Songoftheday 9/20/15 - No sittin' down on your butt the world don't owe you, no sittin' down in a rut I wanna show you...

"Let's Work" - Mick Jagger
from the album Primitive Cool (1987)
Billboard Hot 100 peak: #39 (one week)
Weeks in the Top-40: 1

Today's Song of the Day comes from Mick Jagger, who had already taken a break from the Rolling Stones once before in 1985 for his first solo album She's The Boss, which spun off two top-40 pop hits in America with "Just Another Night" and "Lucky In Love". He also hit the top-10 with his charity collaborative cover of "Dancing In The Street" with David Bowie for Live Aid. In 1987, after his Dirty Work album with the Stones, Jagger recorded his second solo effort Primitive Cool. Although the sonic diversity was lauded by critics, the lead single was by far one of the very worst of the decade (if not the rock era).

"Let's Work", written and producer by Mick with the Eurythmics' Dave Stewart, was a stunningly myopic Tory-like anthem touting employment in the Thatcher age of horrible workforce situations. Apeing in the camera with people dressed as workers of various stripes, with lyrics sounding like a political commercial, this man who went to France as a tax exile was even laughable here in the Reagan years in America...

"Let's Work" popped into the American pop top-40 in October of 1987. The song did do well on rock radio, climbing to #7 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock chart, while the extended version went to #32 on their Dance Club Play list. Internationally, the song reached the top-40 in Germany, Ireland, and Jagger's native Britain (#31).

The follow-up single from the album, the slick pop/rock of "Throwaway", also reached #7 on the rock chart, and #67 on the Hot 100. Mick released his third and I think best solo album Wandering Spirit in 1993. Besides a great remake of Bill Withers' "Use Me" with Lenny Kravitz, the track "Don't Tear Me Up" topped the Mainstream Rock radio chart, while single "Sweet Thing" was his most recent lead-artist pop chart entry at #84. In 2008, remixes of his Greatest Hits single "Charmed Life" peaked at #18 on Billboard's club chart. Most recently, he made it back into the American top-40 as a featured guest on will.i.am's "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)" which landed at #36 in 2011.

Up tomorrow: A pop-dance diva is questioning your desire.