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Posted on Wed, Jan. 08, 2003
The live show from New York City is at 9 p.m
By R.D. Heldenfels
The live show from New York City is at 9 p.m. Saturday on HBO.
From left, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, the Rolling Stones.
After one '60s dust-up with a television show, the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger shrugged it off.
A television performance ``doesn't really matter,'' Jagger said. ``It's all a joke. I mean, it's a washing machine and then it's you and then it's a soap powder.''
The real joke, of course, was that the Stones always knew that they were soap powder as well as a great rock band.
For example, you can find that Jagger quote in 25 X 5, an authorized 1989 documentary that helped push their project at the time, the Steel Wheels album and tour. And they kept a 1968 television special from being seen for almost 30 years because they did not think their performances were good enough.
Their latest sales effort is at 9 p.m. Saturday on HBO.
Rolling Stones: Live From Madison Square Garden is being billed as the band's ``first ever live concert event for broadcast or cable television.'' And I hope it's a great show.
I have loved the Stones for almost as long as I have loved rock 'n' roll. I bought their recordings on vinyl, tape and CD, and saw them live in 1975 and 1978.
And their fan base overall remains considerable. Their 2002 North American tour was second only to Paul McCartney's in revenues, according to entertainment magazine Billboard.
Forty Licks, their latest greatest-hits compilation, has sold more than 1.5 million copies -- although that's not much considering what the likes of the Dixie Chicks, Nelly and Eminem are moving these days.
But the Stones can still outstrip some younger performers. Time magazine recently noted that critically lauded rockers the Hives, Strokes and White Stripes ``were outsold in 2002 by their grandparents, the Rolling Stones.'' And that's the three bands' combined sales the magazine was talking about.
Still, as much as I'm anticipating a televised concert by the current Stones lineup -- originals Mick Jagger, Keith Richards and Charlie Watts along with later arrival Ron Wood -- there's still that lingering sense that they're just trying to push their new album back up the charts or prepare the audience for another video release. (There's a five-DVD Stones set due out in March.)
Of course, the Stones have invited that sort of ambivalence from the beginning. Although they were marketed as a bad-boy alternative to the Beatles, the original Stones -- Jagger, Richards, Watts, Bill Wyman and Brian Jones -- were a pretty mild bunch. (One sign of their supposed toughness: They occasionally favored turtlenecks over ties.)
Jagger loved the camera -- venturing occasionally into acting -- and playing with the media. There's a bit in 25 X 5 from the early '60s where he is asked about comparisons to the Beatles. ``We just do what we want, and they do what they want,'' he says -- adding, with a grin to the camera, ``Diplomatic, you see?''
And a survey of the Stones' career finds them repeatedly using television to market themselves, from the British pop-music shows early in their existence to their 1998 Bridges to Babylon special for PBS.
Among their TV moments:
� Hollywood Palace, 1964. The young and relatively unknown Stones sound pretty good in their first U.S. network performance. But Steubenville's Dean Martin, who was hosting the ABC variety show that week, mocked the band before and after they played -- and probably got them more young fans by doing so.
� Shindig, 1965. I still remember seeing the Stones unveil Satisfaction on this ABC pop-music series. But there was also controversy after the show deleted the line ``make some girl'' from the song for broadcast -- prompting Jagger's remark at the beginning of this column.
� The Ed Sullivan Show, 1967. Running into censorship once again -- and reaping generous publicity as a result -- Jagger sang Let's Spend the Night Together as Let's Spend Some Time Together to get around host Sullivan's objections to the song. Of course, Jagger unhappily rolled his eyes almost every time he sang the revised lyric.
� Rock and Roll Circus, 1968. For an ambitious television special, the Stones gathered Jethro Tull, the Who, Eric Clapton, John Lennon and others for performances and banter. But the Stones themselves were unhappy with the show, so it did not air. It was finally released on home video in 1996.
� Saturday Night Live, 1978. The Stones hosted the fourth-season opener of the series, and it provided a couple of memorable bits. One was Jagger being interviewed by Tom Snyder (played, brilliantly as always, by Dan Aykroyd). The other saw Jagger lick Woods' lips on camera -- shocking, among others, the then-president of NBC.
� Love Is Strong, 1994. The Stones had been experimenting for decades before this, but it's still one of my favorites. As giants striding through a big city, they underscored again the idea that they were the real monsters of rock.
The song wasn't bad, either. And they may have more great songs in them. Here's just hoping they do the old ones well on Saturday.
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R.D. Heldenfels writes about television for the Beacon Journal. Contact him at 330-996-3582 or [email protected].
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| Maxlugar |
5 DVD set due in March?
My does Maxy not know of this?
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| Boomhauer |
I think they are talking about that "Just for the Record" set, but I didn't think the Stones were behind that project. |
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