TMC
11-03-2017, 08:40 PM
http://uproxx.com/tv/rolling-stone-10th-anniversary-special-40th-anniversary/
For anyone who’s even just a little bit interested in Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone, the media, cocaine, rock music, rock criticism, cocaine, the rise and fall of baby boomers, cocaine, the ’60s, the ’70s and/or the ’80s, Joe Hagan’s engrossing new book, Sticky Fingers: The Life And Times Of Jann Wenner And Rolling Stone Magazine, is an essential read. The book has already generated ample news about the iconic media mogul’s complex relationships with rock legends like Mick Jagger (mutual love/hate), John Lennon (Jann loves John, John hates Jann), Paul McCartney (Jann disses Paul, Paul hates Jann), and Paul Simon (mutual hate). But one of my personal favorite sections of Sticky Fingers pertains to perhaps the least reputable and (unintentionally) hilarious chapter in Wenner’s peerless career: Rolling Stone: The 10th Anniversary (https://news.avclub.com/1977-s-rolling-stone-the-10th-anniversary-was-an-unmiti-1798247121).
An infamous boondoggle that originally aired on CBS 40 years ago this month, Rolling Stone: The 10th Anniversary has been mostly whitewashed from the magazine’s narrative. You won’t see it mentioned in Alex Gibney and Blair Foster’s laudatory four-hour documentary, Rolling Stone: Stories From The Edge, which premieres on HBO across two nights on Monday and Tuesday. But the 10th Anniversary special is a fascinating (and, this can’t be stressed enough, sublimely ridiculous) microcosm of Rolling Stone‘s path from edgy outsider to establishment institution. Textually, the special has virtually nothing to do with what made the magazine great or important. But subtextually, it speaks volumes about how all forms of counterculture inevitably come to be co-opted by the indomitable forces of mainstream lameness.
For anyone who’s even just a little bit interested in Jann Wenner, Rolling Stone, the media, cocaine, rock music, rock criticism, cocaine, the rise and fall of baby boomers, cocaine, the ’60s, the ’70s and/or the ’80s, Joe Hagan’s engrossing new book, Sticky Fingers: The Life And Times Of Jann Wenner And Rolling Stone Magazine, is an essential read. The book has already generated ample news about the iconic media mogul’s complex relationships with rock legends like Mick Jagger (mutual love/hate), John Lennon (Jann loves John, John hates Jann), Paul McCartney (Jann disses Paul, Paul hates Jann), and Paul Simon (mutual hate). But one of my personal favorite sections of Sticky Fingers pertains to perhaps the least reputable and (unintentionally) hilarious chapter in Wenner’s peerless career: Rolling Stone: The 10th Anniversary (https://news.avclub.com/1977-s-rolling-stone-the-10th-anniversary-was-an-unmiti-1798247121).
An infamous boondoggle that originally aired on CBS 40 years ago this month, Rolling Stone: The 10th Anniversary has been mostly whitewashed from the magazine’s narrative. You won’t see it mentioned in Alex Gibney and Blair Foster’s laudatory four-hour documentary, Rolling Stone: Stories From The Edge, which premieres on HBO across two nights on Monday and Tuesday. But the 10th Anniversary special is a fascinating (and, this can’t be stressed enough, sublimely ridiculous) microcosm of Rolling Stone‘s path from edgy outsider to establishment institution. Textually, the special has virtually nothing to do with what made the magazine great or important. But subtextually, it speaks volumes about how all forms of counterculture inevitably come to be co-opted by the indomitable forces of mainstream lameness.