Maps of Music

Undercover (1983)

Where the lyrics of Undercover take you, and where it was really made.

The cover is covered with real peel-off stickers on the original vinyl, and removing them reveals other geometric shapes underneath.

Key places

Where the sessions began (1982)

Recording site Pathé Marconi studios — Recording for Undercover began at the Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris in November 1982. The point is placed at the city centre, not the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

A Bahamas studio on the recording list (1983)

Recording site Compass Point Studios — Compass Point Studios is listed among the recording places for Undercover. The studio is in Nassau, Bahamas. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

The New York studio where the album was finished (1983)

Recording site The Hit Factory — Hit Factory is listed among the recording places for Undercover. The source places the band's New York work on the album here. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Undercover: the seventeenth studio album by the English rock band the Rolling Stones
• Released 7 November 1983 by Rolling Stones Records
• Peaked at No. 3 in the UK and No. 4 in the United States
• The follow-up, 1986's Dirty Work, moved the band to Columbia Records
• Three singles released; the highest-charting was the top-40 hit "Undercover of the Night"

Background

• The preceding album Tattoo You (1981) was mostly patched together from outtakes
• Undercover was the band's first release of all-new recordings in the 1980s
• Jagger wanted to adapt to modern trends, favouring reggae, worldbeat, and new wave textures
• Richards wanted the band to return to its blues rock roots
• The clash of directions makes the album an eclectic collection of songs in a wide range of styles
• Ronnie Wood, Bill Wyman, and Charlie Watts were among the principal members, with many guest musicians
• It was the last album released during the lifetime of Ian Stewart, a former member and frequent piano contributor
• It was the first Stones album in more than a decade to miss No. 1 on the US albums chart

Recording

• Chris Kimsey joined Jagger and Richards in the producer's seat, the first outside producer the Stones had used since Jimmy Miller
• Recording began at the Pathé Marconi Studios in Paris, France, in November 1982
• After a Christmas break the band completed the album in New York City the following summer
• The sessions were an arduous process, and the famous Jagger and Richards row began during them
• Richards had emerged from his self-destructive lifestyle of the previous decade and sought a more active creative role
• "Think I'm Going Mad" was first recorded during the 1979 Emotional Rescue sessions

Cover

• Peter Corriston handled art direction, the fourth consecutive Stones album he worked on
• Concept origination, photography, and illustration were by Hubert Kretzschmar
• The original vinyl cover had real peel-off stickers over patterned geometric shapes

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in London in 1962 as an English rock band; their first stable line-up was Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts.
• Jones named the band after a Muddy Waters song; they were rooted in blues and rock and roll.
• Manager Andrew Loog Oldham encouraged them to write their own songs, and the Jagger–Richards partnership became their main creative force.

Members

• Current: Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood (joined 1975).
• Former: Brian Jones (died 1969), Mick Taylor (1969–1974), Bill Wyman (1962–1993), Charlie Watts (1963–2021, died 2021).
• Steve Jordan became their drummer after Watts' death.

Career

• Hits included "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" (1965), "Paint It Black" (1966) and "Start Me Up" (1981).
• Their 1969 Hyde Park show and Let It Bleed, Sticky Fingers and Exile on Main St. are key points of their career.
• Formed Rolling Stones Records in 1970, whose tongue-and-lips logo became their band logo.
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989; the band has sold more than 250 million albums.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Rolling Stone's Kurt Loder gave the album 4.5 stars, calling it "rock & roll without apologies"
• Billboard was also positive, calling Undercover one of the band's "most musically adventurous" albums
• Robert Christgau called it a "murky, overblown, incoherent piece of shit" and labelled it the band's "worst studio album"
• Contemporary critical reception to the album was mixed

Reappraisal

• Many fans have come to regard the album as among the Stones' weaker releases
• Jagger himself echoed this view in later interviews
• Some later reviews have attributed the album's eclecticism and nastiness to the Jagger/Richards feud

Records

• Released November 1983, reaching No. 3 in the UK and No. 4 in the United States
• It broke a streak of eight No. 1 albums (excluding compilations and live albums) in the United States
• It was a relative disappointment and failed to spawn any huge singles
• Three singles were released from the album, with the highest-charting being top-40 release "Undercover of the Night"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• "Pretty Beat Up" is largely a Ronnie Wood composition, and Jagger and Richards were both reportedly reluctant to include it on the album.
• "Think I'm Going Mad" was first recorded during the 1979 Emotional Rescue sessions and was the B-side to the "She Was Hot" single.
• The original cassette and later post-EMI CD reissues contain a different edit of "Wanna Hold You" from the original vinyl.
• The album's cover artwork was covered with real peel-off stickers on the original vinyl edition.
• Ian Stewart played piano on "She Was Hot" and "Pretty Beat Up" and contributed percussion.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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