The Rolling Stones keep rolling along

Oh, yes, it’s true: A rolling stone gathers no moss.

And that’s what these Rolling Stones have been doing all these 40-plus years – rolling and rolling along, intact and together, making beautiful music even as other groups (including my favorite, The Beatles, which never regrouped despite several "feelers," with only two surviving – Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr) were splitting up and going their separate ways.

Contrary to what some people think that Mick Jagger is the Rolling Stones and vice-versa, the group has three other members (Keith Richards, Ron Wood and Charlie Watts) who have remained unaffected by the intrigues and concentrating only on what they do best – write and sing songs that mark important periods in the lives of their fans – you know, where were you and how young were you when (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction first hit the airlanes?

That song is one of the 40 selections in Forty Licks (available in CD and cassette formats under EMI Music Philippines), touted as "the definitive Rolling Stones collection," 36 of them old familiar tunes and four brand-new ones.

The two-CD pack traces the Rolling Stones’ journey through musicland, an amazing audio tour through the group’s history. Along the way, you can hear the group evolve song by song and year by year, from the rumbling Bo Diddley rhythm of Not Fade Away and the ominous psychedelia of Paint It Black to the jittery disco of Miss You andthe bluesy ballad Beast of Burden. The list goes on, and so do the hits. What’s amazing is to hear the way the band continues to challenge itself and grow, voraciously exploring and digesting varied musical influences.

Forty Licks is a testimony to the unique accomplishments of the Rolling Stones. They remain remarkable not only for their longevity, but for the incredible breadth of their creative output. In addition to the visceral pleasure of hearing seminal hits like (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction, Jumpin’ Jack Flash, Brown Sugar, Start Me Up and Love Is Strong, four new songs prove that the Rolling Stones remain as vital, passionate and powerful as they were 40-plus years ago.

Produced by Don Was and the Glimmer Twins, the new materials will definitely secure even more the Rolling Stones’ position as the "Greatest Rock Band in the World." Don’t Stop, a catchy tune penned just for this release, is the first single off Forty Licks.

To herald the release of the landmark album, Funfare is launching a tie-up promo-quiz with EMI Music Philippines. In Phase I of the contest, all you have to do is answer 40 trivia questions about the Rolling Stones and send your answers to: EMI Philippines, Inc., 25th Floor, Atlanta Center, Annapolis St., Greenhills San Juan, Metro Manila. Or e-mail to: [email protected], with your name and address. Forty winners will be chosen (each one will receive a Forty Licks CD and a Forty Licks poster), to be announced early next year. The same set of questions will be published in Funfare in the next two Fridays (Dec. 13 and 20).

Phase 2 of the contest, also consisting of 40 (new) questions, will start early next year and the grand-prize winner will get a chance to watch the Rolling Stones concert slated tentatively in March, 2003, at a yet undisclosed venue in Asia (could it be Beijing?).

Game na ba kayo, bayan? Here we go:

1. With which song did the Rolling Stones first top the American charts?

2. What 1978 album produced the #1 hit Miss You?

3. What was the first single released on the Rolling Stones’ own label?

4. What Rolling Stones song was included in the movie Casino?

5. What Rolling Stones song was used as the theme song of the TV series Nam: Tour of Duty?

6. According to the Rolling Stones, what color is the door they want to paint in the hit song Paint it Black?

7. Who replaced Brian Jones in 1969?

8. In what 1968 movie did Mick Jagger appear as a lipstick-wearing, retired rock star?

9. What famous artist designed the cover for the Rolling Stones Sticky Fingers in addition to the band’s famous lips and tongue logo?

10. What song of the Rolling Stones is also the name of Keith Richards’ daughter?

11. What drug was the subject of the song Jumpin Jack Flash?

12. In what album sleeve was the Rolling Stones tongue logo first used?

13. What Rolling Stones song was used in a Whoopi Goldberg movie?

14. This Rolling Stones song was an ironic but cheap joke about interracial sex aimed at restoring the band’s reputation for bad-boy antics?

15. How many songs in the Forty Licks album were produced by The Glimmer Twins?

16. Upon release, which Rolling Stones song got banned by the BBC immediately and then by radio stations everywhere?

17. Who played the sitar on Paint it Black?

18. What Buddy Holly song got the Stones noticed beyond England?

19. Bill Gates paid $20 million to use this song to promote Windows 95. What was it?

20. I met a gin-soaked barroom queen in Memphis is the opening line of what song?

21. What was the Rolling Stones last #1 single in the US?

22. Please allow me to introduce myself is the opening line of what song?

23. Speck of white so fair and pale, have you seen a lady fairer is a line from what song?

24. Think the time is right for a Palace Revolution, but where I live the game to play is compromise solution is a line from what song?

25. I walk, smooth, ride in a mean, mean, machine is a line from what song?

26. He’s tellin’ me more and more about some useless information is a line from what song?

27. What Rolling Stones song was included in the movie Royal Tenenbaums which stars Ben Stiller, Gene Hackman and Gwyneth Paltrow?

28. How many songs from the Forty Licks album were written by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards?

29. What is the latest single of the Rolling Stones that is included in the album Forty Licks?

30. Before leading the Rolling Stones, what band did Mick Jagger sing for?

31. What was the name of the Stones 1989 tour that began in Philadelphia?

32. What was the name of the Stones 1994 album and subsequent tour?

33. Name three precious stones that Mick Jagger had inserted in his upper right incisor?

34. What’s the name of the Rolling Stones’ private jet?

35. Which album got the Stones into a lot of legal trouble because it features photos of women celebrities in the album sleeve without permission?

36. Miss You, Harlem Schuffle, Fool to Cry and Tumbling Dice. Which of these songs wasn’t written by Jagger and Richards?

37. The Bridges to Babylon tour started in what state?

38. Who wrote the single I Wanna Be Your Man for the Stones and recorded it as well?

39. The Stones opened their concerts during the Voo Doo Lounge tour with what song?

40. Prince, Tina Turner, Aerosmith, and Counting Crows. Which of them has NOT opened for the Stones on tour?