The Rolling Stones are
celebrating their fiftieth year, but things almost came to a screeching halt
somewhere around year twenty-one. That’s one revelation in Keith Richards’s
score-settling memoir, “Life,” in which he details the Jagger-Richards war of
’85. The problem: They disagreed about the brand.
Mick Jagger’s first solo album
was the bone of contention. It lacked the badass attitude the group had worked so
hard to project. The Rolling Stones public image had always been “Under My
Thumb,” not, as Jagger titled his album, She’s
the Boss.
At that point, the band members
were a long way from being arrogant youths, or working class toughs, or even
British. But careful marketing had kept that image alive. Richards explains:
He didn't realize that by doing something else he was breaking a
certain image in the public mind that is very fragile. Mick was in a unique
position as lead singer of the Stones, and he should have read a little more
into what that actually meant.
Through the tabloids, the two
fired barbs at each other for a while, then grew tired of it and got back
together. Obviously, the band survived.
So did the brand. In an antique
store I recently came across a 70s-era Stones sticker, the iconic tongue logo. As
I headed toward the cash register to buy it, a woman walked toward me wearing a
Stones t-shirt – the exact same logo. "Nice shirt," I said, and
pointed to my sticker. She just shrugged and walked on by. After all, it’s only
rock and roll.
- Ken DuBois
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