Today’s guest is Paul Sexton: journalist, author, and one of the most trusted chroniclers of The Rolling Stones’ world.

For more than three decades, Paul has enjoyed rare access to the band, interviewing every member, spending time on the road, and being invited into the heart of their story for articles, features, liner notes, and documentaries that each demonstrate not only the respect in which Paul is held by the band, but the authority his work ultimately commands.

In 2022, Paul published Charlie’s Good Tonight, the only official biography of Charlie Watts, created with the full support of the band and Charlie’s family. In this episode, he reflects on the emotional weight of telling Charlie’s story after his passing, the responsibility of writing about someone who can no longer speak for themselves, and the quiet moments that revealed the true character of one of rock’s most enigmatic figures.

We talk about Paul’s early encounters with the Stones, his memories of Charlie as a musician, collector, and friend, and the central role jazz played in shaping both his artistry and his inner life. Paul also opens up about Charlie’s struggles in the 1980s, his recovery, and the dignity with which he carried himself through fame.

It’s a reflective conversation that celebrates and honours Charlie, not just as an icon but as a husband, father, and friend, pulling back the curtain on an intensely private man who was loved by millions, and whose story continues to resonate.

Follow Paul on Instagram. Buy his book, Charlie’s Good Tonight, here.

Lip Service is produced and presented by Simon Harper.

FOLLOW LIP SERVICE:

Instagram

X

TikTok

Threads

Bluesky

Today’s guest is Gered Mankowitz: the brilliant photographer whose images of The Rolling Stones helped define the visual identity of the band’s earliest and most explosive years.

Impressed by Gered’s work, Stones manager Andrew Loog Oldham brought him into the band’s inner circle when he was just 18, making him their official photographer from 1965 to 1967. In that short but seismic period, he created some of the most enduring photographs in rock ’n’ roll. He shot them in his Mason’s Yard studio for the covers of ‘Out Of Our Heads’ and ‘December’s Children’, on Primrose Hill for ‘Between The Buttons’, and on stage in America for ‘Got Live If You Want It!’ All wonderfully gritty and intimate portraits that truly shaped the band’s rebellious identity.

In this episode, Gered takes us inside those years to reveal the extraordinary stories behind his now infamous shoots. He recalls how he earned the band’s trust by capturing them as they truly were, and how their group aesthetic evolved alongside his growing confidence as a photographer. He remembers shooting the Stones on their chaotic tours, at work in the studio, in the privacy of their own homes, and even on horseback while cowboying in Arizona.

Delving into one of the defining chapters of his career, Gered offers a front-row account of the Stones’ wild rise - an incredible living history, told by the man who captured it frame by frame.

Gered’s prints, posters, and books are available to buy from his website. You can also follow him on Instagram.

Lip Service is produced and presented by Simon Harper.

FOLLOW LIP SERVICE:

Instagram

X

TikTok

Threads

Bluesky

Today’s guest is Tony King: legendary music industry executive, promoter, creative consultant, fixer, éminence grise, and close friend of The Rolling Stones.

From his beginnings as a teenage office boy at Decca Records in London, Tony rose through the ranks to become not only a distinguished expert in promotions, but one of the most trusted insiders in music. His career took him from the birth of rock and roll to working with many of the most influential artists of all time, including The Beatles, Elton John, and the Stones.

Tony’s 2023 memoir, The Tastemaker, offers a full and affecting insight into his colourful life at the beating heart of some of the most iconic moments in history, pulling back the curtain on his six decades in the business, revealing the deep bonds and special moments he shared with John Lennon, Charlie Watts, Freddie Mercury, Elton, and many more.

In this episode, Tony takes us back to the beginning of his association with the Stones, becoming part of their world within Andrew Loog Oldham’s Immediate Records at the height of the Swinging Sixties, where he endeared himself to Charlie by saving the life of his cat, and found Keith Richards to be resistant to drugs!

He then picks up the story in the mid-1980s, when he returned to the Stones’ fold, reflecting on the stormy waters between Keith and Mick Jagger at the time, and the ultimatum that brought them back together. He recalls the monumental ‘Steel Wheels’ tour, plus memories from the five subsequent global treks he worked on, including a brush with a petulant future President!

A living link to the golden age of British rock, Tony’s stories are full of charm, warmth, and affection - a true testament to a character so beloved by legends.

Follow Tony on Instagram. Buy his book, The Tastemaker, here.

Lip Service is produced and presented by Simon Harper.

FOLLOW LIP SERVICE:

Instagram

X

TikTok

Threads

Bluesky