Rolling Stones 1967: The European Tour and the Dictatorship’s Sabotage

The next day,at the airport The Stones experienced hours of inspections and checks. Jagger and Watts did manage to take the flight to London and Jones flew off to Munich in to attend the premier of the movie “Mord und Totschlag” for which Brian had written the score. Richards, looking more suspicious than the others, he had to go through so many inspections by policemen and custom officers that he finally missed his flight and had to ask Keylock to drive him to Munich. Wyman, along with Astrid and his son, decided to stay in Athens a few days longer.

The holidays of unsuspected Wyman were ended: “Two days later by the sounds of shooting… I called the office of the Greek organizer and was informed that the army had seized state buildings. I was told that at six o’clock in the afternoon curfew would be imposed and that I should in no case leave my apartment after six. I had no contact withthe outer world and could not communicate with the Stones’ office, neither by phone nor by telegram or letter. We had to wait for the situation to clear out and the airport to start running again… We were finally told by the organizers that we could leave on Sunday April 23rd, and that the army coup had ended”.

Magazine “Modern Vibes” came out again on May 10, holding a surprise for its readers. There was not one word for the Stones, and among others was written:”Teenagers and readers of Modern Vibes have nothing to do with”wild” youngsters of “wild times”, they have nothing to do with the Beatniks, nothing to do with all the unbarbered and dirty London youngsters who visit our countries as tourists, they have nothing to do with teddy-boys, ill-bred and uneducated audacious youngsters”. (!!!)

The next concert the Rolling Stones gave was at the Hyde Park. A tribute to Brian Jones…

And the question: Why there is no footage of “governments” sworn from 21st of April 1967?

Answer: In Stones’ concert there was a camera capturing the event. After the parody and the troubled days followed, the film was lost somewhere in the archive before anyone develops it. Just four days after the concert, this particular undeveloped film used again to capture the new “government’s” swearing. As a result, after developing the film, and while the leader of dictatorship Papadopoulos announces the suspension of some articles of the Constitution (right to freedom of speech, freedom of gathering etc etc), the figure of Mick Jagger appears behind him performing “Satisfaction”!

The revenge of the “unbarbered and dirty youngsters” had been taken even by accident.