Mick Jagger has spent his career on the front pages of the world’s newspapers — but surely the Stones star’s biggest break came when he was a Jackie cover boy in 1965.
Jagger — who turns 80 today — enjoyed himself on several different visits to various locations in Scotland in the 1960s, including Dundee’s Caird Hall, before The Rolling Stones were catapulted to superstardom.
The Stones played Dundee twice on May 20 1964, in a month where they crammed in an amazing 45 shows, before heading off on their first US tour.
The late Moray promoter Albert Bonici had booked the Stones to join the bill of a pop package tour to perform in Aberdeen, Dundee and Edinburgh.
Mr Bonici and Dundee co-promoter Andi Lothian secured the deal, but only after the popularity of headline act Freddie and the Dreamers started to decline in the UK.
Yet if the Dreamers’ star was on the wane, the Stones’ was on the rise.
The news of their appearance on the bill sparked an urgent demand for tickets.
The Stones performed at 6.30pm and 8.50pm with a set including Not Fade Away, Poison Ivy, Walking The Dog, Cops And Robbers and Roll Over Beethoven.
The fans lined the pavements outside the Royal Hotel following the gig, chanting: “We want the Stones! We want the Stones!” and “Mick! Mick!”
The Stones would go on to top the charts for the first time in July 1964 with It’s All Over Now, which also became a big hit in Europe.
It’s only egg ‘n’ chips but we like it…
The band returned to Scotland for a headline tour in June 1965 with dates at Glasgow’s Odeon, Edinburgh’s Usher Hall, Aberdeen’s Capitol Theatre and Dundee’s Caird Hall.
You can’t always get what you want, it’s true, but the Stones surely did when they enjoyed a hearty meal of sausages, eggs, bacon and chips in Laurencekirk.
They were on their way to the sell-out Aberdeen concert which was fraught with incident on June 17 1965.
“We had a great meal on the way up,” enthused the extrovert Jagger.
“Laurencekirk, I think it was. And the people were very nice.”
The band returned to Dundee and performed two shows at the Caird Hall.
Before the gig they were taken for a photo shoot for teen girl magazines Romeo and Jackie at the Taypark Hotel in Broughty Ferry, which used to look out across the Tay.
The photographer managed to shoot the band in front of a rock garden.
Jagger looked resplendent in a suit which was his stage attire in the 1960s before his 1970s sartorial transition to bedazzled jumpsuits and blue eyeshadow.
Other shots of the band were taken during the photoshoot.
The Taypark Hotel rock garden eventually provided the backdrop for the July 24 Jackie edition front page featuring a birthday message to Jagger, who turned 22.
The Stones were supported by the Hollies when they performed shows at the Caird Hall at 6.30pm and 8.45pm with tickets priced from five shillings to 15 shillings.
Rolling Stones tour saw ‘shaggy-haired, stony-faced quintet’ arrive in Dundee
The Evening Telegraph preview read: “Love them or loathe them — ignore them or tolerate them — The Rolling Stones roll on, gathering nothing but money and fans.
“Tonight at the Caird Hall, Dundee, this shaggy-haired, stony-faced quintet conclude their second Scottish tour, supported by The Hollies, Doris Troy, Johnny Cannon and the Shades, and the West Five.
“Since their last visit to Dundee over a year ago the Stones have changed little, although much has happened to them.
“But for the inclusion of current favourites, their stage act, too, will be much the same as last year.
“When they came to Dundee last May, they were just starting out on a career that has since rivalled that of The Beatles for international success.
“Now they are hailed by many as the top group in the country.”
Jagger and his band-mates thought a young fan had fallen from the balcony during the show when an enormous cloth gonk was hurled on to the Caird Hall stage.
The gonk was a gift from Jean Gracie from Dundee and Ann Brown from Monifieth.
The Stones brought the girls backstage during the interval and they were photographed with the gonk and their heroes by The Courier for the following morning’s paper.
Only four girls had to be removed in the first house at 6.30pm.
One girl hugged Mick Jagger on Dundee stage
It was the calm before the storm as ambulance men described the scenes at the Caird Hall as “worse than the Tommy Steele riots” in April 1958.
At the second, with about 2,000 fans crammed in, the Marryat Hall next door was turned into a casualty station after 40 “screaming and sobbing girls” were treated by ambulance crews after becoming hysterical and fainting.
One fan succeeded in breaking the cordon of 50 stewards to get to Jagger.
The Courier reported: “Screaming and sobbing, scores of hysterical girls surged towards the Caird Hall stage, Dundee, last night in a vain effort to get to The Rolling Stones.
“One girl managed to break through the cordon of stewards and ambulance men and jumped on to the stage.
“She dashed across and flung her arms round singer Mick Jagger before two burly stewards dragged her to the wings.
“This was the signal the fans were waiting for — and suddenly everyone seemed to have the same idea. But about 50 stewards — mostly ex-wrestlers — were ready for them.
“For several minutes the floor of the hall became a battlefield as the girls were dragged or carried out the aisles into the Marryat Hall.
“Rows of girls jumped up on seats, swaying in time to the Stones’ beat.
“One girl, who had been taken out several minutes earlier, came charging back down the centre aisle straight into the arms of four waiting stewards.
“She was promptly carted out again — this time for good.
“After the Stones’ last number, many girls, who had not been literally carried away, were sobbing with disappointment because their idols were gone.”
Mick Jagger still a poster boy 58 years later
How did Jagger get out of Dundee in one piece?
Thankfully only a handful of teenagers were in Castle Street as the Stones ran from a shop door after the show to a big car that took off down the street.
At the foot of Castle Street a policeman grabbed a girl who attempted to throw herself in front of the car.
The group spent the evening at the Gleneagles Hotel.
Mick has been a poster boy for the 58 years since his Jackie front cover but, sadly, neither he nor the band ever did return to perform in Dundee.
But those who still have that edition – when Jagger met Jackie – will no doubt cherish it.
And for those who were there, the ecstatic screams and their young girls’ dreams will remain treasured memories, surely not to fade away.
