MICK JAGGER makes a solo album. In Paris, the singer talks dodging paparazzi, the outrageous young Rolling Stones, and the miners’ strike. He even touches on his solo prospects. “You can’t expect to get No 1s all the time,” he says, “and if you do you’re a cunt.”
Jagger cuts through all the crap…
“When I was in Barbados and Jerry was pregnant, we done a lot of pictures for the press and we didn’t wanna be bothered any more and… I could see figures in the garden… y’know, we done the pictures, we played the game. So I walked out very quietly and I found this guy underneath the hedge. He’s lying there and I’m going ‘Heeyyy’ and he goes, ‘C’mon, just another few rolls.’
“So I got him in and he has a cup of tea and he says, ‘I’m very proud – I was the one who got Princess Di when she was pregnant in the Bahamas, remember that one? Lying on the beach? The Queen called it the blackest day in English journalism.’
“He really loved it. And he was saying, ‘Oh, that was much worse… I had to crawl through all this stuff,’ and he was giving me the whole works about how he had to hide all night in this hedge. What a way to earn a pound note! What can you do? If you’ve not much going on it’s alright, but if you have a baby or you’ve got a new bird or you’re getting a divorce, it’s always a bit dodgy with that lot. Well, there’s always something.”
Well, if you’ve got skeletons in the cupboard, Mick, what do you expect?
“That’s right.” Not so much tornado, more a chilling wind…
Jagger enters the fray just 15 minutes behind schedule. A paltry 15 minutes. Before you even notice he’s there he’s whipped off his jacket, dumped the poncho, shaken every hand in the room and, eyes darting in a dozen different directions at once, absorbed every minute detail of the scene confronting him. Instinctively you know there is no way you could ever win an argument with this man. Without having to say a word, the boy, instantly, is in charge.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Music With a Capital 'M'
The prolific HÜSKER DÜ have escaped the strictures of hardcore, to make truly remarkable music. “There’s nothing incredibly new about it,” says BOB MOULD. “We’re just doing what we do the best we can.”
All Pop is Political
“To me, pop and the whole notion of pleasure, sex, entertainment and leisure is political,” says SCRITTI POLITTI’s GREEN GARTSIDE. “So Dead Or Alive with their swirling clothes have as much political resonance as Billy Bragg.” Charming as he is, Gartside’s work doesn’t please everyone.
I Think I Hold My Ground
NME OCT 5 Introducing a product of NYC coffee society… Suzanne Vega.
It's Better To Burn Hard Than To Rot
With his reputation on a high, a tangential interview reveals a lot about the unique worldview and oddball technique of TOM WAITS. On the release of Rain Dogs, Tom talks white socks, neuroscience and his new guitarist, Keith Richards. “We met in a woman’s lingerie shop…”
Business is Booming
In a university dorm room, a rap dynasty is emerging. NME travels to New York to interview wordsmiths RuN DMC, along the way meeting producers Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons – the brains behind Def Jam. “The street wants something specific,” says Simmons.
I Don't Think Keith Was Pleased
MICK JAGGER makes a solo album. In Paris, the singer talks dodging paparazzi, the outrageous young Rolling Stones, and the miners’ strike. He even touches on his solo prospects. “You can’t expect to get No 1s all the time,” he says, “and if you do you’re a cunt.”
I'm Prepared to Go Down With the Ship
On behalf of THE SMITHS, Morrissey meets the fanzine press. He faces questions about love, Band Aid, the Moors Murderers and the band’s own unique position in the world. “There are people I admire,” he says, “but ultimately we are alone.”
Ambition. Greed. Money
Most of these are missing from THE POGUES as they stagger across Europe on tour. “Even if I drink myself to death doing this,” says SHANE MACGOWAN, “I’d still prefer that to the boring, horrible jobs I had to do before this band.”
Pandemonium
MM July 13 Bruce Springsteen seduces the masses.
