| 8th | Top %22Weird Al%22 Yankovic polka medleys |
| 18th | Top songs banned by the BBC |
| "Let's Spend the Night Together" | ||||||||
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| Single by The Rolling Stones | ||||||||
| from the album Between the Buttons (US version) | ||||||||
| A-side | "Ruby Tuesday" (Double A-side) |
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| Released | January 13, 1967 (UK) January 14, 1967 (US) |
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| Format | 7" single | |||||||
| Recorded | August 3–11 and November 8–26, 1966 |
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| Genre | Rock and roll | |||||||
| Length | 3:36 | |||||||
| Label | Decca F.12546 (UK) London 45.904 (US) |
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| Writer(s) | Jagger/Richards | |||||||
| Producer | Andrew Loog Oldham | |||||||
| The Rolling Stones singles chronology | ||||||||
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"Let's Spend the Night Together" is a song written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and originally released as a single by The Rolling Stones in 1967. It also appeared as the opening track on the US version of their album Between the Buttons.
It has been covered by various artists, most famously David Bowie in 1973.[1]
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Released in the UK as a single in January 1967, "Let's Spend the Night Together" reached #3 on the UK Singles Chart. The song was included on the US version of the Stones' album Between the Buttons, and was also released there as a single. However, due to the then-controversial nature of the lyrics (with its suggestion of casual sex) most radio stations opted to play the flip side "Ruby Tuesday" instead.[1] The two songs charted separately on the US Billboard Hot 100, "Let's Spend the Night Together" stalling at #55 while "Ruby Tuesday" became a #1 hit. Both "Ruby Tuesday" and "Let's Spend the Night Together" feature piano by Jack Nitzsche.
In one of the more famous examples of musical censorship, on The Ed Sullivan Show, the band was initially refused permission to perform the number. Sullivan himself told Jagger, "Either the song goes or you go".[2] A compromise was reached to substitute the words "let's spend some time together" in place of "let's spend the night together"; Jagger agreed to change the lyrics but ostentatiously rolled his eyes at the TV camera while singing them. Soon after the performance, the Stones disappeared from the studio. Ed Sullivan announced that the Rolling Stones would be banned from performing on his show again.[3] In April 2006, for their first-ever performance in China, authorities prohibited the group from performing the song due to its "suggestive lyrics".[4]
"Let's Spend the Night Together" was released on the following studio albums:
A live version appeared on "Still Life" (American Concert 1981) (1982).
After performing the song on a 28-date European tour in spring 1967, it was not until 1976 that The Rolling Stones next played "Let's Spend the Night Together" live in concert regularly. A one-off performance of the song was played at the Knebworth Festival in 1976 and it also followed along and was played a few times in 1977. It was performed regularly on the 1981 and 1982 tours before being again retired for 15 years where it was played occasionally during the Bridges To Babylon Tour in 1997/98. It was then absent during the No Security Tour 1999 and the Licks Tour 2002/03. The song was occasionally played at most shows and became a minor mainstay of their live performances during their two-year A Bigger Bang Tour.
| "Let's Spend the Night Together" | ||||||||||
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| Single by David Bowie | ||||||||||
| from the album Aladdin Sane | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Lady Grinning Soul" | |||||||||
| Released | July 1973 | |||||||||
| Format | 7" single | |||||||||
| Recorded | Trident Studios, London 9 December 1972 – 24 January 1973 |
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| Genre | Glam rock | |||||||||
| Length | 3:03 | |||||||||
| Label | RCA | |||||||||
| Producer | Ken Scott, David Bowie | |||||||||
| David Bowie singles chronology | ||||||||||
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David Bowie recorded a glam rock cover of "Let's Spend the Night Together" for his Aladdin Sane album, released in April 1973. It was also issued as a single by RCA Records in the US and Europe. It was a Dutch Top 40 hit, peaking at #21.
Bowie's rendition featured pulsating synthesizer effects. The singer added his own words as part of the finale:
Author Nicholas Pegg describes the recording as "faster and raunchier" than the Stones' performance with "a fresh, futuristic sheen",[5] while NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray considered Bowie to have performed "the unprecedented feat of beating the Stones on one of their own songs", remarking on the track's "polymorphous perversity" and "furious, coked-up drive".[6] However, Rolling Stone's contemporary review found the Bowie version "campy, butch, brittle and unsatisfying", suggesting that "one of the most ostensibly heterosexual calls in rock is made into a bi-anthem".[7]
The Italian release featured "Watch That Man" on the B-side.
In addition to its appearance on Aladdin Sane, Bowie's version of "Let's Spend the Night Together" was included on the following compilations:
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   | Aladdin Sane - David Bowie: Aladdin Sane : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone |
| | Stones tracks censored in China - BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Stones tracks censored in China |
| | Let's Spend The Night Together Lyrics - Let's Spend The Night Together Lyrics - The Rolling Stones |
| | The Rolling Stones Lyrics - The Rolling Stones Lyrics - Lyrics, Video, Biography |
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