She's the Boss is the solo album debut by The Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger released in 1985. When The Rolling Stones signed with CBS Records in 1983, one of the options available to them was for individual projects, and Jagger—ready to spread his wings after recording exclusively with his famous band for 20 years—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 and Herbie Hancock, 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 others' 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 #1 on the US Mainstream Rock chart and #12 on the US pop chart, and She's the Boss going to #6 in the UK and #13 in the US, where it went platinum. Follow-up single "Lucky in Love" would be a Top 40 US hit.
Also of note regarding the album was the development of a video for Hard Woman which extensively utilized a Cray supercomputer to do the 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."[1]
Track listing
All songs by Mick Jagger, except where noted.
- "Lonely at the Top" (Mick Jagger, Keith Richards) – 3:47
- "1/2 a Loaf" – 4:59
- "Running Out of Luck" – 4:15
- "Turn the Girl Loose" – 3:53
- "Hard Woman" – 4:24
- "Just Another Night" – 5:15
- "Lucky in Love" (Mick Jagger, Carlos Alomar) – 6:13
- "Secrets" – 5:02
- "She's the Boss" (Mick Jagger, Carlos Alomar) – 5:15
Musicians
Production
- Produced By Mick Jagger, Bill Laswell & Nile Rodgers
- Engineers: James Farber, Dave Jerden & Bill Scheniman
Sales chart performance
- Album
- Singles
References
