Variety is considered the entertainment industry bible and I found this article a little worrisome..(the article is not about the Stones only).......the link is: [www.variety.com]


Being a huge Rolling Stones fan I'm not sure why they are going to China afterall......they don't need the exposure....... it's certainly not about money.........and after reading this article what are they REALLY doing to their legacy????????

Following is an exerpt from the article:

On April 8, the Rolling Stones will make their first appearance in mainland China, performing in an 8,000-seat stadium in Shanghai. In order to accommodate the communist regime's ministry of culture, the group that once was synonymous with 1960s-style liberation has pledged not to play "Let's Spend the Night Together," "Brown Sugar" and two other songs deemed too risky by Chinese censors.
The Stones' capitulation to Chinese censors comes at a particularly bad time for foes of political correctness. Increasingly, free expression is under attack around the world -- including the U.S.

I guess the Stones do not mind that too much either. They just want to perform in the most populated countries in the world and that is something for a band like that even if most of the audience is a western audience. I think they just want to do it for the sake of it. But many other bands performed in China and did very well. Who cares if those songs are not performed. They have hundreds of them and let's not forget that those 4 songs are not performed regularly in concerts so not big deal really!

Rip This Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> Being a huge Rolling Stones fan I'm not sure why
> they are going to China afterall......they don't
> need the exposure....... it's certainly not about
> money.........and after reading this article what
> are they REALLY doing to their legacy????????
>

You're right, it most certainly ISN'T about money. Bit more difficult to figure out what it IS about, but my guess would be that it's probably a great deal to do with their own satisfaction and pride, and to in effect be able to tick the box that says "Played in China". I really do think it could be that simple. OK, they'll get exposure, OK there might be some gains in the long term (perhaps not as great as they'd like given the robust health of the counterfeiting industry in China) - but I'd say it's probably as simple as "cos they'd like to do play there". I mean really, do you think they could've chosen a SMALLER venue ?

They're big boys, they can do what they like.

Yeah........I agree on checking the "played in China" box...it looks good on the resume.......I'm just surprised they'd agree to being censored after putting up a stink at the Superbowl that they claimed they knew nothing about.......

The Stones are just nice to the people in China. Is that so hard to beleive?

Reptile Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The Stones are just nice to the people in China.
> Is that so hard to beleive?

Yep, could be as simple as that also. I don't why some folk are obsessed with the idea that there has to be some far reaching agenda that they have, one that accounts for absolutely everything they do and absolutely everywhere they wish to play. This is such a "one-off" and so insignificant monetarily as compared to the rest of the tour, that their reason for playing there is probably no more complicated than "they felt like doing so - and/or - it "seemed like a good idea at the time". They're touring for the umpteenth time, they've never been there, and during a fag break in the tuning room, they probably said something stupid like "f*** it, let's see if we can play China this time" - and lo and behold - Mr Cohl organised a date in China for 'em.