Graphics by David Swann, Star-BulletinFor 35 years, the Rolling Stones have been the rough, surly, rude boys of rock 'n' roll
By Burl Burlingame
Star-BulletinThey're so rude. Always have been. Within a few years of forming, the Rolling Stones were regularly being called "long-haired louts" by the British press, simply because they elected to wear street clothes on stage. Remember, this was the British-invasion period when the Beatles, Chad and Jeremy, Herman's Hermits and others were dressing for public appearances as if every night were prom night. Nope, these guys were surly, dangerous, a bit industrial, rough, the flip side of the Beatles, and because the variance between the two bands was so obvious, rock fans branched apart as well, like separate evolutionary paths. The Rolling Stones, almost from the beginning, hyped themselves as "The World's Greatest Rock 'n' Roll Band," a title that has never seriously been in question because the Beatles piffled themselves away into a scrimmy haze of feel-good pop, == while the Stones crunched away with chainsaw guitars and bandito ferocity.
You were a Stones fan or you were a Beatles fan. Many a schoolyard musical debate rose from these extremes.
Mr. and Mrs. America and all the ships at sea were terrified by the Rolling Stones. Their first stateside television appearance in March 1964 on "The Hollywood Palace" was hosted by Dean Martin, who responded in sweaty, bug-eyed panic.
"Don't go away, everyone!" he squeaked during a station break. "You wouldn't want to leave me alone with these Rolling Stones, would you?"
Later, they appeared on "Ed Sullivan" to play "Let's Spend the Night Together," which the tyrannical Mr. Sullivan insisted they change to "Let's Spend Some Time Together." Vocalist Mick Jagger sang it as "Let's hmmmm hmmmm hmmmm together," which flew right over the host's head.
In 1966, disc jockey Tom Rounds announced he was bringing the Rolling Stones to Hawaii. "Not at the same time, please, Tom!" implored a columnist. The announcement of the show noted that, "Their sound is R and B - rhythm and blues. Their look is U and U - unkempt and uncoordinated!"
The Stones' "concert" consisted of only eight songs, for which they pocketed $38,800 and managed to annoy fans who wanted more. "I personally think they should take a few tips from Sonny and Cher, who love their fans, and go all out to meet as many as they can," sniffed "former fan" Pat Lamansky in a letter to the editor.
For the next seven years, the Rolling Stones existed in Hawaii only as a chain of radio singles - their "Satisfaction" was permanently glued to KPOI's Top-300 ace spot - and stories that called attention to their lack of character. "ROLLING STONE CONVICTED OF POSSESSING PEP PILLS!" was a typically shrill example. The deaths of exiled lead guitarist Brian Jones and of an innocent fan knifed at the California Altamont concert were grim enough, but gristly, raucous tunes like "Brown Sugar" and "Jumping Jack Flash" showed that the Stones were as uncompromising as ever.
The Stones didn't care. They kept playing rock 'n' roll. That was their mission in life. Everything else was a waste of time. By the time the Stones rolled back into Honolulu in 1973, they were more than snotty kids; they were adults in full command of their art.
"The tone of Jagger's movements is homo-erotic," gooshed one blissfully wanked-out Honolulu journalist. "A smorgasbord of energy and degeneracy, of sensuality and sexuality, of animal magnetism and auto-eroticism. And much of the savagery and the suggestion come from his mouth: thick, desirous lips, constantly puckered, conspicuously hungry ..."
Yes, Jagger. Point man for the Stones. If the band were a creature, he'd be the brain. Smart, insolent, Mike "Mick" Jagger has a face like Silly Putty and a body like a bullwhip, and he's inseparable from the band's persona.
But the creature's heart is Keith Richards, guitarist. Richards first bumped into Jagger on tricycles when they were but wee lads, and he announced that when he grew up he wanted to be a singing cowboy. Richards' blistering guitar - a Fender with only five strings, tuned to the key of G and cranked through a tiny, overheated, protesting amplifier - is the band's lifeblood. Richards is a walking musical encyclopedia of riff-ology.
He's also the one who looks like a victim of cut-rate embalming. Richards also claims, quite reasonably, that there would be no furor over the band's age if they were old black blues guys.
The creature's central nervous system is Charlie Watts, explosive drummer and swing-music swell. Now the band's eldest member - since bassist Bill Wyman retired - Watts claims that he follows Jagger and Richards instead of laying the percussive groundwork, the opposite of most bands.
And completing the creature, its soul, is guitarist Ron Wood, whose slashing instrument fills the holes, becoming indistinguishable from the others in the manner of a living organism. It breathes, it moves, it rocks. Wood only became a chartered member of the Stones in 1993, after nearly two decades of journeyman musicianship.
It ain't easy to be a Stone. Pianist Ian Stewart, after all, wasn't deemed cute enough by manager Andrew Loog Oldham to be considered a full-fledged Stone, even though he played with them nonstop from 1962 to 1985, and only stopped because he died.
And so the creature called the Rolling Stones lives on, snorting and tearing up towns, the four musicians at its core doing what they do because, dammit, they're the best. Some days, some albums, are better than others, but that's the nature of things, isn't it?
The creature is back. Watch out.
Bring home a piece of rock
Bridges to Babylon world tour catalog
Chunky Babylonian Tongue Magnet, $9.99, is available through the Rolling Stones 'online superstore' site at www.stonesbazaar.com
Got bucks? Then souvenirs are no beast of burden, ranging from a $400 jacket to $4 incense
By Tim Ryan
Star-BulletinSo you've ponied up a couple hundred dollars for Rolling Stones' tickets and to avoid driving in tonight's pau hana traffic you're spending another $100 for a taxi. You're already out $300 bucks even before you've heard Mick yelp one word of "Satisfaction," the concert's opening song.
But what the hey. You haven't seen the Stones since Nixon was president and who knows when - if ever - the Stones will be back in Hawaii.
Well, buddy boys and sister girls, you better make sure there's some more bullion left on that gold card because there's going to be plenty of Stones apparel for sale. Cash also will be accepted, but no checks.
There are 77 different souvenir items for sale, the most at any venue on the Bridges tour, in 23 booths around and inside Aloha Stadium. Prices range from about $4 for official Bridges to Babylon incense - 20 sandalwood-scented sticks - to a $400 brown aviator jacket with three logos and embroidered Gold Tongue on the back, said Nick Jones, the Rolling Stones' merchandise manager.
There's so much stuff that the memorabilia filled a 24-foot long sea container, Jones said.
Although nothing has been designed specifically for the Hawaii stop, there are five T-shirts that list the venues for the current tour, including Aloha Stadium. The T-shirts "by far" are the most popular sale items, because "it's the shirt that says I was there," Jones said.
Here's a list of other Bridges to Babylon stuff expected be offered. Since all the items cannot fit in each booth, every booth will have something different. But 20 items will be constant throughout the booths, Jones said.
T-shirt with the Bridges to Babylon lion on the front and tour cities listed on the back; this year's theme T-shirt in a spiral tie dye, $34.99
