Tattoo You was released in 1981 and they did a massive tour that didn’t come near Nashville. Back then no big band like The Who or Stones would come here. Vanderbilt was the only place big enough and they went through a period where they didn’t allow concerts. In 1972 they did come to Nashville to the Municipal Auditorium and Stevie Wonder opened up for them. I still tell my sister…you could have seen Stevie Wonder and The Stones but you picked the Osmonds and David Cassidy! It doesn’t phase her.
In 1982 they released this single off of their live album Still Life. It was a good album and entry to point to a lot of people…the problem was the live album I knew was Get Your Ya Ya’s Out…which ranks among the best live albums ever. I did like the album though and bought two singles from it before I got the album. I think it has the definitive version of Time Is On My Side and this song…Going To A Go-Go. It was a feel-good live album and the joke was going around on how incredibly old they were…hmmm if only we knew!
This was the last tour you could actually see JUST The Stones and not a stage full of other musicians. They always carried a keyboard player which is cool but after this, they carried backup singers and a huge entourage of players on stage. I never liked that…I would rather hear Keith’s thin backup vocals than professional singers.
I remember watching Friday Night Videos and seeing a clip of Keith Richards clubbing a guy over the head with his guitar. The guy deserved it…remember this was 1981, a year after their good friend John Lennon was murdered. Intruders on stage were not welcomed. Here is a small clip of it.
Going to a Go-Go peaked at #25 on the Billboard 100, #4 in Canada, #24 in New Zealand, and #26 in the UK in 1982. Jagger and Richards didn’t write this one. It was written by Smokey Robinson, Pete Moore, Bobby Rogers, and Marvin Tarplin. Smokey Robinson and The Miracles released in the song in 1965 and it peaked at #11 on the Billboard 100.
The two singles from the album were Time Is On My Side and Going to a Go Go. Time Is On My Side hit the top 10.
Going To A Go Go
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go, c’mon now
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go, c’mon now
Well there’s a brand new place I found
People coming from miles around
They come from everywhere
If you drop in there
You see everyone in town
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go, c’mon now
Don’t you wanna go
And that’s alright tell me
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go
It doesn’t matter if you’re black
It doesn’t matter if you’re white
Take a dollar fifty
A six pack of beer
And we goin’ dance all night
Going to a go go, everybody
Going to a go go, c’mon now
Don’t you wanna go
And that’s alright, tell me
…
