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“Mick doesn’t really like to dwell on the past. Actually, he prefers to deny it."

“If they ever find him dead, it won’t be me that did it. I’ve already opened my mouth too much."

—on Mick

“There’s no joy in punching a wimp."

—again, on Mick

“I don’t want to talk to Mick about his love life, because it’s like, ‘Whoops! You’ve skidded on another banana skin!’ ”

“Mick’s got to stop slapping paint all over his face to that absurd Japanese-theater degree. He’s got to stop running around the stage and getting himself out of breath in the first ten minutes."

“Try to stay out of Mick’s face as much as possible—because the more you get into Mick’s face, the more makeup goes on."

—advice to Martin Scorsese

“His underpants, three times."

—responding to the question of how much

Mick has changed over the years

“I don’t think anything about them. Personally, I don’t think he should think anything about them either."

—on Mick’s solo records

“Believe me, Mick’s business head is greatly exaggerated. Just leave it at that. My best weapon businesswise is a silent Mick."

“What’s so hard about being Mick Jagger? It’s like Bob Dylan’s phrase: ‘What’s so hard about being one of the Beatles?’ Although you could say that about Bob, you know."

“Mick Jagger’s really good when he’s with the Rolling Stones. But when he ain’t, I don’t think anybody gives a fuckin’ toss."

“Somebody that’s always good for an airport picture on page three."

—on Bianca Jagger

“Maybe Bill’s happy running his restaurants and marrying people he never sees again. I don’t know."

—on Bill Wyman

“I think he’s on his third menopause, certainly can’t be his first."

—again, on Bill Wyman

“I couldn’t, in all honesty, get through Bill’s book because I got fed up with each chapter ending up with his bank account. ‘And after all that I only had five thousand pounds in the bank.’ ”

—on Wyman’s autobiography

“Yeah—try livin’ off of it."

—in response to “All You Need Is Love”

“I hope Ian Anderson doesn’t get into a cliché thing with his leg routine."

—on Jethro Tull

“Who wants that freaky acidhead flute player teaching you about tax?"

—on Ian Anderson’s comments about

the Stones being tax exiles

“They’re in their own little fantasy world. You only have to read what they talk about in interviews … how many suits they’ve got and that kind of crap. It’s all kid stuff, isn’t it?"

—on the Bee Gees

“Everyone’s a load of crap. They’re all trying to be somebody else and they ain’t being themselves. The Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party? Load of crap, load of crap. Poseurs, rubbish."

“They don’t have the stamina to be rock stars."

—on the punks of the 1970s

“Prince is like the Monkees. A Pee-wee Herman trip. He’s appealing to the same audience."

“Shave and go home. He’s a wimp in disguise."

—on George Michael

“Ronnie … drags me up and goes, ‘You gotta see this chick, man.’ I was already hip to it. ‘Her name’s George, Ron.’ ”

—on Boy George

“These guys are just obnoxious. Grow up and then come back and see if you can hang."

—on Oasis

“Now they’re forcing Mick Ronson on people. They’re lucky they got away with Bowie."

“Who’s David Bowie? Oh, he went to the same art school as me."

“A Holiday Inn band, a club band that made it."

—on Gloria Estefan and Miami Sound Machine

“Nirvana? The name sounds promising. Is it a lot of blokes with long hair and guitars around their necks?"

“You’re not gonna solve the problems of this world with a few rock concerts on a satellite deal and a knighthood to the guy that put it together. That’s like tryin’ to put a Band-Aid on a rash."

—on Live Aid

“I never understood why someone would want to have some gangster from L.A. poking his fingers in your face."

—on hip-hop

“I haven’t had much of a listen to what’s around at the moment. But if that MTV show is any indication, I’m not missing a lot."

“I like Bruce … He ain’t no brilliant artist … He’s holding the fort until something good comes along. If there was anything better around, he’d still be working the bars of New Jersey … He’d be the first to say so