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would you let your sister
About the “Would You Let Your Sister Go with a Rolling Stone?” headline in the Melody Maker
Historical headline of a 1964 article in the British music paper Melody Maker written by Ray Coleman. The phrase was adopted and popularized by Andrew Oldham to further the Stones’ outlaw image.
More about the “Would You Let Your Sister Go with a Rolling Stone?” headline (from The Washington Post)
When the band was interviewed by Melody Maker, a British music magazine, the story ran under a headline written by the band’s pugnacious and opportunistic manager, Andrew Oldham: “Would you let your sister go with a Rolling Stone?”
By the day’s standards, they were dangerously louche. Mick wore corduroys and a sweatshirt, for heaven’s sake. By 1964, the London Evening Standard was spluttering: “This horrible lot have done terrible things to the music scene, set it back about eight years. Just when we’d got our pop singers looking all neat, tidy and cheerful along come the Stones looking like beatniks.”
Ed Sullivan refused to book the band on his show in 1964. Instead, they showed up on Dean Martin’s variety program, where they were insulted by the host. “That’s the Rolling Stones’ father — he’s been trying to kill himself ever since!” Martin said after a trampoline act exited the stage. The band was furious, as was Bob Dylan, who wrote “Dean Martin should apologize t’ the Rolling Stones” in the liner notes to Another Side of Bob Dylan“
