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Credit: Far Out \/ Alamy \/ Apple Corps LTD<\/p>\n
Wed 15 July 2026 0:30, UK <\/p>\n
There was no future for British bands in America before The Beatles<\/a>. They\u2019re not my words, they\u2019re the words of Rolling Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham. <\/p>\n \u201cThere was no real future for a British band before The Beatles appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show in February 1964,\u201d he said when discussing the British invasion<\/a>. \u201cThat was the turning point, after which there was an avalanche. It totally transformed the possibilities, and as usual, The Beatles were the frontrunners. In music, there is The Beatles, and then there is everybody else.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n If there\u2019s anyone who can attest to this ideology, it\u2019s Oldham himself. When he first came across The Rolling Stones, they were performing covers of R&B songs in near-empty bars in London, and while their musical talent was clear, they needed more of a profile and to embrace the larger-than-life persona they would eventually become known for. <\/p>\n One artist who saw the Rolling Stones before fame struck was Rod Stewart, recalling, \u201cIt was a little ballroom in Twickenham, and there were 12 people there. There was literally no one there; they were all sitting on stools playing [\u2026] Then, within six months to a year, bash, that was it, they took off.\u201d <\/p>\n They certainly did, and the reason why we like The Rolling Stones is their exceptional musicianship; however, it would be ignorant to suggest that their stage presence and exciting image didn\u2019t also play a part in their rise to fame. This came about because Oldham saw the rise to the top that The Beatles were experiencing and decided to try and replicate it by taking everything they had and exaggerating it.\u00a0<\/p>\n If people talked about the length of the Beatles\u2019 hair, The Rolling Stones\u2019 hair would be longer; if the Fabs wore suits, the Stones would wear more flamboyant clothes; if The Beatles were a clean living kind of band, the Rolling Stones would embody the sex, drugs and rock \u2018n\u2019 roll lifestyle<\/a>. The whole thing worked a treat, and before you knew it, The Rolling Stones and The Beatles were two of the biggest bands in the world. <\/p>\n Oldham himself admitted that this was the aim, as he wanted to present the band as \u201ca raunchy, gamy, unpredictable bunch of undesirables,\u201d adding that he wanted to \u201cestablish that the Stones were threatening, uncouth and animalistic.\u201d <\/p>\n Further reading: From The Vault<\/p>\n
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<\/a> The Far Out Beatles Newsletter<\/p>\n