CHAPTER SIX: The Rolling Stones Concert.

     If I climbed the mast and looked down, our ship seemed too small to support me. And swinging up there was the nearest feeling to flying. But that day I had no time to fly. I had to get ready for the tender which was coming to take me ashore. I had a gig. A gig I had been looking forward to. The Rolling Stones concert.
     As I climbed down from the mast, Mike Ahern was on the air introducing a song I liked playing too, Do Wha Diddy Diddy by Manfred Mann. There was a kinship among all of us on the ship, we were a ‘band of brothers’. And again ‘we few, we happy few’ and going ashore we took that spirit with us. That spirit came through the music, the on-air speaking and the way we interacted and played on board the ship.

Cover of ‘The Rolling Stones No.2’ ©Decca Records 1965

     After getting ready for my shore visit, I came on deck dressed in flashy Carnaby Street style clothes. It felt good to wear colour and style, to express the feelings of the music and the fun.
     When the tender dropped me at the dock, I rushed to get a taxi. As soon as I got in the taxi, the driver said “Hey, I recognize you. You're Tom Lodge, the deejay. I'm a great fan of Radio Caroline. I really like what you guys are doing for rock 'n' roll. All me mates listen to you all the time, between fares, in the taxis. We're great fans.”
“That's great” I said. “We sure are happy to be here off the Isle of Man. Everyone here is so welcoming.”
When I went to pay the taxi driver he said “Hey! Could you autograph the money, Tom?”
“Sure.” Wow, that's fun, I thought.
     I rushed through the stage door of the concert hall and was welcomed by Mick, Keith, Brian, Bill, Charlie and a few roadies. Brian came forward and together we went over the routine. Mick was pacing and checking with each person making sure all was understood. He was sipping a whiskey and Coke.
     Keith suddenly said “Hey, there's something wrong with the equipment. I guess we're going to be late going on stage.”
“We're still working on it” said one of the roadies.
“How long will it take?” asked Bill.
“Half an hour, I think.”

Tom on stage - picture possibly taken at the Stones concert

     From the audience, could be heard clapping and “We want the Stones! We want the Stones!”
Brian smiled and said “The audience is getting rather impatient.”
Mick said to one of the roadies “Do your best.”
I peeped out through the stage curtain. The audience looked restless. They were shouting and clapping, saying “When is the show starting? We want the Stones!”
Keith said “We've got to do something quick.”
“Okay” I said “I'll try and calm them down.”
Charlie laughed. “I wouldn't go out there if I were you. They'll kill you!”
“Don't worry” I said “I'm a pirate!” Everyone laughed.

Caroline's relationship with the Rolling Stones went through a sticky patch in 1966, as this cutting from Disc & Music Echo shows. Click to magnify. Tom says that he totally ignored the directive from Phil Solomon and kept playing the Stones!

     I picked up a bunch of incense that was lying on a table back stage. And waving it, I said “I'll take my chances.” I then lit the whole bunch of sticks, making them into a torch. Then, holding the torch high like the Statue of Liberty, I walked out and across the stage. Within a few seconds the audience settled into a silence of anticipation. Watching the audience, I waved the torch until the flame was blown out leaving a column of smoke rising from the incense. The audience waited. Carefully holding their attention, I passed out, one by one, the sticks of incense to those near the stage. The mood had changed. The audience was calm. We were connecting.
     I went to the microphone and said calmly and seriously “Is Anthony Wedgewood Benn in the audience? Because if he is, come up here Anthony! So we can all pelt you with some good fresh tomatoes!” The audience roared with laughter.
     From the corner of my eye I could see Bill Wyman signaling to me that it was okay to start. “Okay!” I boomed across the hall. “At last you can all go wild! Hold your breath. For the one and only, the greatest group of all time, the Rolling Stones!!!”
     The Rolling Stones burst on stage. The crowd went wild. The music came on with a bang as they played Under My Thumb. The girls were screaming. The guys were jumping up and down. The music was solid, powerful, beating deep into the bodies as Mick's voice opened up the minds and hearts of a new generation. Here was the kernel of the freedom. We were working hand in hand. We were out at sea, on the air waves, and the bands were in the concert halls. This was the battering ram of freedom.

©Tom Lodge 2002