She's the Boss is the debut solo album by English singer Mick Jagger, released on 19 February 1985 in the US[4] and 4 March 1985 in the UK.[5]
When Jagger's group the Rolling Stones signed with Columbia/CBS Records in 1983, one of the options available to them was for individual projects, and Jagger eagerly began working on She's the Boss.
Following the release of the Stones' 1983 album Undercover, Jagger began composing material for his first solo project. He obtained the help of various musician friends in the studio when recording began in May 1984. Contributors included Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Carlos Alomar, Herbie Hancock, Sly and Robbie and the Bahamas-based musicians known as Compass Point Allstars. Jagger would share production duties with Bill Laswell and Nile Rodgers.
Keith Richards, Jagger's longtime musical partner in the Rolling Stones, was not pleased that Jagger was pursuing solo work, feeling that their band should be first priority for both of them; Richards was especially upset because in 1983, Jagger had piggy-backed a three-album solo deal with Columbia onto the multi-million Stones deal without informing any of the other Stones.[6] The increasing animosity between both musicians would publicly erupt in 1986 before they resolved their differences a few years later. In his 2010 memoir Life, Richards compared She's the Boss to Mein Kampf: "Everybody had a copy, but nobody listened to it."[7][6]She's the Boss was released in February 1985, preceded by its lead song "Just Another Night" as a single. Both album and single became worldwide hits, with "Just Another Night" reaching No. 1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and No. 12 on the US pop chart, and She's the Boss going to No. 6 in the UK and No. 13 in the US, where it went platinum.[citation needed]
The follow-up single "Lucky in Love" was a Top 40 US hit. The single version (which was also released on video) has been remixed considerably from the album version. The single version is 4:51 long.
The version of "Hard Woman" released as a single (with an accompanying video) is radically different from the album version. The single is titled "Hard Woman (New Version)". The video for "Hard Woman" extensively utilised a Cray X-MPsupercomputer for its animation,[8] making it one of the most expensive music videos made to that point in time. "Lonely at the Top" was recorded by the Rolling Stones in 1979 with altered lyrics and a less uplifting sound.[9]
The success of the album – encouraged by Jagger's solo appearance at Live Aid that July and his rush-recorded duet hit cover of "Dancing in the Street" with David Bowie – influenced Jagger to record a successor, Primitive Cool, which would be released in 1987.
Although originally released by Columbia, She's the Boss was acquired and reissued by Atlantic Records in 1993, following the release of Jagger's third album, Wandering Spirit, also issued by Atlantic.
In 1986, Jamaican reggae singer Patrick Alley attempted to sue Jagger over the song "Just Another Night", which Alley claims he had recorded in 1979 and released on his 1982 album A Touch of Patrick Alley. Alley claimed that Sly Dunbar (who played drums on She's the Boss) also played on his recording. The case was cleared in 1988, with Jagger stating: "My reputation is really cleared. If you're well known, people stand up and take shots at you."[10]
Track listing
All tracks are written by Mick Jagger, with additional writers noted
Wally Badarou – synthesizer on "Lucky in Love" and "She's the Boss"
Jeff Beck – lead guitar on "Lonely at the Top", "Running Out of Luck", "Hard Woman", "Just Another Night" and "She's the Boss"; guitar on "Lucky in Love"; acoustic guitar on "Just Another Night"
Paul Buckmaster – strings arrangement and conductor on "Hard Woman"
↑Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992: 23 years of hit singles & albums from the top 100 charts. St Ives, N.S.W, Australia: Australian Chart Book. p. 153. ISBN0-646-11917-6.
