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The Rolling Stones in the press: “Swingin’ Stones!”
Forget the Beatles—something noisier is brewing in London. The Rolling Stones arrive like an argument you can’t ignore, instantly dividing the room. Teenagers are either obsessed or completely baffled, parents equally unsure whether to panic or pay attention. Weird? Definitely. Cool? Without a doubt. With only two singles to their name, the Stones already sound unlike anyone else: raw, stomping, and proudly rough around the edges. They’re not chasing approval or copying a formula—they’re kicking the door in and daring you to react. Love them or hate them, indifference isn’t an option.
To be honestly fair, there is only one vocal group that have managed to stand up to the terrific Liverpool onslaught—a London group that is. Who else but those cute, really stomping out-of-this-world swingers The Rolling Stones. Some teenagers do not like the boys; others, the majority, absolutely RAVE over them. Older people too are divided. Some think they’re a bit weird, others think they’re real cool. But this is where the real strength of the boys lies. They’re so different from any other group, even The Beatles, that they have created tremendous interest with just two singles.
Admittedly, both of these singles haven’t created high chart interest; tho’ both have reached the Top Twenty, but then, since The Beatles have recently taken one-quarter of the Top Twenty to themselves that’s hardly surprising. On the whole The Rolling Stones, in their own particular way have created more interest than anyone over their different sounds etc. Certainly, with the New Year coming into full force, The Rolling Stones are likely to become a lot more accepted by the teenagers as something new, different and definitely with it, and certainly the group who have successfully commercialised rhythm and blues into a proposition worth a great deal.
The boys are in fact, one of the only groups who have beaten Billy J. Kramer and other top groups on full house figures. On many of their venues they have beaten attendance records of the aforementioned artistes and people like Freddie and The Dreamers by more than a few thousand. Behind the Rolling Stones are two of the most capable and knowledgeable managers in show biz, Andrew Oldham and Eric Easton. Andrew records The Rolling Stones independently and has had great success saleswise with their Come On and I Wanna Be Your Man.
The boys are lined up to appear in or rather on many big package shows, among them The Ronettes’ tour and the John Leyton, Mike Sarne month-long stint. On their appearances at ballrooms and theatres recently they have had the crowd in hysterics, and the members of the group admitted that they still haven’t gotten used to having girls try to leap on the stage and grab them. “It’s still a bit scaring,” said Mick Jagger. “I honestly didn’t believe it could ever happen to us, but it seems as if it’s never going to stop.” The other guys echoed these same sentiments, and mentioned that they would be pleased to have girls leap on the stage after the act!
Whether they were kiddin’ or not you can never tell—’cause like I said, The Rolling Stones are very, very different from the current flock of groups!
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