from the first time i heard them on record, i've always liked the rolling stones.

sometimes i've liked them way more than others.  their first four albums ('the rolling stones england's newest hitmakers', '12 x 5',  'out of our heads' & 'rolling stones now') contain cuts that are truly masterpieces of the genre.   but even when they were caught up in the silliness of trying to out-sergeant pepper the beatles as  'their satanic majesties' or their incursion into mid-70's androgyny  (or worse; for a short time, i worked in the same offices as angela bowie who assured everyone there that story bout mick and her former husband, david, was all too true) & disco, i respected their talent (and, yeah, i still liked em even then...just not as much).   'i miss you' may be the only truly worthwhile disco tune ever recorded (how's that for a backhanded compliment?).   

the stones bill themselves, quite justifiably in my opinion, as ' the world's greatest rock n roll band' and starting tonite, they're gonna put that title to the test.  their 'biggest bang' tour kicked off tonite at boston's fenway park.

in addition to being the greatest, they've spent decades cultivating a reputation for being the 'baddest boys of rock'.  it's a legacy to the marketing genius of their brilliant and equally notorious first manager--andrew loog oldman--who originally positioned them as the 'anti-beatles'.   life began imitating press soon enough.  in addition to luxuriating in their own excesses, they left more than a little death and destruction in their wake (the death of brian jones and downfall of anita pallenberg, marianne faithful, the incredible mick taylor as well as the insanity at altamont come to mind immediately).   richard's long-time addiction to opiates was legendary and his observation that 'street drugs are for pussies' says all ya need to know to gauge its extent.

admittedly they've mellowed some with age.  still i gotta wonder how and why they hooked up with their current tour's major promotional partner: ameriquest--a major mortgage corporation. 

mick jagger is, in addition to his many other talents, a shrewd and brilliant promoter. i don't know who his counterparts at ameriquest (or their agency) are but i'm truly bothered by the implications of this seemingly incongruous union.   have those of us who grew up under the stones' 'sway' now somehow blundered into becoming solid citizens?  or has ameriquest identified the generation behind us as a desirable market of potential mortgagees?  

i mean, seriously, what the hell is the message?

i first registered my confusion about this conundrum in the thread of gideon's article about garth brooks selling out to wal-mart.  Link.

it isn't solely the ameriquest/stones connection that's tweaking the world as i thought i knew it.  (one of the funniest quips i've seen in regard to this unholy alliance was a question posed by a reviewer who asked if the band would be playing 'hey you, get offa my lawn'?)

here's where it really gets nuts:

arnold schwarzenegger--the current governor of california--attended the kick-off concert (or planned to do so...i'm guessing he did cuz i haven't heard anything to the contrary). that part isn't earthshaking news.  i'd be willing to bet he learned at least a few words of english listening to the stones.  

the bizarre part is you coulda sat next to him tonite during the concert...assuming you were willing to kick in  a $100,000 contribution to the governator's upcoming campaign.  despite his solemn promises to the contrary, i don't think i'm being unreasonably skeptical in wondering if arnold isn't at least as big a whore as those professional politicians he so strongly repudiated prior to winning the recall election which put him in office.

not that he's neglecting the little guys...the average californian.  for $10,000, we coulda attended a pre-concert reception and maybe even waved at the big guy (i can't help feeling if i were sitting in the vip booth,  he'd pay a lot more attention to a pitch for my scheme to help the state get rid of some of our surplus money).  as a consolation, the $10k also entitled you to get closer to mick and the boys (altho they really cant help you push thru your pet project.)

altho i've attended my share of aftershow backstage parties  (or perhaps because of that fact), i can't even imagine what tonite's will be like.   responding to my comment on gid's thread, daiwa mentioned he hadda friend who served as the band's physician at a stone's concert in arizona during the very early 80s and this friend told him the stones were very aptly named.    even tho they're all supposedly cleaned up now,  i keep remembering a lyric from the jagger/richard tune 'respectable'...and wondering if keith will be 'talking heroin with the governor...yes it's a problem sir we don't have no more'.    

jak sie mazc