Sweet Hanger-On

By Paul Beston

While they were cultural rebels of a sort in the 1960s, the more enduring focus of the Rolling Stones' career has been riding the latest trends, whether in fashion, politics, or even music, and dressing it up as rebellion. They never rebelled against anything without knowing that there was plenty of wind at their back, whether it was the commercial potential of 1960s youth culture or the lockstep anti-Bushism of today's pop music community.