Re: When did the music of The Rolling Stones lose its relevance to mainstream culture?
Date: July 29, 2023 02:18
We felt at the time it was Goat's Head Soup. The Satanic imagery was trying too hard to be "bad," as well as pushing "Dancing with Mr D" on the radio (which took off, to use a Keithism, like a lead balloon), few people were into it at the time--in terms of mainstream popular culture--except for Angie, and in those days many people would happily tune into (and buy) singles or buy an album for one single and not listen to much of the rest of the album.
The album at that time felt disjointed and, as a whole, not like the Stones were on their game. For many Exile was too long and diffuse, but it had enough hits/singles and danceable numbers to make it an interesting album. A friend who is 10 years older than me and attended Stones early shows in NY and Jacksonville FL said for many Exile was seen as a cynical bummer and a turn-off, but I wasn't tuned into that because I was too young. But I was aware when Goats Head Soup was released and being promoted. My brother was teased by his friends for being a sucker for buying it, and he gave it to me (6 years younger) in embarrassment instead of throwing it away. I listened to it a lot, and liked some of it, but was aware it wasn't as extroverted an album as earlier albums. (I grew to like it a lot over the years)
So, I would say GHS. And then came Black & Blue--and my next closest in age brother bought it, and he hated it, and also gave it to me (some kids got hand-me-down clothes; having brothers I only got--and loved--hand me down albums). I loved Black & Blue's singles (played on AM radio a lot, which as an elementary school kid, hadn't graduated to FM yet), as well as Hand of Fate, Cherry O, etc.
From my perspective, at the time, the Stones rebounded into public mainstream view and popular acceptance with singles from IORR, with the title track getting enormous airplay on AM and FM, as well as the slithery ominous paranoic (but not cartoonish Satanism of GHS) Fingerprint File, and other toe-tappers and party/dance numbers, Ain't Too Proud to Beg, and Dance.
Interesting to see the range of perspectives here--some saying Some Girls was perceived to be relevant due to adoption of pseudo-punk and -disco. But in my world Some Girls was seen as irrelevant, culturally, except for the singles. The Stones were seen as old-hat, trying too hard to be current, and just not as interesting as the massive explosion of music that was happening and we were totally immersed in re: New Wave, Punk, Progressive, and early hip-hop (I lived in NYC and the punk/New Wave aesthetic were vibrantly ubiquitous and really exciting). The Stones seemed a nostalgia act at that point, to us. Not current--and a little embarrassing with the overtness, not the sexism per se, at that time, of the song "Some Girls," and uninteresting that it was "controversial," which at the time felt a little contrived (and I wonder, now, as I write, how much of it was contrived) like trying to recapture their former edge as cultural bad boys you wouldn't want your daughter to marry.
By that time (Some Girls), the band seemed like old men--like your uncles or something. Cool enough, and all, but not desirable in their current form.
But then--almost finished with this stream-of-consciousness--fast forward a bit, Tattoo You arrived. And that was a game-changer. Suddenly everybody was buying a Stones album again. The singles all were embraced and RELISHED and celebrated--but the album as a whole was seen as a WINNER. No more were these guys "trying" to do or be something, [again]. They actually were transcending age, and even genre, by spirited, really raw, but somehow sophisticated song after song. They sounded like no one else--once again--only them, but in this new form.
That entire ALBUM was played at parties, which hadn't happened in years. And interestingly, at least in my world, at this same time--due to the re-awareness of Stones and how exciting they could be, Exile, as an album (Side 1-3) was also suddenly being played at parties too.
That's my long download - great question!
-swiss