Song · The Rolling Stones
“Slave” by The Rolling Stones
From the album Tattoo You (1981)
“Slave” by The Rolling Stones appears on 8 radio countdowns from 3 stations between 1981 and 2004. It was first released in 1981 on the album Tattoo You. Its best result is #91 on the KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981. In the combined RockLists rankings it is the #91 alternative song of 1981 and #2,218 alternative song of all time.
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"Slave" turned up on the Rolling Stones' 1981 album Tattoo You, but it was cut years earlier, in Rotterdam in early 1975 with the band's mobile studio, back when Mick Taylor had just walked out, the Stones were hunting for a second guitarist, and the Black and Blue sessions had them flirting with funk and dance grooves. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards wrote it, and it plays like the loose, greasy jam it was.
Richards handles the guitar while Charlie Watts and Bill Wyman keep the groove simmering, Billy Preston rolls in on keys, and Ollie E. Brown adds percussion. Then come the guests: Sonny Rollins blowing tenor sax and Pete Townshend singing backup. Words are scarce, just a spoken bit from Jagger and a chanted refusal to be anybody's slave. Rolling Stone shrugged it off as a standard Stones blues jam, and the band never played it on stage.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
RockLists rankings
Alternative & Modern Rock
Indie & Adult Alternative
All Rock Formats
Year-end countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1981 | 91 | KROQ Los Angeles, CA | KROQ Top 106.7 Songs of 1981 | 106 |
All-time and decade countdowns
| Year | # | Station | Countdown | of |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 687 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2000 Songs of All-Time (December 1999) | 2000 |
| 2000 | 687 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2001 Songs of All-Time (December 2000) | 2001 |
| 2001 | 688 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2002 Songs of All-Time (December 2001) | 2002 |
| 2001 | 400 | WFPK | WFPK 2001 Greatest Songs of All Time | 2000 |
| 2002 | 688 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2003 Songs of All-Time (December 2002) | 2003 |
| 2003 | 688 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2004 Songs of All-Time (December 2003) | 2004 |
| 2004 | 688 | CD101 | CD101 Top 2005 Songs of All-Time (December 2004) | 2005 |
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