She's the Boss

She's the Boss
Studio album by Mick Jagger
Released 19 February 1985
Recorded May–November 1984
Genre Rock and roll
Length 43:09
Language English
Label Columbia
Producer Mick Jagger, Bill Laswell, Nile Rodgers
Mick Jagger chronology

She's the Boss
(1985)
Primitive Cool
(1987)
Singles from She's the Boss
  1. "Just Another Night"
    Released: 1985
  2. "Lucky in Love"
    Released: 1985
  3. "Hard Woman"
    Released: 1985
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
AllMusic link
Robert Christgau C[1]
Rolling Stone link

She's the Boss is the solo album debut by The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger released in 1985. When the Stones signed with 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 Undercover, Jagger began composing material for his first solo project, sanctioning the help of various musician friends in the studio when recording began in May 1984. Of those involved were Pete Townshend, Jeff Beck, Carlos Alomar, Herbie Hancock, and the Compass Point Allstars, while 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 each other's first priority. The growing friction between both musicians would erupt publicly in 1986, before they resolved their differences a couple of years later.

She's the Boss was released in February 1985 – preceded by its lead song "Just Another Night". Both the album and its first 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. Follow-up single "Lucky in Love" would be a Top 40 US hit.

The video for "Hard Woman" extensively utilised a Cray supercomputer for its animation, making it one of the most expensive music videos made to that point in time.

The success of the album – impacted 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 CBS, She's the Boss was acquired and reissued by Atlantic Records in 1993 following the release of Jagger's third album, Wandering Spirit.

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."[2]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "Lonely at the Top"  Mick Jagger, Keith Richards 3:47
2. "1/2 a Loaf"  Jagger 4:59
3. "Running Out of Luck"  Jagger 4:15
4. "Turn the Girl Loose"  Jagger 3:53
5. "Hard Woman"  Jagger 4:24
6. "Just Another Night"  Jagger 5:15
7. "Lucky in Love"  Jagger, Carlos Alomar 6:13
8. "Secrets"  Jagger 5:02
9. "She's the Boss"  Jagger, Alomar 5:15
Total length:
43:09

Musicians

Production

Sales chart performance

Album
Year Chart Position
1985 UK Top 100 Albums 6[3]
1985 The Billboard 200 13[4]
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
1985 "Just Another Night" UK Top 100 Singles 32[5]
1985 "Just Another Night" RIANZ NZ Top 40 8[6]
1985 "Just Another Night" Mainstream Rock Tracks 1[7]
1985 "Just Another Night" Billboard Hot 100 12[8]
1985 "Just Another Night" Hot Dance Music/Club Play 11[9]
1985 "Just Another Night" Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 20
1985 "Just Another Night" Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles & Tracks 83[10]
1985 "Lonely at the Top" Mainstream Rock Tracks 9[11]
1985 "Lucky in Love" UK Top 100 Singles 91
1985 "Lucky in Love" Mainstream Rock Tracks 5[12]
1985 "Lucky in Love" The Billboard Hot 100 38[13]
1985 "Lucky in Love" Hot Dance Music/Club Play 11[14]
1985 "Lucky in Love" Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales 35

References