I’ve been reading Keith Richards’ autobiography ‘Life’. I was intrigued to learn that, before he became the drug-hoovering outlaw superstar we know and love, Keith considered a career in advertising.

Keith Richards in 1963. Taking a break from drawing up Gilbey's Gin scamps for his portfolio.

I've been reading Keith Richards' autobiography 'Life'. I'm only up to about 1967 so far but I would recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in rock'n'roll. It's an extraordinary tale, engagingly told. I was intrigued to learn that, before he became the drug-hoovering outlaw superstar we know and love, Keith considered a career in advertising.Thought I would share the details here.

Keith was expelled from school and started at Sidcup Art College in 1959. "The society and everything I was growing up in was just too small for me…I knew I had to look for a way out…"

Here are a couple of brief extracts from 'Life' about his brushes with the Industry of Ad:

"There was almost no 'art' to be had at Sidcup. After a while you got a drift of what you were being trained for and it wasn't Leonardo da Vinci. Loads of flash little sons of bitches would come down in their bow ties from J. Walter Thompson or one of the other big advertisers for one day a week to take the piss out of the art school students and try and pick up the chicks. They'd lord it over us and you got taught how to advertise…I realise now we were getting some dilapidated tail end of a noble art-teaching tradition from the pre-war period… all thrown away on advertising Gilbey's Gin.

"At the end (of art school) your teacher says, 'Well I think this is pretty good.' and they send you off to J. Walter Thompson and you have an appointment, and by then, in a way you know what's coming – three or four smarty-pants, with the usual bow ties. 'Keith, is it? Nice to see you. Show us what you've got.' And you lay the old folder out. 'Hmmmm. I say, we've had a good look at this, Keith, and it does show some promise. By the way, do you make a good cup of tea?' I said yes, but not for you. I walked off with my folio – it was green, I remember – and I dumped it in the garbage can when I got downstairs. That was my final attempt to join society on their terms…I didn't have the patience or facility to be a hack in an advertising agency."

So, it appears that we can thank the bow-tied 'flash sons of bitches' at JWT for the long and illustrious career of The Rolling Stones. Just imagine if the interview had gone differently and Keef had joined JWT Sidcup, partnered up with Sir Martin Sorrell instead of Mick and was now Chief Creative Officer of JWT.

Keef didn't entirely turn his back on advertising; he appeared a few years ago in the campaign above for Louis Vuitton. Nice guitar, sir.

But, luckily, instead of making the tea at JWT, he made stuff like this:

Wieden + Kennedy has been named Agency of the Year by key US trade mags Advertising Age and Creativity.

"For the first time, Ad Age and Creativity are honoring the same top shop. And for good reason. When it came to bold idea-making and strong execution, nobody did it like this Portland, Ore.-based stalwart. Couple that with its newfound mettle in building strong client bonds and it won the business case, too."

Creativity said:

"Creativity considers all agency types in its agency of the year selection process — digital, full service and everything in between — so only one top agency emerges from that multidisciplinary pile. But no agency can win without demonstrating a "digital" mindset in its work, and an overall fitness to thrive in a digital world. Wieden simply represented the best all-round agency, one that happened to distinguish itself by having the best digital campaign of the year."

These latest accolades come on top of what was a pretty amazing 2010 for W+K in terms of Agency and Campaign of the Year-type things. There's no way to list this stuff without sounding like a bunch of smug gits, but here goes:

– Campaign Network of the Year 2010 

– Adweek Agency of the Year 2010

– Advertising Age agency of the Year 2010 

– Creativity Agency of the Year 2010 

– SHOOT magazine Agency of the Year 2010

– Ranked by clients as UK’s #1 digital agency (Pitch / YouGov survey)

– Ranked by strategic planners as world’s #1 (equal) for planning

– Five out of the year’s top ten most-watched brand virals on YouTube

– Nike Write the Future named Campaign’s Campaign of the Year

– Three Grands Prix at Cannes Festival

– Top prize at Campaign Big Awards for Nike

– Top prize at Epica Europe Awards for Nokia

– Top Prize at One Show Interactive for Nike

Phew.

Creativity quotes founder Dan Wieden as follows:

"In any company you go through a period of thinking, this is not like the good old days," Mr. Wieden said. "Well, the good old days were never as good as this last year."