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- The Rolling Stones quickly acquired a following in London, and then
- found a manager, Andrew Loog Oldham, who had worked as a publicist
- for the Beatles. Oldham developed their "bad boy" image as a
- counterpoint to the cheeky charm of the Beatles
- #
- The Stones' music was basic, a reworking of US rhythm and blues
- (although their first UK hit was with a Beatles song, I Wanna Be Your
- Man); their appeal was basic, too. By 1964 they were internationally
- successful, touring the USA and Australia
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- In the early years, the Stones were often in trouble, usually because
- of drugs (although their first arrest was for urinating against a
- garage wall). In 1967, Mick Jagger and Keith Richards were both
- given jail sentences for drug offences
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- The London Times
- condemned Mick
- Jagger's prison
- sentence as
- unduly harsh in
- its editorial. On
- appeal Jagger was
- given a conditional
- discharge, and
- Keith Richards'
- conviction was
- quashed
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- Brian Jones, once
- a key band
- member, had
- become a
- marginal and
- unreliable figure.
- He left the group,
- and two days
- before a concert
- in Hyde Park, he
- was found dead.
- The Hyde Park
- gig turned into a
- memorial for
- Jones. Jagger
- quoted Shelley:
- "Peace, peace, he
- is not dead, he
- does not sleep..."
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- Brian Jones'
- replacement,
- Mick Taylor, was
- replaced in turn
- by Ronnie Wood.
- In the Seventies
- the band found
- itself. Exile on
- Main Street
- (1972) and Some
- Girls (1978)
- defined a style
- which has hardly
- changed. By now
- the bad boys
- were very rich
- men. Jagger
- became almost an
- establishment
- figure
- #
- More than 30 years on, the Stones remain the quintessential rock 'n'
- roll band. Their live shows, nostalgic rituals in which Jagger and
- Richards defy their years to churn out familiar old songs, still
- capture the imagination of both old and (more surprisingly) young
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