Andrew Loog Oldham (born 29 January 1944) is an English record producer, talent manager, impresario and author. He was manager and producer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 to 1967, and was noted for his flamboyant style. Early life Loog Oldham's father, Andrew Loog, was a United States Army Air Force lieutenant, a New Orleanian of German descent, who served with the Eighth Air Force. Loog was killed in June 1943 when his B-17 bomber was shot down over the English Channel, and he was buried at the Ardennes American Cemetery and Memorial in Belgium. Loog Oldham's Australian-born mother, Celia Oldham, was a nurse and comptometer operator. Loog Oldham attended the Aylesbury School for Boys, Cokethorpe School in Oxfordshire, St Marylebone Grammar School and Wellingborough School in Northamptonshire. A self-proclaimed hustler, Loog Oldham spent teenage summers swindling tourists in French towns. His interest in the pop culture of the 1960s and the Soho coffeehouse scene led to working for Carnaby Street mod designer John Stephen and later as an assistant to then-emerging fashion designer Mary Quant. Loog Oldham became a publicist for British and American musicians and for producer Joe Meek. Among his projects were stints publicizing both Bob Dylan (on his first UK visit) and the Beatles (for Brian Epstein) in early 1963. The Rolling Stones In April 1963, a journalist friend recommended that Loog Oldham see a young R&B band called the Rolling Stones. Loog Oldham saw potential in the group being positioned as an "anti-Beatles"—a rougher group compared to the "cuddly moptop" image of the Beatles at that time. Loog Oldham, still a teenager, rapidly acquired a seasoned business partner (Eric Easton) and took over management of the Stones who had been informally represented by Giorgio Gomelsky. Loog Oldham had previously been business partners with Peter Meaden, first manager of the Who, but they had fallen out after getting into several fights. Loog Oldham signed recording rights to the Stones to Decca, targeting A&R head Dick Rowe, who had earlier declined to sign the Beatles. Among strategies devised and executed by Loog Oldham to propel the group to success: reassigning Ian Stewart from onstage keyboard player in May 1963 to studio-only play. This was to keep their public appearance as a five-man group of slender young men; Loog Oldham said words to the effect that "the kids can't count to six" and Stewart was 3–5 years older