Have The Stones Changed?

Title:

NFSA ID

1230112

Year

1971

Summary

Lillian Roxon asks provocatively, ‘Have The [Rolling] Stones changed?’.

Her delivery is lightning fast so she manages to cram in details of the band’s personal lives, various controversies and an appraisal of their latest record, all in two minutes.

She goes from provocateur back to avid fan – her voice softens as she concludes that their latest record has been ‘beautifully, carefully done, but it’s still the Stones. I hope they always stay that way.’

This is an episode of the radio show Discotique – a two-minute ‘daily newscast from the world of music’ produced in 1971 and syndicated on 250 radio stations in the United States.

The cover image for this title is from 'Mick Jagger in Den Haag (1976)'. Published under Creative Commons 3.0. Photographer: Bert Verhoeff.

Notes by Beth Taylor

CURATOR'S NOTES

Lillian Roxon (1932–1973) was an Australian journalist who lived in New York in the 1960s and 70s. Dubbed ‘the mother of rock’, she wrote the iconic Lillian Roxon's Rock Encyclopedia, which was published in 1969.

In the 1970s Roxon documented the emerging rock revolution and later the birth of punk from her haunt – the New York city music club Max’s Kansas City – which was frequented by Iggy Pop, Andy Warhol, Lou Reed, Debbie Harry, Alice Cooper, Jimi Hendrix and David Bowie.

During 1971 she wrote and presented a show called Discotique – a two-minute ‘daily newscast from the world of music’. The shows, which ran from March to October 1971, were recorded and then pressed onto vinyl LPs (20 shows fitted onto one LP) and syndicated on 250 radio stations in the United States. At the time, her voice would have been a curiosity for listeners unaccustomed to hearing Australian accents.

Roxon died tragically at the age of 41 from a severe asthma attack.

The Discotique recordings in our collection date from 28 June to 23 July 1971 and appear on an LP that the Roxon family donated to the NFSA in 2013. Given Roxon’s significance to the history of rock music, Radio Archivist Maryanne Doyle had long been looking for radio recordings of Roxon reporting on the music scene.

Maryanne first heard about the Discotique recordings thanks to Robert de Young, producer of the documentary Mother of Rock, about Roxon’s life. Mother of Rock (2010) is preserved in the NFSA collection as part of the National Documentary Program funded by Screen Australia.

Notes by Beth Taylor