"One Hit (To the Body)" by The Rolling Stones

Song#:  2730
Date:  05/17/1986
Debut:  71
Peak:  28
Weeks:  11
Genre:  Rock



Pop Bits:  The Stones got their biggest hit since 1981 with their remake of "Harlem Shuffle," the first single from their album Dirty Work. The track made it to #5 becoming their twenty-second Top 10 hit. For a follow-up this next single was released. It was another winner at Rock getting to #3, but the song stumbled a bit on the Pop chart and could only manage a Top 30 showing. No further singles would be issued out from the album, however the track "Winning Ugly" would reach #10 at Rock. The album would be their second in a row to hit #4 and be certified platinum.

ReduxReview:  The rock of this track is more in-tune with the 80s Stones than the meh "Harlem Shuffle" cover. I prefer it over the other, but it is still not in the same league as their classics from the decade like "Start Me Up." It's definitely a track that has gotten lost in the Stones' catalog. Although it was a hit at Rock and a mild entry at Pop, it has been left off of the band's compilation albums, sometimes in favor of lower or non-charting tracks. While it is not a memorable, career-defining tune, it's also not a bad track that fits just fine in any Stones playlist - especially one from this era of the band.

ReduxRating:  6/10

Trivia: Pianist Ian Stewart was an original member of The Rolling Stones when they first came together in 1962. The six-man band was beginning to make waves, but in 1963 their manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, decided that the group should only have five members and singled out Stewart as the one to be expelled as he didn't fully fit in with the look of the band. Oldham offered Stewart a continued position with the band, but as a road manager and occasionally piano player on recordings. Apparently Stewart wasn't too pissed to be sacked from the band because he agreed to stay on under the terms Oldham stated. Stewart kept his role with the band for the next two decades and would play piano on most all of their albums including Dirty Work. Unfortunately, it would be his last album with the band. In December of '85, Stewart had a heart attack and died. The Dirty Work album was in the last stages of getting finished off and that allowed the Stones to include a tribute to Stewart on the LP. After the final track on the album, the band added a thirty-second hidden track that featured Stewart playing the old blues standard "Keys to the Highway" on the piano.

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