How Andrew Loog Oldham turned the Rolling Stones into the anti-Beatles

Andrew Loog Oldham was only 19 when he became the Rolling Stones’ manager in 1963, but he understood image better than most seasoned executives. He saw a rowdy, blues-obsessed band and decided their strength wasn’t trying to be clean-cut like the Beatles — it was leaning into the dirt.

Oldham forced the band to ditch matching suits and instead wear unbuttoned shirts, scowling in photos. He planted stories in the press about their “bad boy” antics, some made up. He also pushed Mick Jagger and Keith Richards to write their own songs, partly to avoid paying publishing royalties to outside writers — that move alone created one of the greatest songwriting partnerships in rock history. Oldham didn’t just manage the Stones; he invented the blueprint for how a rock band should be marketed: dangerous, rebellious, and absolutely not your parents’ music.