Satisfaction

I recently read Philip Norman’s biography on Mick Jagger.  It could have been called Satisfaction:  Mick Jagger and the Invention of Corporate Rock.

I mean, we all know The Rolling Stones are a major brand and a well-oiled machine.  Kinda like Apple but, with more wrinkles – and a few more urban myths.

But what I realized reading this book is that Jagger was acting more like a CEO than a rock star right from the beginning. 

If you think about the Stones over the last 20 years or so, no problem seeing him in that light.  But in the 60’s and 70’s?  Deaths, drug busts, mars bars, blood transfusions, radio bans, prime minister’s wives …  this band was a train wreck. 

But the train somehow kept rolling, and Jagger managed his way through the mayhem.

Anyway, an interesting read, with enough salaciousness to keep most people amused.  That is why we read rock biographies, right?