#smallfaces — Public Fediverse posts on home.social

LilMikeSF @[email protected] · 2026-08-15 · 20:05 UTC

#OTD in 1978 a dancefloor worthy track, "Miss You" the first single off the Rolling Stones' "Some Girls" album knocked Andy Gibb's "Shadow Dancing" out of the number 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100.

Charlie Watts was quoted in 2003 saying of that era "A lot of those songs like Miss You on Some Girls... were heavily influenced by going to the discos. You can hear it in a lot of those four on the floor rhythms and the Philadelphia-style drumming. Mick and I used to go to discos a lot... It was a great period. I remember being in Munich and coming back from a club with Mick singing one of the Village People songs - YMCA, I think it was - and Keith went mad, but it sounded great on the dance floor."

Supposedly its origins were a groove that emerged in 1976 and was cemented during rehearsals with Billy Preston on bass & drums before their El Mocambo club dates in Toronto in 1977. The song itself was recorded by the UK tax exiles at Pathe Marconi studios in Paris. At some point during the marathon sessions in the fall of '77, Ian McLagan was flown in to Orly airport at request of former Faces's bandmate Ron Wood and brought to the studio lay down some impeccably memorable Wurlitzer organ parts. Propelled along by Bill Wyman's languid bass groove, the song came together live in the studio after the temporarily unemployed McLagan was handed a coke straw and a chance to sit in. His subtle organ drives the tune, and perhaps provides the only unmistakable instantly identifiable instrumental element of what would become the Stones biggest hit in well over a decade and their final number one hit ever in the United States.

Later, key contributions were overdubbed and mixed in from supplemental musicians like Mel Collins on sax and "Sugar Blue" an itinerant street musician on harmonica. Said #RonWood of key harmonicat Sugar Blue, apparently the travelling busker from Detroit was found a few days earlier at a Paris subway station. "Sugar Blue played harmonica on Miss You and "Some Girls". He was somebody that Mick or Keith found playing on the street. The thing that blew my mind was what that guy could do, because I play a little harmonica. I know how to suck and bend, blow and bend like Jimmy Reed, but if you gave a harmonica to Sugar Blue, he could play in C, C sharp, C flat, B, A and F, all on the one harmonica. The way he bent it was unreal."

The song by the top UK rock #TaxExiles continues to get airplay and DJ remixes still emerge to this day on Soundcloud & Bandcamp regularly, as its cross generational crossover dance floor success has help keep the Stones' name alive for a new digital d-generation.

At the end of the long night's session back in late 1977, a still buzzing #IanMcLagan, had to fly back to London to work on an ill fated #SmallFaces reunion LP with a down and out Steve Marriott and Shel Talmy. As he left, #MickJagger slipped McLagan 120 francs (at the time worth about $25 US dollars) for cab fare back to the airport, said THANX and mentioned he'd make it up to him.

After the song became the #RollingStones' biggest hit in years, McLagan told Ron Wood he'd never been properly paid or credited for his work on "Some Girls". After the 1981 Tattoo You tour the management sent over some gold & platinum '#SomeGirls" & "Miss You" record plaques. Sadly, years later, when his phone stopped ringing for studio work, a strapped for cash McLagan had to quickly sell them in the late 80's to pay some over extended tabs. That's the #MusicBiz...

Another uncredited British keyboardist, Tim Hinkley, claims he was flown to Paris by engineer Chris Kimsey in late 1977, and was told to play over most of McLagan's sloppy Hammond , Rhodes & Wurlitzer parts on "Some Girls" in a marathon recording session that began at 1 am and ended at 10:30am in the morning. Enroute to the Paris airport, to resume a tour with Elkie Brooks, when he asked for the £200 pounds he was promised, the Stones decided to deduct his share of the evening's communal cocaine use and he, just like MacLagan, also effectively went "unpaid" formally as well...

#otd #ronwood #taxexiles #ianmclagan #smallfaces #mickjagger