Behind the strange rock ‘n’ roll obsession with Mick Jagger’s genitals
The pop music boom of the 1960s coincided with a period in which ideas surrounding masculinity were changing. This transformation was especially noticeable in the worlds of fashion and music. The first wave of British pop stars, including Cliff Richard, Billy Fury and, of course, The Beatles, were knowingly anti-macho, showcasing a softer form of masculinity highly accessible to adolescent music fans. Then came the second wave: The Kinks, The Who, and The Rolling Stones. Mad, bad and dangerous to know, these groups were impossibly exciting to young and impressionable music lovers, with the likes of Mick Jagger, Dave Davies and Keith Moon standing in stark contrast to the comparatively staid Fab Four, with their matching suits and bowl cuts.
For a time, Mick Jagger represented the very pinnacle of male sexuality. Androgynous, stylish and talented, he was the very embodiment of the New Man. While many fixated on his boyish good looks and too-tight trousers, it was the region just below the frontman’s belt that drew the most attention. Even The Who guitarist Pete Townshend once confessed to having had elaborate fantasies about Jagger’s member.
“Mick is the only man I’ve ever seriously wanted to fuck,” the guitarist wrote in Who I Am, explaining how The Who found cause to dial up the heat of their live shows. “He was wearing loose pyjama-style pants without underwear; as he leaned back I couldn’t help noticing the outline of his ample cock lying against the inside of his leg. From then on, I encouraged the band to arrange our ‘equipment’ for maximum effect, especially onstage or in photographs”.
Jagger’s bandmate, Keith Richards, was equally fixated, though for very different reasons. In his memoir, Life, he wrote: “Marianne Faithfull had no fun with his tiny todger. I know he’s got an enormous pair of balls, but it doesn’t quite fill the gap”. Richards was later forced to apologise after his comments nearly brought about the Stones’ demise. The comments may well have been made out of jealousy. In 1970, young fans flocked to see Nicolas Roeg’s crime drama Performance – starring the frontman as a fictionalised version of himself – on the basis that they stood a good chance of catching a glimpse of his penis.
In the end, the rumoured shot was removed from the final cut. The film also starred Richards’ then-girlfriend Anita Pallenberg. It’s said that Richards could often be seen sitting in his car outside the studio, waiting for Pallenberg and presumably imagining all the things that could be going on between her and Jagger. No wonder the guitarist was quick to accuse his bandmate of lacking the necessary equipment – that “tiny todger” was dangling dangerously close to his girlfriend.
