Mick Jagger

"Villainy," said Mick Jagger, in the voice that has launched hundreds of Rolling Stones concerts, "could also be called wasted life. A well-organized society would make good use of all the talents within it, rather than letting so many go to waste."

My question for the fortysomething mother and her teenage son at a recent family gathering was simple: Did they want to hear the new Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger solo albums? The mom frowned, aware of the many mediocre solo projects by the two. The son yawned. The youngster showed interest in the Jagger album only after hearing that Bono, Lenny Kravitz and Rob Thomas guest on it. The only name that would have made the mom curious was Keith Richards, who doesn't.

Fans of the Mamas & the Papas are in for a big surprise with the new solo album from group founder and songwriter John Phillips--an album released just weeks after Phillips died of heart failure at 65. In place of the gorgeously complex harmonizing and endearing folk-rock sound that were the Mamas & the Papas' hallmark, Phillips' "Pay Pack & Follow" is a raw, ragged, hard-rocking outing that sounds like a lost album by the Rolling Stones.

Sitting on the broad veranda that encircles our cliff-top house, gazing down at the freshwater pool below, I hear the music of Mustique--the waterfall at the deep end, and, farther off, the surf pounding away on Macaroni Beach. The sea is a translucent turquoise: The air is perfumed with the scents of star jasmine and Hawaiian frangipani. I am living the lifestyle of the rich and famous. Temporarily, at least.

On a recent summer day at the Paramount lot, the five members of the group SuperHeavy played along to a recording of their first single, "Miracle Worker," as a camera crane swooped over an assembled crowd of a few hundred and the music boomed. Onstage in the middle of the lot's faux urban streetscape, Mick Jagger lipped the words and moved like himself while the big crowd bounced along to an upbeat, dance hall-inspired pop song. Budgets being what they are, it's not often that a music video in 2011 features a few hundred extras.

On most movie sets, it's the star actors who are the center of attention, the ones toward whom all eyes discreetly turn when they walk onto the set. They're usually the subject of cast and crew gossip and speculation, of whispered conversations behind hands. It's rare to find a film where a producer is the focus of such intrigue. But then, it's rare to find a film producer who's also arguably the most charismatic rock star of the last four decades.

"There's always gonna be good-looking guys with great haircuts who are gonna appeal to girls, and that's just what pop music's about." --Mick Jagger in "25 X 5" (video documentary on the Rolling Stones)

There's an old tale about the groupie who, when asked about each new conquest, would reply, "Well, he wasn't Mick Jagger." Finally, she achieved a dalliance with her idol; but when pressed for an account, all she could say was, "Well, he wasn't Mick Jagger." This is exactly how I feel after every Stones concert. Tell you what, Keith: Leave Bumblin' Jack Flash home. Gather up the rest of the boys, hire a singer, hit the road and rock again. Get back to where you once belonged--the edge.