Jaggers Unite!
June 9, 2007 2:27 PM   Subscribe

Mick Jagger joins his little brother Chris onstage in a pub. It's safe to say the 40-odd people in attendance at the The Bull's Head pub in southwest London were more than a little surprised to see the pair performing "Dead Flowers."
posted by dhammond (69 comments total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is shocking. Who knew that Mick Jagger had a brother?

I once ran into Mick Jagger walking the opposite direction from me on 24th street in the middle of the day. It shouldn't have been, but it was surreal. It was like seeing the Pope walk down the street all by himself.

All I could muster was a nod and a: "What's up, mick?" When the parking lot attendants standing about 30 feet away saw him, they did a little better, shouting, "Yo, Mick. Stahht me up! Stahht me up!". He laughed.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 2:34 PM on June 9, 2007


I met Elvis Costello at the Hopwood services on the M42. He was very gracious and well-dressed.
posted by chuckdarwin at 2:42 PM on June 9, 2007


The even weirder part was that, seconds before, when I saw his figure between 50 and 70 yards away, I thought, "I recognize that walk". Just as suddenly, I corrected myself thinking, "don't be ridiculous, how can you recognize a walk?" When his leathery visage came into view, I understood how.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 2:51 PM on June 9, 2007


I once saw Richard Simmons walking towards me on a street in New York. I crossed the street.
posted by hexatron at 3:03 PM on June 9, 2007


I met Paul & Linda McCartney at a NYC bar in 95 or 96.
posted by pruner at 3:14 PM on June 9, 2007


this adds nothing to Mick's reputation. In fact, it takes away
posted by Postroad at 3:24 PM on June 9, 2007


I was walking up 5th ave. early one sunday morning and saw Tom Snyder. We were the only people on the entire block. I waved and said "hi", and he did the same.
posted by vronsky at 3:27 PM on June 9, 2007


Decades ago, I almost went to see Dire Straits in a pub in south London, but thought 'naah ....'

Also, one of mrs. carter's colleagues' in-laws had directed an independent movie, and we got an invite to the premier and reception bash. We passed. As it turned out, Will-bloody-Farrell showed up.
posted by carter at 3:30 PM on June 9, 2007


I once saw a famous guy on tv.
posted by stavrogin at 3:38 PM on June 9, 2007


I used to wanna be famous like that, where you could walk down the street and complete strangers would shout your name completely out of the blue. I figured that'd be cool.

Then I heard Leonard Nimoy talking about when he was on a cellphone, and complete strangers would connect him and the communicator from Star Trek, and they'd have to say something about that to him, and he'd smile and nod and acknowledge their existence. That might be mildly amusing the first dozen or so times it happened.

After awhile, If I was Leonard Nimoy, I'd suddenly find myself wishing I was someone other than Leonard Nimoy. Or wishing the cellphone didn't look like a communicator. Or wishing I'd said no to pointy ears forty years ago - what the hell was I thinking? Oh right.. sixties. I was on drugs back then.

Imagine the Cable Guy, at the age of ninety-three, and young upstarts will still come up to him in his wheelchair and they'll shout "GITERDUN!" at the top of their lungs right into his face, causing major repetitive coronaries.

Imagine you're John Lennon, and people still go to your tombstone and serenade you, and you're fuckin' dead. And they can't even sing in tune. The bein' dead part John can probably acclimate - but the tone deaf fans would probably really piss him off.

Imagine you're a carniverous dinosaur, and you're brought back to life millions of years after a meteor hit you on the head, and you see Dino on the Flinstones. And you see that tv series "Dinosaurs" and you see the Dinosaur movie, and you see the Jurassic park trilogy, and you see Barney the Dinosaur, and you realize those pesky cave monkeys you were eating like they were chickenwings somehow outlived your entire species' existence, and they got everything about what your kind were about all wrong. That'd put me off my chickenwings.

If I was at a pub, and I'm Mick Jagger, and I'm hanging with my friends and my family, and I wanna fucking go up on stage with my brother and sing a fucking song, would I want the whole fucking world to know about it? ...hell yeah! ...Okay. ...I guess I don't have a fucking point.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:45 PM on June 9, 2007 [2 favorites]


Oh. We're doing the 'brushes with celebrities' bit. I guess I shoulda read the whole thread before I opened my big fat yapper.

...

I once stood in the same room with Chuck Norris. It's not that he's short. It's that everyone else in the room was so weak compared to him, we were incapable of comprehending his true size.
posted by ZachsMind at 3:50 PM on June 9, 2007 [1 favorite]


You forget Zod, The World Famous. Zod lived.
posted by cgc373 at 4:04 PM on June 9, 2007


I once saw Yoko Ono in Central Park. It was my first visit to the city; I was probably about 10 or 11 years old and a huge Beatles fan at the time. When I saw the Imagine homage and the Dakota looming nearby I made the connection, walked back to nearby Strawberry Fields and grabbed a rose. I knelt down to place it on the Mosaic and quickly turned around and was passed by a lady and her two large gentlemen friends. It wasn't until I had rejoined my parents that they lifted their jaws and told me who it was.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 4:18 PM on June 9, 2007


ZachsMind said: Imagine the Cable Guy, at the age of ninety-three, and young upstarts will still come up to him in his wheelchair and they'll shout "GITERDUN!" at the top of their lungs right into his face, causing major repetitive coronaries.

Oh, wow. What a beautiful image. A tear has been brought to my eye.
posted by 2or3whiskeysodas at 4:24 PM on June 9, 2007


I met Wayne Gretzky once while working in a stereo department of an Edmonton home furnishings store.

This was the day of his first game back in Edmonton after being traded to L.A., and even then Gretz was still like a god to most Edmontonians.

He walked up the stairs with his father and manager. Of course I spotted him and his dad right away.

When I smiled at Wayne, he saw that I recognised him and smiled back, and that was the extent of the "famous" part of our interaction. Other than the fleeting "Wow, that's Wayne Gretzky" moment, my first thought was Damn, that guy is well-dressed, for he had some killer clothes.

Then I met his dad, who was completely humble and down-to-Earth, and his manager, who was a total tool. After that, I helped him pick out a portable for the locker room.

We talked for about 15 minutes. There was no discussion of hockey, no request for an autograph. All he wanted was to get it done so he could get out of the store before it turned into a zoo, which, thanks to the obsequious store managers, it did. Not only did they grovel for autographs, they sucked up by giving him the stereo at cost and including his name in every sentence.

After they dispersed, I turned to him and rolled my eyes. He laughed.

When it was time to go, we shook hands and I said: "Good luck tonight."

I think famous people enjoy it more when they're not being slobbered on by clutching fans 8212; it's a refreshing break from the usual routine.
posted by bwg at 4:30 PM on June 9, 2007


>Leonard Nimoy talking about when he was on a cellphone, and complete strangers would

Queen and Spadina, with a friend of mine named Jeff, mid nineties. He saw Jeff Healey a-way up ahead walking towards us. I didn't believe him, and then when he got close, I said, Yeah, you're right, and I said (to my friend), "Good call, Jeff" as Healey was right next to us. And, hell, Healey can't see me of course, I bet he thinks I'm making some comment on the women he was with or something equally intrusive.
posted by philfromhavelock at 4:36 PM on June 9, 2007


All I could muster was a nod and a: "What's up, mick?"

I bet jonmc gets that all the time.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 4:37 PM on June 9, 2007 [1 favorite]


I'm with you Zach... success=good / fame=bad.
posted by chuckdarwin at 4:53 PM on June 9, 2007


I corrected myself thinking, "don't be ridiculous, how can you recognize a walk?"
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 5:51 PM


I once saw Richard Simmons walking towards me on a street in New York.
posted by hexatron at 6:03 PM

posted by secret about box at 5:08 PM on June 9, 2007


I think you guys are looking for:

Success, good. Fame without success, worthless.
posted by secret about box at 5:09 PM on June 9, 2007


Groupies, priceless.
posted by stavrogin at 5:12 PM on June 9, 2007


I met Peter Griffin once.
posted by juiceCake at 5:22 PM on June 9, 2007


Psshaw - Donald Sutherland goes to my Infiniti dealership. He's big and scary and well dressed.
posted by forallmankind at 5:55 PM on June 9, 2007


I sold cable to Christo once - the kind of cable used by electrical utilities. He sent a coffee table book of his art to our office, which pretty thoroughly baffled everyone.
posted by Joseph Gurl at 6:24 PM on June 9, 2007


I once had a dream that Chuck Norris wanted to go out with me, but I thought he was too violent. I finally relented, and while on our date we were attacked by Ninjas on the subway. Boy was I mad.
posted by maggiemaggie at 6:29 PM on June 9, 2007


Oh snap, I've been to The Bull's Head Pub!!!!
posted by maggiemaggie at 6:30 PM on June 9, 2007


1974 - I played for a Pee Wee baseball team that won the All Ontario championship. Our semi-final series opponent had a pretty decent shortstop - Wayne Gretzky.
posted by davebush at 6:44 PM on June 9, 2007


FOOOOOGGGGGERTTTTYYY!
posted by miss lynnster at 7:21 PM on June 9, 2007


I'm not sure people outside of Canada grasp just how godlike Wayne Gretzky was here. I hated hockey growing up, and yet somehow I still had a huge Wayne Gretzky poster on my wall (given away free at Shopper's Drug Mart, I believe). That really doesn't make sense, now that I think about it.

On preview: ugh.
posted by stinkycheese at 7:33 PM on June 9, 2007


I also met Marisa Tomei at ABC Carpets in NYC shortly after she won her Oscar.

After confirming with her that she was who I thought she was, the best I could come up with was "Buying some bedding?" (we were in the bedding department)
posted by pruner at 7:35 PM on June 9, 2007


I had sex with Paris Hilton.
posted by bradth27 at 8:12 PM on June 9, 2007


I met John Cleese once. He was very polite and pleasant, but not funny at all.
posted by Pseudonumb at 8:21 PM on June 9, 2007


I've met all kinds of famous people, and even been moderately famous myself, and I don't remember any of it offhand.
posted by Peach at 8:23 PM on June 9, 2007


I got to throw (okay, push) a cream pie (okay, a pie tin filled with whipped cream) on Michael Palin's face.

My fraternity won some kind of a promotion. Obviously, he needed the money at the time.
posted by yhbc at 8:23 PM on June 9, 2007


Elvis Costello signed my ATM card.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:41 PM on June 9, 2007


I met Nick Rhodes in the late '90s. I told him, in a tone that suggested I was a person of great importance, that I had a fan club with a lot of members. In my defense, I was a teenager, and I don't even like Duran Duran now. To this day, however, I'm not sure what embarrasses me more - that I told Nick Rhodes I had a fan club or that I actually had a fan club. Good God.

Now, one of my best friends - she met John Taylor in the late '80s. They happened to have left the same shop at the same time and were walking the same route for some time when he stopped, grabbed her, and yelled at her for "following" him and called her an inconsiderate twit. Her response was, "My house is over there. I have to get home somehow, asshole." She was a teenager at the time, too, but I don't think she needs any excuses.
posted by katillathehun at 8:55 PM on June 9, 2007 [1 favorite]


I think Marisa Tomei is smokin hot and I love the ABC carpets store, and I bought my bed (dux) and my sheets there, so cool pruner. I'm jealous.
posted by vronsky at 9:02 PM on June 9, 2007


Was at the Met a couple of years ago, and saw Tom Hanks. I think because of the museum setting the treatment was very deferential- he went for a very long period (probably at least 20 minutes that we were walking through at roughly the same pace) without anyone making more than the merest glances, confirming it was Tom Hanks, and then turning away. Must have been nice for him to go out in public for an extended period without getting mobbed.

(We'd seen him the previous night as well; we'd been in Times Square at 2 or 3 am when traffic suddenly stopped and went backwards. It was very, very disorienting until we notice the cameras and then noticed that Tom Hanks was in one of the cabs that had just passed us going backwards. All in all, probably more memorable for being able to say 'I saw traffic go backwards in Times Square' than for seeing Tom Hanks.)
posted by louie at 9:08 PM on June 9, 2007


dhammond, I apologize for derailing this thread a bit. I thought my anecdote was sufficiently a propos, irreverent and reverent to pay tribute to your find. I didn't mean to incite the parade of cooler-than-thou lame hipsterism that followed.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 9:20 PM on June 9, 2007


My ex and I were stalked for a while by Leslie Grantham. We saw him far more times than was reasonable, in restaurants, walking down the street, in art galleries at gigs and so on. Then we split up. I haven't seen Leslie Grantham since.
posted by motty at 9:21 PM on June 9, 2007


I think I got you all beat with Steve Buscemi.

Came into a theatre I worked at with his kid. As he left I said "Bye Steve," and he said "Take it easy."

I've been taking it easy ever since.
posted by brevator at 9:23 PM on June 9, 2007


Suck it Tommy Gnosis, I thought this was one of the more interesting threads I have read in a while. I mean, who really gives a shit about Mick Jagger's brother?
posted by vronsky at 9:37 PM on June 9, 2007


I met Alice Cooper at the Häagen-Dazs of Printemps in Paris.
I was 19 on a summer study program.

I was like - "dude, you're Alice Cooper...etc." He was really chill and took a picture with me -- that I really wish I could find.

He made some offbeat comment about American guys coming to France to find a wife. I wasn't really in that market at the time but, for what its worth, I did marry a French girl a few years later.
posted by pwedza at 10:01 PM on June 9, 2007


I killed Bobby Kennedy. What a pussy!
posted by kenlayne at 11:02 PM on June 9, 2007


dhammond, I apologize for derailing this thread a bit. I thought my anecdote was sufficiently a propos, irreverent and reverent to pay tribute to your find. I didn't mean to incite the parade of cooler-than-thou lame hipsterism that followed.

Nah, see, if we were being cooler-than-thou lame hipsters, we'd be like "So I met some famous guy and shoved a pie in his face. But whatever. It's not like I care."
posted by katillathehun at 11:10 PM on June 9, 2007


ZachsMind: Imagine the Cable Guy, at the age of ninety-three, and young upstarts will still come up to him in his wheelchair and they'll shout "GITERDUN!"

I swear, you'd never recognize him in person. I've seen him several times and never realized it until it was pointed out.

I *do* have one particular celebrity run-in I don't like to admit. I was walking by a local hotel and saw Ray Charles sitting in a modified bus. ... I waved to him.
posted by RavinDave at 11:46 PM on June 9, 2007 [5 favorites]


I literally bumped into Mick Jagger about 10 years ago on a very cold night in New York. Neither of us said anything -- it was very cold. He had zero entourage or body guard.

I've run into Iggy Pop a few times -- he clearly doesn't want to be bothered so I don't bother him.

Lou Reed and David Byrne have at various times appeared in various art circles I know and seemed very down-to-earth and approachable. On one occasion I was in a gallery and my girlfriend said, "That's Lou Reed!" I said, "Really? That guys comes to a lot of these, are you sure?" "No, I'm sure!" He heard us talking and wandered towards the door and then waited pointedly... said gf went over and said, "I just wanted to shake your hand," and he said, "Put it there!" and shook -- the voice was unmistakable. Really very civilized.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 12:04 AM on June 10, 2007


I bumped into Stevie Wonder. No, wait, he bumped into me.
posted by A189Nut at 1:24 AM on June 10, 2007 [4 favorites]


I bumped into Anthony Keidis while we were delayed at the airport in Grand Rapids, MI. I said, "good morning" and he smiled and said, "Hi". He was traveling alone and seemed like a pretty normal guy for a Chili Pepper.

Our delay was about three hours. During that time a guy in his early 20's stood in the middle of the walkway. He stood sideways and was surreptitiously staring at Anthony. After about 20 minutes he built up the courage to ask for an autograph.

I think he wet himself in his excitement.
posted by Mojojojo at 3:07 AM on June 10, 2007


Tommy Gnosis writes: "I didn't mean to incite the parade of cooler-than-thou lame hipsterism that followed"

Hey, don't worry about it, Tommy. None of these comments that followed were cooler than thine. Thou hath made the only cool comment.

You should probably keep in mind, though, that I, flapjax at midnite, am cooler than thou. Way cooler than thou.

And I've met more celebrities than I can cover in a single comment. But I will mention, though, that I crossed over to the other side of the street when I saw that Paris Hilton FPP coming at me the other day.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:17 AM on June 10, 2007


Yeah, well, my dad met Chris Jagger. That's right - the guy this post's about. He's got you all beat.
posted by tiny crocodile at 3:38 AM on June 10, 2007 [2 favorites]


ecades ago, I almost went to see Dire Straits in a pub in south London, but thought 'naah ....'

Hey, I went to that gig! I had on my best brown baggies and my platform soles. Frankly, the music wasn't my cup of tea. I didn't give a damn about some damn trumpet playing band. It wasn't what I call rock and roll.

I often wonder what happened after that night, but I suspect it's been forgotten...
posted by humblepigeon at 5:00 AM on June 10, 2007


Nothing much, humblepigeon: Harry didn't mind if he didn't make the scene. (He's got a daytime job. He's doing alright.)
posted by DangerIsMyMiddleName at 5:13 AM on June 10, 2007


The only famous person I've ever met (putside of signings and stuff) is Handsome Dick Manitoba, and he's not all that famous.
posted by jonmc at 5:39 AM on June 10, 2007


and Dave Marsh. and ditto for him.
posted by jonmc at 5:39 AM on June 10, 2007


I sold cable to Christo once

Is he that jerk that ruined the magicians' secrets?
posted by evilcolonel at 7:18 AM on June 10, 2007


1) I think it's pretty cool that Mick did this. While the Stones are about 3 and a half decades past their prime, their prime was pretty fucking prime.

2) success, fame, and pretty much everything short of mere survival without intergrity, lame.

3) Yeah, yeah, I know - my favorite band sucks.

what is the appropriate thing to say when you have the opportunity to meet a celeb whose work has legitimately been very important to you? Miss Lynnster need not apply ;-).
posted by fingers_of_fire at 8:17 AM on June 10, 2007


Here's a sweet one to do with Jagger.

The late father of a friend, dad's name was Sidney Tafler - was actually a fairly well-known British character actor (born 1916 says imbd) who had an oddly cool vibe that extended beyond his career. (Proof of this, Sidney Tafler gets a name check in Ian Dury's old hit Reasons to be Cheerful)

Anyway, the semi-retired Sidney Tafler once got hopelessly lost in Hammersmith (medium grotty part of West London) in the late 1960s and ended up knocking on a residential door to ask for directions.

Scruffy musician type grumpily answers the door - and does a double take "My God, you're Sidney Tafler!!" says scruffy musician - introducing my friend's pleasantly blushing dad to his mates who are rehearsing their band - give him a cuppa tea, get Tafler's autograph, chat for ages, demonstrate some of their songs - and eventually show him how to get to the tube.

Sidney Tafler used to tell the story - pausing before he added: "and as I was going, I asked this lovely young man what his band was called..."

"I'm Mick Jagger - and we're called the Rolling Stones," was the reply, of course.
posted by Jody Tresidder at 10:03 AM on June 10, 2007


dhammond, I apologize for derailing this thread a bit.

S'alright. Actually, I met Pee Wee Herman last night (in character!) and now I have an excuse to mention it.
posted by dhammond at 11:42 AM on June 10, 2007


Well, I'd say that Mick looks a bit less STONED than in THIS AMAZING CLIP from Los Angeles, 1975 - note - you must wait a bit to see the hilarious uber-gay dance between Mick and Billy towards the end of the clip (starts around 6:20- a complete classic!
posted by janetplanet at 11:57 AM on June 10, 2007


You should probably keep in mind, though, that I, flapjax at midnite, am cooler than thou. Way cooler than thou.

Understood and conceded.

Suck it Tommy Gnosis

OK.

/Token attempt to be conciliatory after realizing that I have been an annoyance to myself and others all weekend long.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 1:08 PM on June 10, 2007


Whoopi Goldberg's assistant once turned me down. Does that count for anything?
posted by ZachsMind at 1:27 PM on June 10, 2007


Hey Mr. Gnosis, you're allright!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 2:16 PM on June 10, 2007


You, Mr. Gnosis, are a gentleman and a scholar.
posted by vronsky at 2:32 PM on June 10, 2007


I dunno, vron, I've seen no hard evidence of scholarliness, so far... ;-)
posted by flapjax at midnite at 3:38 PM on June 10, 2007


Tough room. What would it take? 500 word essay? Prove that 1 > 0 using epsilon method? Conjugate some latin verbs? Sum, es, est, sumus, estis sunt.
posted by Tommy Gnosis at 4:44 PM on June 10, 2007


Okay, that's good enough for me. You're a scholar.

Hey, wait a minute. Who you callin' a sunt?
posted by flapjax at midnite at 6:06 PM on June 10, 2007


Two anecdotes related to the thread:

I'm not famous in the slightest but resemble a well known romantic comedy actor. I'm not trying to brag, I just get told this by people one to two times a week, and it made me realize how much fame has got to suck without the money/power. Random people come up to me and say "hey, has anyone ever told you you like like BLANK" and expect me to get all excited and flattered like it's the first time, when it's really in the hundreds/thousands at this point (there are a lot of people in new york). They all make the same jokes, ask if we're related, and ask if we make the same indiscretions. After a while their expectations get very tiring, and people get pissed if you won't play there game. And I know I shouldn't really complain because it's nice to receive compliments and I'm sure it helps with girls, but some days you just don't have th energy to play along. And for a celebrity that gets you branded as an asshole, which makes me respect all of the positive anecdotes both all the more. These people deal with this shit every day and still manage to act with class.

Which brings me to my celebrity sighting from last month, I sidled up to the bar next to Zach Braff, and Scrubs is one of my favorite shows. Then I noticed the two fans to his right who won't stop harassing a guy who clearly just wanted to buy a beer and the fact that there was a visible ring of people giving the bar five feet of space so they could stare at the famous guy. I left him alone, he doesn't need me to tell him how special he is and I don't need his validation (after all, I look famous).

though I did consider and regert not tackling him at the bar and screaming "WHO AM I??!!?!". I think both he and the cops would have appreciated that one.

Also, my first week in new york I saw Abe Vigoda powerwalking down York. I think that's still my favorite, because no one I brag to has any idea.
posted by slapshot57 at 6:19 PM on June 10, 2007


I got a hug from Ray Davies once at a vegetarian restaurant in North London. It was exciting.

But not as exciting as when I met Timmy Mallett when I was 8. Holy god, I nearly had an aneurysm.
posted by bwerdmuller at 2:28 AM on June 11, 2007


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