The Disco Outtake That Almost Made Some Girls: 'Lucky in Love'

‘Lucky in Love’ is the missing link between the Stones’ dive into disco and the worldwide smash ‘Miss You.’ Recorded during the same 1977–78 sessions at Pathé Marconi in Paris, it’s built on the same four-on-the-floor beat, wah-wah guitar, and Mick Jagger’s falsetto—but it’s leaner, more direct, and less atmospheric. The bassline even mirrors the pulsing groove of ‘Miss You,’ and Jagger’s vocal phrasing feels like a dry run for that song’s spoken verses.

The track was fully mixed and sequenced for the album at one point, but the band left it off. Why? Mostly because they already had ‘Miss You’ as the disco centerpiece and didn’t want to double up on the same vibe. Jagger later said he felt ‘Lucky in Love’ was too similar, and the rest of the record had enough variety without it. It sat in the vaults until the 2011 Some Girls reissue, where listeners finally heard how close the Stones came to releasing a second disco single in one year.