Why was The Rolling Stones’ video for ‘Undercover of the Night’ banned?
The purpose of a music video, primarily, is promotional. In the 1980s, in particular, when MTV reached its most popular level, the music video provided yet another piece of marketing material to push artists further into the spotlight. From Madonna to Michael Jackson, some of the biggest pop stars of the era gained even more attention through their visual accompaniments. But The Rolling Stones may have just missed the mark in this respect.
The Stones never did things by the book. They embodied the sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle, spearheaded by their very frontman, Mick Jagger. They infused their music with raucous riffs and tales of sex and satisfaction, becoming one of the most influential rock bands of all time in the process. And they extended this rebellious image to their music video-making, too.
In 1983, ahead of the release of their 17th record, Undercover, the Stones released their opening track, ‘Undercover of the Night’. Inspired by Cities of the Red Night by William S Burroughs, the song featured a funky bass part, quirky percussion, and Jagger’s distinctive vocals urging, “Cuddle up baby, cuddle up tight, cuddle up baby, keep it all out of sight, undercover.” It was a typical Stones track.
However, the band caused a stir when they unleashed the accompanying music video for ‘Undercover of the Night’. Directed by Julien Temple, the video followed a group of masked figures who enter the frontman’s hotel room while a cosy-looking Jagger watches himself singing on television. The group kidnap Jagger and speeds away in a dark car while his girlfriend hides under the covers.
Eventually, she joins a sharply-dressed detective wearing an all-white suit and hat in order to find Jagger. Together, they witness the Stones frontman being taken to a strange pier with a bag over his head, where the group of kidnappers shoot him. The rest of the music video features fires, shoot-outs and more shots of a singing Jagger. It fits the song perfectly, but MTV wasn’t too happy with the video.
So, why was it banned?
In fact, ‘Undercover of the Night’ was banned by MTV and BBC for its violent content. The Rolling Stones may not have fulfilled the typical purpose of the music video, missing out on a large portion of the promotion that MTV air time before 9pm would have afforded them, but that didn’t seem to be the point. The video didn’t seem to be made with marketing in mind.
“It’s a film which goes with our new single which is about political repression, violence,” Jagger once explained during an appearance on The Tube, referring to the ‘Undercover of the Night’ music video, “I notice we all got your reactions when the violent bits came. We never got a chance to see them ourselves, we were only allowed to see you shaking your head.”
“We didn’t want to dress the song up in cliches,” Jagger continued, “We wanted to do a video that was about the song.” The music video for ‘Undercover of the Night’ was an artistic choice rather than a business-led decision, with the Stones opting to stay true to the message of the track rather than pandering to the restrictions of broadcasting companies.
In the process, they did exactly what they had hoped, eliciting shock and intrigue from their audiences about the banned content.
