Today in music history, July 10, marks the fifty-fifth anniversary of The Rolling Stones' first No. 1 hit in the US - "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."
As another landmark song of the British Invasion of the 60s, it was first released in the US on June 5, 1965. It debuted the Billboard Hot 100 in the charting week ending on June 12, 1965. "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" topped the charts on July 10, 1965. The British rock band displaced the Motown hit "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)" by the Four Tops.
The Rolling Stones hit remained on the chart for fourteen weeks. By its eighth week, it has already garnered a gold record certification by the RIAA for achieving over a million copies across the United States.
While The Rolling Stones were a British band themselves, the song was first released in the US before being officially released in the UK two months later, on August 20, 1965. It was because, by the time of its US release as a single, Decca Records in Great Britain was already halfway across a live Rolling Stones EP, set for release.
In the UK, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" was later released as an EP, with "The Spider and The Fly" on its B-side. It enjoyed two weeks at the top spot of their singles chart after toppling Sonny & Cher's hit "I Got You Babe." The Rolling Stones were later dethroned by The Walker Brothers' "Make It Easy on Yourself."
On "Satisfaction's" Timeless Appeal
By 1976, almost ten years after its release, this British rock hit was recognized by the New Musical Express as 7th among its "Top 100 Singles of All Time." In 1991, it was Vox's turn to include "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" in their "100 Records That Shook The World, ranking it in the 36th place, right behind The Byrds' "Mr. Tambourine Man."
During the millennium turn, VH1 recognized "Satisfaction" as the top in its "Top 100 Greatest Rock Songs." However, in the list created by the Rolling Stone magazine and MTV, "Satisfaction ended behind The Beatles' "Yesterday." In the Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, "Satisfaction" also landed second. It trailed behind Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone."
In 1998, the song would again mark an important point in music history as it was formally into the Grammy Hall of Fame and later added to the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry considered "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important" in 2006.
Its long-lasting legacy through covers and versions
As a significant part of pop and rock music history, it has been covered by many artists throughout the decades. Otis Redding made the first cover of "Satisfaction" in 1965. Notably, the version that appeared in his album "Otis Blue/ Otis Redding Sings Soul" has a few lyrical differences compared to the Stones' version. Redding himself admitted that he didn't know the lyrics to the original version.
In 1977, American new wave outfit Devo released their version of the song as a single. Devo's version of "Satisfaction" was used in Martin Scorsese's 1995 epic crime film "Casino." It was also accompanied by a music video that received heavy rotation in MTV.
Britney Spears also did a version of the Stones' hit as a part of her second studio album. "Oops!... I Did It Again" was released in May 2000 and, with it, a power-pop update of the 1965 hit song.
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