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| CS |
Rock machine prances into Valley arena tonight
Larry Rodgers
The Arizona Republic
Jan. 30, 2003 12:00 AM
Forty years ago, Martin Luther King Jr. declared "I Have a Dream," the Beverly Hillbillies was tops on TV, America inched toward war in Vietnam, and a new London band with a taste for American blues chose the name Rolling Stones.
In the years since, the Beatles, Woodstock, disco, punk rock and grunge have all come and gone, but the Stones' musical machine is running strong.
Although they no longer can sell out Tempe's Sun Devil Stadium, as they did when they filmed Let's Spend the Night Together in 1981, the Stones are filling arenas around the globe, releasing million-selling albums and amassing enough wealth (raking in $1.5 billion since 1989) to end up on the cover of Fortune last year.
Tonight, the Rolling Stones return to the Valley for the first time since 1997, performing at Phoenix's America West Arena, led by two 59-year-olds who defy their age in their passion for both rock and roll and the superstar lifestyle.
Singer Mick Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards have moved on from drug arrests and paternity suits to focus on their performances and the band's far-flung business empire.
Using a strict fitness regimen, Jagger remains an appealing frontman who amazes concertgoers with his energy.
"It's a way of life for Mick," said Jake Berry, a Scottsdale resident who has been the band's production director for a decade.
"He runs most days, and he exercises in his room. We have a trainer on the road. Yes, he's just superfit."
In their own nods to health, guitarist Ron Wood underwent substance-abuse rehabilitation in Tucson last year, and Richards has traded heroin for vodka and orange soda.
Jagger also has buffed up his business acumen, turning the Rolling Stones into a globally recognized "brand" after financial struggles in the 1960s, when few bands except the Beatles made big money.
"They made some very bad deals when they were young," said Anthony DeCurtis, veteran writer for Rolling Stone magazine. "They don't own their catalog from the '60s.
"Jagger decided that he was going to be involved in whatever deals get made."
Jagger and the Stones pioneered corporate sponsorship of rock tours, hooking up with Jovan perfume in 1981. This year's tour is sponsored by E-Trade, and Start Me Up is now heard in Ford commercials.
"The Rolling Stones, like Aerosmith, are run more like a business than just a musical group," said Ron Price, program director for Phoenix radio station KMXP-FM (96.9). "They're big business. They make a ton of money off concert tours and catalog items."
But a knack for writing some of rock's most memorable songs, from Satisfaction to Honky Tonk Women to the new Don't Stop, remain the foundation of the Stones' longevity.
"If the music was no good and the guys weren't out there supporting it, it wouldn't work," said Roger Clyne, leader of the Peacemakers, a Tempe-based band.
"People aren't going to support junk. The Stones put out good stuff."
Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for Billboard magazine, said, "It's unusual that someone can remain relevant in rock and roll for as long as they have, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that within their body of work are numerous hits by which rock music will always be remembered.
"They have decades of hits that are tent posts in rock's history. That creates a natural alliance with older folks, but it also creates a fascination for younger listeners, especially the ones who are getting turned on to music."
Although the frenzied crowds at two performances last week at Chicago's United Center were dominated by fans in their 30s to 50s, a respectable number of teens and 20-somethings also attended, many grinning widely as they watched Jagger dance, limbs flailing, during Sympathy for the Devil.
"I'm into classic rock, punk and ska," said 15-year-old John Cornell of Chicago, attending the Jan. 22 show with his father and 18-year-old brother. "But it's the Rolling Stones. You have to go see them."
The band has resisted the nostalgia-act label by performing often, always with a new album to promote. A new greatest-hits CD, Forty Licks, is in the top 20 of Billboard's album chart with sales of 3 million. The Stones have released 40 official albums in their 40 years.
But it has been the their touring juggernaut that has kept them in the public eye.
"The Stones are among a handful of the best live bands in the history of rock and roll. They've defined what a live rock-and-roll band is in many ways. And they're still hitting it very hard," said DeCurtis, who has reviewed countless concerts in 25 years as a rock journalist.
"These guys understand it's about the fans and pleasing them," said Doc McGee, who manages Kiss, another classic band that has made millions marketing its image. "They put on a great show."
Those high-powered concerts, indelible hits and, yes, marketing muscle have helped to make the Rolling Stones trademark mouth-and-tongue logo one of the most enduring images in rock.
As Berry said, "It's nearly as recognizable as the British and American flags, isn't it?"
And they're not done yet. When a newspaper speculated that the Stones' recent New York shows could be their last in Madison Square Garden, Jagger defiantly told the cheering concert crowd, "I don't think so." |
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| Martha |
Very nice write-up..thanks CS. |
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| jb |
I saw Anthony De Curtis at the HBO show and said hello..seemd like a good guy..told him to please avoid the "wrinkly rocker" write up and he laughed. Why they had to point out that they could not fill the stadium(sadly true) in a otherwise positive article is somewhat puzzling.
Also, to compare them to Aerosmith, 2nd only to the Beatles in being overrated, is also quite offensive. |
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| Stonesthrow |
>>to compare them to Aerosmith, 2nd only to the Beatles in being overrated, is also quite offensive.
If you read the article, the comparison to Aerosmith was in the way the group is run from a business perspective. Nothing indicated any sort of musical comparison. |
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