'Start Me Up' - Rolling Stones open store in London despite pandemic

[September 09, 2020]    By Sarah Mills

LONDON (Reuters) - The Rolling Stones will open their first dedicated store on Wednesday in London's Carnaby Street, despite the coronavirus pandemic having drastically reduced footfall and the number of tourists visiting the city.

RS No. 9 Carnaby will sell clothes, merchandise and music and feature a video wall with a film of the band, a soundwave installation to represent part of the 1960s track "Paint It Black" and a super-sized version of the band's lips and tongue logo.

"Why would you open a shop during a pandemic? Well, you know, it's eternal optimism," said singer Mick Jagger.

"You could have put it off, I guess, till next year... but there will be a little bit of pick up, I think. And people will be curious and people are out and about a bit more than they were," the 77-year-old added.

The shop will also sell Rolling Stones face masks.

When asked why they chose to open on Carnaby Street, a road synonymous with the swinging sixties in London, Jagger said it is close to where the band used to work and rehearse.

This week the Stones released a remastered version of their 1973 album "Goats Head Soup", which contains unearthed tracks such as "All The Rage".

In July they released a previously lost track, "Scarlet", recorded at guitarist Ronnie Wood's house in 1974 and featuring Led Zeppelin guitarist Jimmy Page.

(Reporting by Sarah Mills; Writing by Alexandra Hudson; Editing by Janet Lawrence)

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