20 Greatest Non-Hits by the Rolling Stones

Everyone knows that the Rolling Stones are a bunch of greedy amoral bastards. (Pick your anecdote from rock lore to illustrate this fact.) The geezers keep flogging their fame into the 21st century, long past sell-by date of their flesh and musical inspiration. Do they need to tour and release more memoirs to make more millions? It hardly seems like it, yet they've been doing it for 50 years now, and they probably don't know what else to do with themselves.

And yet, no matter how creepy and weird Mick's wizened strutting-chicken moves and Keith's kabuki-pirate routine have become, one can't deny that the Glimmer Twins have produced some amazingly durable music over the years. And despite the fact that the Rolling Stones corporate juggernaut seems set on ramming their back-catalog and mythic legacy down our throats, there are, in fact, loads of great Stones tunes that have never (by our loose estimation) made it on any of their 30 or so (!!) greatest hits compilations (Through the Past Darkly, Hot Rocks, Forty Licks, etc. etc.). (Side note, these guys write a lot of songs with "girl" in the title.)

The Stones release Grrr!, a 3-disc extravaganza, on Nov. 12. But do you really need to hear "Satisfaction" again? None of these songs are on it. Here's our list of the 20 Best Rolling Stones Songs You Won't Find on Any of Their 30 or So Greatest Hits Collections. Subscribe to the entire playlist by clicking the link on the very last slide.

-- John Adamian

October 11, 2012