The Rolling Stones Don't Want You to be Angry

Album 73 Hackney Diamonds launches next month, October 2023

It’s hard to believe that I saw an interview on TV a week or so ago about the launch of the first single off the first official Rolling Stones Album in 18 years.

The new album is noteworthy for featuring drumming from the late Charlie Watts. However, it is interesting to note that during a TV interview with the three original members, their new drummer Steve Jordan was absent, despite being brought into the band at Watts' recommendation as confirmed by Keith Richards. It makes one wonder if there is a backstory to this decision.

"Angry" to me feels like a timeless Rolling Stones classic that could have been written 40 years ago. I appreciate that they are still recording after all these years, especially considering Jagger's age of 80. Keith even joked during an interview that he wouldn't mind making it to 100! However, I do hope that the album includes at least one or two great new songs.

Back in the late 1970s, I was living in Christchurch, flatting with a group of people I had never met before, having answered an advertisement in the Christchurch Star newspaper. It was the first time I had gone flatting with total strangers. I had no transport at the time, but the Christchurch bus system was awesome, and I had easy access to anywhere in the city.

One of my flatmates was a guy called Will Marshall. He and his partner were the original tenants of our home on New Brighton Rd, followed by flatmate John, who was a school teacher, and myself, yet to find employment, but supplementing my meager savings by busking in Cathedral Square and Mollet Street Market.

Cathedral Square was the bus terminus in the middle of town. All bus routes started and ended there. It was also a ‘speaker’s corner’ and on any fine day, especially in summer, you could find The Wizard, aka Ian Brackenbury who back then often had a pinstripe-suited assistant, preachers, and buskers like myself, along with the odd street vendor.

The Wizard's approach to engaging people may not be easily forgotten. He would often resort to criticizing and teasing women, and if that didn't work, he would delve into sensitive topics such as religion and politics. Despite the taboo nature of these subjects, The Wizard's tactics proved effective in drawing a crowd.

During one of my visits to Christchurch, last year, I encountered the man who had been there for 50 years and was still engaging in conversations with people in the vicinity of the square.

Christchurch is of course better known because of the terrible earthquake of 2011, which I wrote a song about. I was at the top of one of the towers that was destroyed in the quake only weeks before it hit.

I spent a lot of time performing in the square, as well as in the audience enjoying the Wizard’s monologues. I even got arrested there once, for busking without a license. Something I will share a story about sometime in the future. But I digress once more.

My flatmate Will Marshall was a Pom, I say that lovingly as he was a good friend. If you don’t know the acronym, it is historic Kiwi vernacular for a Brit, or person of British origin, and stands for ‘Prisoner of Mother England’. It typically referred to people who emigrated to New Zealand and then spent much of their time complaining that things were much better where they came from. The response from Kiwis who knew otherwise, was typically, “Well why don’t you go back there, you whinging POM.”

Will was a traveler who enjoyed his time in England and his journey to New Zealand. During his travels, he visited India and purchased elephant legs which he used as waste paper baskets. Although I personally had not seen one before, it was not an uncommon practice. Additionally, he also had an elephant's tail, which I did not particularly like, but it was a part of his collection.

What’s the relevance, you might well ask. Here it comes.

Before coming to New Zealand, Will had worked for Richard Branson, helping him set up Virgin Records, before moving to New Zealand. Virgin was a record label, and the first record they released was Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells.

You might remember Virgin, they set up record megastores, the likes of which I had never seen before. I spent many hard-earned dollars in their London and Sydney stores.

When Will arrived in New Zealand, he had his record collection shipped home to Christchurch and it would have been big enough to set up a small record store. As a personal thank you, Branson said that if there were any records released by Virgin, that he would like, Will just had to ask, and Branson would send copies to him for free. So he did and he had an amazing collection.

Will and his partner's bedroom featured a wall filled with records and a quadraphonic record player. The quadraphonic system allowed for four tracks to be played simultaneously, resulting in unique sounds coming from each of the four speakers placed around the room. It is possible that there was a Rolling Stones record in their collection in quadraphonic format.

A group of us often gathered in their room, enjoying some beers while listening to music on his impressive stereo system. One of my personal favorites was Pink Floyd's "Time" from their album "Dark Side of the Moon." The quadraphonic sound made the clocks in the song feel like they were surrounding us.

Will offered me the opportunity to listen to his albums in his room when he was not around, and I took him up on his offer. Although my goal was to listen to all of them, it was not feasible given the amount of time I had. However, I did manage to listen to a substantial number of Rolling Stones albums.

In 1976, the Rolling Stones had already released 13 albums in Britain and 15 in the USA. Their most recent album was Black and Blue, and my personal favorite track from the album is Fool to Cry.

It can be said that they had released 15 albums, or potentially 28 if considering different album covers and pressings in various countries.

In 1976, Will had a collection of over 70 Rolling Stones albums on his shelf. However, the band is now launching their 73rd album. This is possible due to the existence of numerous bootleg albums that were recorded without the band's or their management's authorization, many of which were recorded live at concerts. Will owned many of these bootleg albums, and although I stopped listening after around 30 of them, I noticed that each album typically had one or two great songs, with some having more. During my formative years, there were certain albums that I grew up with and could guarantee would be playing at any party I attended, where I knew every word of every track. Overall, most albums had a couple of absolutely great songs.

I’m hoping that despite their longevity, the 2023 Rolling Stones will thrill us with a couple of new ones on their new album.

I have fond memories of the time I spent in that apartment. Although I eventually lost touch with the person who lived there as I moved to different places, the memories still linger. In my mind, I can effortlessly transport myself back to that room, where I used to enjoy listening to albums by The Rolling Stones.