“Let's Spend the Night Together” by The Rolling Stones

"Let's Spend the Night Together" hit the shops in January 1967 as one half of a double A-side with "Ruby Tuesday", and on the American edition of Between the Buttons it's the first thing you hear. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote it, and it's about as subtle as its title: a pounding, leering come-on that doesn't bother asking twice.

The Stones cut it in August 1966 at RCA Studios in Hollywood, their usual hit factory in those years, and the mixing session left behind one of rock's great studio yarns. Andrew Loog Oldham was snapping his fingers in search of a certain click when two policemen wandered in to check on an open front door. Engineer Glyn Johns wanted something woodier, the cops offered their truncheons, and that's them clacking away in the hushed break partway through.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.