Rolling Stones frontman Sir Mick Jagger has said he is “very aware of what’s going on around me” but thinks copying music trends is a “mistake” because they are so fleeting.
The award-winning group, widely regarded as one of the greatest rock and roll bands of all time, was co-founded by Sir Mick in 1962 alongside Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Bill Wyman and the late Charlie Watts.
The best-selling rock band have achieved eight UK number one singles and 14 UK number one albums in their six-decade career, and have been lauded for their longevity as they continue to produce new music.
Appearing on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks Of My Years alongside bandmate Ronnie Wood, Sir Mick spoke about keeping up with music trends as he reflected on the sustainability of The Rolling Stones.
The rocker, 82, said: “All of The Stones’ music has got several influences.
“The obvious ones, blues – we talked about the blues a bit earlier – soul music of all kinds, also influenced a lot by country music and various other genres… We have moments of Elizabethan music, and so on.
“It’s always been a band that’s covered a lot of different musical grounds.
“They always say, ‘oh, the Stones are a rock band’. When you listen to Hackney Diamonds, or listen to our Foreign Tongues record, how can you say that it is pure rock?
“It’s not many tracks that are like that – maybe two or three.
“I’m very aware of what’s going on around me. I’m not addicted to it and I’m not spending my whole day listening to it, but it’s like yeah, I’m aware of what cars are on the road. I’m aware of what music is going on.
“I have my moments where I just only listen to pop music for like two weeks, and then I go: OK, done it.”
The star explained that he likes to listen to “all kinds of music” from different eras and genres and then educates himself on the variety of tracks he dabbles with.
Sir Mick then reflected on the notion of following current trends in music, and said: “I think it would be mistake to slavishly be into trying to copy a trend.
“By the time you’ve recorded the trend, the trend is gone – but you are aware of what’s going on.”
The veteran rocker told host Vernon Kay about one of the first times he collaborated with The Beatles.
Sir Mick recounted when John Lennon and Sir Paul McCartney famously gave their unfinished demo for I Wanna Be Your Man to the Stones, which they later released as a single.
“(The Beatles) were great sellers of their own songs. They had stacks of songs, and they sold to all these people that nearly all became very successful in the day – Cilla Black, for instance,” he said, referring to the singer’s famous collaborations with song-writing duo Lennon and McCartney.
Sir Mick went on to praise the Merseyside band, and said: “Everything they touched was all, like… very big hits.
“It was great to get one of their songs, because we didn’t really write rock songs in that period, and here was a rock song.
“We put blues a guitar on it, and it became a success.”
Sir Mick Jagger and Ronnie Wood’s Tracks Of My Years with Vernon Kay will be broadcast on BBC Radio 2 at 5am on May 31.
