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Wed. Sep 18, 2002

Inside the Rolling Stones Inc.

Inside the Rolling Stones Inc. – “You know, there are demons in me, 47 at last count, and the only time they get out is when we’re on stage.” So sayeth Keith Richards (not in this article), who, along with Mick Jagger, has managed to turn his onstage exorcisms into a multi-billion dollar cash cow. Fortune Magazine gives us a fascinating look at the business side of rock and roll.

"The bottom line is this: ‘The only rock & roll band that matters,’ or ‘the greatest rock & roll band in the world,’ or whatever you want to call Mick, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ronnie Wood, they are far and away the most successful act in rock today. Since 1989 alone – the beginning of the modern age of the Rolling Stones (more on that later) – the band has generated more than $1.5 billion in gross revenues. That total includes sales of records, song rights, merchandising, sponsorship money, and touring (see charts: Hot Licks and Packing Them In). The Stones have made more money than U2, or Springsteen, or Michael Jackson, or Britney Spears, or the Who—or whoever."

"As with most thriving enterprises, the Rolling Stones Inc. runs on a combustible mix of talent and intense labor—the product of four decades of trial and error. The band downplays the effectiveness of the organization: ‘I’m sure that if you looked at it and analyzed it, you could say, ‘Well, that’s fucked up,’’ says Jagger. ‘That shouldn’t be like that. No, of course it isn’t run well. No show business organization is run well. There’s always too much money paid out.’ Keith, for his part, just shakes his head: ‘It’s a mom-and-pop operation,’ he laughs. ‘Mick is the mom, and I’m the pop, and then we have these offspring that need feeding.’ "

I’ve contributed my share to RS Inc. over the years. I first saw them while in college, at the Greensboro Coliseum in 1975. I wasn’t a huge fan of their music, I just had a chance to get tickets with some friends, and thought, “hey, at least I’ll be able to say I saw the Stones.” Who knew they’d last another 27 years? But that night the Stones came out and showed why they’d earned the self-proclaimed title of World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band. Live, in their prime, they fit that bill. I left a convert.

I next saw them in 1981 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, a night I will never forget. It was pure magic. That night was Charlie Watts’ birthday, and the band had a slight backstage celebration … before the show. They came out onto a set stripped of the cherry pickers, inflatable toys, and pyrotechnics of the other shows on that tour, leaving just them and their instruments, and they owned the place from the opening notes of “Under My Thumb.” Keith Richards was clearly … semi-stable … when he came onto the stage, but when the music started, he was an animal, a guitar beast who could do no wrong. In the course of eight years in radio, I saw hundreds of concerts by scores of bands, but that night was head and shoulders above the rest. It was made even more bizarre for me when someone who’d sat in the passenger seat of my car violating the Georgia Controlled Substances Act less than six months before … came out to play keyboards with the Rolling Stones. It was a night that couldn’t be topped.

But I went to see them again anyway. When the Steel Wheels Tour came to Georgia Tech in 1989, I saw their stadium gig. It was big and brash … and a totally different beast than I’d seen before. An entertaining show, no doubt, and good rock and roll, but not the revelations I’d seen in the past. Nor did I expect it to be. Still, there was a kernel underneath still there, and Keith knows what it is.

"So what keeps the Stones going? Money, yes. But the band could make big bucks simply by doing commercials instead of touring. Going on the road is about ego gratification. ‘This whole thing runs on passion,’ says Richards. ‘Even though we don’t talk about it much ourselves, it’s almost a sort of quest or mission [...] How long can we go on?’ asks Keith. ‘Forever. We’ll let you know when we keel over.’ "

So if you’ve never seen them, it’s not too late, the passion is still there. And thankfully, you won’t know what you missed in ‘75 and ‘81.