JASON: As you know, Rush loved music, as does your guide today, the former congressman known as Jason Lewis. I’m telling you, music has a way of elevating your mood when you need it. It really does — and it’s gotta be a tune you can whistle, right? I’m so tired of this stuff. “What’s the Melody?” “Who needs a melody! Just percussion. That’s good enough.” No, no, no. It’s gotta be a tune you can whistle, or it ain’t music.
Well, Rush was a deejay before he was a talk show host, and so people used to listen — and still listen — to the Rush Limbaugh program and marvel at the great selection of bumper music, something I took great pride in that when I was doing my own show as well. And you got the story behind the bumper music. So that’s why we’re gonna move into something today called Road Trip with Rush, where every Friday we’ll add a new song to a playlist of Rush’s favorites, and the Stones were right there at the top. Roll audio 10.
(Rolling Stones “Satisfaction”)
RUSH: Oh, we got some Stones bumper music going here. Can’t Get No Satisfaction. (singing) “Can’t get no…” You know, I got a buddy, a friend of mine, my Los Angeles chauffeur and pizza delivery guy just sent me a message reminding me that he had to have heart valve replacement. He reminded me; I knew it. I guess he wanted me to think of him as I was thinking of Jagger, which I don’t do much, but everybody is now. My favorite Stones record? Happy, which is not a Mick Jagger lead vocal. In fact, I think it’s a Keith Richards lead vocal. Also, Honky Tonk Women. (interruption) Well, yeah, Under My Thumb. Under My Thumb is in my top five all-time favorite Stones tunes, yeah.
JASON: I will say it was. Rush almost… I think he did get fired once for playing Under My Thumb too many times when he was a disc jockey. (laughing) Now, that’s a Stones fan. All of you out there know, know that we love Rush, right? These clips are great to keep Rush alive as long as we can, and he will stay alive that way. But, you know, we all wonder: What could we possibly disagree with Rush about?
Well, I got to admit it: I found something, finally. Finally, I found something. I’ll give you a little hint. Who wrote the first Rolling Stones hit? Well, can you remember the name of the song? I bet nobody back in New York remembers the name of the first Rolling Stones hit. Mike, you know what the name was? Ali, Kevin, Kraig, anyone? Bueller, anyone? Bueller? No. I Wanna Be Your Man. That wasn’t the Stones first number one hit, but their first big hit.
Who wrote it? Second question. Anyone? Bueller? Oh, Ali, somebody told you that. Come on. Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote it. The Beatles wrote it. Now, I love the Stones and I love Jagger. I’ve seen them in concert, and I love the way Jagger doesn’t take sides in political stuff. I think he went to the London School of Economics.
And at one time, I thought I saw a quote about him sort of mocking the silliness of Marxism, which sounds like something Jagger might do. And I love Keith Richards as a health model. When you’re looking for longevity, look at Keith. But when it comes to pure music, I grew up in the sixties. I remember this. You know, there wasn’t any competition. The Beatles were the group. Everything else was ancillary.
The Stones have longevity for sure. But you take a look at the sixties, and, man, oh, man. I mean, come on. I remember running down to the old Ben Franklin store to buy Sergeant Pepper in the spring of 1967. I thought it was the most at once bizarre, cool, different rock album I’d ever heard or seen in my life — and today, I still think so. I’ve gotta say it. Sorry, gang. Just gotta say it. But I’ll take Jagger any day of the week as well, to be sure.