5. Holy Diver

    Holy Diver Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    I like One Hit. Great tune.
     
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  6. adm62

    adm62 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ottawa, Canada
    I think most of their worst albums came out in the 80s, this being the weakest of the lot. The way Mick and Keith divide song credits I would guess they would have had little to do with the writing of songs where a third person is credited.

    One Hit is the best original on a poor album. A half decent song with an awful 80s production and a vocal from Mick that is hard to love. Things would get worse from here though ...
     
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  7. ohnothimagen

    ohnothimagen "Live music is better!" Thread Starter

    Location:
    Canada
    A lot of Dirty Work, the covers aside, were Richards/Wood compositions. Or just Richards:laugh: "Winning Ugly", I suspect, is mainly a Jagger composition, with "Back To Zero" essentially being a Jagger/Leavell tune. If Mick and Keith actually sat down and wrote a song together in that period I'll eat my Stones sneakers (yes, I actually do have a pair) covered in Keith Richards' favourite HP Sauce.

    Of course, Dirty Work is notable for being the last Stones album on which Ron Wood received a songwriting credit.
     
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  8. spsimmons

    spsimmons Forum Resident

    Location:
    Peoria Illinois
    I don't hate Dirty Work, it has a few good songs on it. One at the beginning, one in the middle, and one at the end. One Hit To The Body is one of my favorite Stones rockers.
     
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  9. Zoot Marimba

    Zoot Marimba And I’m The Critic Of The Group

    Location:
    Savannah, Georgia
    (One Hit) To the Body:
    We open the record with (One Hit) To the Body. Charlie licks the track off with his drums, and the drums sound like garbage for the vast majority of this record, but it sounds pretty decent here, and the guitars show some real venom. While this track does show some eighties touches, and I’d defintely like to hear a less eighties mix of this, but a good song is a good song. You have Mick’s best vocal on this record, with such a vicious snarl like he is ready to kill a motha****er! And that bloodlust is matched by Keith and Ronnie’s guitars, and honestly, I thought it was one of them playing the solo. I mean, I know Jimmy Page was on this song, but the solo seemed like Keith or Ronnie. But hey, he was in Firm territory at this point. The Firm, Jesus, that was such a lousy band.
    This is a great song and a strong way to open a record.
     
  10. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    Thats the worst hairstyle Mick ever had :)
    I never bought this album in 'real time'. I opted out after Undercover never did it for me ('cept for a few tracks). I was onto other things by the time this came out. I heard the album by osmosis I guess back in the day. One Hit reeks of mid 80s style. Good song though it is. Suffering from the demise of 'guitar rock' and seeing the rise of stuff like INXS, the Stones couldn't get my 'rocks off' in the same way anymore. Harlem Shuffle though, I just loved that track from the moment I heard it...still do.
    I bet Harlem Shuffle is ohnonothimagen's least favourite track on the album :D
    I will anticipate the comments about track three and enjoy reacquainting myself with the album overall. Haven't heard it in it's entirety since it came out probably.
     
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  11. Humbuster

    Humbuster Staff Emeritus

    In my top 10 Stones songs. Great tune.
     
  12. DTK

    DTK Forum Resident

    Location:
    Europe
    I like One Hit. I'm looking forward to see someone defending the 80s aerobics-synth-monster-from-hell Winning Ugly, the most wretched thing they ever released.
     
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  13. georgwithoutane

    georgwithoutane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Philadelphia
    Actually, I like it :hide: It's not the greatest song of their career, but I find it to be pretty groovy and funky, despite the awful, growling vocals from Mick and the occasional synth blast. I certainly find it better than Too Rude, Hold Back, and Back to Zero.
     
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  14. I get what you're saying about Winning Ugly... I find this version (I originally heard it on the Flashpoint + Collectibles CD set) more palatable.

     
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  15. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    I’m not really hearing how “One Hit” “reeks of mid-80s style” or has “awful 80s production.” Yeah, there’s more reverb on the drums than you would have heard in the 70s. But for the most part it sounds like any number of other Stones guitar-bass-and-drums rock songs. It’s the usual forum hyperbole where the 80s is concerned...
     
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  16. blutiga

    blutiga Forum Resident

    Personally because I heard Start Me Up come out 'in real time' as the first Stones single I got to experience as I came of age as a listener (I guess early teens) - it was still connected to the classic Stones sound I'd been discovering in the year or two between Emotional Rescue and Tattoo You. One Hit just sounds different and reflects to me the sounds of the times. The guitars sound more processed and submerged in the production. That short guitar solo is really '80's. Having said that, I've listened to it the song a couple of times tonight and it's far more appealing hearing it fresh now than it was to me back in the day.
     
  17. DreamIsOver

    DreamIsOver Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    One Hit is just a great tune
     
  18. Rfreeman

    Rfreeman Senior Member

    Location:
    Lawrenceville, NJ
    I like 1 song on this album and love 1 other song on this album. I'll let you know when you get to them. This one did nothing for me.
     
  19. ExHead

    ExHead Forum Resident

    Location:
    Elsewhere
    I love the opening of "One Hit." Keith's tone is just killer. He comes in so strong, and it demands to be cranked up. I always thought Charlie was a bit weak on this track, though. Actually, I've wondered if it's really him playing on it. I know he was going through some personal stuff at the time. Still a great track, though.
     
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  20. bartels76

    bartels76 Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    CT
    I don't think the sound of One Hit differs much from the sound of Steel Wheels. It just gets lumped with a below average album and a horrendous cover.
     
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  21. Bullis

    Bullis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Niagara County
    The second worst album cover of the stones
     
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  22. Bullis

    Bullis Forum Resident

    Location:
    Niagara County
    Had with you is my favorite from this album as well
     
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  23. walrus

    walrus Staring into nothing

    Location:
    Nashville
    Born In The USA was such a massive, ubiquitous album in 1985 that I'm sure it's sound impacted many a rock record made in '85-'86, even if it was kind of a subconscious thing.
     
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  24. 3coloursbeige

    3coloursbeige Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    I think I've come out in support of Dirty Work before on here, but to me it's just such a fascinating, hard-rocking over/under-produced car-crash of an album! Love Mick's abrasive vocals, love the heavy, sloppy guitars. I'll take this album over It's Only Rock n Roll (a total one track album in my view) any day. Looking forward to the thread!
     
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  25. vudicus

    vudicus Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    I'm a huge fan of this album which gets a lot of criticism so I'm happy to chime in for this song-by-song discussion.

    I've always felt that "One Hit" is a perfect album opener.
    It's "Gimme Shelter" for the 1980's, full of fire and anger.
    Keith's rhythm guitar is mean and aggressive and his tone kicks serious ass.
    I also love the Tele B-Bender solos from Jimmy Page.
     
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