But there still are red lines. Anything to do with any kind of sexual assault is still properly greeted with revulsion. Murder is still considered a bad thing. And if pedophilia is involved, there is no coming back from that.
But once upon a time when all rock and roll was considered dangerous, any kind of bad behavior made the news and resulted in widespread condemnation in the media, from church pulpits, and from teachers and parents.
The Rolling Stones built their early career on bad behavior. Although they were good friends with the squeaky-clean Beatles, they were artfully positioned to be the Anti-Beatles, the bad boys of rock’n’roll. Tt was all very clever and very effective.
As mild as some of the stones’ offences seem today, back then, they were considered outrageous and dangers. The authorities—police, judges, politicians—really were out to get them. That is not an exaggeration.
In the process, the rolling stones amassed a very long rap sheet. There are no fewer than 13 instances where The Stones were in big trouble with the police.
This is episode 31 of Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry. Let’s examine the impressive and decades-long arrest record of the Rolling Stones.
Get Uncharted: Crime and Mayhem in the Music Industry wherever you get your podcasts. Both Uncharted and The Ongoing History of New Music will be heard back-to-back overnights five days a week on these Corus news stations:
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