Rolling Stones' lips and tongue statue in Newcastle
Tongues wagging over Rolling Stones’ statue in Newcastle
Hot Lips: A Rolling Stones lips and tongue statue will be set up in Newcastle to promote a big exhibition for the band.
Mick Jagger photo from the exhibition. Picture: Christopher Sykes.
Mick Jagger photo from the exhibition. Picture: Christopher Sykes.
Rolling Stones photo from the exhibition. Picture: Christopher Sykes.
Photo from the exhibition. Picture: Christopher Sykes
The Rolling Stones. Picture: Helmut Newton
Rolling Stones photo from the exhibition. Picture: Philip Townsend
The Rolling Stones exhibition.
The Rolling Stones exhibition.
The Rolling Stones’ logo – known as Hot Lips – is one of the most famous symbols in rock’n’roll history.
An iconic statue of the logo will be set up at Honeysuckle on Wednesday.
The statue will promote Exhibitionism: The Rolling Stones Exhibit, which is being held in Sydney at the International Convention Centre until February 3.
The band has been using the logo for almost 50 years.
In 1969, Mick Jagger approached London's Royal College of Art in search of a student to create some images for his band's next album.
Jagger was impressed with the art of the then 24-year-old design student John Pasche.
He was paid £50 (AUS$86) to create a logo.
Jagger wanted a logo that represented Kali, a Hindu goddess. The protruding tongue of the goddess and the size of Jagger’s lips and mouth influenced Pasche’s design.
The new logo made its first appearance on the band’s 1971 Sticky Fingers LP.
The logo was such a hit, the band kept it. Pasche said the image depicted sex and anti-authoritarianism – the hallmarks of rock’n’roll.
The seemingly conflicting concepts of brand marketing and rock’n’roll became one. The music industry was evolving.
As for Pasche, he secured a merchandising agreement for the logo to capitalise on its success. The band ended up with the copyright and Pasche received a share of the royalties, which he later sold for a lump sum.
Pasche kept the original artwork for years before selling it at auction a decade ago for $90,000.
As for Exhibitionism, it features more than 500 Stones’ items, including a vintage-guitar gallery, lyric books, backstage and touring paraphernalia, album art, photography, stage design, personal diaries and letters.
It also features 50 years of Stones’ fashion spanning from the 1960s to the present, along with almost 200 original artworks.
As well as the band’s colourful costumes and iconography, the exhibition includes interactive sound-mixing decks, a recording studio, a film narrated by Martin Scorsese, a backstage experience and a 3D concert finale.
The backstage exhibit gives fans a sense of what it feels like before the band hits the stage.
In a statement to promote the exhibit, Jagger said: “It’s not going to be like walking into a museum. It’s going to be an event, an experience. It’s about a sense of The Rolling Stones – it’s something we want people to go away talking about”.
Stones’ guitarist Keith Richards added that it wasn’t only about the band.
“It’s also about all the paraphernalia and technology associated with a group like us. It’s this, as well as the instruments that have passed through our hands over the years, that should make the exhibition unforgettable,” Richards said.
Exhibitionism tells the story of the band’s history – from the early days of living together in a tiny flat to headlining the biggest stages in the world.
Jagger and Richards shared the flat in 1962, near the trendy King’s Road in London’s Chelsea area.
The exhibition also includes the cassette player on which Richards famously sketched out the idea for (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, shortly before falling asleep in a Florida motel room. There’s also Jagger’s lyric book with handwritten words for the songs, Miss You, Hey Negrita and Worried About You.
- topics@theherald.com.au