I say yes...I give you, as my first piece of evidence, their 2nd best video ever (JJF gets nods for the best video):





PLUS, the video was banned...that has to count for something.

OK, to continue building the case...the instruments.

1. Drums - sound like machine guns
2. Guitars - sound like rapiers slashing through the jungle
3. Bass - swings...and you can actually HEAR IT

really really liked it, back then, and still do.

indeed, great video.

Hope they perform it this year in amsterdam

jeroen

GOMPER gets my vote
and IORR but i like it gets my vote for best video.

I agree that undercover is the most unique song since Fingerprint file.

Jagger loves to sing about Mexico gangs and Indian Girls.

VOCALS are also razor sharp, dead spot on.
Even the lyrics are great:

Songwriters: JAGGER, MICK/RICHARDS, KEITH
Hear the screams of center 42
Loud enough to bust your brains out
The oppositions tongue is cut in two
Keep off the street cause you're in danger

One hundred thousand disparus
Lost in the jails in south america
Cuddle up baby
Cuddle up tight
Cuddle up baby
Keep it all out of sight
Undercover
Keep it all out of sight
Undercover of the night

The sex police are out there on the streets
Make sure the pass laws are not broken
The race militia has got itchy fingers
All the way from new york back to africa

Cuddle up baby
Keep it all out of sight
Cuddle up baby
Sleep with all out of sight
Cuddle up baby
Keep it all out of sight
Undercover
Undercover
Undercover
Keep it all out of sight
Undercover of the night

All the young men they've been rounded up
And sent to camps back in the jungle
And people whisper people double-talk
And once proud fathers act so humble
All the young girls they have got the blues
They're heading on back to center 42

Keep it undercover
Keep it all out of sight
Keep it undercover
Keep it all out of sight
Undercover
Keep it all out of sight
Undercover
Keep it all out of sight
Undercover of the night

Down in the bars the girls are painted blue
Done up in lace, done up in rubber
The johns are jerky little g.i. joes
On r&r from cuba and russia
The smell of sex, the smell of suicide
All these things I can't keep inside

Undercover
Keep it all out of sight
Undercover of the night

Undercover of the night
Undercover of the night

Undercover
Undercover
Undercover of the night

One of the few I like better live than on the record. Maybe because I foind that album to be so depressing.

ahem. most unique? there are degrees of uniqueness now?

and underrated? what was the official rating again? hmmm?

On behalf of René, you, treaclefingers, is now sued for copyright infringement. The lyric-insert was the last drop. It's also a most biased version of René's track-talk, btw, in favour of the song we're supposed to bash.

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StonesTod
ahem. most unique? there are degrees of uniqueness now?

and underrated? what was the official rating again? hmmm?

I think you'll find these links in order...

www.iorr.org/degrees-of-uniqueness

www.iorr.org/underrated/songs

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StonesTod
ahem. most unique? there are degrees of uniqueness now?

Yes there is: somewhat unique - unique - very unique - uniquest

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71Tele
One of the few I like better live than on the record. Maybe because I foind that album to be so depressing.

Right on, that 1989 PPV version I heard the other for the first time in years is really good, have they ever played it live since ?

Huh...yes 11 times according to setlist.fm : [www.setlist.fm]

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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StonesTod
ahem. most unique? there are degrees of uniqueness now?

Yes there is: somewhat unique - unique - very unique - uniquest

no uniquer? oh, and how about seminique....which is to say, half as unique. then there should be binique...which would be twice as unique. then you got trinique...and i think the rest is self-explanatory...

I was going to ask about uniquesterist.

Is it too late?

Cuddle up now.

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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StonesTod
ahem. most unique? there are degrees of uniqueness now?

Yes there is: somewhat unique - unique - very unique - uniquest

no uniquer? oh, and how about seminique....which is to say, half as unique. then there should be binique...which would be twice as unique. then you got trinique...and i think the rest is self-explanatory...

You got me there, it's been a long time since I took English grammar lessons. That means that "triuniquest" would be 3 times stronger than "uniquest" , and God knows how many times stonger than "tri-somewhat-unique" , then

Uniqued.

As in uniqued my wallet.

A fantastic production. Also very timely, although half the world probably had no idea what they were singing about. Difficult to sell as a single, but a great song.

At the time I wished the kept Undercover under wraps. Coming off the heights of their greatest guitar driven tour ever it seemed like so much out of place salsa music. Charlie's first battle with a drum machine...

Great guitar tone though.

Then they went and made up for it with She Was Hot...

Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

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Munichhilton
At the time I wished the kept Undercover under wraps. Coming off the heights of their greatest guitar driven tour ever it seemed like so much out of place salsa music. Charlie's first battle with a drum machine...

Great guitar tone though.

Then they went and made up for it with She Was Hot...

Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

B...b...but....the guitars are precisely what make this a great song!

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treaclefingers

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Munichhilton
At the time I wished the kept Undercover under wraps. Coming off the heights of their greatest guitar driven tour ever it seemed like so much out of place salsa music. Charlie's first battle with a drum machine...

Great guitar tone though.

Then they went and made up for it with She Was Hot...

Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

B...b...but....the guitars are precisely what make this a great song!

You have to listen too hard through the damn samba to get to the guitars.
It sounds like Keith is hacking away at the damn drum machine with his choppy riffing...I see its musical genius now...I didn't back when I was awaiting the next Start Me Up...Still I like Too Tough and Pretty Beat Up a bit better

Is "Undercover of the Night" the most unique, overlooked, underrated, EXCELLENTest song in the Stones Catalogue?


No.

Yes treaclefingers I think you are right. Is that really Charlie on drums. If it is
he really is The Man.

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treaclefingers

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Munichhilton
At the time I wished the kept Undercover under wraps. Coming off the heights of their greatest guitar driven tour ever it seemed like so much out of place salsa music. Charlie's first battle with a drum machine...

Great guitar tone though.

Then they went and made up for it with She Was Hot...

Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

B...b...but....the guitars are precisely what make this a great song!

the best three things about the album:

1) all the way down
2) keef's searing solo on she was hot (the song itself is forgettable)
3) the peel-off stickers

i could do without the rest

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Munichhilton
Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

Hmmmm.....I really really like Too Much Blood. I think it's one of the few times they've taken a big risk; soundwise and beatwise, but that it all worked.

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Erik_Snow

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Munichhilton
Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

Hmmmm.....I really really like Too Much Blood. I think it's one of the few times they've taken a big risk; soundwise and beatwise, but that it all worked.

i didn't appreciate the way mick screamed and yelled "TOO MUCH BLOOD" at me. i understand inherently that any blood is too much blood...yelling at me about it doesn't make the point any more valid.

Fantastic! Best vocals ever.

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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Munichhilton
Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

Hmmmm.....I really really like Too Much Blood. I think it's one of the few times they've taken a big risk; soundwise and beatwise, but that it all worked.

i didn't appreciate the way mick screamed and yelled "TOO MUCH BLOOD" at me. i understand inherently that any blood is too much blood...yelling at me about it doesn't make the point any more valid.

But look at it this way...30 years later (yes, 30 years folks) you were able to remember why you didn't like the song, because Mick was pestering you that Too Much Blood was too much!

Got to hand it to Mick, he got under your skin and taught you a valuable life lesson, while at the same time kept you dancing to a groovy jazz/disco beat!

Great song, great live, too. I enjoy my Stones with a little political/social commentary. It sounded fresh at the time and still does. Part of me thinks that much of the Some Girls record had a punk edge, showing the Stones were not just some rock band, but could keep up with the punks, maybe were the original punks. I felt Undercover was their return to social/political commentary, maybe influenced by some of what the Clash had done. Again, the Stones had been there first, and returned.

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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Munichhilton
Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

Hmmmm.....I really really like Too Much Blood. I think it's one of the few times they've taken a big risk; soundwise and beatwise, but that it all worked.

i didn't appreciate the way mick screamed and yelled "TOO MUCH BLOOD" at me. i understand inherently that any blood is too much blood...yelling at me about it doesn't make the point any more valid.

The reason you dislike that, is that you hate the Undercover promo-videos, so you probably you never saw that the girl in the girl and the boy in the video, turns on a horrorfilm on TV in the beginning....then it takes off from there.....horrorfilms on all channels. Everybody likes a little blood....but it just becomes TOO MUCH! They saw your criticism coming and replied with the video, IOW

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Erik_Snow

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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Munichhilton
Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

Hmmmm.....I really really like Too Much Blood. I think it's one of the few times they've taken a big risk; soundwise and beatwise, but that it all worked.

i didn't appreciate the way mick screamed and yelled "TOO MUCH BLOOD" at me. i understand inherently that any blood is too much blood...yelling at me about it doesn't make the point any more valid.

The reason you dislike that, is that you hate the Undercover promo-videos, so you probably you never saw that the girl in the girl and the boy in the video, turns on a horrorfilm on TV in the beginning....then it takes off from there.....horrorfilms on all channels. Everybody likes a little blood....but it just becomes TOO MUCH! They saw your criticism coming and replied with the video, IOW

everybody likes a little blood as long as it's not your own.

and i don't watch videos and the sight of blood makes me ill. strangely enough, i do enjoy blood sausage and blood oranges.

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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Munichhilton
Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

Hmmmm.....I really really like Too Much Blood. I think it's one of the few times they've taken a big risk; soundwise and beatwise, but that it all worked.

i didn't appreciate the way mick screamed and yelled "TOO MUCH BLOOD" at me. i understand inherently that any blood is too much blood...yelling at me about it doesn't make the point any more valid.

The reason you dislike that, is that you hate the Undercover promo-videos, so you probably you never saw that the girl in the girl and the boy in the video, turns on a horrorfilm on TV in the beginning....then it takes off from there.....horrorfilms on all channels. Everybody likes a little blood....but it just becomes TOO MUCH! They saw your criticism coming and replied with the video, IOW

everybody likes a little blood as long as it's not your own.

and i don't watch videos and the sight of blood makes me ill. strangely enough, i do enjoy blood sausage and blood oranges.

I actively encourage you to take this bloody conversation to the Too Much Blood thread as this particular digital space is reserved for discussion on the excellent Undercover of the Night.

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treaclefingers

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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StonesTod

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Erik_Snow

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Munichhilton
Then they went and destroyed it with Too Much Blood...

Hmmmm.....I really really like Too Much Blood. I think it's one of the few times they've taken a big risk; soundwise and beatwise, but that it all worked.

i didn't appreciate the way mick screamed and yelled "TOO MUCH BLOOD" at me. i understand inherently that any blood is too much blood...yelling at me about it doesn't make the point any more valid.

The reason you dislike that, is that you hate the Undercover promo-videos, so you probably you never saw that the girl in the girl and the boy in the video, turns on a horrorfilm on TV in the beginning....then it takes off from there.....horrorfilms on all channels. Everybody likes a little blood....but it just becomes TOO MUCH! They saw your criticism coming and replied with the video, IOW

everybody likes a little blood as long as it's not your own.

and i don't watch videos and the sight of blood makes me ill. strangely enough, i do enjoy blood sausage and blood oranges.

I actively encourage you to take this bloody conversation to the Too Much Blood thread as this particular digital space is reserved for discussion on the excellent Undercover of the Night.

ok. it's giving me the blues, anyway. is there a "love in vein" thread somewhere?